The Gathering Dark

“Oh, God. It looked so real. I saw . . . I thought . . . they were going to kill me.” Her voice shook. The icy covers slithered against her, making her quake with cold. The room had turned wintry while they slept.

Walker pulled her against him and she buried her face against his neck, wrapping her arms around his back. He was shirtless, and his skin was bed-warm beneath her fingers.

“I’m not going to let that happen.” He stroked her hair, her terror fading beneath his touch.

“I want you to teach me how to get back from Darkside on my own,” she said. He tensed, pulling away from her. In the dim glow from the digital clock, she could see him looking at her. His curls were wild with sleep.

“I will teach you. But we can’t do it until we’re ready to run. Each time we cross, we’d tear a bigger hole in Darkside. Going back and forth in one spot like that would bring the guards in a heartbeat.”

Then the nightmare wouldn’t be a nightmare anymore. It would be real.

“Tomorrow, then. I can’t be totally dependent on you to take care of me.”

“I want to protect you, but you’re right, you should be as prepared as possible. Who knows? I might even need you to save me.”

“Exactly. If I can learn to go back and forth, then I can escape if I need to. We’d be safe.”

“They do have ways of keeping you from escaping,” Walker said. The warning poisoned his voice. “We’ll never be completely safe.”

“Well. That’s a super nice thought. Thanks.” She yanked the covers straight and slithered beneath them, flipping onto her side. Away from him.

“Keira. I’m not trying to make you mad,” he said quietly.

After a long moment, she let out the breath she’d been holding. She wasn’t really angry with him. She was angry at everything; at the unsolvable situation, at the disaster it had made of her carefully planned life. Walker just happened to be there too. It wasn’t fair to blow up at him.

“I know. It’s not your fault. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.” The bed shifted as he settled himself.

They lay next to each other in the dark.

“I’m sorry too,” he said.

She shivered, drawing her knees up beneath the covers. So they were both sorry. And she was still screwed. She sniffed once, swallowing back tears.

“Keira . . . ” Walker’s voice was hesitant.

“I’m fine,” she said, shivering again.

“I know you are.” There was as much sadness as admiration in his words. Then he slid across the bed, spooning himself around her. He draped an arm over her and their bare legs pressed against one another. His warmth drove the chill from the sheets and took Keira’s fear with it.

The contours of the Darkside ravine appeared, shining with a different sort of blackness against the dark of the hotel room. Keira stared at it. She knew if she pulled away from Walker, it would disappear.

But it wouldn’t really be gone.

And she would be cold and scared and alone.

It didn’t seem like such a hard choice anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut and snuggled back against Walker’s chest. His arm tightened around her waist.

Keira relaxed. Her thoughts began to drift, and when Walker murmured something into her hair, the words were lost in the fog of her almost-sleep.

“Mmm . . . what?” She struggled to open her eyes, wondering what he’d said.

“Oh. Sorry. Nothing. I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said.

Her curiosity was no match for her exhaustion, and she drifted off to sleep.

? ? ?

Her cell phone rang early the next morning, waking Keira. She’d rolled toward Walker in the night, and they were so tangled up in each other that it took her a minute to extricate herself. She grabbed for the phone a moment too late. It was Susan. Keira swore.

The sharp wolf whistle from the bed made Keira jump.

She glanced down and realized that she was standing in the middle of the room, wearing only her T-shirt and panties.

Hot-pink, polka-dotted panties.

She yanked the hem of her T-shirt down.

Walker propped himself up on his elbows. The sheets pooled around his waist, highlighting his shirtless state. She hadn’t realized how muscular he was. He looked more slender when he was dressed. Her mouth went dry.

He arched an eyebrow at her. “I hoped I’d get to see you in those someday.”

“Huh?” She was so confused, she wondered if she were still dreaming.

“The laundry? That first day at your house?” He grinned at her. The look on his face made Keira feel more naked than standing in the middle of the room in her underwear.

She felt herself blush, embarrassed by the memory.

“You’re gorgeous,” he said softly.

Every inch of her was aware that Walker was even less dressed than she was, that he was lying in a warm, rumpled bed, that there was nothing stopping her from getting in next to him and answering that wanting look on his face.