Dark (3 page)

Greyson knew what he meant. “It’s too dangerous. Remember what
happened to our father?”

Bruno rubbed his face. “True.”

“Look, I called you so you would know to keep an eye on her for
me. That’s all.”

Bruno gave him a long look. “She’s coming here?”

“For college.
And I found out her mother’s moving,
too.” Greyson tried not to think about the implications of that. If her mother
moved away, she’d never come back. He didn’t want to believe that he might
never see her again.

“What’s her name?”

“Eva Waverley. She has red hair. She’s smart and feisty.”

“Of course she is.” Bruno smiled. “I never expected otherwise.”

“Just
do
it,” Greyson said, frustrated.
He knew his brother was on the verge of laughing at him, but it didn’t matter.
He needed this favor.

“If she gets caught in the crossfire…” Bruno trailed off.

“She won’t.” Greyson tapped his ring.

Bruno’s eyes widened. “You’re not seriously going to give her
that?”

Greyson nodded. “She’ll never know.”

“You’re playing with fire, brother.”

“She will never know,” Greyson said again, more emphatically this
time.

Bruno put his hands up.
“Fine.
Don’t
blame me when everything blows up in your face.”

Greyson nodded shortly, not trusting himself to speak.

“I’ll speak to you in six months.” Bruno touched the corner of his
eye with his finger.

Greyson did the same. “Six months, brother.” He tapped the control
and the viewer went dark.

****

“I’m going away, so you’ll never have to be grouchy about me
trespassing again,” Eva called out to the silent woods.
Nothing.
She sighed, looking around. The breeze mocked her, making her think he was
there, but there was nothing but the leaves tricking her with their occasional
rustle. “Whatever. I don’t suppose it matters. I’m out of here.” She started
walking. It was already getting dark and she needed to finish packing.

“Eva.”

She stopped and took a deep breath, staring at the ground. When
she looked up, there he was.
Dark.
Handsome.
Totally unapproachable.
It suddenly occurred to her
that they’d never introduced themselves. She’d spoken with him more than a
dozen times now, and she didn’t know his name. He
shouldn’t
know hers. “How
did you know my name?” she asked.

Instead of answering, he strode forward.

She fought not to step back as her breath caught. She struggled to
keep her hands still. She shoved down her attraction for him. He’d never given
her the slightest indication that he felt the same. She shouldn’t be doing this
to herself, anyway. He had to be at least twenty years older than she was, or
more. And she was leaving.
It’s just a
stupid crush
, she told herself.

“I have something for you,” he said, voice low and rumbly.

“I came to say goodbye, but you weren’t here,” she forced out past
her frantically beating heart. He’d come close enough for her to feel the
warmth radiating off his body. He smelled fresh and musky, like a pine forest
just after a hard rain.

“I know.” He touched her cheek lightly,
then
pulled something out of his pocket.

Eva looked down. His ring lay nestled in his palm with a silver
chain strung through it.

“Here.” He undid the clasp,
then
slid the
chain around her neck. “Don’t ever take this off.”

Eva licked her lips, twisting her hands together so they wouldn’t
tremble and betray her nerves. “What are you doing?”

“This will keep you safe.”

The chain was long enough to slide down her shirt between her
breasts. It tickled.

“I don’t understand,” she said thickly. He’d left his fingers
against her neck. She couldn’t breathe with him this close. He felt like a
storm: dark and overwhelming. She wanted him, badly, not matter how much he
might hurt her.

“Don’t take it off,” he repeated,
then
he
cupped her cheeks with both hands, tilting her face up.

Whoa,
she thought, when she finally deciphered the complicated look on his face. He
was
attracted to her. Shy, overweight, screwed-up Eva. How was this possible? As
she tried to understand this miracle, he moved in and lightly touched his lips
to hers.

Eva held her breath for a split-second, then her hands drifted up
to his biceps and she held on for dear life. He deepened the kiss, tongue
sliding inside her mouth. Eva shuddered. He tasted like mint. He felt like
danger. He gathered her close and kissed her harder, teeth nicking the outside
of her lips. Eva didn’t care. When he finally lifted his head, she thought
maybe she was dreaming, but the taste of blood in her mouth told her otherwise.

“Stay safe,” he murmured,
then
backed
away.

Eva touched her lips. “Wait!”

He paused, dark eyes glittering in the deepening twilight.

“I don’t even know your name,” she whispered.

He looked at her, face harsh. “My name is Greyson.” He touched his
finger to the outside corner of his eye, then nodded and backed away.

As before, he abruptly disappeared into the forest before she
could say another word.

Chapter Two

Four
years later…

“Maybe Lucy’s right and you
are
crazy for moving back here,”
Eva muttered, hauling the last box onto the front porch.

“Are you talking to yourself again?” Lucy asked, opening the front
door. She cocked her head and put her hand on her hip. Dark curls bounced
around her shoulders.

Eva smiled wryly at her best friend. “I can’t seem to break the
habit.”

“Everyone is going to think you’re insane if you do it in public.”
Lucy stepped out and held open the door. “That’s the last box?”

Eva nodded, shoving it into the door with her foot. “Be happy that
I already wrestled my little tree inside.”

“Believe me, I am,” Lucy said, helping Eva push the box inside the
rest of the way. “That thing grew so much in the past four years I’m starting
to wonder what you’re putting in its water. Also, I’m dying of hunger, by the
way. You’d better feed me soon or I won’t be responsible for what happens.”

“I ordered a pizza. It should be here soon,” Eva told her as Lucy
let the screen door swing shut. She headed into the kitchen to find her purse
and grab the money for the delivery guy. “And I had no idea that thing was
going to grow like that. Especially after your ex poured vodka in it.” She
glanced back just in time to see Lucy make a face.

“He was such a jerk.”

“Most men are.” Eva smiled wryly as she headed back into the
living room with her cash.

“Truth.”
Lucy looked around the messy space,
eyebrows raised. “I still can’t believe you talked me into moving back here
with you. I would have been perfectly happy staying in New York, but no, you
had to move back to the middle-of-nowhere Ohio.”

Eva smiled as her friend patted the leaves of the potted willow
tree near the front window. She might bitch about the tree, but she was just as
fond of it as Eva. “We’ve been roommates for four
years,
don’t you know by now that I’m not really a city girl?” Eva grabbed a ten and a
five and went back to the living room to wait for the food.

Lucy left off fondling the plant and plopped down on the sofa,
elbowing a bag of clothes out of the way to make room. “I thought once we
graduated college we could maybe try our luck on the west coast.”

Eva laughed. “Your mom would freak out if you moved to California.”

“Yeah, so?
That’s a bonus, not a deterrent.”

“You don’t have a job yet, Lucy. And you were always going to move
back here, anyway. I just decided to come along, too.” Eva picked up the bag of
clothes and set it on the floor before sinking down next to her friend. “Besides,
I’ve had enough of big city life.” She rubbed her eyes, thinking of the past few
years. She almost hadn’t made it through college when her mom suddenly ran off
to Europe with an Argentinian guy in her freshman year. She’d had to scramble
to find loans that would cover both school and housing. Thank God, Lucy had
been there to sublet with her in the summer. “I really appreciate you sticking
with me all those years. I’m just returning the favor.”

Lucy stuck her tongue out at her.
“Like I wanted
to move back home between semesters?
No thank you. It’s bad enough I’m
back here now, when I should be traveling the world.”

“You don’t have to stay with your parents, you know. You’re
welcome to live here with me,” Eva said, glancing around. “It’s a little
run-down, but it’ll do.” After the Argentinian had dumped her, her mother had
hit the jackpot with the next boyfriend. John had actually married her mom and
then he’d bought this place for Eva when he heard she wanted to move back here.
He was wealthy and generous with his money, fortunately.

“You’re thinking about your stepdad again, aren’t you?” Lucy
asked. She leaned over and smacked Eva on the thigh. “Stop it. You have nothing
to feel guilty about.”

“I just can’t believe he married my mom. She’s so messed up.” Eva
tipped her head back. “And he didn’t have to pay off my student loans. That’s above
and beyond. I don’t know why he did that.”

“I know your mom hasn’t been great, especially not after your dad
died, but she’s been through a lot and she got her shit together eventually,
right? And John’s a good guy. Stop picking at it. He’s loaded. He can afford
it.” Lucy grinned. “Be grateful. She might have run off at a bad time, but at
least when she came back, she brought home a good one.”

Eva grimaced. “You just like him because he knows one of the
Sentries.”

Lucy’s smile faded. “Well, yeah. That’s not a bad thing.”

“I think it’s disturbing.” Eva sighed, remembering the newscast
that had changed their world two years ago. “I mean
,
to find out that we’re not alone in the universe, yeah, fine. That doesn’t
surprise me.
But to discover that some ancient alien race
tinkered with us?”
She shivered.

“They didn’t tinker with all of us.
Only the
Sentries.
And it’s a good thing they did, or we’d all be dead,” Lucy
said,
her tone certain.

“Most of the Sentries are over two hundred years old. That’s really
weird. Humans aren’t supposed to live that long. And they’ve been using
technology we can’t understand, to do stuff we don’t understand,” Eva said, thinking
about what it would be like to live that long.
Not fun, that’s for sure.
“Don’t tell me that doesn’t bother you.”

Lucy shook her head. “It doesn’t, because they’ve never done
anything to hurt us. If they hadn’t agreed to let the aliens alter them, who
knows what would’ve happened? They said they’ve protected us all these years
and I believe them,” she said.

“The only reason you believe them is because you think Sentry Day
is hot. They haven’t given us any information about what they’re supposedly
protecting us from. Why is that?”

“They haven’t told the public, but they’ve told the President, and
some others,” Lucy argued. “Anyway, I bet you could find out, now that Mr. John
Parkinson married your mom.”

Eva slumped against the worn cushions. “John doesn’t really know
Bruno Day. He’s done some consulting work for him, that’s all. Internet and
network stuff.”

“That’s closer than anyone else has been to one of them. Stop
being such a downer.” Lucy shook Eva’s arm, making her laugh.

“
Ow
, stop it,” Eva complained,
extracting her abused elbow from Lucy’s fingers.

“Snap out of it. Life could be worse.”

“You don’t think it’s creepy that they’ve been here all along,
protecting us? Why did they even bother to go public at all? They didn’t have
to, you know. Why now?” Eva asked, fingering her necklace. The ring Greyson had
given her all those years ago seemed heavier than ever before. And the stick he’d
told her to plant had turned into a giant tree she had to lug around. Why was
she still clinging to these things?

Lucy shook her head. “How would I know? Nobody knows that. Why do
you
think they came out of hiding?”

The doorbell rang, saving Eva from answering. She had her
suspicions, but she wasn’t ready to share them. “I think the pizza’s here.” She
stood up, ignoring Lucy’s look of exasperation.

“Yeah, yeah, avoid the question. I can tell you’re hiding
something,” she muttered.

Eva paid the delivery guy and smiled to cover her unease as she
turned around with the box. “Let’s eat. I’m starving. We can solve the world’s
problems after dinner.”