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He’s wearing some kind of body armor that looks like a cross between a scuba diving suit and something from a 1950s space exploration movie. The helmet of the suit has been pulled off and lies not far from his limp hand, revealing his pale face. There’s sweat beading on his upper lip and temples and his skin has a faintly green undertone that makes his eyebrows look even bushier than usual. His dark hair is rumpled and standing on end and his sprawled position is by far the most undignified I’ve ever seen him.
He looks messy, vulnerable, and…human.
And I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen anything more beautiful than the moment his lashes flutter open and his blue eyes fill with joy and relief. “You’re all right,” he croaks, before his gaze clouds over again and his brows pinch together. “Or I’m dreaming again. Don’t turn into a clown. Please. I was kicked in the shins by a clown when I was small. He thought I was trying to steal one of his candy apples, but I was only pointing out the insects trapped in the candy to my nanny. One of the flies was still…struggling.” He shudders. “That was worse than the kick in the shins, knowing that man wanted to feed people pestilence along with their sweet treat.”
“Sounds horrible.” Crossing to his side, I squat down and put a hand on his back. “But I’m not a dream or a clown. I’m really here and we really need to make tracks before the people who drugged us come back. So, up you go, Blackmore.” With a hand on his arm, I help him into a seated position, where he sits, swaying slightly, making me worry I might not be able to get him up the mountain and back to Blackmore manor alone.
I turn back to ask Jolene if she might be willing to help, but the doorway is empty. “Just a second,” I tell Darcy, patting him between the shoulders. “Don’t lie down again. We need to get you on your feet.”
I cross to the door and glance around, but there’s no sign of my spider mama. I head outside to peek around the corner of the shed, but there’s no sign of her walking down the hill, either. She must have gone eight-legged again.
Or maybe she decided it was smart to get out of here before the man who recently expressed his intention to exterminate her was up and about again.
“I’ll talk to him,” I murmur softly into the cool evening air. “I won’t let him hurt you. And thank you. For your help.”
Hoping she heard me, I hurry back to the shed to find Darcy on his back on the mattress and halfway out of his suit. He glances up at me as he shoves it past his hips. “I can’t defend you in this thing. I can barely see, I can’t hear, and I can’t bite, and I’m really in the mood to bite right now, Blaire.”
“Understandable,” I say, gripping the top of the thick rubbery fabric. I help him draw it down his legs and then tug hard to free his feet. When I glance back up, I realize he’s not wearing anything but a pair of black boxer briefs and a relieved smile.
“So good,” he says with a sigh. “Damn, that feels good. Let’s go swimming. A dip in the ocean sounds brilliant right now.”
“You’re clearly still high.” I do my best not to ogle the chiseled perfection of his body as I grip his arm and help him into a standing position. “The water is freezing this time of year.”
“The dead don’t mind the cold,” he says, leaning into me as I guide his arm around my shoulder. His forehead rests on my temple as he whispers, “I’m dead, Blaire. I know I don’t seem it, but I am, and you deserve more, little goblin. You deserve a warm, wonderful man who only has a short time to love you and is determined to make the most of his one, precious life. A man who can take you on picnics in the sunshine and grow old with you. I was a man like that once, but I haven’t been for so long. I don’t know how to be what you need. It wouldn’t be fair to you. You can’t let me love you. Tell me to go straight to hell and rot there.”
“I’ll get right on that,” I say, refusing to take anything he’s saying too seriously, no matter how much the newly soft part of my heart would like to. He’s high and there will be time for talk about feelings when he’s sobered up. “But first I want you to put one foot in front of the other and help me get you out of here.” I grunt as I start forward, and his weight bears down more heavily on my side. “Come on, Blackmore. You’ve got this. Left, right, left, just like in the army.”
“Too bad he’s never served,” a silky voice sounds from in front of us. “He was turned before they could send him to fight Napoleon.”
My stomach shrivels and my inner voice lets out a string of obscenities.
It’s fucking Janet, blocking our way out with her arms braced on either side of the door frame and a wicked grin.
“I’m sorry,” Darcy mutters.
I barely have time to glance up at him before his fangs are at my throat, piercing the skin, sending a shockwave of terror and pain rocketing through my nerve endings.
Chapter Twenty-One
Annie
I’m in the middle of helping Sophie rearrange the children’s nook—anything to keep my mind off how terrified I am—when the vision hits.
It’s the first one I’ve had since the evening we arrived in Nightfall.
I’d gone out to buy bread and peanut butter at the village store for a quick dinner while Blaire sorted out how to turn on the lights and water in our new home. One second, I was standing in the perishable foods aisle, debating whether to buy the responsible, healthy peanut butter you have to stir up every time you use it or the kid stuff with all the sugar in it. The next, I was flat on my back on the tile floor, my eyes rolled back, while scenes from a movie played out in my head.
Only it wasn’t a movie.
It was the future, a future all but confirmed to play out the way I saw it in my mind as long as Colin Blackmore and I played our parts.
I’d never met Colin before, but when I came out of my trance, trembling and tasting blood from where I’d chomped my tongue when I hit the floor, I wasn’t surprised to find him hovering over me with a worried expression. And when he helped me sit up and gently checked my head for bumps and bruises, it felt like I’d known him all my life.
And cared for him nearly as long, though not in a romantic way.
Colin and I were meant to be good friends—best friends, maybe—but nothing more. It’s Darcy and Blaire who are destined to have an epic love…assuming the people closest to them aren’t above manipulating them into it.
My vision assured me that was the only way. They’re both too stubborn and guarded for their own good. Without help, they’d end up fighting their growing attraction for years, maybe even decades, and leaving Nightfall undefended while they were at it.
