Darklands (Book 4) by Holzner Nancy

Author:Holzner, Nancy [Holzner, Nancy]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction, Paranormal, Speculative Fiction, General
ISBN: 9781937007706
Publisher: Ace
Published: 2012-07-30T07:00:00+00:00

17

I DON’T KNOW HOW LONG I STAYED THERE, SITTING ON THE floor, with Kane inches away yet so far out of reach. But I couldn’t stay there all night. Eventually I got up and headed for the bedroom.

On my way, I stepped up onto the chair and again looked out the window. Simone was gone. Had she left the clearing—or was she snuggled up against Kane as he guarded my door? Maybe they’d gone off into the woods together to—

Stop it, Vicky.

I didn’t know. And that was the problem. I couldn’t know. I had no understanding of Kane’s wolf.

I went through the motions of getting ready for bed. I showered off the mud and found a sweatshirt and pants that more or less fit. I brushed my teeth. The medicine cabinet held a packet of over-the-counter sleeping pills. I took one; maybe it would knock Butterfly out and I could sleep, too.

The whole time, I wondered what Kane was doing, reaching out with my senses as though I could somehow feel him that way. I couldn’t. I felt foolish to even imagine that maybe I could.

* * *

AN HOUR LATER, I LAY IN THE HARD, NARROW BED, GUILT gnawing at me. Everything I’d done lately felt like one great big bundle of wrong. Work, damn you, I willed the sleeping pill. I tried to follow Tina’s advice and find a happy thought, something that made me feel good, but every time I reached for one, I grabbed a disaster instead.

I hadn’t stopped Pryce. I hadn’t even come close. He’d succeeded in smuggling his cauldron of demons into the Darklands, and then he’d followed it there. For all I knew, he might already have his shadow demon back.

Forget Pryce for now, I told myself. You can strategize with Mab by dream phone as soon as you’re asleep. Mab always knows what to do.

But how could I forget Pryce when my failure tonight brought the world one step closer to the horrible vision I’d seen?

I didn’t bother telling Butterfly to shut up. The thought came from me. Butterfly didn’t have to say a word; it could just chomp on the feelings I brought upon myself.

I turned on my side and tried to think of something else. Kane. I’d really screwed things up there. I’d hurt him and left him confused about our relationship, yet he’d still chased the others away from my cabin and guarded the door. But who knew what that meant? Probably that he’d announced I was his responsibility and felt duty-bound to follow through. Kane was big on duty.

And then there was Simone.

All right, so thinking about Kane wasn’t helping me relax, either. I rolled onto my back again, searching for something more pleasant to think about.

Family day. Oh, shit. The thought bolted in out of nowhere. Or maybe Butterfly wanted a different flavor to its food.

I was going to miss spending Monday with Gwen’s family. And I’d promised Maria I’d be there. To an eleven-year-old, a promise is a promise, even without pinky-swearing.

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