Page 104 of Walking in Darkness
I moved right back for Aria, taking her hand again and placing my other palm close to the spot where Jill still had the chest piece.
She stilled, frozen, before she whispered, “Don’t move your hand.”
Confused, I asked, “What?”
“Don’t move your hand. I think she feels you. When you touched her, her pulse grew a fraction stronger. It’s not possible, but ...”
My fingers splayed wider, like I might be able to grip Aria’s spirit and keep it on this plane.
In this reality.
“None of it is possible, though, is it? This? Us? You coming here and knowing what we were going to need? Being here in the exact spot and at the exact moment that we needed it?”
“No,” she murmured as she sat back. Her warm brown eyes searched my face from where she remained kneeling. “No. None of this is possible. But it was too powerful to ignore. It was like I was being called to something. Something that was irresistible, even though I knew it was completely insane and reckless.”
“That’s exactly what it is ... It’s irresistible,” I agreed.
Dani remained quiet, her gaze jumping between the two of us as she passed a box of large bandages to Jill. “Here.”
“Thank you,” she said.
It must have been the first time Jill really looked at Dani. At her eyes, which were the same color as mine and Aria’s.
So pale they were nearly white.
Otherworldly.
Jill held her gaze for one beat as another layer of acceptance rolled through her before she dug into the box and placed a large bandage that covered half of Aria’s abdomen; then she had Dani help her cover her with the blanket.
“What do we do now?” I asked, my words shards as I uttered them into the sudden silence that took over the van.
Everything was too fucking still after the frenzy.
Disquieting and unnerving.
Jill slumped back against the opposite wall. “We wait.”
I knew exactly what she was implying.
Wait to see if she would heal.
Wait to see if she would survive.
“We should probably get her someplace where it’s warm,” she added.
“Do you think it’s safe to go back to my house?” Worry saturated Dani’s question.
“No place is safe, Dani.” It had been proven time and again, and that threat was only growing. Getting worse with each twisted fuck Ambrose sent our way.
I didn’t know how we were going to survive more of them. If we were even surviving at all. Because without Aria ...
My throat nearly closed off.
“We should take her back there then,” Dani said.
And hope that no one else comes for her tonight.
I could almost hear her saying it even though she left it off.
