Page 15 of Walking in Darkness

His expression was grim when he warned, “I will raze them all to the ground. Every fuckin’ one of them. And I won’t stop until there’s not one person left to come after you.”

Chapter Four

Pax

Aria was two steps ahead of me as she climbed the exterior steps of the motel.

Long black locks of hair blew in the breeze behind her, the scent of coconut and the goodness of who she was invading my senses.

My love for her gripped me.

She held herself so differently from when I’d first met her in the flesh. Since the moment I broke her out of the mental facility.

She’d been so fuckin’ timid. Terrified of the burden this life had placed on her shoulders.

Sure she was going to succumb.

I’d sworn then that I would protect her. That I would go to any length to see to it that she came out safe and whole on the other side.

Maybe I’d been a fool to think theother sidewas going to begin last night. To think that she was finally free of the bonds that held her hostage. Free of the threats. I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

Easy.

What a fuckin’ joke.

It should have been apparent our existence was far more complex than I’d believed.

Twisted gnarls of mystery.

God, I didn’t think I’d ever been so terrified as when I’d lost her last night in Faydor. No way to tell where she’d gone, though I’d been sure she hadn’t been awakened.

It was different.

I had sensed her. Right there. Floating in the otherworld, but in a place unseen. In a place where I couldn’t reach her.

It had nearly brought me to my knees, having no way to protect her after I’d promised it was the very thing I would do.

My purpose.

Now she walked like she’d found that purpose, and it was bigger than she ever could have imagined.

Because she was more remarkable than any of us had known.

“This is it,” she said as she stopped in front of Room 237.

We’d gone east, following the same path we took the first time we escaped Albany, though we made it an additional four hours deeper into Pennsylvania this time.

Hated that I had to drag her on the run again, but I honestly didn’t know what else to do except keep moving.

Stay one step ahead of the monsters that lurked.

Which was hysterical since those bastards would be waiting for us wherever we chose to go. But staying stagnant felt as if we were setting ourselves a trap, and I was doing the best I could do.

Aria tapped the key card against the reader, turned the handle, and pushed open the door to the motel room.

This one was a bit nicer than some of the dives we’d previously stayed in. Not so off the beaten path. Half of our issues had been solved once we no longer had to keep Aria hidden from her parents.

At least that part was a relief.