by J. L. Weil
“Uh, so you got a plan?” I asked, focusing the task back to the creature stalking us.
“Do I ever?” The smirk on his lips told me everything I needed to know. We were winging this thing.
Right. Here goes nothing.
Dash and I simultaneously stepped up together, shielding Star with our bodies. I didn’t want to think about how there was a time when his body would have jumped in front of mine.
“Shouldn’t we run or something?” Star whispered.
Dash and I glanced at each other from the corners of our eyes, and his sinister lips mirrored mine. “Nah. Running isn’t our style, is it Freckles?”
“Stop talking,” I grumbled through my teeth. “And don’t get killed. I need someone to do all the dirty work.”
Putting the bow aside, he suddenly pulled out a blade, flipping it in his hand. “Here.” Dash tossed it to me. “You might need this.”
I caught the dagger without losing a finger. It was the blade I had bargained for in the market. I didn’t know how he had ended up with it, but I had never been so happy to see a weapon before. The slim hilt felt smooth and familiar in my grasp. “Thanks.” Wielding two daggers, I was ready to take on whatever approached us.
A mountain troll came at us on two legs. I couldn’t think of any other way to describe the beast, but it was definitely an animal, bear-like but golden like a lion. As he charged toward us, jaws open and spittle flying in the air, the creature snarled again. I steadied myself.
Dash leapt forward, vaulting off the troll’s hind leg and plunging his blade into its back. The creature bellowed, a shrilling and deafening sound. Branches shook and dirt trembled. It bucked and shook, throwing Dash off. He rolled as he hit the ground and came to his feet, grinning like he had just slayed a dragon.
Show off. Too bad the thing was still alive and very pissed off.
My turn. While the beast concentrated on making Dash dinner, I let the electric energy in the air gather around me. Lightning was the easiest of my gifts to summon; maybe because I had learned it first. The blades in my hands started to glow white, growing warm as I sent the current from within me to the daggers. I was going to give the troll the shock of his life.
Still on his hind legs, the troll threw back his head in a cry of agony. I spun around, slamming one of the glowing blades deep into its belly, and let a bolt of light surge down my arm into the weapon. Stunned, I watched as his underside lit up, energy rushing through him like an overflowing stream, invading all the crevices of his innards.
The troll went completely motionless for a few seconds, and then he burst from the inside out, spewing guts, blood, and fur everywhere. By far the grossest thing I’d ever seen. Clearing bloody gunk off my face with the end of my shirt, I stepped back. “Remind me never to do that again.”
Dash’s mouth had dropped open. “Holy crap, Freckles, you barbequed the son of a gun. That was awesome.”
“We should do it again,” I replied dryly, not nearly as in awe of my own awesomeness as Dash was. The last thing I wanted was to smell like a dead, rotten animal for the next few days. Goop clung to my hair!
My gag reflex was about to activate.
“Never a dull moment with you. I’d almost forgotten what it was like traveling with someone who attracts trouble like flies on shit,” Dash said, wiping the muck off his blade in the grass.
Sheathing both my weapons, I tried not to think about the stuff stuck to my clothes. “I take offense to that comparison. Bees to honey would have been preferable.”
“Why? Because you’re so sweet?”
I snorted. Fighting alongside him had been fun. There was no arguing that, and it had been refreshing being almost his equal on the battleground. “You can’t blame this one on me.”
He arched a brow. “Haven’t you figured out that every creature in the Heights finds you irresistible? If there is one within a mile, they will surely come sniffing.”
I rolled my eyes. “I just want to ensure your so-called badass-ness doesn’t get rusty. Wouldn’t want this six-pack to get chubby.” I patted him on the abs. Yeah, there was no chance of that happening.
“How can you joke about almost getting killed?” Star blurted out.
“We were only teasing,” I told her.
Her cheeks flushed with annoyance. “I don’t know how you do it—stay so calm.”
“I didn’t always.” I leveled my voice, but it didn’t matter how smooth I made it. Star was having a momentary freak-out.
I didn’t blame her. I’d had more time to adjust.
“This is insane. No matter where we go, something or someone is trying to kill us.”
“It might feel like you’re always in danger, and maybe that feeling won’t go away—at least not immediately—but I promise you, what the Institute had planned for you was way worse,” I said.
“What do you mean?” Dash interrupted. “What are you talking about?”
I shot him a sideways glare before swinging my eyes back to Star. “I didn’t want to tell you.”
Her soft brown eyes wide. “Tell me what?”
There was no easy way to inform someone you had saved them from death. “I had a vision a few nights before we escaped. I saw you in an operating room for what the Institute called a ‘routine checkup.’ They were administering a shot, except it wasn’t a vaccine.”
“DNA,” Dash whispered.
I nodded. “The doctor shot you with DNA from someone who had been mutated by the toxic vapor. They’ve been researching and experimenting with us, trying to make more humans with abilities.”
“What if I wanted to be mutated? Then I could be like you. I wouldn’t constantly feel helpless or useless.”
Star didn’t understand the consequences. “I would have told you what they planned to do if the procedure had been successful.”
“She died,” Dash gasped, filling in the blanks.
I tipped my chin, forcing my lip not to tremble as I thought back to that room. “Yeah. It was horrible, and they did nothing to try to save you.”
Star looked at me, tears glossing her doe eyes. “You saved me, and I didn’t even know. That’s why you insisted we had to leave that night, because I had been summoned by the infirmary.”
“I-I wanted to tell you, but there wasn’t time. We’ve been running ever since.”
Suddenly, I was engulfed in a hug. Strands of her blonde hair got tangled in my eyelashes. I wrapped my arms around Star. “Thank you,” she murmured.
“I promised to protect you, and I meant it.”
She sniffed, taking a step back. “I know I shouldn’t be happy you came to the Institute, but I am.”
I smiled, blinking back the water from my eyes. “Me too.”
“Where are we going?” I asked. It had finally occurred to me that we were walking deeper into the Dying Labyrinth when logically we should be going farther away. A light mist had started to fall from the clouds.
“To Hurst.”
My feet faltered. “What for? Isn’t that the opposite direction of where we should be looking for your family?”
“Yes.”
“Okaaay, then what gives?”
Dash gave me a pointed look. “We’re making a detour.”
Thank you, Captain Obvious. “We don’t have time for diversions.”
“All we have is time, Freckles.”
Anxiousness bloomed inside me. He was up to something, and I wouldn’t stop badgering him until he fessed up. “Bull crap. You’re planning something, and I will tell you right now, you’re not going to try and ditch me in Hurst again.”
“He tried to leave you?” Star asked. She was so darn quiet it was sometimes easy to forget she traveled with us.
I nodded. “He did.”
His lips twitched. “I wouldn’t dream of making the mistake again. I’m low on supplies, and Hurst is the closest city that has what I need.”
I lifted a brow. “And that’s all?”
He shrugged and threw
me a grin. “So you learned to fight?”
It was obvious what he was doing—avoiding the subject—but I would get it out of him eventually. “I didn’t have much of a choice.”
Did he just flinch?
“No, you wouldn’t. Not even being their daughter.”
I let out a pathetic laugh. “You got that right.”
“They hurt you. I’m sorry for it. I never should have let you near the place, regardless of your relationship to the council.”
It wasn’t like Dash to apologize. He must carry a huge chunk of guilt. “You don’t owe me an apology. I needed to find out for myself what they were really about.”
He nodded, but the glint of regret never left his eyes.
He turned to walk away, but I couldn’t let him continue to torture himself by thinking that he had somehow let me down. I put a hand on his arm. “Dash, wait.” He spun back around a little too quickly. I wasn’t able to stop my forward motion fast enough, and I found myself pressed up against him, our hands captured between us.
Oh dear God. He is too close.
His eyes roamed over my face slowly, and the guilt I’d seen morphed into heat. When he looked at me like that, my heart gave one hard thud in my chest, sending a low tingle into my belly.
Like a stampede of wild horses, my heart beat wildly, an excited feeling of anticipation. I wanted him to kiss me. Inhaling the smell of rain and wet skin, I savored the feeling of the strong band of his arms around me.
He shifted the angle of his body, his hand running up my spine.
The edges of my mind blurred. “What happened to me is not your fault, and I won’t let you blame yourself. They’re my parents, Dash. I thought I could trust them; I still want to believe I can.”
“If I hadn’t left you there or took you anywhere near the Institute, then—”
I pressed my finger to his lips, silencing him. “I am only going to tell you this once more, so listen up, and this time, I want you to let it sink in.”
He looked at me as if he doubted my IQ, but at least I had his attention.
“If you hadn’t escaped from the Institute, I never would have forgiven you or myself. And I don’t want that amount of guilt. I have enough. You want someone to blame? Then I’m your gal. If it weren’t for me, you never would have been anywhere near Diamond Towers. Did you forget that? I’m the one who should be apologizing.”
His eyes darkened as he ran his thumb along my jaw. “I didn’t wish this for you.”
“I know. You tried to keep me out of the Institute’s hands from the moment I woke up, but there is nothing either of us can do about the past. Can we move forward?” I gave him a smile. “No guilt. No blame.”
Dash nodded. “There’s nothing I would like more.”
Was he going to seal it with a kiss?
God, I really hoped so.
I inched just a fraction onto my toes, but his lips brushed the underside of my jaw. “I’m glad you escaped.”
My eyes twinkled, regardless that I wanted to be alone with him and that I very much wanted to pull his lips up to meet mine. “I missed you too.”
We started walking again, catching up to Star who wrestled with a branch that had snagged her shirt. “Now are you going to tell me what’s really bothering you?” I asked.
Dash chuckled. “You don’t give up, do you?”
“Nope. Being relentless is my superpower.”
He snorted. “That is one way of looking at it. Should we help her?”
Star had on her serious face as she played tug-of-war with a tree.
I snuffed out a laugh. “Nah. She needs to learn how to handle herself. The girl has been sheltered and scares far too easily.”
He dropped his voice so Star couldn’t overhear. The snapping twigs and brush under his feet grew louder. “She wasn’t always like this. She is different, but aren’t we all? I think it would be safer if Star stayed in Hurst.”
I agreed, but telling her would be difficult. “Do you think she’ll stay? She won’t know anyone, and I promised I would protect her.” Couldn’t very well do that if we weren’t together.
“It is the safest place for her. You and me, Freckles, we have big lethal targets on our back. Anyone close to us will get caught in the crossfire. If she stays with either of us, she will get hurt.”
I blinked. “Then what?”
Dash glanced at me sideways. “We stop running.”
Heavy silence followed. What he suggested was practical, and my decision to go along with it had nothing to do with removing my competition. Or so I told myself. No matter who Star was, she was my friend. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.
This plan sounded like a suicide mission.
And I was in.
In the dim light of the forest, a cold wind rattled the branches, showering us with petals. The evening was remarkably clear, making it feel as if the stars hung on top of us. A fairytale ambiance lingered in the air, making me think of castles, princes, and kissing frogs. The wooded grove reminded me of The Wisps, a magical but dangerous part of the Heights.
As I took in the awe-inspiring view, my eyes clashed with Dash’s, and the phenomenon of the hidden meadow disappeared. His lustrous gaze sent a giddy rush through me.
“What is this place?” Star asked in wonder, breaking the spell between Dash and me. Her head tilted back as she spun around, letting the soft petals fall on her cheeks.
“Moonshadow Falls,” Dash replied, his irises deepening in hue.
She blinked, her long blonde hair shimmering in starlight. “It’s beautiful.”
“Lesson number gazillion in Dash Darhk’s survival rule book: beauty in the Heights means deadly,” I told her as I eyed the lake with caution. Personal experience had taught me that if it was pretty, stay the hell away.
Dash dropped his gear on the ground, indicating we were resting for the night. “Shocking that not everything I told you went in one ear and out the other.”
I smirked. “Just most of it.”
“The sparkling lake you see now will recede into a tiny puddle, but at nightfall, it will expand once again, swallowing up anything in its path. Legend says it is the magic of moonlight that triggers the water’s tide.”
“Sounds charming,” I said dully.
His eyes, much like the twinkling water, glittered with mischief. “Kind of like someone else I know.”
Getting off my feet, I plunked down onto the trunk of a fallen tree, removing my bag off my shoulders. “I’m more concerned with what lives in the water.”
“You don’t want to know,” he muttered.
Perfect. Like I was going to get any sleep now. “Are we safe here?”
Dash shrugged. “Only for as long as the water is at full height. When the sun starts to rise and the water dries up, that is when you need to worry. The creatures in Moonshadow Falls are able to survive in both land and sea, but each night, they return to the lake.”
“And this is the place you chose to camp?”
“Yep.” He tossed me a rolled up blanket. “Make yourself at home, Freckles.”
Dash started a fire from the twigs and branches Star and I gathered. It had been a long day of traveling, and we were all eager to relax. Lying down by the crackling fire, my mind drifted to the Night’s Guard, worried that they were closer than we realized. How much time did we have until they caught up to us? Hours? A day? A week? Judgment day would come, and we would either fight or die.
Volunteering to be mutated was one thing, but to do what I’d seen happen to Star, I couldn’t be a part of that. My DNA wouldn’t kill an innocent. There had to be other ways of protecting ourselves.
I snuggled under the blanket, folding my hands underneath my head and staring into the flames. Dash’s and Star’s low voices glided over from the other side of the fire, and as hard as I tried to block them out, my ears didn’t obey. Unable to stop myself, I peeked from under my lashes, seeing them sitting side by side.
“Do you remembe
r when we took Logan to the zoo?” Star asked. Her cheeks were flushed from the warmth of the flickering flames.
Dash poked a charred log with a stick. “Which time?”
Star laughed. “God, I think we went a dozen times one summer. He did love that place, and secretly so did you.”
“I loved anywhere that wasn’t home.” An edge had moved into his voice, as it often did when it came to talking about his past.
It hurt that he could open up with Star when he kept that part of his life closed off from me. I understood the importance of reconnecting. He was getting back memories he had tried so hard to recall, but it left me wondering if there would ever be a future for us.
I suddenly felt like an intruder, and unable to take it anymore, I rolled over to let my dreams take me somewhere else—somewhere far from the incessant low laughter and reminiscing whispers of Ashley and Dylan. For when Dash was as he was tonight, he became a different person—one I didn’t know.
A longing for my past, my family, especially Monroe hit me in a tidal wave. I wanted to curl up on the couch and binge watch reality TV, like we used to do. I missed my dog, Ladybelle, following me around the house. I wanted to wake up in my bed and smell my dad cooking bacon and blueberry pancakes. I wanted to listen to my mom singing in the shower. I missed the sound of my friends giggling and gossiping about boys. I ached for my old life before the mist.
My throat closed up, and my stomach twisted into knots. To make matters worse, Star and Dash were in their own little bubble, sharing memories—a connection I didn’t have with anyone at the moment.
Jealousy flamed within me. I couldn’t stop it. The sound of Star giggling sent me over the edge. Lightning struck across the sky, crackling in a power display of electricity, vibrating throughout my body.
Shit.
I hadn’t meant for that to happen. My emotions had built up and snapped.
“Freckles, what’s wrong?” Dash murmured.
I glanced over my shoulder, his gaze meeting mine through the billowing smoke from the fire. “Nothing,” I mumbled, rolling over and giving him my back again. It’s just the sound of you flirting with another girl that’s destroying me.
He couldn’t really be that clueless, could he?
