The Gathering Dark (22 page)

Two minutes.

How was she supposed to survive this? Walker had said “they” would come for her again. But who were “they”? What did they want with her? And how the hell was she supposed to hide from them if she couldn’t even see where they came from?

One minute.

Outside, she heard the squeal of tires and a thump as Walker took the high curb into their driveway too fast. He was early.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

W
ALKER THREW OPEN THE
door before Keira made it across the foyer. He strode past her, staring around the living room. A guttural roar of frustration ripped through his throat, startling Keira.

“There’s no one in this part of Darkside but the Reformers’ guards and Record Keepers. None of them can cross over. I don’t get it!” He smacked the back of the couch before he spun to face Keira, who was too stunned to move.

In three strides, he crossed the front hall and stood in front of her. “What did they look like?”

“The hand?” she asked, confused.

“It was just a hand?” He blinked.

“Yeah. A hand, covered in something dark. Like a glove, I guess, but thinner, somehow.”

Walker’s shoulders sagged. “That’s very smart, actually. They knew you wouldn’t be able to identify the Seeker. And it also means they know I’ve turned.”

Walker wrapped his arms around her and tucked her head under his chin. The security of being pressed against him, of not being alone, was like stepping into a hot shower on an icy morning. Even though it stung, bit by bit, she felt herself thawing.

He turned his head, his cheek resting against her hair. “At least you’re okay. I swear, Keira, if anything had happened to you . . . ”

“Anything like what?” she asked, her voice muffled against his shirtfront. His scent surrounded her and she breathed it in, letting it calm her. She stepped back, barely holding herself together as she stared at him.

She was dizzy with questions. “What’s going on, Walker? I know this is my own stupid fault for running away today, but I need you to tell me exactly what’s happening. What’s a Seeker? Who are the Reformers? And what do you mean you’ve ‘turned’?” Her voice rose higher, cracking on the last word. “And what about Smith and Susan? Are they coming for her, too?”

Walker stepped back a few inches and stared at her. “So
you believe me now, about Darkside?” he asked. “You’re not going to freak out?”

“I don’t want to believe you, but I do,” Keira said. “And I’m not making any promises about the freaking out bit. I won’t run away again, though.”

“It’s a start.” He kept his arm around her as he steered her toward the living room.

They sat on the couch. Keira’s eyes swept the room again and again, looking for signs that there was someone else there with them.

Walker reached out and twined his hand around hers. “You don’t have to worry. I’m watching now.”

“But what about Susan?”

Walker laced his fingers more firmly through hers. “Susan’s human. She’s of no interest to the Darklings. Well, except Smith, and I really think he’s only seeing her in order to get more information about you. He might break her heart, but nothing in Darkside is coming for her.”

“So . . . ” Keira licked her lower lip, trying to get the words out. “You can see it all the time? That other world?”

Walker nodded, his gaze never leaving her face. “I don’t
have
to see it all the time, though. It gets sort of schizophrenic trying to watch two realities at once.”

Keira let out a bitter laugh. “I know. That’s what I’ve thought, all these weeks, seeing all this weird crap. I thought I was losing my mind.”

Pain streaked across Walker’s features, like a burning star across the night sky. “Oh, Keira. I’m sorry. It’ll get better.” He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at his curls. “Well, actually it’s going to get worse. But you’ll learn to control it.”

“Why is it happening all of a sudden? If I’m really not human, if I’m really like
you
, why haven’t I always been able to see this stuff?” she asked. It seemed like as good a place to start as any.

“It might have something to do with you being raised here, in the human world. I don’t know for sure, though.”

“Then tell me what you
do
know for sure,” Keira said.

“The whole mess is really about that. . . . ” Walker gestured to the piano.

“My piano?” Keira felt her eyebrows shoot up in disbelief.

“Not
your
piano, specifically. Music. Didn’t you notice, in the park? The whole church was built around the music box. Darklings worship music. It’s their god—our god.”

In spite of her terror and confusion, a little smile crept across Keira’s face. Whatever this other world was, at least she understood its religion.

“So, I’m part of a race of musicians?” she ventured.

Walker shook his head. “That’s the thing. Darklings can’t create music. Humans have this one part of the brain that’s missing in Darklings. At least, it’s missing now. Like, a billion generations ago, we could make music, but eventually, the ability got lost. Once our kind realized what had happened, it was too late.”

“How long ago was that?” Keira asked.

“About a hundred thousand years,” Walker answered seriously.

Keira’s mouth dropped open.

“Yeah. We’ve been around awhile.” He shrugged. “But after we quit making music, Darkside started to fall apart. Disintegrating, particle by particle. A few generations later, some Darklings were born with a genetic mutation that gave them the ability to interact, at least a bit, with baryonic matter, the stuff your world’s made of. And then your scientists started to see evidence of our world too. They’re hunting for it now, smashing atoms and staring into the middle of galaxies, trying to see what should still be invisible.” His jaw had tightened and Keira saw something angry glowing in his eyes.

“So, why come here at all?” she asked suspiciously. “I don’t get it.”

“About twenty-five years ago, the Reformers got this idea to start a breeding program. The few females of our kind who could interact with the human world would, uh, mix their genetics with musically talented humans.” He raised an eyebrow at her and Keira flushed as understanding swept over her. “The Reformers’ plan was for them to rebuild the missing part of our brains, so that we’d be able to create music again. That’s why they’re called that. Because it’s their intention to re-form the Darklings. Literally.”

“I can play music,” Keira said slowly. “So it worked, right?”

Walker shifted uncomfortably. “Sort of. There were some problems with the crossbreeding. Big problems, actually. The Reformers called the new breed ‘the Experimentals.’ But none of them—the Experimentals—showed any musical ability. And the Darklings who could cross over into your world—it got ugly for them, too.”

“Ugly how, exactly?”

“Crossing back and forth damaged the Seekers—that’s what they called the Darklings who could cross, because they were ‘seeking’ mates. Eventually, it got so bad that the Reformers shut down the program.”

“And what about the Experimentals?” Keira asked. “We’re just living here, thinking we’re crazy until someone like you shows up?”

All of the light went out of Walker’s eyes.

“Actually, you’re the only Experimental that’s ever lived in the human world. You were the exception. Your mother is human, so you were raised on earth instead of being brought up in Darkside. The rest of the Experimentals were born to Darkling women, and raised in Darkside.” His hands curled into fists. “And then they were destroyed.”

The security she’d felt with Walker ripped away painfully. “You mean—the rest of them were killed?”

He nodded.

“Why?” she whispered.

“The Experimentals had the ability to pass back and forth
between the two worlds, the way you’re starting to. Only it was different from when the Darklings crossed. Those Darklings, the Seekers, suffered for it, but Darkside itself didn’t. Each time the Experimentals crossed, though, it created a rip in our world. It was destroying Darkside.” He shrugged, uncomfortable. “It wasn’t their fault. Most of them didn’t even understand that they were crossing when it happened. Eliminating them was the only way for us to save ourselves. The Experimentals were created to save Darkside. Instead, they just brought more destruction.”

“So, you’re here because . . . Oh, God, you’re a Seeker? You’re here to take me—” She couldn’t even choke out the question. There was no way she could outrun Walker. If he’d actually come here to kill her, then she was already dead. But he’d been alone with her so many times, he’d already had so many chances . . .

“Of course I’m not going to take you to them! I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.” He slid off the couch, kneeling on the floor in front of her. “I couldn’t.” Beneath him, where the living room carpet had been, a strange, dark ground appeared. It looked like smooth-swept coal dust.

“Then why did you come find me?” she asked. “And don’t try to tell me it was a coincidence.”

He shook his head. The look in his eyes was torture. “I was supposed to bring you back. The Reformers sent me to find you. I’m not a Seeker, Keira, but my parents were. I was supposed to
finish their job by finding you. I thought it was the only way to keep the rest of my family safe. The Reformers are our government but it’s basically a panel of ten dictators, if you ask most Darklings. They tell us what to do and we do it. That’s what I meant when I said I’d turned. I don’t care about the mission anymore. I’m not doing what I’ve been told.”

“What would happen if you brought me back?” Keira pressed.

Walker closed his eyes. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. “They’d kill you. But I’m not going to let that happen. That’s why their Seeker tried to grab you tonight. They’ve figured out that I’m not doing my job anymore.”

He opened his eyes and stared straight at her. “They know I care more about you than I do about them.”

A bulky, dark form appeared behind Walker, moving purposefully toward them. Before she could get her muscles to move, Walker’s arms were around her waist. He pulled her to the floor and she landed on top of him in a tangle of arms and legs. The two of them rolled into the coffee table, and Keira cracked her shoulder against the wooden leg with a thud. As the blaze of pain shot down her arm, whatever—
whoever—
was sweeping through the room disappeared.

Walker leapt up and spun wildly. “I can’t see him—there are too many goddamn trees!”

“That was a Seeker, wasn’t it?” she whispered as she struggled to sit up.

Walker nodded, fumbling in his pockets and coming up with a handful of car keys. “I can’t see him, but there are lots of places around here to hide.” He hesitated. “If I crossed over, I could look for him, but then you’d be alone. . . . ”

Keira quivered.

“Exactly,” Walker said in response to her shiver. “And he’s already crossed twice tonight. Crossing takes a toll on the Seekers. He’ll be hurting . . . hopefully too much to try again for a while. But we need to get out of here.” He looked down at her as she rubbed her throbbing shoulder.

She could feel the bruise blooming beneath the skin already.

“You okay?”

“Fine. Other than the fact that, you know, I’m not human, and I’m being hunted in my own house. Besides that, I’m just fucking great.” Anger swept through her voice like a wave through a sand castle.

“I understand why you’re mad—” Walker started, getting to his feet.

“Mad?” Keira interrupted, leaping up to stand so that they’d be on equal footing. Not that it made much difference. He still towered over her. “Mad doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

He ran a hand over his face. “Okay. I get it. You’re infused with the righteous fury of the endangered and disenfranchised. Totally understandable. Right now, though, we need to get the hell out of here or the only thing you’re going to be infused with is a bunch of the Reformers’ guards.”

“So, where am I supposed to go? How am I supposed to hide from something I can’t see?” Her voice squeaked on the last word.

Walker’s face was determined. “I’ll keep them from finding you. I can see Darkside for both of us. If anything happened to you, I couldn’t stand it. I understand if you hate me, but please let me help you anyway.”

“I don’t hate you.” Keira paced, trying to hold herself together. “I want to, but I don’t. I like you more than I should, Walker. A lot more. I always have.” She looked down at the floor. “I know that I need your help. But I don’t like being the kind of girl who needs a guy to save her. I want to be able to handle things on my own.”

Walker stepped in front of her. “You’re the kind of girl who does whatever she has to do to save herself. Even if that does mean asking for help.” His eyes searched hers.

“It still seems weak, somehow.”

He shook his head, his gaze never wavering from her eyes. “I’ve never met anyone as strong as you. Ever.” His arms slid around her back. Keira’s middle was like the July sun. Burning. Melting. Liquid.

He leaned in, his eyes reflecting the same heat she felt. Keira slid her arms around his neck as his lips met hers. The kiss shot through her, twining itself around her limbs, pushing her closer to Walker. She couldn’t hear anything except the pounding in her ears and she couldn’t feel anything other than
Walker—his mouth on hers, his hands pulling her to him.

The sound of a far-off shout startled her and her eyes snapped open. She and Walker were standing beneath the tree, sheltered by its spreading limbs. Her house, her reality, had completely disappeared. Shocked, she stepped out of his arms, staring at the foreign landscape.

More trees stretched into the distance, lining a path that glittered like crushed black glass. At the end of the path stood an enormous cube-shaped building with windows cut into it at irregular intervals. Huge twin lamps glowed on either side of the door, though the light seemed to be streaming into their glow, rather than shining out of it. It gave Keira a headache.

A second shout, closer than the first, jerked her out of her reverie.