Death Before Daylight by Shannon A. Thompson Page B

don’t,” he said, but his face
dropped. “But I do desire you.”
    It was his tone. It was the way he looked at
me.
    I pulled the Light energy back and leapt up
to my feet. The power sparked a flame inside of my veins, and I put
my hands in front of me. I wanted to kill him, even though he would
come back to life, but he didn’t move.
    He stayed on the ground and looked up at me
in the same way a child would. “Prom gave you away.”
    My hands dropped. “Prom?” That was months
ago, way before I thought he knew who I was. He had held a knife to
my throat. He could’ve taken me then, but Eric convinced him I was
an innocent human. Evidently, he hadn’t been entirely
convinced.
    “I saw him protect you, and I knew he’d
already fallen for you,” Darthon said as he stared at the wall. “I
only had to watch you to figure out who he was.” His lip curled.
“But that pesky half-breed.” He cursed. “Your memory loss made it
tricky.”
    Luthicer. He knew that Luthicer was the one
to remove my memories. He knew everything.
    “How long did you know about Eric?” I
managed.
    Darthon sneered. “We would’ve known earlier
if it weren’t for that fake mother.”
    Ida. The elders had already told me
everything I had missed. The woman had yet to meet me. She was
mourning Eu. His death affected the shelter as much as Camille’s
had. Eric hadn’t attended either of their funerals.
    “If she wasn’t there when we declared war—”
His voice drifted off. “We did that for you, by the way. Everyone
in the Light was willing to sacrifice themselves to a war just for
you,” he said it like he was proud. “What did the Dark do? Shun you
with confusion?”
    “That was my choice,” I bit back.
    “Are you still proud of that choice?”
    His question broke me.
    I jumped forward, ready to tackle him, but he
shot up and grabbed my arms. I kicked him in the leg, but he didn’t
kick me back. Instead, he twisted my arm behind my back and slammed
me against the wall.
    “Don’t fight me here,” he spoke against my
neck. “You’ll only regret it.”
    I struggled, trying to escape his grasp, but
he leaned against my back until my face crushed against the wall. I
could barely breathe, but I kept fighting. He shoved his knee into
the back of mine, and my muscles tore. Air hissed out of my
lungs.
    “Stop,” he sounded like he was begging. “Just
stop fighting.”
    “I won’t.”
    And he was gone.
    I spun around only to see him standing by the
door. It had reappeared with the table full of food. “You aren’t a
prisoner here, Jess,” he said, opening the door to reveal the
hallway. “Walk around. See it for yourself. You’ll see how much you
belong here.”
    I didn’t hesitate. I lunged for the table,
grabbed the nearest knife, and threw it at him. He leapt to the
left, and the blade bounced off the wall, clanking across the
ground.
    Darthon didn’t leave or lock me inside like I
thought he would. He walked across the room, picked up the knife,
and placed it on the table—only inches away from me. “Work on your
aim,” he said, disappearing in a beam of light before I could
fathom what I had seen.
    Darthon was limping. His arm was red, and
bruises formed around his shoulders in the same places he had hurt
me. My injuries appeared on him. We were connected.
    He wasn’t lying.

 
     
    15
Eric
     
    I dreamt of my mother that night. The bats
circled overhead, and she pointed up while kneeling down. Her other
hand was on top of my head, and her fingernails scratched against
my scalp. Her voice shook.
    “Even the scariest animals can be beautiful,”
she said. “You’re beautiful.”
    “Boys aren’t beautiful, Mom.”
    As she took my hand, I didn’t look at her
face. I only stared at her ring, the one that was on Jessica’s
finger now, and then, I woke up.
    The Light realm was as dark as that night
was, and for a moment, my dream melted over my reality. I saw the
forest as she walked toward it without me, but