The Darkest Dream (The Darkest Trilogy) (17 page)

The mention of
Phe
still pained me, though it was becoming more and more bearable.
 
Darren broke our gaze, looking down at the wrapped package.
 

“Well, you should like this then.”
 
I didn’t even have to open the folds of paper to know that it was garlic bread.
 
“I thought you could get a bit of a head start.”

“Head start?”
 
I questioned as I began to dig into the food.
 
It was quite delectable, and I had a hard time pacing myself so as not to look like an animal.
 

“On throwing Demetrius off.”
 
I tensed slightly upon the mentioning of his name, but I urged Darren on with my eyes, my mouth full.
 
“It was a bad joke.”

“Oh!”
 
I shook my head, feeling like an idiot.
 
“No, I was just distracted by the food and…”
 
I didn’t have to tell him the rest.
 
He knew the mention of
his
name had also thrown me off.
 
Rather than dwell on my own foolishness, though, I decided to change the subject.
 
“So…what is the plan, then?
 
Other than pumping me full of garlic bread.”
 
I asked after swallowing.
 

His grin was subtle before he stood and crossed the room to the miniature refrigerator, returning with a bottle of water that he set down in front of me.
 
When he sat back down, his entire demeanor had changed, suddenly very serious.

“We’ll go tomorrow.”
 
I nodded, purposely shoving a fork-full of spaghetti into my mouth so as to prevent myself from making obvious any hesitations I may have.
 
“We have to try to disguise your scent again—”

“Like with the fire?”
 
I couldn’t stop myself, my eyes widening.
 
We couldn’t burn down the motel—

“Not quite like that, no.”
 
He shook his head and gestured to the garlic bread I had just picked up.
 

“I thought you said garlic was a myth.”

“Well, when it comes to warding vampires off, it is.
 
But it can be used to throw off your scent.
 
Of course, it doesn’t work very well, but we have to make an attempt.
 
He’ll question it if we don’t.”
 
My only response was a nod.
 
“I’ve got some supplements too—a few different things.
 
Some garlic capsules, some vitamin B, fish oil—things that supposedly cause a change in scent.”
 

“But it won’t work?”
 
He shook his head solemnly.
 

“More than likely, no.
 
Your scent is strong, especially so to him.”
 
His eyes clouded over for a moment.
 
“Because he’s tasted your blood.”
 
I narrowed my eyes at him, wishing now more than ever that I had his thought-reading talent.
 
I didn’t know where it came from, but I had the strange feeling that he was covering something up.
 
Before I had the chance to press him, he continued on.
  

“But, like I said, if we don’t at least make an attempt, he’ll be suspicious.”
 
I nodded again, taking a very large bite of garlic bread.
 
“My plan is to lead him to me—but I’ll need something to lure him there.
 
That’s where you come in.”
 

“So I’ll get to stay with you?”
 
My hopes immediately perked.
 

“Absolutely not.”
 
He gave a firm shake of his head and I sighed, looking down at the container of food he’d brought back for me.
 
“I can’t put you in that kind of danger, Lucinda.
 
I just can’t.
 
You shouldn’t even be here as it is.
 
You’re too important.”
 
I looked up for a moment, trying to understand why he was so incredibly determined to protect me.
 
“Please don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.”
 
I
said,
my voice very quiet as I used the fork in my hand to fiddle with my food.
 
If anything, I was more worried than angry.
 
But I didn’t say anything more on the subject, instead urging him to continue on.
 
He stared for a moment longer before doing so.

“There’s an old warehouse not too far from town.
 
That’s where you’ll lead him.
 
From there, you will leave with
Marleja
.
 
You’ll be safe with her.”
 
I only nodded, again trying to ignore the simplicity of his plan.

“Who will be helping you?”
 
I asked.
 
His eyes darkened a few shades.
 

“I’ll be all right.
 
Remember, his numbers should be weakened, after the fire.
 
If I can get him alone…I’ll finish it.”
 

But Darren wasn’t convinced, I could tell.
 
And this sent a bolt of fear straight to my heart.
 
I said nothing, though, hoping that I could maintain my emotions just enough so that he wouldn’t notice.
 
Taking a moment to gather myself before speaking, I set my fork down with great care before looking up and holding his eyes.

“So this is our last night then?”
 
His nod was barely noticeable.
 
“But after—”

“No, Lucinda.”
 
He shook his head.
 
I balked, incredulous.
 
He couldn’t still think it best that we part ways.
 
“This world…it’s not safe for you.
 
This,
”
 
he
motioned between the two of us.
 
“It’s too dangerous.
 
It can’t continue on.”
 
The thought of losing him was enough to make me wish for death.
 
“You deserve more than what I can offer you.”

I struggled to breathe for a long moment before I found my voice again.
 
“So—this is it?”
 
He nodded once more and I forced myself to ignore the pain crashing through me.
 
I’d suddenly lost my appetite and I pushed the food away, spending the next several moments telling myself to keep it together.
 
My eyes searched the room for the clock and I felt my heart fill with dread as I realized how little time we actually had left.
 

“I’m so sorry, Lucinda,”
 

I could tell that he meant it.
 
Darren was sorry for a great many things, but this offense not even close to being the one he felt most terrible for.
 

“Will you do something for me?”
 
I asked.
 
He was leery to say yes, and I felt the urgent need to placate him.
 
“I just—I wondered if, for tonight, we could pretend that—that you and I were just two normal people—”
 
Darren’s eyes filled with a heavy sadness and I had to look away so that he wouldn’t see my tears.
 

But a moment later, he was kneeling in front of me, taking my face gently into his hands.
 
I felt the cool moist trail left behind where he brushed away my tears.
 

“I can do that.”
 
The beginnings of a smirk played at the corners of his lips.
 
“On the one condition that you brush your teeth first.”

And I laughed, ducking my head and wiping at the tears myself.
 
“I can agree to that.”

“Here, you should take some of these while you’re in there.”
 
Seemingly out of nowhere, he’d retrieved a bag and was holding it out to me.
 
I noticed a few bottles inside.
 

“Won’t this stuff make me smell bad to you too?”

“You could never smell bad to me, Lucinda.”
 
I smiled again, rolling my eyes as I took the bag from his fingers and rose to my feet.
 

“Oh, I doubt that.”

“I’m being honest.
 
You’re…you’re unique.”
 

“Well, that’s a compliment if I ever heard one.”
 
I told him, smiling through the sorrow.
 

I didn’t want this to end.

With a soft sigh, I turned and walked to the bathroom where I spent a few moments brushing my teeth and reading the directions on the back of the bottles.
 
I took a bit more than the recommended dosages, figuring natural substances such as these wouldn’t cause much harm, and quickly freshened up before exiting the small room, flipping the light off as I did so.
 

Darren was lying on the bed, pillows propping him up, the remote in his hand.
 
“Shall we watch a movie?”
 

“That’s nice and normal,
”
 
I
agreed with a nod.
  
I felt only a moment’s hesitation before I stepped forward and climbed into the bed beside him.
 
He patted the pillow nearest him, gesturing for me to come closer.
 
I obeyed, sidling up alongside him and resting my head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around my small frame.
 
I let him have control of the remote, watching as he flipped through the channels.
 

“Is there anything in particular you’d like to watch?”
 
I shook my head, letting him have free reign.
 
I was curious to see what he’d choose, and I was shocked when he settled on ‘The Wizard of Oz’.
 

“I haven’t watched this movie since I was a little girl,
”
 
I
commented, snuggling closer to him.
 
Once upon a time, I had watched it almost every single day with my mother.
 
But after her death, I’d never felt the urge.
 
“I used to watch it with my mom,
”
 
I
told him.
 
“I think it was the last thing we did together.”

“I can turn it—”

“No,
”
 
I
shook my head.
 
“No, this is fine.”
 
I wondered if, by the end of all of this, I was going to feel like Dorothy, caught in a dream.
 
Nobody would ever believe me, I was already aware of that.
 
I doubted that I would even want them to.
 

My mind went back to my mother once more, and I couldn’t help but wonder what she had been thinking.
 
Why had she trusted Demetrius?
 
Why had she given herself to him?
 
I couldn’t figure it out, though I felt that I should be uniquely qualified to understand exactly what she must have felt.
 

But I couldn’t.
 
And it was because Darren was
different
.
 
Darren was
good
.
 
It didn’t matter that this hadn’t always been the case.
 
He had changed, and his feelings were genuine, I could tell.
 

I wondered if she had felt the same about Demetrius as I was feeling about Darren.
 

Images of his past acts involuntarily flashed through my mind, one after the other, and I squeezed my eyes closed as I pulled myself impossibly closer to him.
 

It dawned on me how strange my reaction was.
 
Pulling myself closer to the thing that had committed the acts, as if to protect myself…though, deep down, it was the version of Darren that Demetrius had shown me that I feared.
 

But the monster that he had been was gone, replaced by the man I knew would do anything to protect me.
 

I sighed softly, breathing him in, burning every memory into my mind as if it could be the last.
 
Because, in reality, it was.
 

When he stirred softly beneath me, I remembered that he could be listening to my thoughts and I decided to push them away and concentrate on the movie.
 
I watched as the images I’d once had memorized danced across the screen, listened as the words I once recited filled the room.
 
I told myself to forget the past and ignore the future—to live now, in the moment.
 
And eventually, I felt content.
 

The credits rolled along the screen and I stared at my hand resting over the place where his heart should be beating—thinking how strange the stillness seemed.
 
If I hadn’t been looking for it, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed.
 
It was something that, as a human, was easily taken for granted.
 

For a moment, I tried to imagine what it must feel like.
 
How odd it must feel at first, to lose something that was so integral to your being.
 
How long would the silence take to get used to?
 
How long until you no longer noticed that the steady rhythm of your life was no longer there?

For a moment, I wondered if that would be how I felt if Darren left.
 
Without
Phe
, without a family…what was going to keep me going now?
 
Would I ever get used to the broadening emptiness I felt in my chest?