Death Before Daylight (4 page)

He flinched. “Yeah.” Inside my head, he spoke
something else, “
I don’t want to leave you alone here.”

“
I’m okay,”
I promised.

He nodded at me before focusing on my mother.
“Sorry for getting her back late,” he said, “but it was nice to
meet you.”

She smiled. “Nice to have a face with a
name.”

“Talk to you later, Jessica,” he dismissed
himself only to linger. Then, his hand rose in a wave, and he
stepped off the porch. He didn’t look back. He focused on his car,
and I waited until he got inside it to drive away before I shut the
door. I locked it as his Charger roared down the street.

“He seems…nice,” my mother finally spoke.

“He is.” I moved toward the stairs. “I’m
going to lie down—”

“Are you two dating?”

I wasn’t prepared for the question.

I gripped the railing of the stairs.
“What?”

She pointed at the door like he was still
there. “Is Eric your boyfriend?”

“Why would you think that?” I managed, unable
to answer her. Eric and I had yet to discuss how we would tell my
parents. We hadn’t had time to.

Her arms folded around her middle, as if she
were hugging herself. When her hip cocked to the side, she blew her
bangs out of her face. “Jessie,” she spoke as if she were going to
scorn me. “You can tell me anything, you know.”

“I know that.”

“So—”

“We’re dating.”

She didn’t seem surprised. “Did he give you
the ring?”

My hand curled like I could hide it.

The side of her lip pulled up. “You thought
we wouldn’t notice?” My father knew, too. “That looks quite
expensive.”

“Mom—” I paused. “Can we talk about this
later?”

For a millisecond, I thought she would argue,
but she didn’t. “Sure, honey. Just get some rest.”

I started to leave again only for her to call
after me, “Jessie?”

When I stopped, the window at the top of the
stairs caught my attention. The sky was blue for once. It would be
one of those rare warmer days in winter when afternoon hit. It
might even be sunny. “Yes?”

“Be careful, sweetheart.”

I looked downstairs. From where I stood, she
seemed short and young, like a woman I had never met. “Why do you
say that?”

She smiled. “I know what it’s like to be
young and in love,” she said, but she stumbled over the L-word.
“You’re only seventeen.”

“I know.”

“And Eric is, too.”

“He’s eighteen,” I corrected, somehow feeling
like his age justified what I knew about him. He had been through
more than anyone I knew. He was straightforward and delicate at the
same time. Both of his identities—Shoman and Eric—were unique, but
he knew who he was in both. When I first met him, he was everything
I wanted to be. Over time, he showed me how I wanted to be myself,
and that was how I fell in love with him. Sometime between the
river and the sky, my identities had grown into me in the same way
his words had grown into my soul.

“Eighteen, seventeen, twenty-five,” she
listed ages for the simple numbers they should’ve been. “You’re
still children, and he has a reputation—”

“Mom,” I interrupted, knowing what she must
have thought about the reckless, rich kid. I had heard enough
rumors to understand her thoughts. “He’s a good person. You’ll like
him. I promise.”

Her eyes never moved from mine. “Have him
over for dinner soon.”

I didn’t fight her request. “I’ll ask him
when he’s available.”

“That would be nice.”

I nodded in agreement, but it was difficult
to feel like I was being honest. Between training and the failed
war, I wondered if Eric and I could hang out together like a normal
couple. Normal didn’t seem like a possibility. It never was.

5

“I didn’t exactly want to leave you there,” I
spoke through gritted teeth as sweat dripped down my brow.

“I was fine,” Jessica responded, attempting
to hit me with her powers again, but I blocked her with one
arm.

For weeks, we had trained together, but it
was different today. For once, Urte didn’t hover nearby, taking
notes or bellowing instructions. We were alone.

“He never showed up.” Jessica refused to say
Darthon’s name.

As my hand rose, she disappeared into a cloud
of smoke, reappearing from the wall behind me. She tackled me to
the ground and pinned my shoulders against the floor before I
sensed her. She was a fast learner. She always had been.

“That’s not exactly the point,” I retorted,
trying to roll out from under her, but she shoved her knee against
my shin. I winced. “Do you have to be so forceful about it?”

When she laughed, the pressure released. “I
said I wasn’t going to go easy on you, and I don’t want you to go
easy on me either.”

“I wasn’t,” I admitted as I shoved her off
and leapt to my feet.

“You’re cheating.” Her body moved into
position, shoulders straight, knees bent. Even in the fluorescent
lighting, her purple eyes flashed.

“You shouldn’t have relaxed.”

She didn’t respond with words. This time, her
fingers flicked, and a shadow spewed across the floor. Before I
could pull away, it latched onto my legs and flipped me into the
air. My back hit the ground, and air burst out of my lungs. Her
foot landed on my chest in milliseconds.

“You should stop talking,” she said, breaking
her own rule.

I grabbed her ankle, but my hand went through
her. I was pinned.

“If you were a human, this would be a
different story,” I grumbled, knowing we were far from it. She was
as strong as I was when we were shades. It didn’t matter that she
was smaller or even a girl. Her strength was equal to mine, and she
was faster, too. Planning was the only advantage I had. Urte had
years to teach me strategies. Jessica had weeks. And my favorite
move was already in process.

Use everything around you that you can.

Earlier that day, we had practiced with
targets, and one disk wasn’t in complete shards. “I guess you win
this round.” I started concentrating on my senses and threw them
out. The air I controlled grasped the disk, lifting it into the air
to soar toward her back.

Spinning around, she caught it with one hand.
“Please.” She broke it in half before tossing it to the ground. “I
can feel your senses.”

I took the moment to grab her leg, the one
she had forgotten about. It solidified under my hold, and I yanked
her down before rolling on top of her. When she tried to disappear,
I grasped the shadows to keep them whole. Her arms were beneath
mine, and her face was pressed against my chest. She squirmed for a
second before she gave up. “Not fair.”

“I know,” I said, “but fights aren’t
fair.”

She moved again, barely, but she moved. “I
can handle myself in a fight.”

“You’re okay in a fight,” I teased, watching
the aggravation flicker over her gaze.

She squirmed again, trying to kick my leg
with her boot. “Okay?” she repeated. “Just okay? I do better than
okay.” She wasn’t lying. “You would be nothing without my
help.”

“Oh, low blows,” I sang, forcing her shadows
to solidify again. “You are mad.”

“I’m determined,” she corrected.

“I never argued with you,” I pointed out.
“You make me who I am. I wouldn’t be anything without you.”

“Aw,” she cooed, smiling at my words, but
right when I thought she was enjoying our time together, she swung
her leg over and knocked my torso off her. This time, she was the
one on top. “I win.”

I winced, stretching my neck to breathe. “You
know, most girlfriends would have thought that was romantic.”

“We’re training,” she said. “How romantic can
we get?”

“Pretty romantic.” I propped myself up to
kiss her.

She tensed, half-expecting me to take control
again, but I whispered, “You win,” and she relaxed against me. Her
hand curled through my hair, and her mouth pressed against mine,
deepening the first kiss we shared all day. When my hands landed on
her hips, she leaned away, and her black hair fell between us. She
pushed it back, and her face flushed.

“Okay, so that was a little romantic,” she
admitted as she rolled off me. She plopped down next to me, but her
warmth radiated beneath my skin.

Her arm pressed against mine, and our heavy
breathing echoed around the room. The ceiling seemed endless,
stretching for miles above us, but we both knew it wasn’t. Luthicer
had placed an illusion on it when he created the training room with
Urte. It only appeared to go on forever. In reality, it went up ten
feet.

“What are we going to do about Darthon?”
Jessica finally said his name.

We had school in the morning. We had to go
back, and Jessica had already decided to pretend things were normal
with her friends. She didn’t want the Light to believe they had
disturbed her, but her voice shook when she spoke, “He must be at
Hayworth.”

“We can’t do anything until he does,” I spoke
the truth. “We just have to be ready when he makes a move.”

Her fingers dragged across the back of my
hand. “That’s not exactly what I meant.”

I refused to look at her. “What did you
mean?” I asked, even though I already knew what she would say.

“Why wouldn’t he just kill you?” she asked.
“If he knows who you are, why would school stop him from killing
you there?”

It was a question the elders had considered a
million times, but I hated the only theory we had.

“If he’s waiting to absorb me—” she said the
last words I wanted to hear.

“We don’t even know what that means,
Jessica,” I interrupted, “and it isn’t going to happen.”

Her clothes crinkled as she flipped onto her
side. From my peripherals, I could see her eyes staring up at me,
how her black hair drifted over her forehead in a slick wave.
“We’re going to have to talk about it eventually,” she said.
“Ignoring the possibility isn’t going to make it go away.”

“Who knows?” I wished the ceiling were real,
how it stretched on forever with no end. “Maybe it will.”

“Darthon isn’t going to die randomly.”

“He could get hit by a bus,” I joked, but she
didn’t laugh.

“I’m serious, Shoman.”

I glanced over, staring at the crinkle that
had formed above her nose. “You know, you’re kind of cute when
you’re aggravated.”

“Eric,” she grumbled in protest, but a smile
pulled at her lips.

I rolled onto my side to face her. “I know.”
I pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “But there’s nothing we
can do but wait.”

“I don’t like waiting.”

“I’ve noticed.”

Before I could continue, the training room
shifted, and the illusion ripped apart. The ceiling was stone, and
the floor became rocky. Jessica’s eyes widened, and we sat up as
the door burst open.

“Hey,” a young boy shouted as he ran in.

Jessica and I leapt to our feet, but I
enjoyed the blush that crossed her face as Brenthan stopped a few
feet away from us.

“Are you two okay?” he asked as his older
brother, Pierce, followed him inside.

“We’re great,” I dismissed the fact that we
had been seen lying on the floor. Jessica stepped behind me like
she could hide herself. “What are you two here for?”

Pierce laughed, but his hand moved over his
face like he could shove his chuckle back into his chest.

“I learned a new spell today,” Brenthan
beamed. He only had his powers for a year, but he was growing
quickly, and his excitement reminded me of my stepbrother,
Noah.

My hands clapped together. “Let’s see it,
then.”

“Okay.” Brenthan stepped back, raised his
hand, and his palm began to glow green. Sparks shot out from his
fingertips before a tiny ball of electricity exploded from his
touch. It dipped, twisted, and flew around the room. Everyone
ducked as it hit the nearby wall. The stone cracked.

Brenthan’s mouth hung open. “Oops.”

I laid my hand on his head. “You did good,” I
said, staring at the charred pieces that landed on the floor. Urte
would throw a fit. “Every shade has to do a little damage to the
shelter.”

Brenthan leapt up. “Really?”

“Just work on your aim.”

“And work on that with the other
fourteen-year-olds,” Pierce said, pointing to the door. “Come
on.”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Brenthan’s head hung low as he
slumped toward the door, only turning around to wave. “See you
later, Shoman. Bye, Jess.” Then, he was gone.

Pierce shook his head as the door shut. “I
swear,” he muttered. “That kid will never stop idolizing you.”

I smirked. “What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s impossible to compete as a big brother
when your best friend is the first descendant,” Pierce joked, but
his face relaxed. “We have another meeting.”

“Of course we do.” I looked at Jessica. “Are
you coming?”

She shook her head. “I can’t. My parents are
watching me a little more closely than usual,” she explained. “I
should go home in case they check on me. Again.” The elders would
understand.

“All right.” I picked up two water bottles
and handed her one. “Get home safe.”

She took a drink before responding, “I
will.”

Pierce started for the door, and I followed
him, but Jessica grabbed my arm. I twisted around, and she let go,
but didn’t speak. Her bottom lip hung open, and she stared at me
like I would disappear.

“You okay?” I asked.

“I just—” she paused. “Can you meet my
parents?”

I had to repeat the words in my own head to
come close to comprehending what she asked. “What?”

Her face went scarlet. “Can you meet
them?”

“Sure. I’ll schedule them in-between arguing
with Luthicer and rebelling against my father’s rules,” I
joked.

She slapped my shoulder. “I’m being serious,”
she said, but she laughed. “My mom wants to have you over for
dinner.”