Page 101 of As Darkness Fall
By the time he was done, Lars was roaring, his face red with fury but also eagerness.
“Yeah, we got it,” I shouted at Lars before lowering my voice just for Vir. “He sounds off his rocker.”
“Something like that,” Vir replied.
“Go!” Lars said, sweeping an arm out like some sort of generous overlord.
Vir bent down, picked up Johnathan, and then together, we slowly made our way out of the clearing. I ground my teeth together, looking at Lars’s son. Although I still didn’t like him, I couldn’t help but feel some newfound respect toward him.
The danger he’d put himself into to try and help me out had been very, very real. And he’d volunteered for it, offered to go back to Seguin to play the part of the fallen son looking to regain his father’s trust. Yet, he’d never intended to do that. Instead, he’d been there to steal the dagger. To prevent Lars from having both relics after I gave him the Idol.
Except that had failed because Lars had expected treachery fromeverywhere. Not just me. I wondered if he’d been surprised at Johnathan’s betrayal or if he’d somehow seen that coming, too.
Regardless, I was going to find out what Lars’s plans were. Then, I was going to come back to Seguin with a goddamned army of vampires if I had to, and we were going to take that asshole down. For good.
That was all in the future, though. Right now, my main concern was getting out of Seguin alive. I wouldn’t put it past Lars to go back on his word.
Wolves shadowed us the entire way back to the truck. Vir bristled with energy, and none of the purely mortal shifters stood a chance against him, and they knew it. We arrived at the truck, where Fred and the rest of the team stood, guns ready, with the truck against their backs.
“Everyone in,” I snapped. “Fred, front seat, Vir, in the back.”
They piled in as I fired up the truck. Once everyone was secure, I spun it around and–this time with the lights on–raced down the dirt path back toward the road.
“So,” my dad said dryly from the back seat as I wheeled us through the turn to get onto the road, rubber squealing. “Why do I get the feeling that didn’t go as planned?”
Chapter Forty-Nine
“Because, Dad, it didn’t,” I growled, holding on too tightly to the wheel as we raced for the town's limits. “It went wrong. Very, very, fucking wrong.”
My arms were starting to shake. Clamping down on my hands, I squeezed the wheel until my knuckles turned white. In the rearview mirror, I could see Vir sitting in the center of the truck bed, Johnathan’s body still cradled in his arms.
“Fuck,” I growled, shaking my head as we went past the edge of town.
Immediately, I pulled the truck over to the side of the road, doing my best to keep it slow and steady so as not to jostle those in the back.
“Dani–” my mother started to speak, but I wasn’t listening.
“Fuck, fuck,fuck!” I shouted, slamming my hand onto the wheel, setting off the car horn. “Goddammit!”
I flung open my door and stepped out of the truck, needing to pace. To move. Anything to help me burn off my anger.
“How is he?” I snapped, trying to control my emotions, and failing.
Now wasn’t the time for a meltdown. We had more important things to worry about than my own feeble well-being. Now was the time to be strong, to keep it together, not just for myself but for everyone else.
“He’ll live,” Vir said quietly, probably sensing through our bond that I wasn’t doing so well. “But even for a shifter, he was pushed near to the edge. His recovery will be long, and I cannot speak to his mind.”
“Damn,” I cursed as Vir got out of the back of the truck and came over to me. “It wasn’t supposed to go like this, Vir.”
“I know, Dani, I know,” he rumbled, sweeping me up into his arms.
This time I didn’t protest. I didn’t try to keep any distance between us. Right then, Ineededhim in a way I’d never needed him before. His strength, his calm, helped soothe me.
“It’s my fault, you know,” I said. “He suggested the plan. I could have turned it down. Could have told him we’d find another way. But I didn’t. I didn’t eventry.”
“Hush,” the shifter god said, stroking my hair gently, playing with the fading blue highlights, a remnant of a time before gods and vampires and daggers that could kill with a nick. A time when all I’d wanted was to live my life and find my parents.
I’d done that, at least. They were in the truck. Safe and sound. At least I wasn’t atotalfailure.
