Page 79 of Visions of Darkness

“How do you feel?” I asked.

Her head barely shook, and she blinked at me, gaze so intent I thought she was trying to see right through me. “Like I woke up in a world that isn’t supposed to exist.”

“It’s your world now, Aria.”

Swallowing, she dipped her chin. “I know.”

“Was any of our family in Tearsith?”

Her head shook. “No. I was alone.”

“Good. I wanted you to rest.”

“I did.”

We wavered in that apprehension for a few seconds before she looked up at me. “You should do the same now.”

“No point in it. I won’t be able to sleep. We need to get you something to wear and something to eat; then I think we’d better be on our way.” Sitting idle would only make us easier targets. We needed to keep moving.

Concern edged into her expression. “But you’re exhausted.”

“I told you before that you don’t need to worry about me.”

Soft disbelief filled her features. “Don’t ask me not to worry about you, Pax. You know that’s not possible.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat, unable to give her an answer, to open my mouth and give voice to this thing that swelled around us, a current so fucking strong it held the power to drag me to the depths of the darkest sea.

I glanced back out the window to the calm that still remained on the other side. “There’s a store across the street. I’m going to see if I can find anything for you to wear. Don’t open this door for anyone, okay?”

She nodded again. “I won’t.”

Her words were thin—and shit, I hated the pressure that strained between us, but falling into comfort wasn’t going to do either of us any good.

“I’ll be back as quickly as I can.” I tucked my gun into the waist of my jeans, hiding it under my tee before I pulled on a coat and slipped out the door. My stomach was in knots at the thought of leaving her for even a second.

I rattled the handle, making sure it was secure, before I jogged across the dirt lot, figuring it’d be faster to go by foot.

There was no shaking the sticky sense that crawled over me.

The urge to return to her.

To stand by her.

A lure that called for me to return to her side.

It was going to be a fucking problem.

With a break in the traffic on the two-lane road that cut through the desolate town, I ran across it toward the small discount store situated in a rundown strip mall on the other side.

A bell jangled overhead when I tore open the door. The eyes of the woman behind the counter went wide when she saw me. Alarm blanching her skin white at the sight of me.

I ignored her.

I was used to it.

The way people shifted on the disquiet that infiltrated the air because they knew there was something about me that was off.

Wrong.

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