“You didn’t think it would be so complicated?” he guessed.
“Something like that,” Keira admitted. Her new life—the one that included Walker, Darkside, and even the Reformers—rose around her like a flood. She battled the sense that it was sweeping her away with it. She wasn’t going to think about all the changes at once. She couldn’t. It had to be one thing at a time. Apparently, the motto was going to stick. Maybe she should have it tattooed across her wrist. Of course, with the dark matter inside her swirling across her skin like an ever-changing tattoo, she might not need any earthly ink.
Suddenly it occurred to her that she hadn’t seen a single dark mark on either her skin or Walker’s the entire time they’d been Darkside—and she’d seen an awful lot of their skin there, recently.
She blinked away the sudden rush of heat that came with the thought. “Hey, how come the dark marks only show up on our skin when we’re here?”
Walker blinked, surprised. “Oh. Yeah. They don’t know, exactly. The scientists who worked with Dr. Sendson thought it was the dark matter trying to get back into Darkside. Kind of the same way that iron’s drawn to a magnet. Once you’re Darkside, though, it kind of settles down.”
Keira chewed on her lower lip, thinking. “So, we’ll always have the marks while we’re on this side of the barrier? Like—like moving tattoos that no one else can see?”
Walker’s mouth curved up into a smile. “Something like that. You’ll get used to it. I promise.”
Keira sighed. She had a feeling she was going to be hearing that a lot in the days to come. There was going to be an awful lot for her to get used to; a lot of things to sort out.
Still. She had her music—that was the most important thing. It had always been the most important thing. And now she had Walker, too. As long as those two things were certain, then whatever else happened, she could deal with it.
“What I really want to do is go home, but I’d better call Susan first.” She unplugged her phone from the car charger. The screen showed one full battery and thirteen missed calls from Susan. “Would you mind driving around for a minute?”
“Not in the least.”
He started the car, steering them out of the streetlamp’s halo and into the darkness.
Susan answered halfway through the second ring.
“Keira? Oh, my God. Are you all right? Where are you? Where have you been?” she demanded.
“I’m about five minutes from my house. I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner. I got . . . really tied up.” She tried to keep her voice light. “Are you okay? I feel bad about the way we left things the other day. Can I come over? Can we talk?”
“Actually,” Susan said, stretching out the word until it was hair-thin. “I’m not home. I’m at your house.”
Keira sat forward so quickly that her seat belt jerked tight against her chest. Walker looked over at her, his eyes wide with alarm. She shook her head at him.
“What are you doing there?” she choked out.
Walker pulled the car over to the side of the road.
“I came to see your parents. Well, your mom, at least. I’m sorry, Keira. I wasn’t trying to betray you or anything, but I was worried. I tried and tried to call you, and you never answered, and I thought, you know, what if Walker’d had a wreck and you were lying in a ditch somewhere and no one knew where you were and—” She stopped abruptly. “I wasn’t trying to get you in trouble. I just didn’t know what else to do. Are you mad?”
Keira’s temples throbbed with a headache. “No. I’m not. I mean, I wish I wasn’t about to walk into the worst grounding of my life, but I understand. Are you still mad at me?”
Susan was quiet for a moment. It felt like an eternity. “No,” she said finally. “I’m not. I’m confused, and I’m still worried, but I’m not mad. I realized that you wouldn’t run off with just any guy. Walker must be important—really important—and if something or someone means that much to you, then we’ll sort it out. But you can’t run off like that again, okay? I was half out of my mind when I couldn’t get ahold of you.”
There was no way Keira could promise Susan that she wouldn’t ever disappear again, but she couldn’t handle lying right then. Instead, she dodged the question. “Hey, speaking of getting ahold of people, have you heard from Smith?”
“Not really. I sent him those texts and then he texted back and said he was dealing with a bunch of stuff back home and wouldn’t be around for a while.” Susan sounded disappointed but not heartbroken.
“Are you okay with that?” Keira asked.