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Back The Fell of Dark Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. CAST OF CHARACTERS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. 30
  37. 31
  38. 32
  39. 33
  40. 34
  41. 35
  42. 36
  43. LITTLE WHITE PICKET FENCES
  44. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  45. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  46. Newsletter Sign-up

“I hope it’s okay that I’m here?” He descends from the porch and stops, moonlight making art out of his dramatic bone structure, his plush lips. I hate how attractive I find him in spite of his duplicity, how little I regret kissing him—even if I’m going to die having only kissed liars, at least they were good at it. “Because if it isn’t—”

“I guess you’re the one she sent to guard the house tonight,” I remark, punching in the garage code. We’re surrounded by vampires, though, and Gunnar is still the only one I know that doesn’t leave a mark.

“I asked for the assignment,” he says quietly, his eyes on my feet. “She’s not my biggest fan right now, but she figured you were entitled to an explanation—if you want one. If you’d rather not have me around, she can send someone else.”

He says it like the League is doing me a favor—and I guess they are. Whatever their reasons, we all want to keep me alive. And there comes a point at which the number of people lying to you and plotting your demise becomes farcical, and holding a grudge against just one of them in particular is more work than pleasure.

“I guess if I need a babysitter, it’s better to have one whose brain I’ve poked around in.” I try to sound like I don’t really care as I step into the empty garage—but my insides are knotted up so badly I’m not sure I’ll ever get them untangled. I’m overjoyed that I won’t have to be alone, that there’ll be somebody in the house to protect me after all. At the same time, I’m hurt and angry for a host of reasons I can’t even articulate.

I hold open the connecting door, and Gunnar moves past me, his scent on the breeze behind him. In spite of everything, warmth spreads through me, and I grit my teeth before I follow him into the house, full of emotions that won’t make friends with each other.

He still knows things he hasn’t told me, and I’m going to find out what they are.

27

I’ve never been alone like this before, I realize, as I rummage the fridge for something to eat. The whole house is mine—maybe for the rest of my life. I could drink my parents’ wine, walk around naked, and do whatever I want until I’m either killed or expunged from my own body. I’m shoveling some sort of pasta leftovers into my face, eating so fast I can’t even taste them, when I grunt, “You said you had explanations.”