Daniel Taylor and the Dark Legacy (16 page)

“Oh, thank God!” Vanessa cried out as she reached the top of the ladder and caught sight of Daniel in the old treehouse, which was really nothing more than a large wooden crate. There wasn’t even a window. She and Danny had built it when they were children.

Vanessa turned and looked down the ladder. “He’s up here!”

“Danny, dear, is everything okay?” Anne put a hand to her mouth in relief and then began climbing up the ladder. Vanessa clambered across the treehouse to make space for her.

Nessa couldn’t see Daniel, as her eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the dark, and when his mother appeared at the top of the ladder, there was even less light to see by.

“Danny?” Anne asked.

“I’m okay, Mom,” his voice came out of the darkness.

“That’s good, sweetie, but don’t ever give me a fright like that again — running away without telling anyone where you were going.”

“I’m okay, really,” Daniel said.

Hopefully that was the case. But just a little while ago, he had been in a deep coma. Anne was behaving strangely, too, Vanessa thought. And she was a nurse! If she were in Anne’s place, Vanessa would be dragging her son right back to the hospital.

As though Anne could sense what Vanessa was thinking, the older woman told her, “Don’t worry, this happened to Danny before. We don’t really know what’s wrong. And since there’s nothing we can do about it …” She sighed and began to climb down. “Well, I’ll call Dr. Graham and bake some cookies, in case you guys get hungry later!”

“Thanks!” Vanessa leaned over the opening, nodded encouragingly at Anne, and mouthed the words, “I’ll talk to him.”

“Your mother’s pretty special,” Nessa said, crawling further into the interior of the windowless treehouse, but Daniel just snorted. He was lying on a mattress, arms crossed behind his head, staring into space. Vanessa could tell that his eyes were open.

“I’m so glad I found you.” She carefully sat next to him. She didn’t know what to do with her hands, so she ran her fingers over her braided hair. “We were so worried. Your mother got a call from the hospital saying that you had disappeared. She contacted me, hoping I might know where to find you, and our treehouse was the first place that came to mind.”

Daniel said nothing and gave no sign that he was even listening to her. The fact that he was shutting her out hurt Vanessa. What was going on with him?

“Should I leave you alone?” she whispered. “Daniel?” She gently touched his arm, whereupon he closed his eyes. “All right, I’ll go. Just don’t run away again, okay?”

As she was about to get up, his hand shot out and grabbed her arm. “Please stay.” He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. “I’m not going back to the hospital, not ever.”

Nessa inhaled sharply in surprise, but he just held her even tighter. “Please, help me.”

His sudden closeness disconcerted Vanessa. “What’s the matter?” She could feel his body trembling beneath her.

Daniel sighed. Nessa’s familiar smell, her warm body … it all had an immediate calming effect. “My whole life is falling to pieces, and I don’t know what I should do,” he whispered. It was embarrassing to admit his weakness, but he couldn’t go on like this.

“What are you talking about? Are you sure you’re okay? You look so pale.” Vanessa gently ran a hand through his hair, and it felt so damn good. His mother used to do that, but now he was too old to go to her when he just wanted to be held in someone’s arms.

“Is it true that you knew I was adopted?” he whispered. Daniel was clinging to Nessa like a drowning man to a lifesaver. He wanted to stay like that forever.

“How did you know that?” Propping herself up on her elbows, she looked at him, their noses almost touching. He could feel her heart racing against his chest. “You weren’t conscious when your mother told me.”

Daniel was taken aback. “So you just found out about it?”

“Yes. Your mom has wanted to tell you for a long time. But then Peter left, and she didn’t want to upset you even more.”

He exhaled, relieved.
Sirina wanted to drive us apart. She’ll never manage to do that!
he thought angrily.

Vanessa snuggled back into his chest. “Tell me, how did
you
find out? Did you hear us talking about it?”

“Marla told me,” he said, happy to finally get it out. He would tell Vanessa everything, even if she’d think he was crazy. He had to take the risk. Daniel had to finally confess to someone what had been going on over the past few weeks. Vanessa was smart — maybe she could help him.

He could feel Vanessa’s breath against his neck. “Marla? Is that one of the nurses? How did she know? Anne said that no one knew about it.”

“Do you remember when we were in Edna’s backyard, I wanted to tell you something?” Daniel asked quietly. He took Nessa’s braid and wrapped it around his hand, as if to show that she belonged to him now. Maybe also to stop her from running away from him.

Nessa lifted her head and gave him a crooked smile. “Of course. That was pretty mean, building up the suspense and then not telling me anything.”

“There’s something wrong with me, Vanessa. Marla isn’t a nurse. She’s my half-sister, and she’s a … demon.” Danny told her everything, starting from his strange headaches up to the revelation that he was the future ruler of the underworld, betrothed to marry a demon. “Now you’ll think I’m crazy.”

Sighing, he closed his eyes. Relief flooded through him. He had finally unburdened his soul, but now he was afraid of how Nessa would react. His heart was beating wildly. She had listened to him the whole time in silence, lying motionless against his chest.

“You’re not crazy,” she said quietly. She caressed his face tenderly. “Danny, I think it’s a completely normal reaction to see these women. I keep seeing Joe’s face in front of my eyes. Maybe we should just go to the police before we both go completely mad.”

Groaning, he opened his eyes again.
No, she didn’t understand!
He shook his head in desperation, not letting go of her. “Vanessa, this has nothing to do with old Joe! You know that — you saw me have that attack at the lake.”

Vanessa was looking at him as though he had grown a third eye. Damn it, it was clear how things were turning out. What should he do now?

He saw a movement in a corner of the treehouse. It was his alleged sister, who had just turned herself visible, crouching near the ladder, arms crossed over her chest. Although she was scowling at him, Daniel was overjoyed to see her.

“Marla!” He sat up so abruptly that he almost hit Nessa in the nose with his chin. “Sorry!”

She quickly shifted away from him. “Danny, what’s the matter?” She raised her eyebrows and looked around them, but no one was there. No one that she could see. To Vanessa, it must seem like he was staring at a dusky corner of the treehouse, where there was nothing but spiderwebs.

“I’m glad you’re here!”

“Then you’ve made your decision?” Marla asked him.

“What?” At first he didn’t understand what she meant, but suddenly it all came back to him. “I’ll come with you to the underworld and listen to what your Council has to say, but only under certain conditions.”

“Danny, who are you talking to?” he heard Nessa say.

He gestured to her to be quiet. Now he had a chance to prove to her that he wasn’t crazy, and he wouldn’t waste the opportunity for anything in the world.

“Conditions?” Marla obviously wanted to protest — displeasure was clearly written on her face — but finally she said, “All right, as the future Overlord, I’ll grant you that privilege.”

“You’re too kind.” His excitement almost rendered him speechless. The way Vanessa was looking at him right now, she was about to call in the men in white coats with straightjackets. “Actually, I’ll be setting three conditions that have to be met before I meet with the Council.”

“What, three?!” Marla widened her eyes in rage. “Okay,” she finally growled.

“First, make yourself visible, so that Nessa knows I haven’t gone crazy.”

Marla exhaled. She had apparently been expecting something much worse from him. Daniel couldn’t see any difference, but when Vanessa suddenly gave a start and flung herself back toward him, he knew at once that she could see Marla.

“That’s impossible!” Vanessa blinked several times. Daniel knew that her logical brain was probably working overtime, incapable of accepting what she had seen. “Are your delusions infectious?” Vanessa looked back and forth between him and Marla, stunned.

Daniel gave a wry smile. “Allow me to introduce you to Marla, my sister.”

“
Half
-sister,” the demon corrected him.

Vanessa was slowly calming down. “Is she real?”

“Marla’s so real that she tripped you last night in the park,” Daniel said.

“What?” She seemed to be thinking back over the scene. “I thought I had run into something solid,” Vanessa sighed, frustrated with her own confusion. “This certainly turns my worldview on end.” Daniel knew that she had never believed in anything supernatural.

“So, my boyfriend is a demon. That’s totally insane!” She was trembling. Daniel wanted to comfort her, but first he had to finish his negotiations with Marla. Wait, had she called him her boyfriend? Stay focused, Daniel said to himself.

“Condition number two,” Daniel said to his sister, hugging Nessa tightly. “You won’t bother me anymore when I’m … otherwise engaged.”

“Okay.” Her head tilted slightly, Marla looked at him intently. She was expecting the worst to come last.

“And now, my most important condition.”

The demon’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped open. “I knew it!”

“You have to deliver a message to Mike.”

Marla’s face turned from white to red. “Wh-what? What Mike? I don’t know anyone named Mike.”

Reluctantly, Daniel turned to Vanessa. “You know where he lives, don’t you?”

She nodded. “What do you have in mind?”

“Marla’s going to bring him a message. From Joe Adams.”

“Brilliant,” murmured Vanessa, her face a motionless mask. It seemed that she still hadn’t fully understood what was going on.

“So,” he said, turning back to Marla. “Will you deliver a message to Mike?”

“That’s all?” Marla had evidently been expecting more from a future Overlord, but he would just have to disappoint her. He sensed how the demons thought and felt; he was connected to them telepathically, after all. Luckily, he had quickly discovered how to block off the thoughts of strangers — otherwise, he would have gone mad. If only he could do the same with his own thoughts! Daniel didn’t like the idea that other demons could poke around in his mind whenever they wanted.

He had no desire to become like the underworlders.
They’re totally sick in the head.

“Where can I find him?” Marla suddenly sounded interested in the prospect, but she was pretending to be fascinated by a large spider whose web occupied a corner of the treehouse.

Nessa, who had been sitting the whole time in Daniel’s lap, trembling, suddenly spoke up: “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”

To her surprise, Marla smiled. Daniel sensed that it was a sincere smile, which baffled him. “No worries, kid, I’ll be on my best behavior.”

Nodding, Vanessa checked her watch. “He works at the bank on Governor Plaza. If you hurry, you’ll catch him; they’ll probably be closing soon. Or you can wait for him at his apartment. Number four, Willow Street, first floor on the left.”

Daniel again felt that strange pang in his chest that he had experienced at Rebecca’s Halloween party.
I’m actually jealous of this blond Casanova, just because Vanessa knows so much about him!
Was that just because he loved her?
Was this actually love?
The feeling was entirely new for him. Of course, he loved his mother, but that was something different. All he had to do was look at Vanessa, and his body seemed to vibrate.

“What’s the message?” Marla shifted her weight from one leg to the other. She was in a hurry to take him to the underworld. “What exactly should I tell this Mike?”

“That old Joe is hidden in the freezer in the basement.”

“Okay, I’m going, but you have to keep your promise!”

“Demon’s honor,” Daniel said with a grin. His sister drew a circle on the wall with one hand. A ring of blue fire appeared, and an opening formed in its center. Daniel could see the fountain in front of the bank in Governor Plaza.

Vanessa’s mouth fell open. “Pinch me.”

He did so.

“Ow, not so hard!” She rubbed her arm, keeping her eyes on Marla. The demon stepped through the circle, which immediately shut behind her, and she was gone. All that remained was a faint whiff of ozone.

For a long time, Vanessa and Daniel looked at each other. He could feel the sparks between them. Finally, Nessa whispered, “Wow.”

Daniel exhaled. “Do you believe me now?”

“Yes, unless it’s all some crazy dream.” Sighing, she closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Who else have you told about this?”

“No one.”

Shaking her head, she pressed her body closer to his. “I can’t really take it all in.”

“Me neither.”

“Your sister is even weirder than you.”

“I’m weird?” Daniel asked quietly.

“Weirdly adorable!” she responded quickly, putting her arms around his neck.

“Would you still want to be with me, even if I weren’t quite human?” Daniel gave her such a piteous look that Vanessa’s heart melted.

She grinned. “Of course, what do you think, dummy? I love you, and I don’t care
what
you are as long as I know
who
you are: Danny Taylor, the sweetest demon in all of Little Peak High, the one creature whose heart is in the right place.”

“Half-demon,” he whispered and kissed Nessa with something like desperation. He didn’t want to let go of her lips; he almost robbed her of breath, so passionate was his embrace. Daniel felt unspeakably relieved that he had finally confided in her — and she had believed him.

Vanessa took hold of his hair to pull his head closer to hers.
I love you so much, Danny
, she thought, and Daniel heard her. He felt what she was feeling, and at this moment he felt the happiest he ever had in his whole life.