Rise at Twilight

by Kayla Krantz

  Chance scrunched his face, a mix of surprise and confusion playing across his features. “Like who, doll?”

  “These supposed people who want to hurt us…th-that think it’s okay to keep Asher from us. Why not target them?”

  Chance’s golden eyebrows raised in surprise, and he tapped the tip of his knife to his lip. “I don’t even know if I can kill them…did you forget they’re already dead?”

  Luna frowned. “We know it’s possible, right? Violet’s dead. I’m already dead, but that didn’t stop you from stealing the goddamn glass shard when I got curious. I think you just never bothered to try.”

  Chance shrugged and looked her up and down. “Or I’ve been too preoccupied taking care of someone to be able to do much else.”

  Luna gave him the stink-eye. “I don’t want to hear that. It’s an excuse.”

  Chance sighed and threw his dagger to the floor with a clang and a splash when it drifted into the pool of blood beside his rag. “Look, these people that I find must be on the brink of death anyway. Why else would they be here? Normal people can’t come and go as they please.”

  “You got me in my dreams when I wasn’t dying. You lured me here…you can easily do the same to others. Don’t pretend as if you can’t. You know what you look like and you use it to your advantage. That’s always how you’ve gotten your victims.”

  Chance breathed out slowly, running his hand through his blonde hair to stain it red with blood. “I can’t deny that, but I also can’t help what I am. Telling me not to kill? That’s like telling a snake to lose its slither!”

  That’s what he is—a snake, a dangerous predator—and here I am, a mouse…waiting to be devoured.

  “I don’t want to see this again,” she whispered, taking an unconscious step backward. I can’t see this again, she added silently.

  “Unless it fits your agenda, right?” Chance asked.

  “I’m just saying if you have to do this, at least have a purpose behind it.”

  Chance reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “We’ve already had this talk, darling.”

  Luna narrowed her eyes.

  “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want to do,” Chance said. “That should be enough, and if this is too much, well, just turn a deaf ear every now and then.”

  “You think it’s that easy for me to do?”

  Chance shrugged. “I don’t know what it’s like for you.”

  He didn’t add the I don’t care, but Luna could hear it in his tone anyway. “I-I was so…lost when I heard her scream that I—” Luna drew her eyebrows together with the struggle to find her words growing only stronger by the minute.

  His face blanched of all emotion as he stared at her as if something had suddenly sparked across his thoughts. “Oh! What you said about more deserving people…you were serious, weren’t you?”

  Luna bowed her head, suddenly finding it easier to look at the pool of blood than him.

  “No, don’t do that,” Chance said, taking a small step toward her. “It was a simple question.”

  She glanced up at him through her lashes. How could she possibly explain the madness inside her mind? The look on Chance’s face was sincere, but that only caused more questions to surface. If she gave him the green light, told him to do whatever he needed to do to get Asher back, how far would he go.

  Who would he hurt…and how would Luna feel about her decision tomorrow?”

  “Yes, I am,” she said because suddenly she could see her situation for what it was.

  If she didn’t want to stay in the cabin anymore, Chance wouldn’t let her leave. There was a limit to his generosity…if it could be called that. Even if she wanted to leave, he would always bring her back, and she would rather be trapped with her son than alone.

  “I-if this…me and you…is going to work, you can’t do this in the cabin anymore…at least don’t let me hear it if you do.”

  Chance’s shoulders slumped, and his anger gave way to sympathy as he reached out to set his hands on her shoulders. “That’s fair, I suppose. If I can say a word in my defense, I thought you were asleep.”

  Luna pressed her lips together, feeling a sickening chill lick its way down her spine. Chance had become so used to bloodcurdling screams that he no longer heard them.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  WHEN SHE HAD been alive, Amy hadn’t spent much time around kids, babies particularly. A good portion of her life had been spent cooped up in her cell in Brentwood psychiatric—kids never came there. Just other adults, some of them mad, but for the most part, they were normal people going through a rough patch in their life.

  So, when Amanda came to her with Luna’s squealing infant, Amy stared at it, not knowing what to do.

  “Please, I need to find somewhere safe before I can watch over him,” Amanda was saying, her wide blue eyes pools of desperation.

  Amy listened to her story, how Luna had almost found her and how Amanda had sent her dog to get some supplies, but the dog hadn’t returned. She was in danger. That was something Amy could understand.

  “Why do you want me to watch him?” she asked, still refusing to reach out, to take this responsibility with the hope that Amanda would change her mind and find someone else to deliver this burden to instead.

  “The Voice told me to bring him to you,” she said. “It told me you were acquainted with Max.”

  “You know Max?”

  Amanda bobbed her head and wiped a strand of dirty hair from her face. “Yes, a little bit. He’s close to Luna.”

  Was close to Luna, Amy thought but didn’t say it. She suddenly understood why the Voice had named her a “Protector.” It had been prepared for this moment to come.

  “Why not give the baby to him?”

  “They’ve already come to him,” Amanda said. “He warned me away before they found me this time. Every time they get closer and closer. It’s just not safe for me anymore.”

  Amy had the urge to say no, to step back and let Morpheus strip her of any and all powers once and for all, but she wanted to see Michelle again, and to do that, she’d need to keep herself sane.

  “Okay,” Amy said at last and reached her arms out, fingers trembling as Amanda passed the tiny body to her.

  Amy held the baby awkwardly between both hands, staring into its beautiful face. It looked so much like its father that Amy couldn’t pick out any of Luna’s details at all, besides the caramel tinge to his skin of course. Amanda licked her dry lips, looking between the baby and its new caretaker. Amy glanced at her, the worry visible in her eyes.

  “He’ll be okay,” Amy assured her, tucking the baby against her body.

  Amanda relaxed at the gesture and hoisted her bag farther onto her shoulder. “Thank you.”

  “Wait,” Amy said before she could move too far.

  Amanda froze instantly, glancing at Amy from the corner of her eye.

  “I’ll do you this favor,” Amy said, “but you’ve got to do one for me.”

  Amy crossed the room, Amanda’s curious eyes on her, as Amy pulled the note out from beneath her mattress. She hurried back to the blonde girl, holding out the paper with an urgency that caused Amanda to flinch.

  “Take this,” Amy said.

  Amanda frowned. “Why?”

  “Just do it, please.”

  Amanda swallowed, eyes moving between Amy’s face and paper before she complied. She brought the paper up to her face, whispering as she began to read the words. “What is this?” she asked at last.

  “That’s…” Amy tried to think of a way to explain it. “That’s not important,” she decided at last. “Just tell me…do you get a feeling from this at all? A tug, a pulse…anything?”

  Amanda frowned down at the paper again, her plump lips pushing out into a pout. “No, am I supposed to?”

  Amy’s shoulders slumped and she reached out to take the paper. “No, I guess not.”

  Amanda stared as if she wanted to ask a thousand questions when A
sher stirred in Amy’s arms. The sound seemed to spark a new panic in Amanda, a flash of light twinkling, before she said, “I’ll be back as soon as I find a place.” She gave the baby a kiss and turned away, looking over her shoulder once before she disappeared through the trees.

  Amy just stared into the baby’s beautiful blue eyes, wondering what to do next. The baby’s weight seemed increasingly heavy in her arms, but the paper weighed even more. How could she possibly figure out how to find Cassandra while taking on the mission she had been deemed unworthy of?

  Asher cooed, eyes on the paper. With one chubby hand, he reached out, and she panicked, worried he would rip it, but his fingers touched it gently, and the spot began to glow. Amy’s eyes went wide as she watched the light leaking from his fingertips and throughout the paper.

  The blue streaks framed the letter, swooping down like a gentle flush of handwriting before all at once it dulled. Amy blinked, looking at the marks left behind, before she looked back at the baby in awe.

  The lines and marks left behind by the light formed a map. Asher pulled his fingers away and cooed happily. Wiping away her amazement, Amy swiped her thumb over the baby’s forehead and whispered, “You don’t look like your Mama, but you certainly have her power.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  CHANCE KNEW LUNA would eventually reach her breaking point. It wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ but simply ‘when.’ Too much had changed too fast and beside the incident with the mirror shard, she had been unreasonably calm. That in itself was suspicious. Even he, with his remarkable ability to control his emotions, hadn’t handled his first few weeks of his death in a manner he was proud of.

  When Luna left his special room with stiff steps, he could sense that delicate balance within her was off kilter. Something was going on in her head, and she wouldn’t tell him. Even when exhaustion hit him, he stayed awake, watching her. When she bolted from the cabin without a word that night, he was ready—ready to chase her down through the trees just as he had done before.

  The dense thickets in the dead of night made it nearly impossible to see, but Chance managed just fine by following the sounds of Luna’s sobbing. What Luna followed to make her way through the trees with such ease, Chance hadn’t the slightest idea, but the run lasted far longer than he imagined, longer than he would’ve liked.

  The more time this took to end, the harder it was for him to focus, to keep the monster inside of him from making an appearance. The fact that his predator instinct had been denied satisfaction only made this worse. It took effort to remind himself that he wasn’t on just another hunt. No, this trek through the woods was an act of love—if he was capable of feeling anything of the sort.

  “Where are you?” he called with the foolish hope that she would give up and come back to him willingly.

  “Just leave me alone!” she called in a particularly hefty voice. Her energy was draining, he could hear her exhaustion, but somehow, she kept going.

  “Luna, come back! It’s too dangerous out here!” Chance demanded, fingers scraping against a tree trunk as he swerved a bit too close.

  Keeping the frustration from his voice proved difficult, but if Luna heard it, she would only be more determined to get away. He couldn’t voice his concern strongly enough, and he supposed he only had himself to blame. Luna had trusted him—as much as she could anyway—and to catch him in such a compromising position had simply been too much. Touch of monster or not, his would always be much bigger than hers.

  It had to be.

  Even if she hated him, she was the safest around him. Why couldn’t she see that? Her enemies lurked, waiting for a moment like this to present itself, and Luna had no idea just how deep their want for her blood ran…or how twisted they could be. She had gotten so used to casting him as the villain that she didn’t realize there were others out there.

  The girl, Layanna’s voice bounced in his head again.

  Chance’s heart thudded with the thought of Cody leaping from the shadows and tearing Luna apart. The visions in his head were enough to push him to go faster, cursing himself under his breath for his own stupidity. He should’ve been clearer when he had the opportunity, but this was the reaction he had feared. He couldn’t say he blamed her, but at the same time he wished her response had been more logical. She could get hurt, maybe even killed in these woods, and it would be his fault.

  He frowned to himself, knowing he was being selfish. That was the true reason he was doing this. There was a good chance she’d be okay out there alone if she hid long enough to have Max, Sarah, or Amanda forgive her, but he didn’t want to let her go...didn’t want to admit that she wanted to leave. Not after what she showed they could have.

  Max and Sarah didn’t have what it would take to protect her from danger…they hadn’t even been able to save their own lives let alone look out for someone else. Someone as special as her. Chance didn’t want to leave her in their hands. He couldn’t do it.

  He wouldn’t do it.

  Luna would see eventually that he wanted what was best for her. How long will it take?

  Luna didn’t seem to think of any of that as she tore through the undergrowth, sobbing hysterically. He wondered if she actually had a plan or if she thought her chances were better out in the woods living like an animal rather than be in the cabin with him. His face twitched in irritation as he smacked a low-hanging branch from his path. For all he knew, she was drawing everything dangerous within a mile radius directly to her.

  I have to catch her.

  Chance forced himself to move faster, tapping into his predator instincts to do so. He wheezed for breath, wanting to do nothing more than stop and catch his breath, but he was gaining on her at last and wouldn’t let her see the weakness. If there was one thing he could say about himself, it was that he never let anyone see his weakness.

  Closer, and closer, he began to close the gap, and when he caught up to her, she was only more determined to flee, zigzagging like a panicked rabbit. When he grabbed her wrist, she tried to pull away, but her speed caused her to lose her balance and fall to the ground, pulling him with her. He hit the ground with a thud, and she took the moment to try to bolt once more.

  Quick as lightning, his hand struck out to grasp her wrist again, knees digging against the forest floor as he tried to stand, and he held her tight as she clawed at his skin. His strength outshone hers, and he pulled her back to the ground, Luna fighting animalistically to flee again. They rolled around the forest floor, Chance taking every punch and kick that Luna landed.

  His anger was at a high, but he told himself it didn’t matter, that he couldn’t—shouldn’t—retaliate, and so he didn’t. Bruises began to blossom on his face as she struck out again, but he let his head snap back with the force and tightened his grip on Luna who finally stilled under him.

  “Just let me go,” she begged, lying limply beneath him as if the last of her energy was finally gone.

  I can only hope.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he breathed, setting his forehead to her collarbone to hide how grateful he was for the moment’s rest. “But these woods do. If I let you go, you might not come back.”

  “That’s not true,” she whispered. “The only thing dangerous about these woods are the people in them.”

  He had nothing to say to that knowing she was absolutely right. Plus, it didn’t help that he knew if he was in her shoes, he certainly wouldn’t come back. He would’ve run as fast as he could and not looked back once. That thought left him with the distinct impression that she was lying, trying her best to trick him as if she thought he could be that easily swayed. Maybe, at one time, he could’ve been, but that had been a long time ago, before his mistakes.

  Before he learned just how stubborn he would have to be.

  “Come on, before you step in a bear trap,” Chance said, voice even to brush off the fact he was still processing her words.

  Luna visibly bristled, and Chance knew instantly that she thought of Max
’s injury, that she assumed he was taking shots, when for once, that had been the furthest thing from his mind. She slapped at him, suddenly and grudgingly back to full strength, and Chance was frustrated beyond his limits. He was tired, scared, and after being unable to complete his killing, unsatisfied. There couldn’t have been a worse time for her to do this, and he didn’t understand why she wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t she see he was only trying to help? He grabbed her other arm before he pulled a wad of rope from his back pocket. Luna kicked at him again as he began to tie her hands together, but Chance didn’t take it to heart.

  Luna was too deep in her hysterics to tap into her logic at the moment. She operated purely on instinct. Just as he did.

  Chance stood to his feet and pulled her up with him. He grasped her shoulder with one hand, and the opposite elbow with the other before he brought his face close to hers.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  She was silent, and he didn’t have to see her face to know she was pouting.

  “Why do you do such crazy things?” he asked in a soft whisper.

  Luna didn’t answer that either.

  Chance sighed, wanting nothing more than to sleep, and began to move her through the trees, back in the direction they had just come from. Even in the dark, the path was easy enough to follow since their footsteps had flattened and destroyed all the foliage in their path. “We need to get you home so you can lie down. Some rest will do you good, and we can talk in the morning, when you’re feeling more like yourself.”

  “It’s not my home,” Luna managed to say, slumping against him to dig her heels into the dirt like a dog bucking against its leash.

  Chance huffed through his teeth but other than that managed to hide the sting of her comment long enough to get her to walk again. They didn’t speak as they traveled through the darkness, the only sound their breathing, and Luna’s quiet sobs. As soon as they made it to the cabin, he led her to the bed and sat her down on the edge. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, plastering her raven hair to her face as she watched him, and he could only imagine the thoughts that her hysteria created.