“Obviously, we cannot let Jaxon leave the compound until they are taken care of,” Davorian says. “Once more, we have to figure out a way to keep peace while honoring his one request.”
That we do not make him a prisoner.
“We could just pull everyone into the compound, like you’re already doing,” I say. “And we could wait them out. They’ll never find us here. Eventually they will get bored.”
“They’ve already looped back around once,” Ascelin points out. “Obviously they want him pretty bad. I don’t think hiding from the problem is going to solve it.”
I know he’s right. But I’m thinking back to my most recent fight with a Kindred. It took everything I had to get out of there, and I barely walked away with Jaxon alive as well.
“It’s forty-seven darklings against two Kindred,” Davorian points out. “We just need to get them into the desert, isolated so there will be no witnesses and no casualties. Then we can take them out.”
We had hopes once that Jaxon could be the equalizing balance between us and any of the ultralights, but especially the Kindred. He knows everything. He’s seen that we’re not just evil demon shadow monsters. Jaxon could change everything.
But when and how can we ever take that risk? When can we ever put them in a room together and hope he can change their minds?
I’m beginning to realize that maybe this was a foolish dream.
So long as we are in this verse and there are still ultralights in it, we, the darklings, will always be in danger.
“Once they reach the city, we will lure them to the desert,” Davorian moves on. “Not here, we’ll stay well out of range of the compound. But we’ll take them somewhere isolated, and we’ll take care of them.”
“How far out are they?” I ask.
Ascelin pulls out his tablet and opens the system. He lays it flat on the table so all three of us can see. He zooms in, narrowing in on their location.
“They’re in Tonopah,” Ascelin concludes. “But they haven’t moved in hours. My guess is they’re staying there for the night. There’s not much else out that way.”
Tonopah is only three hours away, if they were to come straight to Vegas. It’s still uncomfortably close.
“Keep in touch with the others,” Davorian says as he stands. “I want to make sure every darkling is gathered in the next hour. For now, we watch the Kindred. We make our move when they arrive.”
Chapter Eighteen
The Kindred don’t move the entire next day. Which makes me more nervous than if they were to just head straight here.
What are they doing in that little town? What are they waiting for?
What are they planning?
I’m ready to fight. To pound this out and get it over with.
This sense of anticipation is eating me up.
It doesn’t help that Jaxon spends the next twenty-four hours burning like an inferno. I think it also makes Davorian and Ascelin doubt the truth of what I said about his exceptional control.
But finally, while I’m curled up in my bed the following night, I hear my door squeak as it opens. I roll halfway over and see Jaxon walking inside.
He’s being quiet, trying not to wake me up. He can’t see in the dark like I can, so he can’t tell I’m awake. He pulls his shirt off and strips down to his boxers. And quietly and carefully, he lifts the blanket and slips in behind me.
“I missed you,” I say softly as he wraps an arm around my waist.
He presses a kiss to the back of my neck and then rests his forehead there. “Sorry about all that. I just… My mother…”
“I understand,” I say. “Well, I think I get it. This is a complicated situation.”
He doesn’t say anything, but I feel his breath against the back of my neck as he breathes deeply in and out.
I feel like there’s more. Like there is something he isn’t saying right now.
But I can also tell he’s exhausted. He needs sleep, not an interrogation.
So, I lay my hand over his, over my stomach, and I listen in the dark until his breathing grows heavy and slow.
* * *
I was looking forward to a slow morning of cuddling and kissing. What I wake to instead is yelling.
“If I do not get back there, my sister is going to end up dead,” Jaxon growls.
“If you go out there, you will end up dead, and not only will that leave us marooned, it will break Serena’s heart,” Davorian growls back.
I bolt up out of bed. I dart out into the hall. And there I find Jaxon and Davorian arguing in the command center.
“What’s going on?” I demand as I go to stand between the two of them. Because shadows are beginning to slither out of Davorian, and light has cracked all the way up to Jaxon’s shoulders.
Jaxon breathes hard as he glares at Davorian. “Blake texted me early this morning. Scarlett went on a run with him last night. Things got complicated and she got stabbed in the side. She’s in the hospital.”
Every skin cell on my body turns hard and cold.
This was his biggest fear. That Scarlett would get hurt because of him stepping away.
“She wasn’t supposed to go out for weeks,” I say stupidly.
“It’s my mother,” Jaxon seethes as he turns away and his hands climb into his hair. “She’s using Scarlett to make a point. And it’s working.”
He steps toward the passageway, but I jump in his way, throwing my hands up and pushing back against his chest.
“Jaxon, you cannot go out there right now,” I say, my teeth grinding. I want to scream. I want to bury my head in the sand. I want to make it all go away. “The Kindred are looking for you specifically. The other ultralights in the city told me this when we were leaving the city.”
He pauses at that, holding my eyes for a long moment. I didn’t tell him about the other ultralights and their warning. He’d had enough on his mind that day.
“They’ll do whatever it takes to get to you,” I say as my tone softens. “I can’t let them take you away from me. I’ve finally got you. I can’t lose you now, Jaxon.”
I’m a horrible person. I mean every word I’m saying. But I’m absolutely using these words against him to get what I want. What I need. What the darklings need.
He lets out a hard breath through his nose. “Dammit,” he says as he steps forward and wraps his arms around me. He hugs me in tight, close, enveloping me in his embrace. He doesn’t say anything more, but I can practically feel the words tumbling through his mind. He wants to take action now, to take care of everything.
But he loves me. And I’m asking him to stay.
“She will be safe in the hospital,” I say as I look up into his eyes. “Your mom can’t make her go on runs when she’s laid up in the hospital. Just give us a few days. Give us a few days to deal with the Kindred, and then you and I can go take care of your mother and this situation.”
There’s a look on his face, one that tells me he’s still not sure he can “take care” of it the way I mean to take care of it.
“Fine,” he finally agrees. “Two days. That’s how long Blake said Scarlett is going to be in the hospital. But no more than that. I can’t let my little sister get killed because of me.”