by Jenna Black
“I can’t fly into the city,” my mom continued, “but I’m going to fly into Newark and rent a car. I should be there at about three.”
I think my heart stopped beating for a couple of seconds. “Wait. At three? You can’t possibly mean today.”
Surely not! Surely I’d misunderstood her. I hadn’t had nearly enough time to plan for her arrival.
“Yes, today. I don’t see any reason to draw this out. Not when you need me.”
“But what about Beth? You know you may never see her again if you come here.”
Mom’s voice got tight, but she didn’t sound any less determined. “I’m sure it won’t come to that. They can’t keep Philadelphia under quarantine forever.”
“They’re not going to let you bring a rental car into the city,” I said in a desperate search for something to make her hesitate, at least take a little time to think it over. (And give me a little more time to figure out how I was going to keep her from becoming my Achilles’ heel.) “Rental car places generally want to get their cars back.”
I regretted the sarcasm the moment the words were out of my mouth, but my mom didn’t seem to mind. “I realize that, honey,” she said gently. “I’ll leave the car when I get to the quarantine zone, and I’ve arranged for someone to return it for me. When I’m through, I’ll call a taxi. I’ve rented a room at the Rittenhouse, but I’m hoping that by tomorrow, we can get the house cleaned up enough for us to move back in.”
I almost laughed, more out of hysteria than humor. Mom clearly had no concept of what she would be facing when she entered the city, and by the time she got a look at the view from the Rittenhouse Hotel—which overlooks Rittenhouse Square with its now permanent night—it was going to be too late to turn back. Also, if she thought we were going to be able to live in our old house by tomorrow, she had no clue the extent of the damage Aleric’s Nightstruck had done. That might mean I’d have a couple of days before I had to face the fight that was coming when I refused to go home. Maybe in a couple of days, I’d come up with an idea for how to make the night magic go away.
“At least wait until tomorrow to come into the quarantine zone,” I begged. “If you get here at three, you’ll only have a couple of hours before Transition, and if you get delayed…”
“I’m going to get there in plenty of time,” she assured me in the soothing croon you might use with a frightened child—or a crazy person. “Don’t you worry. I’ll meet you in the lobby of the Rittenhouse at three o’clock sharp. That’s a promise.”
“Please, Mom. Don’t—”
“I’m coming, and that’s final. Now I have to get moving or I’m going to miss my flight.”
“At least choose a different hotel! Trust me, you don’t want to have to look at Rittenhouse Square all day.”
The Rittenhouse was the closest hotel to our house, and therefore the one we were most familiar with. It wasn’t at all a surprising choice for my mom to make. It was just the worst possible one. Thanks to the perpetual night in the square, Aleric or one of his minions was bound to see me go in, and then they’d go on the attack as soon as night fell.
“The arrangements are already made,” my mom said. She was like a bulldozer, and no puny human being was going to stand in her way. “If the square will give me a preview of what it’ll be like at night, then all the better to prepare myself.”
“You can ‘prepare yourself’ when Transition hits.”
“I have to go, honey. The taxi just honked. I love you, and I’ll see you soon.”
She didn’t wait for my reply. No doubt she already knew I would keep arguing if she gave me the chance. Which is why she didn’t answer the phone when I tried to call right back. I was tempted to hurl the phone against the wall in frustration, but settled for hurling it onto the bed instead. The impressive bounce off the mattress wasn’t anywhere near as satisfying as the spray of plastic shards and spilled innards would have been.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I wish I could be there with you just in case,” Dr. Gilliam said as we all packed our bags. She and Luke were going to move to a new hotel, but I hoped the pressure would be off them when I was with my mom. No way it would be safe for them to go home, but with Aleric focused on me, he probably wouldn’t go hunting for them, and they could probably afford to stay in the same hotel at least for a few days at a time.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll be fine, and the hospital needs you more.” Not to mention how bad an idea it was to have Dr. Gilliam and my mom in the same room together.
Bob probably sensed the tension in the room. He was practically glued to my side, and I had to be careful not to trip over him as I moved to give the dresser drawers one last inspection. We didn’t really unpack when we moved into new hotels, but our stuff did tend to find its way into drawers and odd corners anyway.
“Thanks again for taking Bob,” I said as I bumped into him for the thirtieth time. There was no way I was taking Bob anywhere near the square and its endless night. He’s eighty pounds of pure muscle, and if he wanted to have it out with some nasty construct in the square, I doubted I would have the strength to hold him back. Even if I did, he would draw way too much unwanted attention.
Dr. Gilliam had helped Luke and me put together disguises that might fool casual observers, but I doubted they would fool anyone in the square. Most of the Nightstruck in there would be asleep, but the constructs made a habit of patrolling the borders, and I suspected they would recognize me—and report back to Aleric—no matter how thick my disguise.
“If your mom doesn’t make it to the hotel by four o’clock,” Dr. Gilliam reminded me, “I want you and Luke to get out of there.”
I swallowed against an urge to argue. Luke was going to drive me to the hotel, and having his car there meant we could make a speedy getaway if necessary. Sunset wasn’t until about a quarter to five, so running away by four seemed a little extreme. We could walk to their new hotel and get there before sunset. Still, it was hard to accuse Dr. Gilliam of being overprotective considering the circumstances. If I were her, I probably wouldn’t have even allowed Luke to drive me to the square.
“Sure thing,” I said, hoping my mom wouldn’t make me put that promise to the test. I fully expected her to be late. Even if she got through the quarantine as fast as she thought she would, the city was vastly changed from what she knew. The Nightstruck caused new damage every night, and there weren’t enough hours in the day to fix it all. Mom wasn’t going to recognize the city she had once called home, and though there were many fewer cars on the road than there used to be, there were also a lot more streets closed due to damage. You couldn’t drive straight from point A to point B, so everything would take longer than she expected.
Dr. Gilliam closed her suitcase, and I zipped up my duffel bag. All that was left to do was get me and Luke into our disguises, and then it would be time to go.
I hugged Dr. Gilliam hard when Luke dropped her off in front of their new hotel, and it took an effort of will to let go. I owed her more than I could possibly repay, and no quantity of thank-yous would ever be enough.
“Take care of yourself, Becket,” she said as she picked up her suitcase.
“Sure thing,” I promised, but I didn’t think parading myself in front of the square—even in disguise—was a great start to keeping that promise.
I gave Bob a good scratch behind the ears. “You guard Dr. Gilliam and Luke with your life,” I ordered him. He responded by giving my cheek a lick. I figured I’d better get moving if I didn’t want to dissolve into a puddle of tears, so I jumped into the car and tried not to look back.
I felt like there were eyes on me the moment Luke turned the car onto Walnut Street and the square came into view. It was the first time I’d seen the square since Luke had pulled me out of it, and to say it was spooky was an understatement.
It was a bright, sunny day, but the sunlight came to an abrupt end all around the square. Inside, it was so dark you could barely see anything
except a few shadows. Especially with the bright sunlight making it impossible for your eyes to adjust. The imposing form of the nighttime iron fence loomed ominously in the darkness, and if you squinted enough, you could just see the shadows of fang-covered benches waiting for unwary prey to take a seat. There was no prey unwary enough to try to sit on one, but sometimes the Nightstruck thought it was fun to throw the benches a treat.
I shivered and crossed my arms over my chest, trying to remember what it had been like to live inside that darkness, to see people thrown screaming into those fangs and shrug it off.
“I did that,” I whispered under my breath.
“Huh?” Luke said.
“Nothing.”
But it wasn’t nothing. I had brought that permanent darkness to the square, and if Aleric had his way, I would do it again to some other part of the city. I patted the pocket of my jacket, where I’d stashed my dad’s backup gun once I’d gotten it back from Luke. My mom would probably freak out if she realized I had it on me, but there was no way I was going near the square without it.
Luke parked his car on the street, just short of the hotel’s driveway. In the good old days, he’d never have found a spot on the street unless he got incredibly lucky. Now, his was the only parked car in sight. Hell, the only car in sight period. No one who didn’t have to would so much as drive by the square, and this was where my mother thought we should stay?
I reminded myself for the millionth time that my mom thought we were all hallucinating and that the square was perfectly normal. I wondered if she would still believe that when she saw it in person or if she would just accept it as reality that she was hallucinating as well.
I got out of the car and peered at the darkness across the street. I could see nothing but shadowed shapes, but I felt sure there were eyes watching me. The air seemed to crackle with excitement and anticipation, the evil inside the square licking its chops at the sight of me. I wished I believed my disguise—an itchy wig, dark glasses, and a hoodie—would fool anyone watching. Luke’s disguise was even thinner, just a hat pulled low over his ears and a pair of mirrored sunglasses.
“Let’s go, Becks,” Luke said, placing a gentle hand on my arm and giving it a tug.
I hadn’t even noticed that I’d stopped in my tracks and was staring like one entranced. Luke’s touch snapped me out of it, but I couldn’t help frequently looking over my shoulder as we hurried toward the hotel’s front entrance. My lizard brain was sure that if I turned my back, something would leap out of that darkness and run me down.
I expected the hotel to be a total ghost town and was surprised it was even open. However, I’d forgotten just how nice a hotel it was, and I’d forgotten about all the out-of-town visitors who’d been trapped in the city when the quarantine hit. If they’d been staying in this lovely hotel before the square went dark, it probably would have become their home away from home, and some of them would have been reluctant to leave.
The lobby was quiet, but not entirely deserted, and the hotel staff hadn’t let a little thing like the nightmare outside their doors stop them from putting out stunning floral arrangements that were works of art. There were several people sitting in the comfortable lobby chairs, all of them tapping away at laptops, and all of them positioned so they couldn’t see out the front windows toward the square. It was surprisingly easy to do, because the hotel’s front was on an angle instead of facing the square head-on.
Not surprisingly, my mom had not yet arrived. She’d already called me once today to let me know that her plane had been delayed, but only for fifteen minutes, and she didn’t expect it to make her late. She hadn’t called back since then, so I assumed that meant there hadn’t been any further delays.
Luke and I sat down in an otherwise empty seating area, facing the front doors. Partially because I wouldn’t have been comfortable with the square at my back, but also because it made no sense not to face them when I was waiting for someone. I unzipped my coat, but didn’t dare take it off for fear the gun might spill out at some inopportune moment. It wasn’t like I had a permit for it or anything, and it probably wouldn’t do an attempted murder suspect much good to be caught with an illegal weapon on her person. I was overly hot, but the gun was a comforting weight at my side and made it easier to cope with the creeping sense that there were eyes watching me from the darkness across the street.
“You know they can’t see in here during the daytime,” Luke said, reading my thoughts. “All they can see is reflections on the glass.” He took off his shades and the hat, stuffing them both carelessly into a coat pocket.
“That makes me feel much better,” I grumped, but I followed it with a weak smile to let him know I was kidding. I’d have loved to take the stupid wig off, but it wouldn’t be as easy to put back on as Luke’s hat. I hoped we wouldn’t have any need to make a quick getaway, but I’d be more comfortable knowing I could bolt at a moment’s notice without blowing my disguise.
I realized with a renewed sinking feeling that I might never see Luke again after today. We were never going to go back to living across from each other, not while Aleric was after me and knew Luke and his mom were important to me. His mom and my mom obviously were not getting along, so it wasn’t like we’d be hanging out together. My throat tightened up, and I swallowed hard past a painful lump. Now was not the time to start crying over everything that I’d lost. I should be spending this time putting together a strategy to make my mother believe that we were genuinely in danger, not sinking into a pathetic funk.
“I’m going to miss you,” Luke said in a whisper so soft I could barely catch the words.
His mind and mine were obviously traveling down the same rails. If I said something serious and heartfelt, I was sure I would burst into tears, so I fell back on comfortable sarcasm and gave him a sardonic grin. “You mean because I’ve been such a pleasure to live with?”
Luke’s lips thinned, and he shook his head and looked away. Sometimes, humor just isn’t the way to go. I wanted to kick myself for the smart-ass remark.
“Sorry,” I said on a sigh. “I was afraid I’d start crying if I tried to say it back.” Right on cue, my eyes started stinging, and my vision went blurry. I blinked and swallowed and just barely managed to keep the tears at bay.
Luke nodded, still not looking at me. I’d hurt him with my show of indifference. Considering how many times I’d done the same thing since he’d rescued me from the square, it would take more than a quick, glib apology to undo the damage. I was just going to have to risk losing my dignity and having an ugly crying jag in front of him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen worse from me in the past.
I took a deep, shuddering breath. “You’re the best person I know,” I said, talking fast as if that would help me get the words out before I dissolved. “You didn’t give up on me when all logic said you should, and you put your life in danger to save me. I’ve basically treated you like shit because I was too absorbed with feeling sorry for myself to think about how other people felt, and through it all you’ve been way nicer to me than I had any right to expect.” Tears were leaking from my eyes, spilling down my cheeks, and it was getting harder to form words.
There was more I needed to say. I was sure of it. But Luke put his arms around me, and that was when I lost it completely, sobbing against his shoulder. Funny how much harder it is to keep your emotions contained when you fear you may never see someone again.
“It’s okay, Becks,” he said quietly as he stroked my hair. “You’ve been through hell, and I haven’t been as nice about it as all that. It wasn’t fair of me to expect you to just get over it.”
His arms squeezed tighter around me, and I felt no urge to complain. He felt solid and warm and real against me, the one constant in my turbulent and chaotic life. I inhaled the scent of him and tried to commit it to memory. There was no reason we couldn’t keep seeing each other if we both wanted to, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was good-bye.
I wanted to a
ssure him that he’d been as nice as humanly possible and that all the responsibility for the tension that had come between us sat squarely on my shoulders, but I couldn’t seem to suck in enough air to form words, much less sentences.
Eventually, the tears ran their course, and I started to regain control of my breathing. I could have spoken then, but words seemed an inadequate vehicle to express what I was feeling.
“Cheer up,” Luke said. “Maybe your mom won’t be able to make it here today and we can do this all again tomorrow.”
We both laughed at the joke that clearly wasn’t funny. I drew away and wiped my eyes. I pretended I didn’t feel the curious stares I was receiving from the few other people in the lobby. A quick glance at my watch told me it was three-thirty. I checked my phone to make sure I hadn’t received any messages while I was too busy bawling to notice, but there was nothing.
“If she doesn’t get here by four,” Luke reminded me, “we’re outta here.”
I nodded. I sent my mom a quick text, asking her if she had an updated ETA. She texted back that she was running late and would meet me at four-thirty at the latest. I groaned and showed the text to Luke, who shook his head.
“She does know sunset’s at quarter till, right?”
“She knows,” I said. I texted that I was leaving at four, and we then went through an odd, disjointed negotiation that ended with me agreeing to wait until four-fifteen.
“Will your mom be okay with that?” I asked Luke. After all, it was mostly for his safety that she’d insisted we not wait past four.
“It’ll be fine,” Luke said. “Our hotel’s only five minutes away. I’ll have no trouble getting in before dark.”