Dark Matter (21 page)

Suddenly, his starry eyes turned dark.
The blackness behind them seemed to radiate into the room, filling
the space with an overwhelming presence.

“
What is that thing?” I
asked, a little breathless.

Wordlessly, he shoved me away so fast I
couldn’t think. I fell backward and was sucked into a void of utter
emptiness.

When I woke up every cell in my body
hurt as though it had been ripped apart and put back together
wrong.

Tears sprang to my eyes, but I couldn’t
remember why I was crying. I felt extreme sadness as though I
wasn’t capable of being happy again. But why?

Last night I had been dreaming about
Zach. I smiled, remembering the feel of his skin under mine. Happy
that I could conjure his image easily now that I wasn’t with Heath
anymore. But there was something else lingering in my mind that I
didn’t want to remember. I breathed in heavily as it came back to
me. Something had been there with him, twisting my dream into a
horrible…

Despair settled into my chest. I hadn’t
been able to save him. That thing had surrounded him and almost
gotten me in the process. What was it anyway? I had felt it drawing
life from me as if it were a leech.

The moment before the blackness had
consumed me, I had seen Zach’s expression. He was in excruciating
pain, yet he was only concerned about me.

I wiped my face on my sleeve and looked
around. I wasn’t sure where I was. It was a cave of some sort. I
was lying on a pile of blankets. The humid air was suffused with a
strange odor. It was a cross between BO and meatloaf. At least
that’s what my brain was processing at the moment. I didn’t really
want to know what it was. Let’s just say it wasn’t a pleasant
odor.

The room was brimming with stuff. Most
of it looked like it had been pilfered from the garbage dump. There
were several piles of tattered clothes. Another that looked like
used books. Another that appeared to be broken toys. Then there was
the jewelry scattered in tangled heaps.

Gibbit. I remembered now. He had saved
me from being bound to Heath, but where was he?

Light filtered in through the doorway
across from me. I could see a small table, some pots piled up in a
precarious stack that looked as though it was moments from toppling
over.

A rattling sound startled me, but it
wasn’t close. I listened more intently waiting for it to happen
again. I didn’t think it was coming from the kitchen or whatever
that room was next to this. My muscles groaned in protest when I
tried to sit up. I didn’t care what my body wanted. I had to find
Gibbit. He was the only one that could help me get some food. I
didn’t know what I was going to offer him, but I had to try. Zach
needed me, and I would be useless until I could figure out how to
handle my growing hunger.

I thought about trying to find Cassie,
but I didn’t want to interrupt what was bound to be an amazing
honeymoon. Regret tickled my throat as I thought about missing our
conversation. I was happy for her. I really was, but there was a
hidden tinge of jealousy that crept in the depths of my heart. It
wasn’t that I wanted Finn. I didn’t. I just longed for what they
had. Funny since a month ago, men were the last thing on my mind.
Now all I could do was think about Zach, or Luke, or, blast him,
Heath.

“’
Bout time you got up, lazy
bones,” Gibbit said. He was leaning on the jamb almost inside the
doorway, but not quite. He seemed at once timid and nervous, but
there was resolve in his strange eyes. Could I really trust this
creature? He still hadn’t told me who hired him.

“
What happened to me?” I
asked.

His orange gaze settled on mine. “I
tried to rouse you several times, but might as well have had a
vacant sign hanging from your neck.”

Try as I might, I couldn’t find any
deceit behind his words. That being said, I still didn’t trust him
all that much. “How long was I out?”

“
Three days, I
think.”

I groaned. Why didn’t time work the way
it should anymore? I was surprised he hadn’t just taken me to
Ainessa. Maybe there was more to him than I had first thought.
“What exactly happened to me?”

He shrugged. “You should not do that,
miss. Many things could have happened with you being hunted and
all.”

I ignored the hunted part. What was new
about that? I needed to know how I had found Zach. “Like what? How
could Ai…” I closed my mouth before her name fully escaped. Gibbit
glared at me like high-beams on a semi.

He gave me a disgusted shake of his
head. “I’ve already warned you about using the names of your
betters.”

Seriously? This troll needed a lesson
in self confidence. “What makes them better than me, or you, for
that matter?”

His eyes did a weird flip thing as if
they went completely around in his head. It gave new meaning to
rolling your eyes. “It’s just an expression.”

I blinked at him. “Well, I don’t like
it.”

His slash for a mouth lifted into a
razor sharp grin. “Did you actually think I do? I put up with it
because I have to. It ain’t no more than that, so get that silly
smirk off your face, girl. We are both in trouble, and I, for one,
don’t want to be found. We needs to get out of here.”

“
But, where would we
go?”

A sly smirk found its way to his mouth.
“I’ve got places she don’t know about.” He ambled over to me and
tugged on my arm. “Come on!”

My stomach took the opportunity to let
me know how long it had been since I’d eaten. I had to ask before I
fainted. “Gibbit, I need food. Please, if you have
some.”

He laughed. “Got it covered, mistress.”
He patted a little satchel that was looped through his
belt.

That was it? I felt hungry enough to
eat an entire whale. I gave him a wary look, but started to follow
him into the next room. I’d be okay until we got to wherever he was
taking us. Just before I reached the doorway I noticed a little
leather bound book lying in that gigantic heap of discarded tomes.
I let out a squeal, rushing over to it. Gibbit moved so fast, I
hadn’t thought it possible.

I still beat him to it. I cradled the
book in my arms and pulled it against my chest possessively then
whirled around.

He glowered at me before he waved me
off. “Twern’t any good anyway. Don’t know why you bothered. I would
have given it to you if you’da asked.”

Chapter Fifteen

I nodded slightly in mock placation.
Sure he would have. And I was a green gorilla.

Gibbit’s face twitched into a grin, and
he shook his head at me. “We don’t have time for this, miss. We’d
best be heading out, but first…” He reached into a pocket and
withdrew my ring. He raised it to his mouth and actually bit the
metal, caressed the ruby once then handed it to me.

This was new. Since when did he give
jewelry away? After I wiped it off, I sputtered out a “thanks” and
slid the ring on my finger then waited. Nothing. Again. How was I
supposed to know if it worked? It wouldn’t matter either way. I
didn’t have any better options.

I had to duck to get through each
doorway. Despite the smell, that I now realized was him, I sort of
liked his house. It felt homey. Time had worn the dirt walls
smooth. The air was warm, but not overly so. We had passed a cozy
living room that held a child sized sofa. Books were stacked to the
ceiling in tidy rows. A ladder rested up against the wall. It was
the only room in the house that seemed to have a bit of order to
it. After that he led me to an open area in his little
cave.

My entire body sighed when I was able
to stand up straight. I stretched backward until I heard an
abnormal crack and just like that the pain in my left shoulder went
away. Gibbit was already way ahead of me. He turned back to glare.
I hurried to catch up to him.

We came to a dead-end. I bit back my
whining. Didn’t he know where he was going? My stomach wasn’t going
to wait much longer.

He tapped the wall a few times. A tiny
ember glowed where his fist had struck. The rock sizzled as though
consumed by acid before a hole appeared. It grew larger until it
was big enough to walk through. We emerged into another set of
tunnels. Somehow, I didn’t mind being in these. I felt a sense of
peace, but I wasn’t sure if it was because something here was
actually protecting me or if it was because I had been out of it
for a while.

Gibbit did the same thing several times
and each passageway led to different looking corridors. One even
had a vein of gold above my head as big around as my leg. It
stretched as far as I could see.

I stayed right by his side. He moved
fast for how little he was. Occasionally, he would look up at me to
give me what I supposed was his reassuring smile. I wondered if he
had ever looked at himself in the mirror when he did that. It was a
little bit creepy with his razor sharp teeth sparse as they
were.

He kept silent the entire way. I didn’t
really know what to say to him so I did the same. I held the book
snugly under my arm. I was going to have to ask him if he had
actually read it. I kind of thought that he had which made me
wonder what he had been searching for.

He reached out a halting hand. I almost
overlooked it and nearly ran into him. Instead of a glare like I
expected, he smiled. He raised a finger to his lips, indicating
that I should keep quiet. This time, he put his ear to the rock and
closed his eyes. He stayed like that for what felt like forever,
but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes. I shifted on my
feet trying not interrupt whatever he was doing. I saw his chest
finally release a big breath.

He tapped the rock one more time and
led me through the newly formed doorway. When I turned around the
wall was solid. Had all of the openings sealed back up like
that?

“
Where are we?” I
whispered.

“
You don’t need to know
that. All you need to understand is that you are safe, for the time
being.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a tart. I tried to
be polite and not snatch it away from him, but it took a lot of
effort. He handed it to me with a smile. It was in my mouth, and I
was chewing before I even thought to say thank you.

He shrugged my appreciation off as if
he was uncomfortable with it. Without another word, he started down
the hall walking with a slight limp as if one of his legs were
longer than the other.

I caught up to him and asked, “Don’t
you know how to accept a thank you?”

“
You’ve no reason to thank
me.” He looked at the ground. “I did this to you.”

I had already tried to get angry about
that, but he had saved me, so I couldn’t. There had to be some good
in this little troll even if no one else could see it. “I’m not mad
at you, if that is what you’re worried about.”

He bristled at me, but I couldn’t
figure out why. Yes. He had screwed me royally, but I had the
distinct impression that Ainessa would have done something really
horrible to him if he hadn’t.

“
What did she threaten to do
to you?” I asked.

He stopped, turning slowly. He eyed me
warily for an uncomfortable few seconds then shook his head. “With
her, it ain’t what she actually does. It’s what she don’t do that
hurts. She won’t authorize my trade agreements no more unless I do
something for her first. She has forced me into this life and many
more like me. We are all slaves to her in one way or
another.”

After my encounter with her in the fire
realm, I was doubly afraid of Ainessa. I could only imagine what
she would do to Gibbit if she found out what he was doing. “I don’t
want you to get into trouble for helping me.”

He cocked his head to the side. “I’m
willing to take that risk.”

“
Why?”

His stumpy hands curled into fists.
“She can’t be allowed to terrorize us any longer. We’ve petitioned
the courts, but no one cares about us lessers.” He raised his eyes
in a hopeful expression.

Oh. I was supposed to solve this for
him. He wasn’t any different than the other fae I had met so far.
They expected that I was just going to fix the problems they had
been fighting forever. Why would all of these people trust me with
their future? They didn’t know anything about me.

I shook my head and walked up some
stairs then through the doorway into what looked like an old-time
parlor. My heart felt lighter knowing we were above ground again,
but there was a new heaviness to my already weary soul. I told
Gibbit that I needed to lie down, and he showed me to a cheery
looking room. It smelled of fresh paint and dust. When I looked
back at him, he was nudging a paint can into the closet. I gave him
an appreciative nod.

The walls were the color of morning
sunlight. A trundle bed was overflowing with brightly colored
pillows and a comfy rocking chair was nestled in the corner. The
pink curtains were shut.

He didn’t comment when I pulled them
back. Blinding light filtered through the dirty glass, but several
dark spots littered the lawn. I pushed my nose closer to make sure
I wasn’t imagining this then groaned.