Away From the Dark (The Light #2)(95)

“Come on, you’re smarter than that.”

A tear trickled from my eye. “So they never knew what I’d learned?”

“No.”

“My parents?”

“Your mom still calls me.”

My chest clenched as I laid my head on my arms. “How could you do this and talk to her like you didn’t know?”

“I didn’t see any other options. Do you?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes.” My words gained strength as I lifted my head. “I see many other options. Tell the truth. Tell law enforcement. Do something. Stop this travesty. What The Light is doing is human trafficking and drugs. Oh, God . . .” My volume decreased. “Do you know what happens? Last Sunday, here at the Eastern Light, I witnessed a man and woman—”

Dylan raised his hand. “I don’t want to know.”

“What? That doesn’t make sense. You’re supporting this, condoning this, and you don’t want to know?”

“We are all part of a greater good, part of the body. I have my responsibilities. I don’t need to know about the others and what they do unless it interferes with what I do.”

It was time for my eyes to narrow. “I don’t know what your responsibilities entail, but let me tell you, I watched a man be murdered. The woman, she survived to end up in the basement . . .” My stomach knotted again. “Now she’s dead.”

“If you’re talking about the woman in the bed, in the room where you were left, she was unconscious. The explosion was probably easier on her than the others.”

“How can you be so callous? How can you talk about life like it doesn’t matter?” Suddenly a thought occurred to me. “How? Wait a minute. Why are you being this open with me? Why are you telling me all of this?” My hands began trembling. “Are you going to kill me?”

Dylan stood and his footsteps moved about the kitchen. “Glass of water, Stella?”

What?

“No.” The hairs on the back of my neck rose to attention and my skin prickled with goose bumps. “Tell me.” My volume rose and I stood to face him. “Dylan, tell me.” I stared into his piercing blue eyes and tried again. “For old times, for what I’ve been through, please tell me what is going to happen to me.” My volume rose. “If you’re going to kill me, be man enough to own it.”

He reached out and caressed my cheek. I sucked my lip between my teeth and forced myself to remain still as his words rolled forth and his warm beer-scented breath skirted my cheeks. Though his tone was soft like an apology, his words were sharp in their meaning. “Stella, I know you may hate me, but you should know, at one time, I thought I could love you. The you I loved was strong and sure. I’ve been around subservient women all my life. My mother was one. I loved her but hated the way she acted around my father and the other men.” He looked deep into my eyes, his finger tracing my cheek and lips. “I loved your fight, sharp tongue, and stubbornness. I loved all of that, but it wasn’t worth the cost. The price was too high—not only to you, but to me and The Light.”

His tone softened as his touch dipped to my collarbone and his gaze lingered at the neckline of the dress. “Besides, they took those parts of you away. That * you call your husband did that.”

I wanted to tell him it hadn’t been Jacob, it had been his uncle. It was Father Gabriel who was responsible, but I kept my lips closed and let him continue.

Dylan took a deep breath. Bringing his eyes back to mine, he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “Even so, for all the reasons I said, I wanted you to know the whole truth. I wanted you to understand that I tried. I really did.”

I took a step back. “Please . . . you’re scaring me.”

“Don’t you understand? Don’t you see it now? The Light can’t be stopped.”

I nodded, again pulling my lip between my teeth.

“That explosion changes everything,” he explained. “I’m trying to make you understand. No matter what happens to me or to you, The Light is here and there and everywhere. There’s no escaping it. My uncle was right. Allowing you to go back to Stella’s world would be impossible.”

I shook my head. “No, it’s not! I won’t tell. I promise. I’ll pretend, like I was doing earlier. I can do that.”

He took a deep breath. “Believe me when I tell you this hasn’t been an easy decision.”

“What hasn’t been easy?”

He leaned closer, once again cupping my cheek. “Do you remember how good we were together? Do you remember how easy it was?”

I nodded, tears raining down my cheeks.

He cooed, “It was easier with you than anyone. I wanted . . .” He touched his lips to mine, the cold contact feeling more like a good-bye than a hello. “But,” he went on, “we don’t always get what we want. I’ve known it all my life. The Light is bigger than me, than you, than both of us.

“I told you everything, because things changed tonight—because of you. I wanted to be honest, for old times’ sake . . .”

I saw the syringe from the corner of my eye. It was like the one Elijah had tried to use on me earlier.

“. . . even though I know that when you wake up, you won’t remember a word of it.”