In the Dark: A Thrilling Romantic Suspense Novel (The Dark Series Book 1)

by Danah Logan

  "YOU KNEW?" I can’t keep the shrillness out of my voice. If possible, he shrinks even further.

  "She saw the change in our pattern. We were talking. You came to my match. I went to your meet. Then, I broke up with her. She saw how I looked at you and how you looked at me. She was just waiting for proof, and then—" Rhys breaks off and drags in a ragged breath.

  "Kat posted it this morning. I didn’t hear about it until the middle of second period. I couldn’t get a hall pass, otherwise, I would’ve come to you sooner. I texted you, but you never check your phone during class," Denielle explains. "My guess is the school must’ve gotten wind of it, too." My best friend’s voice is full of remorse as if any of this is her fault.

  She holds her phone out to me, and I read the caption under the picture. "It looks like ‘Sister’ Lilly has a very special relationship with WH’s QB."

  "I was supposed to go to the principal’s office as well," Rhys confirms Den’s assumption.

  Bile is rising again, but I’m able to force it down. Katherine purposefully put the focus on me. Not Rhys. Me! He is probably going to get high fives from his buddies versus I’ll get the incestuous slut title. And Rhys knew.

  He. Fucking. Knew.

  Something that I haven’t felt since the day he came clean surges up inside of me like a geyser. My body buzzes with rage.

  "WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?" I don’t bother remaining quiet. It’s all out anyway; why worry about it now?

  "I..." He trails off for a moment before continuing in a whisper. "I wanted to protect you."

  Is he serious?

  "ARE YOU SERIOUS? Protecting me when I have a crazy stalker monitoring my every move? Don’t you think this piece of information about your psychotic ex"—I enunciate each of the three words clearly—"also stalking me would have been something I should know?"

  I register pain in my palms and realize I’ve been clenching my fists so tight that my nails have left deep indentations on the insides of my hands. A voice in my head tells me that he meant well, but the flight sensation is too overpowering. I need to get away from Rhys. I need to put as much distance as I can between me and the boy I love so much that it hurts.

  I push Rhys out of the way with all the force I’m physically capable of and take off down the hall. I vaguely realize that the halls are crowded. It’s the middle of third period. Everyone should be in their classrooms. Then, someone steps in front of me, and I halt, coming face to face with Katherine Rosenfield, head cheerleader and Queen Bitch of Westbridge High.

  "Lilly, I was waiting for you," she sneers at me.

  "Katherine." I refuse to cower to her, but the initial adrenaline rush is over, and my strength is draining rapidly. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the group around us increasing in size.

  This time when Katherine speaks, she’s addressing me, but really, she’s talking to the spectators that keep multiplying.

  "Well, we are all curious about how this little incestuous relationship came to be. Or maybe it started a long time ago, and Rhys just took a break from his sister when he met me—"

  "Kat, that’s enough," Rhys growls directly behind me.

  Before the logical side of my brain has any time to interject, I ball my fist and let it fly, straight into Katherine’s jaw. Right before the impact, she realizes what’s happening, her eyes widen, and her perfectly glossed lips form an O. Katherine’s head wheels to the side, and she falls into Wes, who had just pushed his way through the masses. A collective gasp runs through the crowd, and I realize what I’ve done. Not only am I the incestuous slut, but I also physically assaulted the queen of WH.

  Holding her jaw, Katherine’s eyes draw to slits as she faces me again and hisses, "You little slut. It’s not enough for you to fuck your brother, now you also assault his girlfriend?"

  She is not only evil, but also deranged.

  Her gaze moves behind me and changes into something resembling a helpless doe. "Rhys, do something!"

  I can’t believe what’s happening here. I turn on my heels and come face to face with my boyfriend. But all he does is look at me wide-eyed. There is nothing. No defending me, no telling Kat to stop spewing lies. Nothing. He is, for all intents and purposes, frozen. And with that, it’s as if he just hit me in the face with a cross punch.

  I’m done. Screw them all. I wrap my arms around my stomach and shoulder past Rhys through the crowd. I don’t bother stopping at my locker; I have my bag with my wallet, phone, and keys. That’s all I need.

  Halfway to my car, I hear Rhys yelling my name behind me. Glancing over my shoulder, I see him push through the front door, followed by Denielle and Wes.

  I start running. I’m fast, and with my head start, I make it to my car before them. Cutting across the lawn, I’m inside my Jeep with locks engaged when Rhys reaches my door.

  "Cal! Babe, open up!" His voice is laced with panic. He doesn’t lower his volume. Anyone in the vicinity can hear him.

  Denielle and Wes are in front of my hood on the sidewalk, displaying mirrored expressions of concern, and across the lawn, more and more students spill out of the doors, even a few teachers.

  What I should’ve done is think about this first.

  What I should’ve done is tell them that Rhys isn’t my biological brother.

  What I should’ve done is get out of the car and hear Rhys out.

  What I should’ve done is let my best friend take me home.

  What I should’ve done is calm down before putting my car into reverse and speeding out of the parking lot.

  I did none of those things.

  Right before I exit the school’s parking lot, I see Rhys and Wes sprinting to the Defender in my rearview mirror, but I keep going. The voice in my head is screaming at me to drive. Fast.

  Tears are running down my face. Tears of anger, tears of embarrassment, tears of frustration, tears of betrayal, and tears of self-pity.

  Why me?

  I need to be alone. Just driving through town, being surrounded by the people who go about their lives is too much. I end up driving past Magnolia’s, a place that used to be welcoming and a second home; now it fills me with dread. As I pass the café, the guy who approached me weeks ago steps out of the entrance, and our eyes lock. The instant feeling of something being off about him returns. His eyes are...lifeless. Finally, breaking out of the stare-down, I have to slam on the brakes. I’m about to run straight into the side of a car in the process of parallel parking.

  Shit.

  The driver gives me a what-the-fuck look, and I just sit there, too mentally exhausted to apologize. It seems like he purposefully takes forever to complete the maneuver. Getting irritated, I peer in the rearview mirror to check that Rhys has not caught up to me. Instead of the Defender, I see the creep standing in the middle of the street, staring at me. A shiver runs down my spine, and I hit the gas. The slow parker is almost in his spot, and I only have to move halfway into the opposite traffic to get around him. The oncoming car beeps at me, but I keep going. Two more turns and I’m finally on the back road to Fallsbrook. Not that I have any intention of stopping there, but it’s a start.

  I’m on the way out of town when an SUV shows up in my rearview mirror—not the Defender. At first, I don’t think anything of it, but then it comes closer. Not too close, but close enough that I can make out the driver—or more accurately, not make out. He is wearing a baseball hat and glasses, paired with a hoodie that covers most of his face.

  It’s him.

  I push the gas pedal to the floor, and my Jeep roars to life. The SUV accelerates as well but remains several car lengths away. I’m speeding down the narrow road, a field on one side and the Westbridge Forest Preserve on the other. If I just make it to Fallsbrook, I’ll be good. I can take Main Street back home. Heather is working from home today because Natty’s school has teacher conferences. I’ll be safe there.

  Just as I finish that thought, something shoots out of the field and across the road. Of course, I do the
one thing you’re not supposed to do in that situation—I yank on the steering wheel. I immediately feel how my Jeep tilts too far to one side and—

  Slowly coming to, my head is pounding, and something is digging into the crook of my neck and shoulder—the seatbelt. I’m upside-down.

  I try to turn my head, but it hurts. All I can do is focus out the front of my cracked windshield. I notice red speckles on it but can’t make out if they’re on the inside or the outside. Are they from whatever I hit, or are they from...me?

  Something is moving toward me—no, not something...someone.

  I start struggling against the seatbelt, but excruciating pain shoots through my shoulder, and that’s when everything goes black.

  I should’ve stayed in bed this morning.

  Epilogue

  We’re home.

  I’m standing in the doorway to Lilly’s new room, watching her curled up on the top of the white comforter. She is still wearing the clothes she wore to school yesterday, which are now dirty and bloodstained from the cut on her forehead caused by the airbag and me dragging her out of the wrecked Jeep. I’m grateful she was driving such a sturdy car. This was definitely not part of the plan. When I saw the fox run across the road, followed by Lilly losing control and the car rolling twice before it came to a halt on its roof, I was close to a panic attack. Not again!

  Getting her out of there and home was more difficult than I had planned. I had to adjust my meticulously organized trip.

  I made sure she wasn’t seriously injured and patched up her cut before we left Virginia but didn’t dare change her out of her clothes. That would have been a violation of privacy. Well, not that I haven’t violated her privacy in other ways, but still—touching her that way just wouldn’t be right. Not if she can do it herself when she wakes up. Plus, time was of the essence. I had to pull a lot of strings to get the plane ready on such short notice.

  I’m still in thought when I notice small movements on the bed. She is waking up. My heart starts pounding, and I’m actually...nervous. I wait, not daring to move. She slowly moves one limp arm after the other, like she’s taking stock of her injuries. A groan escapes her, and I hold my breath. I hope she is not in too much pain. That’s when her eyes open. She blinks a few times against the light of the small bedside lamp and moves her head side to side. When she seems satisfied with her assessment, she pushes herself into a sitting position. I had purposefully added more pillows to the bed earlier, so she is automatically propped up.

  Still squinting, she scans the room. Her gaze settles on me, and her eyes widen.

  "You!"

  Thank you so much for reading In the Dark! I hope you enjoyed reading Lilly and Rhys's journey as much as I did writing it.

  Out of the Dark picks up right where book one left off. (Some) secrets will be revealed. More questions arise. Who is he? What did really happen ten years ago? Friendships (and relationships) will be tested.

  Get your copy of Out of the Dark here!

  Loved it?

  Thank you for taking a chance on In the Dark.

  If you loved it, please consider leaving a (spoiler free) review here:

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  Also by Danah Logan

  The Dark Series:

  Was Lilly’s gut feeling correct when she assumed her kidnapper was not out to harm her? Find out more in the next book of The Dark Series. Also, be prepared for it to get steamier as the story continues. ;-)

  In the Dark, Book 1

  (Lilly and Rhys)

  Out of the Dark, Book 2

  (Lilly and Rhys)

  Of Light and Dark, Book 3

  (The Conclusion to Lilly and Rhys’s Story)

  Because of the Dark, Book 4

  (Wes)

  Followed by the Dark, Book 5

  (Denielle)

  I’m the Dark, Book 6

  (HIM)

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  Acknowledgments

  I can’t believe this is it for book one. What a wild ride it’s already been, and I still have (at least) two more books for you guys. The idea for The Dark Series was born when I was writing short stories in high school, however, I never finished it. I didn’t get past the first twenty pages and eventually dropped it. Then, at the beginning of 2018, during a phone call, my best friend told me I should pick my writing back up. Until that point, I had never considered writing again; my focus was on raising my two-year-old twins. One evening, I dug through old back-up CDs (yes, people still have those) and found the original version of The Dark Series on a 2003 back-up. Names and locations have changed, but the base of the storyline—Lilly and Rhys, as well as "him"—has remained. About forty thousand words in, I realized there is no way to tell Lilly’s story in just one book, and that’s when In the Dark became The Dark Series.

  I would not have been able to write Lilly’s story without the help and support of these awesome people:

  Abbi, who pushed me to pick this project back up, who let me bounce ideas off of her day AND night, and helped me iron out the seemingly minuscule details about gymnastics and U.S. high school life. Not being born in the U.S., and therefore never having attended high school, made it challenging to write realistically about certain topics.

  Maddie and Den, who were the first to read the initial manuscript, gave me unfiltered feedback on the storyline and pointed out plot holes that, in my mind, made complete sense, but apparently not on paper.

  S.J. Sylvis, who read the second draft, gave me valuable feedback from an already-published-author perspective and helped clean up the storyline.

  My husband, who had to accept a lot of no’s when he attempted to spend time with me, but I was in the midst of writing and couldn’t or didn’t want to stop. Thank you for letting me disappear on the weekends to write while you took over the house and kids.

  Laura, our wonderful nanny, who helped me with the twins so I could get a few continuous hours of writing done.

  Mary and Becca, my betas, who made sure I didn’t miss anything before sending the final version off to the editor.

  Tanya Keetch from The Word Maid, who not only is half German but has also edited some of my personal favorite books, and Jenn Lockwood, for proofing the book after I edited it for the hundredth time.

  The bloggers, readers, and reviewers who helped me spread the word about Lilly and her journey.