Devoted: An Elixir Novel by Hilary Duff

Author:Hilary Duff [Duff, Hilary]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2011-10-10T20:00:00+00:00

eleven

“NIGHTMARE?”

I wheeled to face Ben, hazy from my dream, or visit, or whatever had just happened, and in that second it was like he wasn’t asking a question but announcing the truth: He was my nightmare, mine and Sage’s, and even if he tried to change things, that wouldn’t change.

“No! I mean . . . I don’t know. . . . I don’t remember what I dreamed. . . .”

The cabin lights were dimmed, and as Ben leaned closer, eerie shadows sank his eyes into blackness and arched his brows. “Are you sure?” he asked.

My breath caught in my throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you to Cincinnati, Ohio,”

the flight attendant said over the intercom. The lights flicked back on and the shadows flew from Ben’s face.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I’m fine.”

“Okay, good.”

We stayed quiet as the plane taxied to the gate, and prepared to get off. The silence gave me time to think about what I’d seen.

It was real—as real as what I’d seen with Petra—and I was sure Sage had seen the exact same thing. He’d been there . . . wherever we were . . . just as I’d been. And yet . . . he didn’t seem familiar with Amelia the way I was. So it was definite—Amelia, Petra, and the two men weren’t related to Sage in any way, nor were they anyone he knew.

So who were they? And why had they come to me? And why did Amelia bring Sage and me together, when the rest of her family wanted me to forget about him? I felt like she’d tried to explain it, but what she’d said didn’t make any sense to me. Maybe Ben could help me figure it out, but I worried about him. I didn’t think he’d do anything on purpose to get between Sage and me, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t happen. I decided to keep my mouth shut.

I gasped out loud when I realized I’d missed an opportunity. I had just seen Sage. I could have asked him where he was and the best way to get to him. I told myself I would have if I’d had more time; I was just so overwhelmed to finally be with him, to touch him and feel his arms around me, there was no way I could think strategically. It was a lost opportunity, though, and I was furious.

I couldn’t let that happen again.

Ben and I had made it off the plane and were walking through the terminal. It was late. The place felt half-abandoned.

“So,” I began, “you said there’re two miles of abandoned subway.”

“Right.”

“Then how do we know the right place to try to get in? What if we burst into the middle of one of their training exercises? We could get killed before they even know who we are.”

“Ghost stories,” Ben said.

“‘Ghost stories’?”

“That’s today’s mythology: ghost stories.”

“I thought you believed in ghost stories. Now you’re saying they’re myths?”

“I believe in the inexplicable, things beyond what most of us know and understand.

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