In Daylight and Darkness (Worldwalkers Book 1) by Dana Ardis

Author:Dana Ardis [Ardis, Dana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feathered Dog Books
Published: 2021-06-29T05:00:00+00:00

Cor slammed the door of the hut and swore.

“Now what?” I asked.

He took a deep breath, then let it out. “I don’t know. I wish the Shevern had not been such a fool. You wouldn’t do what she claimed.”

I didn’t reply. Issai had told the truth. I didn’t belong here. I’d fallen into the trap of believing again and Kuyen would destroy the normal life I wanted so badly if I stayed. Everything I’d learned here, at the Scholars’ Hall, at House Pareshol… Everyone could see that I would just ruin everything I touched.

Everyone but Cor.

My plan lay in shambles. I’d pinned the end of this episode on that Shevern and now it had all unraveled. “How can I finish our agreement if no one will teach me?”

“She said they had removed mention of humans from the lore, but that could only be where the Scholars can reach. Surely, something must remain in private collections, someone—”

“You said you’ve looked already.” I shook my head. “I’m not going on a wild goose chase. That wasn’t the agreement. You heard her. I don’t belong here. This whole thing is ridiculous.”

“You gave your word.” He played it like a trump card, but the stakes were too high for me to lose.

“And? What’s the next step? You promised, too. This wasn’t supposed to be a trap. You said you’d leave me alone if I did this. I don’t belong here, Cor. I know it and you know it and she was right. I’m just going to ruin everything.” My life. His life. This had been a mistake from the beginning. “Is that what you want?”

“She’s wrong, Kate.” He clenched his hands, like he could keep me here if he only held on tightly enough. “There’s nothing wrong with you being here. All those years when we were young—”

“Stop.” Something Issai had said prickled in my mind. “All the danger has been here. All the Hunters, all the violence, it was all here on Kuyen. I was never in danger on Earth.”

“You never saw Hunters on your side because I kept them away! You see how real the danger is. Do you want to face a Wogra with no way to protect yourself? Alone?”

His words unraveled all of it, the whole tapestry I’d built to convince myself that any of this was possible. Beating a monster like the Wogra with a paper airplane? It was all smoke and mirrors, sound and fury, my illness trying to make me afraid. To make me give in. I rubbed the bandage I still wore over my wrist. Maybe Rose had been right to worry about the cut. “I should have known it wasn’t real. It was too easy.”

“Easy? I learned everything anyone would teach me, wards and Seemings and melee with the zaret…and now you won’t believe me because I made it too safe? No.”

I’d lived for years among very ill people, with bad news and breakdowns and crises as common as potholes in a country road, but I had never seen anyone look as stricken as Cor did right then.

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