Page 8 of Lovely Darkness

“Hm. Just off the top of my head I can think of at least five people who have killed their friends.”

I can’t stop the laugh. “Were they Company assassins?”

She nods.

“Then they don’t count.”

“Why don’t they count?”

“Because that’s a job, Wendy. You have never been my job.”

“But you’ve been my job.”

“So what are ya saying? You’re gonna kill me?”

“That’s not even funny.”

“Do you have plans to kill me?”

“No. But I’m sure Indie didn’t have plans to kill Adam, either.”

“She didn’t kill him. He’s still here. Anyway, she’s past that now. You girls are a lot alike.”

Wendy huffs and a few strands of long blonde hair fly up in the wind it creates. “Tell me about it.”

“But you’re both past it now, ya know? Indie did that when she was sixteen—”

“But that wasn’t the only time. The last time was just four years ago.”

“Right. But you’re not her and Donovan—Carter, whoever—he wasn’t in charge of you the way he was her. No one ever got to you the way he did.”

Which isn’t quite true, is it?

Because I got to her. And she doesn’t even know it.

Wendy’s quiet for a moment. “Tell me what you’re thinking,” I say.

She looks over at the gate, then looks back at me. “Maybe we shouldn’t save him?”

“Who? Donovan?”

“Yeah. Maybe we should just—”

“No.” This one word comes out way too loud for the middle of the night. It makes things rustle in the woods. But I say it again. “No. Donovan…”

“Donovan what?” And her words are loud now too. “Why do you care about him?”

“Don’t you care about him?”

“I guess. Whatever. But he’s dangerous, don’t you think? I mean… Carter, Nick. Carter. He’s all the bad things about our past rolled up into one delusional psychopath. And they can’t be fixed. I don’t care how good Merc is, he’s not gonna be able to fix the guy. Donovan and Carter were born that way, don’t you see? Just like I was. Just like Indie was.”

“No.” And again, it’s too loud. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not true, number one. And number two—” I pause, then internally say fuck it, and I lie. “Because I know more than I’ve told you.”

“More what?”