Page 105 of As Darkness Fall
“Lars will be under no such restrictions,” Vir explained. “He will be beyond anything. He will be able to bring down the barrier and release Irr and his power onto Earth as well. Wemuststop him.”
“And I gave him everything he needed,” I whispered. “This is all my fault.”
Everyone started to protest at once, to tell me how it wasn’t my fault. I held up a hand, silencing them. “We’re not going to argue over this. It’s pointless. Vir, how long do we have?”
“Until what?”
“Until he can become a god,” I said.
Vir looked at the sky, where the clouds had thickened, covering the moon from sight.
“The next Wild Moon,” he said.
Oh, great.
“We have two weeks to save the world then,” I said with a shrug. “Everyone in the truck. Let’s get back to Kellar and confer with Aaron. Maybe he knows of something or someone who can stop this from happening.”
Vir looked ready to protest, but I shook my head. “Johnathan needs care and rest. We need sleep and food so that we can come at this with fresh minds. There’s nothing we can do tonight unless you can get us past that barrier.”
“No,” Vir said. “I’m sorry.”
“Aren’t we all,” I said grumpily. “Now, in the truck. With the rest of them.”
Vir turned and went, leaving me alone with my parents, both of whom looked like they wanted to sweep me up into their arms but were holding back.
“You know that I have questions,” I said, looking at them, making an assumption as to why they were keeping their distance.
My father sighed. “We figured.”
I nodded, chewing my lower lip some more.
“Ask whatever you want to ask,” my dad said, speaking for both of them.
My mother looked to be on the verge of tears.
“W-Why?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice even. “Why did you lie to me?”
There was a long pause.
“Because,” my mother said, her voice quavering but not breaking. She looked at me, not flinching away. “At first, we were going to wait until you were old enough to understand. To know what it meant. But, Dani, you were so young when we took you in.”
“How old?” I asked. “I don’t have any memories before you.”
“Four months,” my father said.
“We raised you as our own,” my mother said. “And after a couple of years, youwereours. Maybe not by birth, but you were our daughter all the same. We loved you like you were ours, and eventually, it just stopped mattering.”
“It matters to me,” I said quietly. “What about my birth parents?”
My dad shrugged. “Lars came to me one day. I was one of his top lieutenants, and it was just after he’d ascended to the pack Alpha from his father. He said he had something for me to do. And that turned out to be you.”
“Larsgave me to you?” I groaned.
“He was different back then, Dani,” my dad said. “He was a good man. A good leader. He wasn’t always evil. Something has twisted him. Turned him from the man he used to be.”
“Right,” I said. “Because good men just suddenly have babies they need others to care for, with no explanation whatsoever of what happened to their parents.”
“He was our Alpha, Dani,” my father said. “You don’t question them. You know how it is.”
