“No.” The hairs on the back of my neck rose to attention and my skin prickled with goose bumps. “Tell me.” My volume rose and I stood to face him. “Dylan, tell me.” I stared into his piercing blue eyes and tried again. “For old times, for what I’ve been through, please tell me what is going to happen to me.” My volume rose. “If you’re going to kill me, be man enough to own it.”
He reached out and caressed my cheek. I sucked my lip between my teeth and forced myself to remain still as his words rolled forth and his warm beer-scented breath skirted my cheeks. Though his tone was soft like an apology, his words were sharp in their meaning. “Stella, I know you may hate me, but you should know, at one time, I thought I could love you. The you I loved was strong and sure. I’ve been around subservient women all my life. My mother was one. I loved her but hated the way she acted around my father and the other men.” He looked deep into my eyes, his finger tracing my cheek and lips. “I loved your fight, sharp tongue, and stubbornness. I loved all of that, but it wasn’t worth the cost. The price was too high—not only to you, but to me and The Light.”
His tone softened as his touch dipped to my collarbone and his gaze lingered at the neckline of the dress. “Besides, they took those parts of you away. That asshole you call your husband did that.”
I wanted to tell him it hadn’t been Jacob, it had been his uncle. It was Father Gabriel who was responsible, but I kept my lips closed and let him continue.
Dylan took a deep breath. Bringing his eyes back to mine, he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Even so, for all the reasons I said, I wanted you to know the whole truth. I wanted you to understand that I tried. I really did.”
I took a step back. “Please . . . you’re scaring me.”
“Don’t you understand? Don’t you see it now? The Light can’t be stopped.”
I nodded, again pulling my lip between my teeth.
“That explosion changes everything,” he explained. “I’m trying to make you understand. No matter what happens to me or to you, The Light is here and there and everywhere. There’s no escaping it. My uncle was right. Allowing you to go back to Stella’s world would be impossible.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s not! I won’t tell. I promise. I’ll pretend, like I was doing earlier. I can do that.”
He took a deep breath. “Believe me when I tell you this hasn’t been an easy decision.”
“What hasn’t been easy?”
He leaned closer, once again cupping my cheek. “Do you remember how good we were together? Do you remember how easy it was?”
I nodded, tears raining down my cheeks.
He cooed, “It was easier with you than anyone. I wanted . . .” He touched his lips to mine, the cold contact feeling more like a good-bye than a hello. “But,” he went on, “we don’t always get what we want. I’ve known it all my life. The Light is bigger than me, than you, than both of us.
“I told you everything, because things changed tonight—because of you. I wanted to be honest, for old times’ sake . . .”
I saw the syringe from the corner of my eye. It was like the one Elijah had tried to use on me earlier.
“. . . even though I know that when you wake up, you won’t remember a word of it.”
“No!”
The sharp pain in my neck transported me back to the parking lot in Detroit, just before my world went black.
CHAPTER 35
Jacoby
I landed the small plane in Anchorage a little ahead of schedule; however, as we rolled to a stop along the runway, my mind wasn’t thinking about the time or even about the blur of commotion on the tarmac. My mind was in Bloomfield Hills. The raids should all have been started if not carried out, and I wanted details. I needed to know Sara was safe.
“Thank you.” Benjamin’s voice came through the earphones, reminding me that I wasn’t the only one worried about a wife. “Jacob, I mean Jacoby, Raquel’s pulse is weak, but she still has one. Thanks to you. I know if you hadn’t . . . she wouldn’t . . .” His voice trailed away.
I turned and, with a strained smile, nodded in his direction. “They’re waiting on us. They’ll have her in surgery soon.”
Though it was after ten at night, the airport where I’d been told to land was alive with activity. Just as Special Agent Adler had promised, there was an ambulance, and as I unbuckled my seat belt, it was moving slowly toward the plane. I opened the hatch door and lowered the steps before going back to help Benjamin.
As I reached for Raquel’s seat belt, Benjamin grabbed my hand. “I don’t know if she’ll make it, but I know she wouldn’t have made it up there. I owe you. Anything. You’ve got it. You can count on me.”
“Right now, concentrate on Raquel. Until we know how the raids went and what’s ahead for us, listen to the FBI. They’ll keep her safe. They know what we’re dealing with better than we do. I’ll do my best to convince them to let you stay with her, but . . .” I shrugged. “Honestly, you were on the Assembly. There’s a case against you. You knew things. You worked in the lab, but really your future is up to you.”