Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) (12 page)

He looks at me curiously. “What do you
mean?”

I sigh again and then pick up my knife from
the ground and hop up on the crates beside him. “He took the
injection, Sylas.”

He stares at me with his mouth agape. “He
what? Why did he do it? He’s always been against it… arguing with
us about it. What the hell?”

“Because of me…Tristan told him what
happened to us; that we were captured. He thought the only way he
could save me… us, would be to become a Day Taker.”

“He changed for
you
. To save you…” He
considers this with a strange look on his face. “I’m glad he
did.”

He reaches out to lightly touch my cheek
with his finger. I’m not sure how to react, be on guard or not, but
I end up just sitting still.

He finally leans back, withdrawing his
fingers from my cheek. “What else happened while I was gone?”

For some reason I’m hesitant to continue. I
know that they’re competitive and I am afraid that, if I tell Sylas
everything
about what Aiden has done, he may hurt when I
tell him that Aiden is a Day Walker not a Day Taker. I wonder how
upset he’ll be to hear it, and to hear that the power is going to
Aiden’s head, making him unstable.

Sylas senses my hesitation. “Whatever it is
just say it.”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I take a
breath. “That injection didn’t turn Aiden into a Day Taker. He’s a
Day Walker.” There’s hurt in his eyes, but it disappears rapidly at
the same time he tightens his jaw. “He also thinks that humans
don’t need to be saved,” I add. “That the rest of the population
needs to become Day Walkers because he feels they’re
perfection
.” I roll my eyes. “He thinks that the cure isn’t
the way we should be saving the world. That instead, we should be
making people turn into Day Walkers, but only the one’s we
choose.”

He takes in everything that I am saying with
a serious expression. “If that’s the case, then why did he come
with you to get the papers?”

“I think he’s hoping to change my mind. Make
me agree with his ideas or something, but honestly, I don’t
know.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know…” I glance at the crates
around the room and the door; the only two things in here. “We got
separated when we were attacked by the monst—” I cut myself off,
unsure what to call them since he was one of them—still sort of
is.

“It’s okay. They’re monsters and I was one
of them,” he says like it’s no big deal, but I can tell he’s lying,
feel it flowing off him.” They’re all connected, you know. Their
thoughts, the movements they make. The Highers are intentionally
creating them. Building an army.”

My eyes enlarge. “An army? For what reason?
They already control the vampires and the people in the colony.
What do they need an army for?”

“They’re not satisfied with what they have,”
he explains, picking at one of the wounds on his arms. “They want
more. They know there are other people—humans—out there. They want
to find them and take over them. But the thing they really want,”
he pauses, looking up at me, “is you.”

I sigh. “There’s never enough for them.
Greed. That’s the reason it started and that’s the reason it’ll
never end.” I hop down from the crate. “Until I put a stop to
it.”

Sylas jumps down next to me, landing
unsteadily on his feet. “How do you plan on stopping them exactly?”
He looks doubtful that I can do it because it does seem impossible;
however, I was created for a reason—to stop this.

Anger burns inside of me as I think of all
the people that have either died or turned into some kind of
monster because of the Highers’ need for power. Greed. It ruined
the world and made it a horrible place of death and fear so they
could have their rules; their control. We were all simply walking
around, obeying them, but now it’s time to change that; change the
future.

“I plan on doing whatever it takes,” I say,
scooping up the papers, hoping they have the answers written on
them, knowing there’s a chance they don’t. I need a backup plan
just in case something doesn’t go right because I
will
save
the world.

No matter what it takes.

Chapter 17

It takes the rest of the day for Sylas to
finish changing back into himself. It’s a painful process full of
screaming and body shaking. His skin molts off, like feathers, and
beneath it is rejuvenated skin. He’s not wearing a shirt and keeps
picking off pieces on his back, neck and chest, flicking them onto
the floor. He seems to be gaining his strength back by the minute,
breathing easier, moving lighter, like the Sylas I first met.

While we wait, I update him on everything
that has happened. The escape, Nichelle, Maci falling from the
cliff and about Mathew; how I need to take the papers back to him
so he can help us find a cure. That supposedly he can read what’s
on the papers and maybe find a way to end the Highers’ plan of
greed once and for all.

“So other people and colonies really exist.”
He muses at this, rubbing his jawline, pacing back and forth to
stretch out his legs in front of the crates I’m sitting on. He said
they feel extremely stiff from being crooked and bent and it’s sort
of hard for him to walk.

“I’m guessing that’s why the Highers are
creating their army… they don’t want to risk anyone becoming more
powerful than them. I’m betting their plan is to find all the other
colonies, send their armies in to round the people up and then take
control of them.” He pauses, glancing at me. “Or kill them.”

“It makes sense,” I admit, reaching forward
and peeling a stray piece of skin off his arm. “They don’t want the
chance of an uprising, so they send abominations to take control of
the cities and kill any people who try to resist.”

“I’m guessing that you and I are onto
something.” He smiles amusedly at me while picking off one last
strip of skin from his stomach. He looks completely normal. “You
know what,” he flicks the piece of skin onto the ground, “I feel so
much better now.”

I flip the knife around in my hand, playing
with it. “You look better now.”

“Better?” he asks with a crook of his brow.
“Or sexy?”

I roll my eyes, but my stomach flips. “Glad
you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”

“You know you’ve missed it.” He waits, his
silence challenging me to say otherwise. When I don’t answer, I’ve
pretty much agreed he’s right.

I’m not sure how I feel about that.

“We should probably get going if you’re
feeling better and it should be dark by now.” I hop off the crates
and put the knife away. “There’s no point sitting around and
wasting time.” I walk over and pick up the papers.

Sylas glances around the room. “I need a
shirt or something.”

“Well, where did you get the pants?”

His eyes darken. “You don’t even want to
know.”

He’s probably right, so I take off my jacket
and toss it to him. He catches it and puts it on. It’s large on me,
but still a little too small on him. He manages to get it zipped up
then we head out a door that leads to the outside. We’re on high
alert because of the abominations. Although, I now know how to
change Sylas back if he gets bit, I’d rather keep the getting bit
on my part low.

Sylas grabs the door handle behind him, but
pauses. “What about Aiden?”

I pause, deliberating what the right thing
to do is. “Um… I guess we should probably find him.”

“Are you sure?” he questions. “You do
realize that the Highers are probably searching for us, right? They
have a connection with their army and will probably know that you
are here right now…. Plus, they’ll probably figure out that I’m no
longer with their group of soldiers and search for me because I
know stuff.”

“You think they know that you reversed back
to a Day Taker?”

He shrugs. “I’m not sure. But if they do
figure it out and find out that you’re the reason why I’ve changed,
you
will definitely become their top priority.” He lets go
of the doorknob and takes hold of my hand, his skin temperature
matching mine “You’ve got to promise to be cautious. If the Highers
get their hands on you… well, they’ll have what they need to become
what they’ve always strived to be. Perfection.”

“Then I’ll just have to make sure they don’t
get their hands on me,” I tell him determinedly.

“
We’ll
make sure,” he presses, his
dark eyes turning to liquid black like the ink on the papers that
I’m holding. “
We
’
ll
make sure that they don’t get
their hands on you.”

“You know, you sound so good at the moment,”
I say in a light tone.

The corners of his lips quirk. “Don’t tell
anyone. I have a reputation to uphold.”

He lets go of my hands and then we head out
the door, checking the hallway before stepping out. It’s silent as
we back our way down the hallway, the only noises are the soft
flaps coming from the plastic above us and the crunching as we step
on debris. I follow him down the hall, folding up the papers the
best that I can, then reach forward to put them into the jacket
pocket that Sylas is wearing. He tenses and freezes from my touch,
startled. When he glances at me, I shrug.

“I don’t want to be holding them if we have
to run,” I say.

He stares at my hand as I pull away and
then, when he looks up, he has this strange look in his eyes. He
reaches forward and tucks a strand of my hair out of my eyes before
turning away and heading up the hall again.

When we reach the end, the hall exits to the
outside through a hole in the wall. We slip into the shadows of the
night, carefully treading through the park to the dark streets,
keeping to the alleys while listening to the vampire cries around
us.

Sylas pauses for a moment when we reach a
corner of a building and then sticks out his hand behind him, grabs
hold of me and pulls me forward. I step up to the side of him as he
puts his fingers to his lips, warning me to stay quiet, then he
peeks around the corner and motions for me to do the same. I lean
around him and look into the street. There are fires burning in
barrels everywhere and three figures standing next to one of the
closer fires, wearing all white that matches their hair. Their
snow-white skin carves their perfect features and their pale eyes
are haunting.

Highers.

I can’t hear what they’re saying, but I want
to; I want to see if they’re talking about something that could
clue us in on what they know. I start to sidestep around Sylas,
wanting to get closer, when he catches my arm, but I shake my head
and point to my ear. He hesitates then lets me go, following on my
heels. We stick to the shadows and then duck behind a rusted
vehicle on the street, just out of the glow flowing off the flames
in the barrels.

Gabrielle’s voice rises and I tense,
recognizing the sound of it far too well. I strain my ears to
listen, hunkering low at the same time Sylas sits down on the
rubbly street with his legs out.

“We need to send our army out,” he says.
“Now that we know where some of the humans are hiding.”

“If Kayla gets the papers back to Mathew,”
another one says, his voice is unfamiliar, but it holds the same
icy tone, “eventually they’ll be able to figure out Monarch’s work.
He’ll be able to figure out the cure.”

It grows quiet and I dare to peek up through
the cracked window of the car. Gabrielle’s peering around the dark
streets, his pale eyes ultimately resting on the rusted vehicle
we’re hiding behind. I hold my breath, thinking he knows we’re
there, but then he turns back to the other Highers.

“It’s more important to find her first, so
we can capture her,” a Higher says, one that looks familiar, but I
can’t quite place. “It’ll take some time for Mathew to decipher my
work and we need her blood more than anything.”

I gasp when I realize Monarch is speaking
and then slap my hand over my mouth. Sylas reaches up and pulls me
back down, shaking his head at me.

“You need to stay down,” he hisses.

He’s right. I can’t allow my emotions to
make me become reckless. I was trained not to.

“How do they know about the papers?” Sylas
whispers. “And if they did, why didn’t they just pick them up to
begin with and destroy them.”

“I have no idea.” I pause. “Unless someone
told them.”

Gabrielle and Monarch grow silent but then a
shuffling sound causes Sylas to lean forward, carefully peeking
around the corner from our hiding spot, ready to bolt if we have
to. However, they’re still standing in the same spot, in a circle,
Monarch and Gabrielle in the center.

“How do we even know that Aiden is telling
us the truth?” Gabrielle sneers. My eyes widen as I feel Sylas
tense beside me, his fingers brushing mine.
Aiden? He was
talking to the Highers? Was he the one who told them about the
papers?
I hate to think it, but he has to be.

“Aiden’s been programed by me since he was a
small boy,” Monarch replies, swishing his robe behind him as he
moves over beside the fire, peering at it. “Just like all of the
children, he can’t lie to me, even when he fights it. He can try
all he wants, but in the end, he tells the truth against his own
free will without even understanding what he’s doing. He was
telling the truth about the town and the papers.” He pauses and
tears his eyes away from the fire, looking around. “And we’ll know
in a few days what will happen to Aiden.”

“As I said before, we need to send our
armies in and have them take over the town,” Gabrielle says in a
low voice as he walks up beside Monarch. “We need to bring all the
people back to us before Kayla returns there. We’ll have Mathew as
our prisoner and without him, Kayla won’t understand how to make
the cure.”

“You know that we can’t execute that command
on our own,” Monarch says, turning to face Gabrielle. The two stand
tall, rising to each other’s height, like they’re both trying to be
commander, and the rest of the Highers hover back and watch. They
looks almost the same, hair like snow, eyes that match, and I
wonder if the man that I once thought of as my father is even in
there anymore or if he’s dead.