by E. J. Mellow
Dev’s panting breaths were loud in his ears as the land settled back into its usual quiet, and his heart felt like it was beating outside his chest as his gaze momentarily locked with Molly’s. She stared up at him, eyes wild with fear, shock, and exhaustion. Strings of her hair were plastered against her cheek from sweat, and her usual honey-toned complexion was reduced to nothing but a sickly pallor. A moment passed where everything seemed to stand still as he looked at her, where the stars above paused in flight and the constant breeze fell away, a myriad of emotions flowing between them until she seemed to settle on the same one as him—relief.
Slowly, Molly turned away to study where the nightmare once stood, the blackened grass and creeping odor the only remnants of what just transpired. Dev watched as Molly’s posture sagged, her hands coming up to cover her face, and it wasn’t until she tipped forward did he realize she was crying.
“Shh, it’s okay. It’s gone now,” Dev spoke softly as he rocked Molly in his arms, the contact of her body slowly thawing the chill that had overtaken him.
“What was that thing?” she asked, sitting up and roughly wiping away the tears on her cheeks.
“That was a Metus,” he explained. “A creature made of pure fear and evil.”
Aveline stepped to their side. “I don’t understand what it was doing all the way out here by itself,” she said while scanning the field. “Look there!”
Following her pointed hand, Dev took in a cluster of Metus in the distance right before they disappeared into the inky night.
“Colló,” Dev cursed. “They had to have seen what Molly can do. We have to tell the Council.” He looked back at Molly. “That’s where we just were and why I wasn’t at the tree earlier. There’s something happening…something that hasn’t happened in a long time.”
Molly pressed her lips together as her brows knitted. The look made him want to hold her again. He had almost lost her tonight—was mere seconds from living a nightmare twice… A feeling of dread slithered through him.
With muscles tensed, he was suddenly desperate to do something, anything, but sit still any longer. He needed to call a Council meeting, needed to get Molly out of here and find Elena, needed someone who might help lessen the responsibilities smothering him when it came to Molly. But just as he thought of handing her over to someone else, he became frantic to never let her go. The conflict only left him more irate. He wasn’t this emotional, this erratic in his thoughts. He was purposeful, steady, and sure in his decisions. Molly’s presence muddled that. Caused him to doubt what should be important in his life—his duty. What the definition of that even was now, he couldn’t answer.
He shook his head. There was one thing clear—she had to leave, if nothing else but for her own safety.
“Can you stand?” he asked.
Molly nodded, and he helped her to her feet. “You’re not going to like what I’m about to say,” he began, “but I’m going to need you to leave. It’s not safe. You have to wake up.”
She stiffened. “You’re right. I don’t like what you have to say.”
“Molly.” He closed his eyes briefly. Terra give him strength.
“I’m coming with you,” she said, standing straighter. “I just got attacked by one of those things, for Christ’s sake! I think I deserve some answers now. Plus”—her gaze narrowed—“there’s no canyon close by for you to push me into this time.”
His jaw clenched. “You won’t let that go, will you?”
“Let it—” Her face flushed, incredulous. “On what planet would anyone let that go?”
This was a waste of time. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, turning away. “You’ll be waking up soon anyway.”
“If that’s true”—she chased after him—“then just take me with you until then.”
He swiveled to face her. “You. Can. Not. Come.”
“WHY!?” she yelled, the outburst ricocheting off the wall behind them and echoing back. There was a tense silence as Dev watched her chest rise and fall violently, scarcely able to contain her fury. He hated that all he wanted to do was bring her into his arms, press a kiss to soften the crease between her brows.
He swallowed. What was he doing?
A movement brought his attention to Molly cradling her left arm, and he paled as he took in a patch of skin on her bicep that was red and blistering. How did he miss that? How did he not see she was hurt? He had promised nothing would happen to her, that he would keep her safe—but he didn’t, he failed, just like… Instantly he was hit with an anger so white hot that he became momentarily dizzy. “Look at yourself,” he bit out, gesturing to her arm. “This is too dangerous for you.”
Her nostrils flared. “Whatever happened to me being the key? The one you said could help out in all of this? Whatever this is.” She swung her arms angrily.
“She has a point,” Aveline chimed in, reminding Dev she was still there.
His gaze darkened but remained trained on Molly. “Stay out of this, Aveline.”
“Fine,” she said curtly, “but I’m going to set up the line. Whatever you’re trying to do, do it fast. We need to get out of here.”
Dev faced off with Molly, her full lips pursed in defiance.
“I’m going to follow you even if you don’t want to take me with you.”
Watching the strength slowly building in her gaze briefly exhausted him. He didn’t want to fight anymore, especially not with her. Brushing a hand through his hair, he let out a frustrated sigh. “I think this was a mistake.”
Upon his words, her eyes flashed with a multitude of emotions, none of which were pleasant, and her grip tightened around her injured arm. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, this was a mistake! I should never have gotten you involved. This isn’t going to work. Look at your arm! And that was just one of them.” Each word burned on the way out, but he forced himself to continue. “I said I wouldn’t let anything happen to you, and I’ve already failed at that. This isn’t your fight to fight. Wake up, Molly! Go back to where you belong.”
“I CAN’T!” she yelled, tears pooling in her eyes, and Dev felt like a man on a tight rope balancing between wanting to do anything he could to ease her pain or land the final blow to send her away, though he knew neither would keep him from a certain fall. “The only reason this is dangerous is because you’re keeping things from me,” Molly said hotly. “If I knew what was going on, knew what ‘dark’ thing you say is happening, I could be better prepared to help. I may not know how to shoot a bow and arrow, but I’ve certainly got a few tricks up my sleeve, or did you not see how I took out that fireball?”
He knew she was right. By the elders, did he know! If he were merely allowed to tell her everything, had been allowed to tell her the truth about this place, about him, maybe tonight would have gone differently. But he wasn’t and it didn’t. All he could do was try to keep it from happening again, and her leaving, giving him some space to think and plan, was the only way he knew how. Terra knew he tried asking nicely, tried to reason with her, but she was too stubborn to see, to understand what was necessary for her own safety. So he was forced to utter his next words.
“Just go home,” he said in a low voice, his throat filling with bile. “I don’t want you here.”
A shallow gasp escaped her, and she stared at Dev as if he’d hit her. But it was Dev who felt like he’d landed the blow. To see the devastation pooling in her eyes broke something deep inside him, so he turned, forcing it out of his view, and walked toward the platform on the wall.
“Dev,” she called out, and the anguish in her voice pierced his chest. “God damn it. Look at me!” Her hand grabbed him just as he shot out the grapple hook from his Arcus, attaching it to his destination above. Slowly he turned to gaze down at her, working his features into blithe indifference. He had to let her hate him right now. She needed to want to leave—to give him time to unwrap the rope she had tightly wound around him and make a plan. “Why are you doing this?” she pleaded.<
br />
“Do us all a favor, Molly, and wake up.”
She visibly flinched at that and blinked back the tears that were working their way down her cheeks. Dev attempted to ignore it all and instead concentrate on the flood of relief he felt the moment the sweet scent of Navitas spun through the air, indicating Molly’s time had run out. Her eyes scrunched in concentration, clearly aware of what was happening.
“No.” She reached to grab hold of him again, but he pressed the button on his Arcus and flew up, away from the image of Molly’s anguish and—right before she disappeared from his world—of her absolute hate.
— 11 —
DEV WAITED FOR Elena to settle behind her desk, barely resisting an eye roll as she smoothed a nonexistent crease from her white dress. The tall glass windows stretched to the ceiling behind her, and the illumination from City Hall Square flooded into her office, creating a soft glow around her blonde hair. He could very easily imagine her standing above them all, watching silently like an ancient gargoyle from her perch.
Taking in a deep breath through his nose, he wished she’d get on with it already. After Molly had left and he’d called another Council meeting, he knew it was only a matter of time before Elena brought him to an abrupt halt during his speaking session. Although it was unlike a Vigil elder to call a private audience with a Nocturna, he didn’t have to guess at what their conversation would be about. And it was fine by him—his plan had always been to gain a meeting with her.
“I’m sure you have an idea of why I asked to see you,” Elena said as her blue eyes finally met his.
“An idea, yes.” Dev leaned casually back in his chair. Though the energy that always seemed to radiate around Elena left most unsettled, Dev was not one to let it show.
“It seems you have learned some things about our visitor,” she said, folding her hands atop her chrome desk.
“And I was about to share more of those things, when you cut me off.”
“It was for a purpose.”
“Which was…”
“Most of the members on the Council should not yet be made aware of Molly and her…talents you’ve come across.”
Dev’s gaze was calculating. “How much do you know of the things I’ve learned?”
“Everything.”
The silence that flooded the room was thick, and with their eyes connected, Dev worked hard to keep his expression neutral. Oh, how she annoyed him sometimes, the omniscient beast.
“Most of what I know will be explained later today”—she tilted her head to the side—“when you bring her to me.”
Dev’s heart sped up. “I’m to bring her to you?” This is what he had wanted, yet he still couldn’t help the uneasy feeling trickling down his spine.
She nodded. “You must keep quiet until then though. No more talks with Timon and Aveline, and certainly do not share Molly’s presence with anyone new.”
“But—”
“If you care for her safety, you will do as I ask, Devlin.”
That made him bite his tongue. It also made him furious that Elena already knew his weakness for the girl, though it wasn’t a surprise. His eyes involuntarily moved to each corner of her white office. How many little spies did she have? And how much of her information came freely? The elders and their elusive ways had never bothered Dev or piqued his interest before, probably because they had never gotten in his way, until now. The fact that Elena could curb his behavior with a mere mention of Molly’s name put him at an extreme disadvantage. The paralyzing fear he still felt when he thought of her being so close to that Metus…so near to a nightmarish end…made him simultaneously desperate to ensure her safety and determined to put her out of his mind. The emotional conflict infuriated him.
He was about to agree to Elena’s request, when a knock sounded at her door.
“Enter,” she instructed right before two Nocturna guards walked in. They bowed low in her presence, the silver buttons on their black uniforms winking under the cool hue of the ceiling lights above. “Sorry to disturb you, ma’am.” One guard with copper hair stepped forward. “But there is an urgent matter that General Dev is requested for.”
“I am no longer a general,” Dev said curtly, annoyed to always find himself needing to remind others. Even though he hadn’t quite given up his past duties, a few decades had gone by since resigning the title.
“Thank you, Kade,” Elena said to the soldier. “We’ve just finished.”
Dev turned back to her, brows raised. “Have we?” As far as he was concerned, there were many, many, more things to discuss.
“Yes,” Elena said with a nod. “You’ll want to see to this.”
“How do you—never mind.” He shook his head and glanced to Kade. “What is it?”
“There was an attempted unauthorized entering of the Council meeting today, sir, and then a resisting of arrest.”
“Well, have they been apprehended?”
“Yes, sir.”
He frowned. “Then why in all of Terra have you come seeking me? There’s nothing more I can do about the matter.”
The guard straightened at his tone. “She says she won’t talk to anyone but you, sir. Keeps repeating that you know each other.”
Dev’s stomach curled in on itself, and his gaze flickered to Elena, who was watching him carefully, before returning to Kade. “Her?” he dared to ask.
“Yes, sir. She says her name is Molly.”
—∞—
His boots echoed down the white corridor with each purposeful stride, his anger a licking flame against the soldiers who led the way, and though they kept their stares straight and expressions neutral, each gave him an extra-wide berth. But Dev could give two Metus droppings about the guards in relation to his wrath, for his thoughts were consumed by the only thing that seemed capable of holding his attention these days—a certain someone who was in Terra when she should be very, very awake.
As his muscles coiled with fury, imagining whatever madness she created to bring herself here—for this was assuredly all her own doing, the stubborn creature—Dev also felt the beginnings of a suffocating fear, for whatever it was, it could not have been good.
The soldiers finally stopped at a cell marked A12 that was situated at the back of one of their holding stations, and with the swipe of their wrists the door unlocked with a soft puff of air. Entering behind them, Dev didn’t dare look at Molly as she stood from the bench she’d been perched on, for there was no telling what might’ve flown from his mouth in the presence of the others if he did. Instead he turned immediately to the guards. “Please leave us,” he said with a steely calm.
No one moved. The men merely glanced to one another before surveying Molly behind him. “Now,” he growled.
At that they jumped into action, swiftly exiting the cell. Closing his eyes, Dev took in one last calming breath before slowly turning to fix his attention onto a blazing brown stare. Molly wore the standard black Nocturna uniform, and her hair fell around her shoulders in a tousled disarray, matching the flushed stain of pink on her freckled cheeks. She looked exhausted, unyielding, and deadly provocable. She was absolutely exquisite.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Hi to you, too.” She folded her arms over her chest.
“It’s morning where you are,” Dev said, barely keeping the quake of anger from his voice, “so I’ll ask again. What are you doing here?”
Casually she took a seat on the bench behind her, as if she were lounging in his apartment rather than a prison. “You know I can get out of this cell easily,” she said.
Dev considered her, the way her gaze was steady, sure. “Yes, I know.”
“What else do you know?”
He ignored her. “How are you here right now?” he asked. “What have you done?” She remained silent, an unsettling look of determination gleaming from her eyes, and Dev became extremely wary of just how far she would go for answers. “Molly, what did you do?”
“I took sl
eeping pills.”
“What?” He took a step closer, the flash of triumph in her features maddening. “Why would you do that?”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?!” she burst out, her hands balling into fists at her side.
“How many did you take?”
“Don’t worry about it.” She stood and edged to the other side of the small cell.
“Molly,” Dev said tersely.
“Let’s stop with the evasion, Devlin.” She spun to face him, her hot temper filling the tiny space. “Tell me what’s going on. I would never have taken the sleeping pills to get back here if you would just let me know what’s happening. Why does this place feel so real? Why can’t I stop dreaming of it? And why do I have these powers?”
Molly’s breathing was ragged as she waited for his answer, and he was momentarily stunned by the brilliant sight of her, so feral and demanding. Something in him came alive at her challenging gaze, her bold demands. To be in the presence of someone as strong willed as he… In all of Terra, was it possible to be any more attracted to her?
Needing something solid to steady his thoughts, he leaned against the nearby wall. “Inquisitive, aren’t you?” he asked—an attempt at levity. She glared at him, obviously not amused. He sighed and spoke the words he meant to merely think. “I should never have brought you into this.”
“INTO WHAT!?” She flung her arms out with a frustrated burst of energy, and the lights in the cell flickered and shuddered, as if in reaction to her palpable anger.
Dev pushed off the wall as he glanced up to the panels in the ceiling, then back to her. “Did you just do that?”
“Do what?” she snarled, obviously unaware of what she just provoked.
By the elders, how strong was she?
“So, are you going to answer me?” She pushed on. “Or just do what you always do and avoid my questions?”
He watched her pace, an animal caged, and considered everything he was able to make sense of in the small window since her absence. He wanted more time, needed it, but it seemed that neither Molly nor his world was giving him that luxury. Elena, with all her supposed knowledge, didn’t end up being as forthright as he had hoped. So he was merely left with his gut reaction to the past twenty-four hours and a fear of repeating a memory that was determined to haunt him to this day.
