Page 31 of Not Her Day to Die (Star-Crossed #2)

“ T his isn’t the right way.” Darius twists his head from left to right.

He isn’t sure what compels him to believe that.

They are surrounded by trees on all sides. It is dark, barely any moonlight filtering through the foliage, as they stumble their way around.

But he knows with certainty they aren’t going the right way.

“Just a bit further,” William mutters from the front.

Darius’s heart beats erratically as pain consumes it. Each step in the direction they are going causes it to hurt just a bit more than the last, until it is nearly unbearable.

They continue on for just a bit longer before Darius digs his heels into the ground. “You’re lying.”

Veronica stills.

Wiliam walks a few more steps before pausing, he twists around.

“William?” she asks. “We’re going towards Sunday, aren’t we? We have to save her.”

William’s face is barely visible, but Darius can make out the anxiety swirling in the man’s eyes. See the way his entire body is poised.

“We’re not. Are we?” Darius knows they aren’t. His body is tugging him in the opposite direction. Towards Sunday. Two magnets that drifted too far apart but still forever reaching for each other.

That is how he feels. Uneasy. Withdrawn. His nerves prickle uncomfortably .

“We need to keep going. We’re almost there,” William says with finality.

But now even Veronica is on edge. “Will, please be honest.”

William places his hands on her shoulders. “Veronica, trust me. This is the only way.”

Darius tenses. “What have you done William?” The longer he stares at William, the more a light attempts to cloud his vision. He blinks a few times; red hues flicker and dance in the night.

His alarm ratchets upwards.

William’s eyes are glassy as he meets Darius’s gaze. “This place is going to be overrun with the FBI soon enough. You’re a Thorne, they won’t hurt you. You just have to go with Maxwell. Then they’ll let us go. Then Veronica and I can finally be free. We can leave this town and never look back.”

It is a bowling ball that lands in Darius’s stomach, but it is Veronica who twists and smacks William.

“What have you done?”

In the following silence as they all soak in the realization of William’s deception, Darius can hear it. Not too far in front of them.

The hum of running vehicles.

“Darius, go!” Veronica turns and pushes him. “Do whatever you can. Rescue her. Save our fucking town and our goddamn souls. You’re the only ones who will!”

Darius doesn’t wait, he twists and sprints away. Even in the night, his body is innately telling him how to avoid the fallen logs, when to duck, when he needs to turn.

His soul is chomping at the bit. It is suctioning him closer and closer to its missing piece.

It is directing him to Sunday.

“No!” William’s shout reaches his ears followed by Veronica screaming .

Darius falters in his stride but doesn’t stop.

His heart hurts for them both. He understands why William was so desperate.

It is the same reason he is. Protecting someone he loves.

And Darius’s love for Sunday is fire and gunpowder. And he is willing to do anything he possibly can to allow it to ignite.