“I think it might.” He stops in front of the dark cave, staring down at it. “We need a place to hide.”

I blink down at the cave, resting at the bottom of the rocks, one of the easier ones to get to. “They might be inside.”

“I know.”

“I should check first then.” I start for it, but he tightens his hold on my hand. “Aiden, they won’t hurt me.”

He lets out a breath, nodding, and releases my hand. “But take your knife out, just in case.”

I do and then walk to the edge, where the line rests between darkness and light, life and death.

Chapter 26

Once my foot crosses the line of darkness and I enter the cave, I know there’s no turning back. It seems like it has a deep back at first, but when I walk further inside, I realize that it’s actually quiet shallow. I check the shadows, behind rocks, in dark corners and breathe a sigh of relief.

“You can come in,” I call out to Aiden, putting my knife away.

He steps in gingerly, his heart beating fiercer the moment he crosses into the dark side. His hand rests on his pocket, trembling with the desire to draw out his knife.

“Did you see them?” I ask, sliding off my bag.

His head creases. “See who? Oh you mean Dominic. No, but I think we should hide in here for a little while to make sure.” He sets his bag on the ground and sinks down. “So what’d you want to do while we wait? You want to try the minte.”

Secretly, I think I was hoping he’d forget about that. “Sure, I guess.”

“Don’t assume you’ll see something you fear,” Aiden says, unzipping his bag. “Or else you probably will.”

“I wasn’t assuming anything.” I sit down in front of him, crisscrossing my legs. “And I don’t fear anything.”

His eyes smile through his lashes. “That’s not true.” He pulls out a syringe, unwrapping the plastic.

“It is true,” I argue. “It’s how I’ve always been.”

He drives the needle into the vial. “You may not fear things like vampires—or even Highers—but you do have fear, Kayla. Like the fear that everyone will find out who you really are.” He extracts the clear medicine from the lid. “You ready for this?”

I blink at him. I’m still stuck on what he’s said, because it so close to the truth. “What? Yeah, I’m ready.” I stick out my arm.

But he puts his bag on his lap and gives it a pat. “You might want to lie down ... when you go under, you really go under.”

I lower my head to the bag on his lap, cross my hands over my stomach and stare up at him.