The paramedics gave us blankets and told us to sit on the front steps of the school until the deputy sheriff said it was okay to go. After a thorough examination, and many incredulous questions, they were convinced we weren’t about to die. I was glad. Dying wasn’t on my to-do list. Although, neither was getting blown up or having my new, but intense, friendship tested by said explosion. The paramedics had told us we were lucky, that whatever had burned up had been hotter than anything they’d ever experienced. I had nodded in bemused agreement, knowing luck had nothing to do with it.
As we waited, emergency workers, faculty members, and students swirled around us in a strange dance of activity. I had trouble focusing on any one thing in particular, my eyes not cooperating.
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked, leaning close so he could whisper in my ear.
“Define okay.”
“Not about to pass out or otherwise slide into unconsciousness.”
“I don’t know,” I groaned, thinking unconsciousness would be a welcome relief.
“Do you want to go?”
“They told us to wait,” I said.
“I can take care of that,” he said confidently.
“How?”
He lifted the small rock he had been playing with to my eye level. He made a dramatic motion with his other hand and the rock disappeared. “Magic.”
“Show off.” I found his eyes. “It’s in the palm of your other hand, by the way.”
I didn’t want him to think I missed anything, or that I couldn’t see through his magic. He chuckled, and braced himself to stand, throwing the artfully concealed rock onto the ground. He stopped before he walked away and gave me a funny look. “Your hair is longer than I thought.”
I ran a hand through my hair, realizing that my normal spiky look had disappeared. It was down to my ears now, scraggly from the weight of the water.
“Oh, yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Is that good or bad?”
He shrugged. “Not everything is good or bad, some things just are. But yes, I like it.”
I made a face at him in response, thinking he was teasing me. Another round of tiredness swept through me. I looked up at him, aware that his charm could get the cops to let him do anything.
“I think you’d better hurry with whatever magic trick you’re going to pull.”
He nodded and walked across the grassy lawn with the alien grace that hinted he was more than just your typical hot football player. As soon as he was far enough away, the buzzing started up again, increasing to the point where it was overwhelming. Wanting a distraction, I picked up the rock he had discarded and started playing with it. It didn’t work.
He’s so cute.
I can’t wait to get home and tell everyone about this. I hope they don’t already know…
I don’t see how they made it out of there without a scratch. Bob said the fire was hotter than anything he’d ever seen on the job.
What were they doing down there together, I wonder?
Does he like her? How could he like her? She looks like a guy. Well, her face doesn’t, but she’s got short hair. I looked over and saw Jennifer staring at me. The sound of her gnawing on her jealousy would have been funny if I hadn’t been so tired.
If it was me, no one would’ve cared. If it was me, they would have just let me burn. Why couldn’t it have been me? I looked to my other side and saw Amanda staring sadly. Her thoughts were like a punch in the gut.
Two other voices, a man and a woman, swirled up. It was obviously a conversation from…somewhere.
Were you able to find anything out about what killed Ryan, Shawn?
Deputy Greene, Mom. And no, we haven’t found that thing that killed him. We’ve been searching the woods top to bottom.
What does the Sheriff say?
He’s doesn’t have a clue either. He’s got some hunters over from Macon County to search for any signs of the creature, but they haven’t turned up anything yet.
He was a friend of yours right?
Yeah, he was a good man.
More voices and conversations swirled around me. I started rubbing at my forehead, trying to shut them out. “Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!” I said quietly to the voices. They ignored me.
One overrode the rest. Oh, God, she could have been hurt! Where is she? There! Thank goodness!
I looked past Amanda, who was still staring, her thoughts a mess of depression, and saw Alex running towards me. She threw her arms around me when she got to me, hugging me close. “Don’t do that!” she chided.
“Do what?” I started laughing weakly, the voices still dancing in my head.
“Get blown up!”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“I know.” She released me. “Are you okay?”
“I feel drained,” I told her honestly, “but otherwise unhurt.”
“What happened?” Her eyes were a curious mixture of confusion and understanding.
“You know about as much as I do,” I said uneasily.
A lot had happened that I couldn’t tell her. It wasn’t just my secrets I was protecting, not anymore. And I would continue to protect those secrets until I had cause not to.
“Did they let classes out?” I asked.
“Yeah, a building blowing up kinda puts a damper on lessons…They’re saying you were at the pool with Daniel when it happened.”
“Are they?”
“Yeah. What were you doing down there?”
“Talking about pools,” I replied sarcastically.
“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just nag until you do,” she said.
I turned Daniel’s rock over in my hands. “We got into a discussion about Superman and the Shadow.”
“The Shadow? Who’s that?”
“Google him,” I said, too tired to explain.
“I will.” She paused pursing her lips.
That can’t be all they were doing down there. I mean the whole school knows Daniel has a crush on her. It’s pretty obvious. But I don’t know if she likes him back, not really. She’s so hard to read! I wonder if Daniel knows? I would hate for him not to act because she’s afraid of falling for someone. Should I say something? Would she get offended?
My heart missed a couple of beats. She was going to ask something else about what we were doing down there when she noticed my face.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I rested my head in the palm of my hand and stared at the rock I held, twisting it slowly. Was she right and he liked me? Or was she just seeing the charm?
She shrugged. Weird reaction. “Was that all you were doing down there?”
Beyond Daniel stealing a kiss, and seeing some strange vision, which could have been from his childhood, and a fire that came out of nowhere? “Pretty much.”
The voices in my head cut off as quickly as when I turned off the radio when rap was playing. I looked up hopefully. He was walking toward us, his face serious, his wet hair plastered to his forehead. In his hands, he carried our bags. I looked at mine curiously, knowing I had left it in the girls’ locker room. He hadn’t gone in there had he?
Daniel smiled at me, but his eyes were guarded. “They said we could go provided we go in tomorrow and give our statements.”
“Okay,” I said gratefully.
“How’d you do that?” Alex asked him. She helped me stand, her breezy skirt billowing in the cool wind. Daniel didn’t try to help as we started walking towards the parking lot at the back of the school, avoiding the people who were assembled on the school’s hilly front yard. We both knew why.
“Magic,” I answered for him, pocketing the rock so he wouldn’t see I’d kept it.
“Huh?” She looked between the two of us, confused.
I shrugged, leaning on her arm for support. She moved her free arm to my waist, so I wouldn’t fall. Though Daniel didn’t try to help me, he kept a careful eye on us.
“How are you getting home?” Alex asked as we walked past r
ows of cars.
“I’m taking her,” Daniel said firmly.
“I thought so.” Alex smirked.
“I could walk,” I said.
“No,” they both said.
“You’re both bullies.”
“We know,” they said at the same time.
Grumbling at them, I suddenly wondered if the whole town had already heard about this and how I would ever get any peace after today. The thoughts would be everywhere; inescapable and overwhelming. What I had experienced on my first day here would be doubled, tripled even. Maybe I could convince Ellen into letting me home school myself. I stopped walking. What about Ellen? Would she be freaking out? How could I have not thought about her reaction?
Alex tried to keep walking, and I tried to stay still. I pitched forward from her tug and stumbled sideways, my exhaustion messing with my balance. Daniel dropped our bags and caught me before I could face-plant on the asphalt. I started laughing, feeling slightly giddy from exhaustion and the bizarre morning. His hands were gentle as he steadied me. There were no visions, but I didn’t notice. All I noticed was the way his electric hands felt on my skin. His touch released some of the awkwardness between us.
“Sorry,” I said, trying not to giggle.
“Have you gone insane?” Daniel asked.
“You can’t go insane when you were already insane to begin with. That would be redundant.”
“True,” he agreed.
I started walking again, ignoring their concerned looks. I suppressed my giddy laughter with effort, knowing it was a merely a reflex after the turmoil of my morning.
“I need to call Ellen. She’ll have heard about what happened by now. I know she’ll be freaking out. She’s good at freaking out. She freaked out over an A-HA concert once. My eardrums were sore for a week.”
“She freaked over an A-HA concert?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, yes, she did.”
We reached Daniel’s Audi, and Alex opened the passenger door for me. Daniel got in the other side and pulled a phone out of the glove compartment. He handed it to me without a word, offering me the chance to call her. I looked at the phone, wondering how he knew I never carried one. Ellen had bought me one, but I never could remember where I had put it last. Perhaps, he had noticed, or else he was just trying to be nice by letting me use his. Either way, I was grateful.
Alex smirked as he handed me the phone. “Have fun.” Before she shut the door, she gave me a stern look. “And get some rest.”
I stuck my tongue out at her as the door closed with a snap. She waved once before we pulled away, her face smug, as if she had just cured world hunger.
“This might take a while,” I warned Daniel.
“That’s fine.”
I dialed Ellen’s number and waited. When she picked up, she sounded breathless. She had heard about the explosion and had been on her way out the door to come and check on me. I told her that I was fine, that a friend was driving me home, and not to worry. It took me some time to convince her I hadn’t died, but I knew from experience all the right things to say to calm her down. Her fear lessened at my words, and she stopped talking at supersonic speed. At one point, I heard Sam in the background, and knew she had gone back to her desk to talk to me. I took that to be a good sign.
She still wanted to come home and check on me, but I told her that I would just be sleeping and that she didn’t have to miss work just because of me. Around the crying and the hysterics, she agreed to stay at work for a while, so I could sleep, but promised to check on me soon. I hung up finally and found Daniel staring at me.
“What?” I asked handing him his phone back.
“I thought you didn’t lie.”
“I don’t,” I replied.
He smirked. “That was a lie.”
“What am I lying about?” I asked defensively.
“You’re not going to sleep. You’re going to make me answer your questions; that’s why you didn’t want her to come home.”
I blushed as he turned off the car. We had been idling at the corner in front of my house, the heat blasting from the vents. The second he turned the car off, I remembered I was wet and tired, and really wanted a nap.
“Says the best liar I have ever met.”
“We’re not talking about me.”
“I do plan on sleeping, so that wasn’t a lie. Not telling the whole truth isn’t the same as lying though,” I explained.
“A lie is a lie,” he said seriously.
A motorcycle flashed past us in a roar of sound, cutting off my retort. The driver deftly pulled it along the curb in front of Daniel’s car and cut the engine. I noticed two tall figures on the impressive machine, both dressed from head to toe in black. As they stepped off the bike, Daniel’s face hardened, and he cursed.
“What?” I asked.
“Stay here for a moment.”
“You really need to stop bossing me around.” I crossed my arms, knowing how childish I sounded even as I said it.
Daniel looked daggers at me. He was obviously not in the mood. The dangerous look he was giving me – coupled with the wet hair plastered to his forehead – made his face look like a skeleton mask. The only thing that stood out from his bleached skull was his vivid eyes. The black swirled into the green ominously. I pulled back, afraid, more afraid than I had ever been around him. The car was suddenly a prison. What happened if the blackness won? He obviously was thinking along the same lines. The fire faded in his eyes and his face turned apologetic. “Would it help if I said, ‘please’?” he asked.
I controlled my heavy breathing with effort. “Yes.”
“Stay here, please.”
“Okay.” I didn’t try to argue. I was too scared.
His wet clothes squeaking on the leather, he opened his door, then slammed it shut again. He crossed in front of the car and went to meet two figures before they could approach the car.
The pair took off their heavy motorcycle helmets, and I was able to make out their features for the first time. It was a girl and a guy. The girl was the driver of the bike. They looked odd against the stark realism of my very normal old house. Mainly, because I had never seen people who looked so…inhuman.
The guy had shoulder-length blond hair, which framed his square face. His body was very tall and lean, but he looked overwhelmingly large – not just from his rippling muscles, but from the fact that his body never seemed to end. He had a demanding presence that was hard to ignore. I could only imagine how demanding that presence would be close up. I wouldn’t want to pick a fight with him any time soon.
The girl was as close to being a fairy as anyone I had ever seen. She had violet eyes and black hair, which hung to her waist in gentle waves. Like the man, she was very tall, but not nearly as large and never-ending.
They stepped over the curb and on to the short lawn of my house. Their eyes swept the neighborhood and Daniel’s car in dangerous alertness. The girl’s eyes kept coming back to me, as if I were the most dangerous thing on the block. The guy grinned at me as our eyes connected. The girl’s face remained expressionless, but her eyes circled with inky black.
Daniel stepped between them and me. I got the impression he was using his body as a buffer against what might happen in the coming seconds. Were they enemies?
After a moment, the girl stepped forward and raised her hand as if she was trying to give Daniel a high-five. Their hands met across the short space. There was a long moment where they stared into each other’s eyes, communicating wordlessly through their touch. Finally, she nodded, the black fire fading from her eyes. She dropped her hand slowly, her face changed. The anger had faded, but I saw an inexplicable fear. Avoiding my eyes, she tugged on the blond boy’s hand to get him walking.
Who were they? What was going on? At least none of the neighbors were spying on us today. They were all probably on their phones getting the news of the fire.
The guy winked at me, a mocking smile playing across his face, before he turned away
. He playfully hit Daniel on the arm as he passed, saying something I couldn’t hear. Daniel smiled briefly, but didn’t reply. The guy and girl climbed back on the massive motorcycle and the girl kicked the bike to life. A second later, they roared off down the street, blasting by me. Daniel returned and opened my door. He offered me a hand to help me stand, but I didn’t take it. Wanting to support myself, I pushed against the door.
“What the hell was that about?” I demanded.
“That was Margaret and Jackson. Friends of mine.”
“Friends of yours?”
“Is there an echo?” he asked.
“Why were they here?”
“I thought you were tired?”
“I am, but you can’t just act all weird and expect me to be okay with it! We’ve known each other for a while…how come I don’t know these friends? Who are they really? What happened at the pool? Why aren’t we dead?”
I leaned back against the door, fighting the tiredness but resolved. What I had just witnessed was a catalyst to all the questions burning inside me. More questions fought to the surface as I searched for a way to voice them all before I forgot.
“Can we talk about this inside?” he asked quietly.
The desire to sit down tugged on my senses. I looked around the neighborhood, trying to decide if I felt like letting him inside. I wasn’t sure how long the neighbors would stay occupied by their phones. Going inside would keep our conversation private at least…and I could sit down. It felt like the best option.
“Yes.”
I stomped across the yard and let myself inside the house. Daniel grabbed our bags out of the car and followed me in. He shut the door, carefully locking it. I started up the stairs, wanting to get out of my wet gym clothes and into something soft and warm. He followed, but I stopped him with a look.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“I’m going to change.”
“Oh.” He looked around and hefted our bags. “Where can I do the same?”
I looked at him and felt some of my anger drain away. He had saved my life. The least I could do was let him change.
“Up here.” I took him up the stairs and flipped on the light to our bathroom. “You can use that towel.”
“Thanks,” he said, starting to peel off his shirt.
I retreated quickly. Before I made it to the relative safety of the hall, I noticed that what I’d seen in his biceps did carry over to the rest of his torso. I fled up my stairs to change, suddenly feeling awkward about him being in my house. Daniel and I had been alone in my house almost every day. I had felt comfortable with that. The tension and certainly the attraction had been there between us, but I’d kept them buried through bickering and our verbal playfulness. Now, that didn’t feel like enough.
I sat down on my window seat, my legs no longer willing to support me, and began to peel off my wet clothes, thinking about the change. Deep down, I knew I had liked Daniel all along, but this felt like more than just like. It was as if he had reached into my chest and my head and peeled back the person I was inside, exposing my heart to all its vulnerabilities. I didn’t like it. It made me feel unraveled and out of control. It was the anti-Clare and I wasn’t sure how to handle it.
I stood slowly and picked out a pair of pajamas, contemplating the changes. I got dressed facing the forest, looking out the window I had come to appreciate for the peace it offered. I felt as if the trees had some answer I was missing. As old as they were, surely, they had seen things like what had happened to me today.
“I knew it!”
I jumped and hurried to lower my shirt down. I spun and saw Daniel at the top of my stairs. “What the hell are you doing?!” I yelled at him.
He was in his typical blue jeans and t-shirt. His hair was a disheveled mess from where he had tried to towel it off. It framed his face in a way I had never seen it fall before. It made him look different – wild. I was too angry and worried he had seen my back to focus on the change.
“Making an intentional accident,” he said, his expression not wavering with my yell.
He stepped into my room and looked around in wonder. I had never let him up here, embarrassed by the mess that had quickly accumulated. Books and CDs littered the floor, along with the odd item of clothing.
I plucked up the bra I had hung over the bed banister and snapped angrily, “What does that mean?!”
“You said I’d never know where your tattoos were unless I learned by accident. Whoops?”
He had been standing at my door longer than I thought. My face flooded with heat. How much had he seen?
“Don’t you think it’s a bit creepy sneaking up to a girl’s room like that?” I asked, as I stuffed the bra and the shirts I’d picked up into my dresser. I slammed the drawer shut with more force than necessary.
One shoulder rose. “No.”
“Why? Because you don’t see me as a girl? Or because you don’t have manners?”
I was overreacting, but the tension between us had me on the defensive. I was worried my realization of my intense feelings would have me doing something impulsive, such as kissing him, or worse, confessing my feelings. He walked across the wood floor, quickly closing the distance. His eyes held mine as he walked.
When we were only inches apart, he said, “Believe me, Clare…I see you as a girl.”
His words made me tremble. I realized what he was doing. “That’s not fair.”
He stepped around me and went to my window seat, dispelling the magic of the moment. “What isn’t?”
“You were doing that charm thing on me again.”
“Maybe you were just seeing what you wanted to see.”
“Or maybe I was seeing what you wanted me to see,” I countered.
“Or maybe I’m being honest.”
“Are you sure that’s a word you know?”
He made a face and looked out at the swaying trees. I joined him on the bench, pulling my knees to my chest to protect myself from the emotions, a part of me afraid of him for all the wrong reasons – not the reasons that could get me killed, at least. I put my head against the window and closed my eyes to marshal my thoughts.
As I tried to find the words, I started shivering. Beyond being tired, I was cold, cold to the bone. I hugged my legs closer. Between shivers, I felt a blanket drape softly across my back. I opened my eyes. Daniel sat down again and curled his legs to his chest, mimicking how I was sitting. We looked at each other across the space.
“You sure are pretty when you’re tired,” he teased.
I looked away to hide my smile. “I think you’re just trying to make me not ask you what the heck happened today.” I paused, disconcerted. “Wait, you only think I’m pretty when I’m tired?”
“Yes,” he said with a grin.
“Jerk…Explain,” I demanded, not feeling up to bickering with him anymore.
“I get to ask questions, too.”
“I know,” I agreed.
His eyes bored into mine, and I felt a strange pulse start between us. I saw worry behind his eyes as he searched for a way to begin. “Can I start my explanation by asking a question?”
“If it’s the easiest way for you to explain, then yes.”
There was a pause, and I felt the world shift. Something was about to happen. Something major. I felt my brain trying to prepare me. Was I ready?
“That tattoo on your back – is it a literal tattoo or a figurative tattoo? Because I think it might be literal.”
“Which…which one? The phoenix…or the fallen angel?”
“I think you know which one.”
My heart started pounding. The urge to run kicked into overdrive. He knew. And the only reason he would know was because he was like me. Was he working for one of the sides that were at war? Would he turn me over to his boss, whoever that was? Was his whole family a front to blend in, so he could track people like me?
“Calm down!” he barked. I blinked at him stupidly. “Your heart is beating too fa
st, calm down!”
I ignored him. “You’re going to kill me or turn me in to whoever you work for. Either way, I’m dead. Ellen is dead, because she knows too much. Who do you work for? It doesn’t matter. I’m dead. Why did you save me if you were only going to kill me? No, that doesn’t matter either. I’m dead.”
He moved along the bench then dropped down to his knees beside me. “I’m not going to kill you!”
“Why didn’t I see it sooner? You knew about me as soon as you saw me. That’s why you zeroed in on me and pretended to be my friend. You wanted to be certain I was like you. I knew you couldn’t just want to be my friend. You lied to me! And I trusted you! You have no idea how much it took for me to trust you!” Tears welled up in my eyes. “Please, don’t kill Ellen! I’ll go quietly if you don’t kill Ellen.”
“Damn it, Clare!”
“Is that why your ‘friends’ came by? To make sure you finished it? What’s your deal anyway? Do you lure people into trusting you, then, when you’re certain of them, you turn them over to the highest bidder? Are you a mercenary, or do you actually care about the people you kill?”
My voice cut off as he grabbed my arms, his hands like steel. I fought at first, scared for my life, scared for Ellen, not understanding what he was doing. He bent forward and kissed me roughly. Then the visions came and I couldn’t fight anymore.
I saw the boy at a crossroad in his life. I saw the darkness he had inside him at war with the light. I saw the light winning as he was taught by his parents to love science, to love humanity, instead of playing the role of avenger for his murdered friend.
A man appeared next to Daniel, in a lab somewhere high. He was Native American with strong lines and a handsome, young face. He was patient as he taught Daniel the different elements on the Periodic Table, as well as how to conduct experiments. There was love in his wise eyes as he looked down at the boy that was Daniel. The light was winning, yet the darkness lurked in the background – a constant presence that whispered to Daniel in the darkest parts of the night.
He got older and went through the tag-end years of adolescence. I saw his first love, a girl named Jocelyn. I saw the intense love he had for her, his complete adoration. She was beautiful and perfect, a blonde angel that made everything in his life brighter and more vivid.
I saw him reach his seventeenth birthday and I knew his fear. I watched him go through the change, which was very painful. His pain was my pain.
The man and woman stood by him as he changed from human to hybrid – understanding what was happening long before he did – their kindness was the only alleviation from the fear and harsh reality of what he was going through. He emerged from those two days different, changed. He was more now, but his heart felt like less.
Jocelyn fell away, shunning him because of his difference, thinking him a demon – he had told her the truth, trusting in their love. I witnessed his broken heart when she left, never to return, breaking their secret engagement.
I watched as he searched for an outlet from the pain, from the darkness. I saw countless women in his bed; women he did not, and could not, love. I saw men dead by his hand; men who were guilty of murder and rape. Men he had no pity for. I saw hours of study and learning as he searched for a way to feel again, hoping those before him had mastered a solution to heartbreak.
The scene abruptly changed from defined colors to blurry and uncertain. A vision of demons and men amassed against him on a great battlefield. Daniel wore antique armor, and as I watched, he raised a silver sword to the heavens with an ear-shattering roar. The scene shifted again. A white rose fell on a bloodied floor. I watched the rose fall with curious eyes. I looked up in time to witness Daniel turning into one of those demons he had stood against so fearlessly on the battleground. I felt his terror at that thought. I saw a circle of faces, nine faces, who demanded obedience. I felt his defiance and an unwavering purpose.
The scene changed back, the lines hardening again. I watched him befriend a young man with white hair and yellow eyes, a man who reminded him in spirit of his friend who had died too young. I watched as that friend betrayed him, joining with others who thirsted for death and enjoyed the destruction of the war. I felt the coldness reach into his heart again, the despair overwhelming at the thought that he could trust no one. He was alone in a world full of madness. What better way to deal with the madness than to be mad?
There was a space then in which everything was dark, a blanket that covered everything. I felt his emotions dim into nothingness. He wasn’t human. He wasn’t angel. He was beast. He was a shadow of the night. No one could save him.
A flicker of light appeared out of the darkness. Jackson, the blond man I had so recently seen in front of my house, appeared in the light. I saw their camaraderie and their laughter as their new friendship developed and grew. I saw how Jackson taught the man not to hate himself so much, to laugh at life, showing him that not all friends would abandon him.
As that laughter took hold of Daniel’s soul, I saw a purpose form, a purpose that went back to his childhood and the friends he had watched murdered by life. It was a purpose to protect. To protect the world from the others like him. Resolve and a powerful desire to do good things became his allies. They kept the darkness at bay.
I saw how he protected his family, loving them with a strength that was almost alarming. I saw how he protected humanity from the others, a dark shadow in nameless cities. A Watcher; a hidden protector of humanity. He loved protecting people, but deep down, he felt like it wasn’t enough to atone for the mistakes of a lifetime.
Then I saw my face and everything changed. I felt too many emotions to count. I was blinded by the light and the hope rolling from him in waves.
I kept my eyes closed as his hands slid off my arms. The visions danced around inside my head as I tried to remember who I was, what I was.
“Clare?” he said softly. “Are you okay?”
I opened my eyes and looked at him in amazed wonder. I couldn’t imagine any one person feeling so many things. How did he manage? I felt a pressure on my chest, the added weight of all those experiences. It was overwhelming. I reached out and touched his face without thinking, the electricity jumping up between us. The visions were gone, but I felt a whirlwind of overpowering emotions. My own emotions this time.
“I need you to go,” I said softly.
“Please don’t…I just thought if you saw, you would understand that I…“
I put a finger on his lips. “Come back tomorrow when Ellen is at work. I need some time to process everything. There’s too much…”
His eyes, having turned cold at what he took as a rejection, lit up again. He reached out and touched my face wistfully. Anything you want.
For a long moment, neither of us moved. Then he stood and headed for the door.
“Daniel?” I called before he could leave. He paused, his back to me. I sensed he was afraid to look at me. “Thank you.”
“For what?” he asked, still unwilling to look at me directly.
“For saving my life.”
He hesitated before leaving, fighting against a powerful urge. He finally nodded, having bested the urge, and disappeared down the stairs without a sound. When I was certain he was gone, I put my head against the window and started crying in earnest. I let all the emotions come, both Daniel’s and mine, drowning in them until I couldn’t separate where he ended and I began.
Lost in his past, and our present, I cried myself into an uneasy sleep.
Chapter 9
The Watchers (Book 1: The Watchers Series) Page 8
