Escaped the Night (52 page)

“I
suppose
so
.”
He stood
with his
arms folded,
almost
resembling
a statue
.

“I never wan
ted things to be like this
. Look at us now. We don’t even know one another. I want you in my life, but as my friend.”

He huffed.

“Daray, please.”

“
Fine
, say what you will
, but j
ust so we’
re clear, I’m
only
here
to try and figure out what’
s going on
.
It
seems
like you’re
the only one around who can
explain.”
His eyes shifted towards the door.

I followed his stare to see
what he was looking at
.
Kaleb and Kael
stood in the doorway
with
their
gigantic chests
p
ushed
out even further than normal
. Even though we had a truce with the nightwalkers
,
they still had their guard up
when it came to me
.

“Guys, l
ook it
s D
aray!” I said, trying to assure them
that
everything was okay with
out
having to say the words aloud.

Kaleb nodded
. “I
can
see that.”
He
never moved his eyes of
f
Daray for a second. I looked over at Kael
,
who wore a similar
unwelcoming
expression.

“Guys, c
ould
we have a few minutes alone? We
’ve got
some things
to talk
about.”
I didn’t w
ant them to scare Daray off and
I
knew they meant well, but their pose was one ready for battle. I’d never be able to work things out with them breathing down our necks.

K
ael nodded in agreement and
pulled
a reluctant
Kaleb in
to
the house by his arm.
I let out a sigh. This was all so weird and strange
, yet it
seemed so right. Nightwalkers
were
once
the enemy a
nd now we were friends, even
a
llies.
Sure, there were some wounds that needed more time to heal, but I hoped
that once th
e changes
occurred
they
’d
be able to mend completely.

I sat down o
n the steps and Daray sat along
side me. I looked over at him
and my heart skipped a beat
. He was so handsome. I couldn’t de
ny it. Any girl would’
ve been
happy knowing
someone like him had searched for her for
a century
;
h
appy
someone like him could hold onto a love considering all t
he changes
he’d been through.
If I’d never found Jay
ce, I would’ve run away with Daray
in a heartbeat.
However, Jayce was my life now
,
just as Lakylee was his.

“
I
’d like
to start
off
by saying that I’m
sorry. I’m sorry
that
t
hings turn
ed
ou
t this way for us. Our lives
are
destined to be entwined
for all
eternity,
but
just
not
the way we thought. It was our engagement t
hat took us into the gardens and
i
t’s
the
reason
you became immortal
. It’s the same reason
I
did
.
Don’t you see?
We exist because of each other. Our very existence, the position we are in
today,
was the purpose of us meeting all those years ago.
Destiny had a plan for us. L
ove was just the beginning of the
time we’
d share together. This destiny,
right here, right now, will bring
the
se
two worlds together
, they will become
one. It has to be
the reason we escaped the night
death came for us.”

“Destiny?
Is that what you call this?
I call it irony,” h
e said
harshly. “I
t’s ironic because I spent
an eternity looking for my
true
love,
only to find
out
that she doesn’t love me
back
. I’
m cursed to walk the night, cursed to feed off the blood of t
he mortals. Destiny
. Ha
! I’m
cursed to walk alone.”

“Daray, I don’t want you to be alone.”

“What are you saying?”

“
I’m s
aying,
you’
re not alone. You never have been.
Lakylee
loves you more than I ever could.
Your obsession with finding me
held you in a place where you never
had the chance to recognize what
blossomed between the tw
o of you. She loves you and
can’t live without you.”

He looked
at me. The har
dened face he wore
moments
before
was lost. “
She loves me?”

“
Yes, she does.
Daray. W
e had
too
many challenges to face, s
o many odds stacked u
p against us. We live
d
in two different worlds.”

“It wasn’t always
that way
.”

“
No, it wasn’t.
I’ll always be thankful for the time we spent together. I owe you my very existence. I do love you, but as my friend. Jayce is the love of my life. I want to spend my eternity with him,
just
as
he
does with me.
Lakylee
wants to spend
eternity with y
ou by her side. Think about it, s
he’s been
there
all this time
.
She’d do anything for you.
”

“Well, s
he did fill the void left by you
r disappearance
.
”

I nodded.

“Just b
etween us, I actually
stopped
looking
for you. It’s been
about two
decades since I re
ally bothered trying
anymore
. I figured you were
dead
,
in the
stars
,
or
perhaps
even
on the other side of the world
. It wasn’t until I located you
through the Ouija board that m
y hope
s
came back. W
hen I found you down at the beach, I
instantly
k
new our chance was over and I’
d wasted my immortality on
a
prize that
wasn’t mi
ne.
I saw the love between you and Jayce. Your spar
ks are visible to everyone. Your
love
is
so strong.
”

“
Yes,
it really is
, but
,
Daray, you had a
prize the entire time. You
simply had
your sights
set on the wrong trophy. Don’t
you
understand
?”

“
I guess I do.
Lakylee
always
come
s
into my thoughts
,
and she’s always been very loyal
,
and
I feel
quite
lonely when she’s not by my side.” He looked over
with a sensitivity
I’d never know
n before. “I
must
find her
and
tell her how I feel,
”
h
e
said, jumping
up off the steps.

“Daray
,
please. Now’
s not the time. Donovan’
s
very
close and everyone has
split up into groups
to try and
find him. I
t’s
better for
you
to
stay here. She’ll come back before dawn and y
ou can tell her then.”

“I know you mean well
,
but you of a
ll people should understand, I’ve got to
tell her before it
s too late. I can’t
live like I was before,
I won’t let
it
happen again.” He looked at me for understanding.

He found it. I understood
exactly what he meant.

I
gave my old love and
new friend a hug
before wishing
him well on his journey.
It was so
romantic;
he
was off to tell the girl
who
loved him
exactly how
much he loved her back. The thought of their
reunion brought butterflies to
my stomach the same way
as
Jayce did. Daray and I had
both found our soul
mates and above all else,
remained friends while doing so.
I watched
him
retreat down the darkened driveway.

As soon
as
Daray was out of sight
I
felt a
strange chill in the night air. I tried spotting
the nightwalkers
that
were
supposed to be
keeping watch.
Still
no sign of
them, w
here were they?
A
creepy,
growing
,
dark
feeling
ro
se
up
from the pit
s
of my stomach. Somet
hi
ng
didn’t
feel
right.
I
walked
further
down the driveway
, contemplating if I should head
out
in search of
them
myself
.

A howl sounded, coming
from the opposite direction Daray
had
headed
in
.
Even though I heard
it
,
I couldn’t shake my suspicion,
something didn’t feel right.
I couldn
’t see anything visibly wrong, but
the
h
airs on my arm
s
stood
on end and
c
hills
ravaged
down my back
. I decided it’
d be
best
to
head back
to the comfort and security of the house.