“Fix the world Kayla,” he says. “You’re the only one who can.”

I sit up, dusting the dirt off my arms and face. “What’d you do with my stuff? My knife, the vials, the pocket watch—all the stuff that was in my jacket pocket.”

His eyebrow arches. “Why?”

“Because I need it.” I stand, dusting my hair and arms off. “I need the pocket watch. Where is it?”

He points over his shoulder. “Over at the hillside, in my room.”

I start down the hill, but he grabs my arm. “We can’t go there. That’s the first place they’ll look for us. We have to find somewhere else to hide out.”

“We have to,” I say, pausing to turn and look in his eyes. “I need that pocket watch. It’s important.”

He tugs me back toward him. “”Why? What’s so important about it?”

“Because,” I say, holding back the truth like I do. “It is.”

“Why,” he repeats, refusing to let me go. “Or are you after something else and you just don’t want to tell me?

I frown, perplexed. “What else would I want?”

He sighs. “Nothing. Look, let’s just go. We can hide out in a cave until this all cools down.”

I stand firm. “I’m not leaving without that watch.”

He lets out a frustrated breath. “Why? What’s so important about the damn watch?”

“Because it might fix the world to what it was,” I shout.

Everything, including his heart, freezes.

Chapter 24

“Fix the world back to what it was?” He asks struggling to keep up as I sprint across the desert. “What does that mean? Back to before the virus spread?”

“I’m not sure,” I say. “But I need that watch.”

He nods and we start running again, the sky beginning to shade over. I hold my breath as I run, hoping for darkness, hoping to buy myself some time. It continues to fade, a black blanket, the air filling up with cries. Aiden grows nervous, fearing their awakening. And I worry too, but for him. Not myself.

Finally, our feet slip in the sand as we race up the hillside and with a lot of effort, he slides the boulder over. I jump inside, looking back at the darkness, and the bodies of the vampires dotting the land as he shoves the boulder back over, sealing it all away.

“Well, at least Dominic won’t come looking for me,” I say. “Not until morning, anyway.”

He doesn’t answer, mulling over something with a great amount of heaviness.

“Which way to your room? I ask. “Right or left?”

He shakes his head. “You know, even if there’s a cure, it wouldn’t change things.”

“Cure?” I say. “Who said anything about a cure?”