The Dark Divine (31 page)

I dropped the note and unwrapped the bundle. It was stacks of bills—thousands of dollars to replace the money he’d stolen from the parish. This was Daniel’s mysterious “obligation.”

How long must it have taken him to earn it back?

But more important, how long had this been in my room? Was Daniel gone already?

I ran down the stairs to Dad’s study, hoping he would know where Daniel might go. The room was empty. I realized that even though I didn’t have school, it was
still a weekday. I bounded to the kitchen, where Mom was paying bills at the table.

“Where’s Dad?” I practically shouted. “Is he at the parish?”

Mom raised her eyebrows. “He and Don went out to the shelter.”

“What? I thought that was tonight.”

“Don got called for an extra shift at the market tonight. He didn’t want to miss delivering his hams, so Dad took him early.”

“When did they leave?”

“Ten minutes ago.”

Urrgghh! I wouldn’t be able to reach him for at least another twenty minutes. “Would it kill us to buy a couple of cell phones?!” I shouted, and threw up my hands.

“Grace!” Mom dropped her checkbook.

“Seriously. Life would be so much easier.” I grabbed the minivan keys off the hook and went to the garage door.

“I need to pick up Charity from school,” she called. But I didn’t stop.

I drove in the direction of Oak Park. Too bad I didn’t have a superhuman sense of smell—I could just follow Daniel’s scent. I was halfway to Maryanne Duke’s when something told me he wouldn’t still be at his apartment. I flipped an illegal U-turn and headed toward Main Street. He said he needed supplies. Maybe he’d be at the market.

I parked the van behind a motorcycle in the lot. Was that the same bike we rode into the city that night? If so, it meant Daniel was planning on taking off to somewhere far away—far enough that he wouldn’t just run on his own two feet. Far enough that I wouldn’t be able to find him.

I ran into the store, passed several kids from my school picking up their dance flowers at the floral counter, and went straight up to Mr. Day at the cash register.

“Have you seen Daniel?” I asked, interrupting Lynn Bishop, who was purchasing a red rose boutonniere and bottle of hairspray.

Mr. Day looked up from the register. “He just quit, dear. I think he’s headed out of town.”

I swore—not quite under my breath.

Mr. Day cleared his throat. “He may still be in the back. I asked him to—”

But I was already headed for the door marked
EMPLOYEES ONLY
. No one was in the back room, but I noticed a door that led out to the parking lot. I bolted outside just in time to see a helmeted driver cruise by on the motorcycle.

“Daniel!” I shrieked, but my voice was nothing against the roar of the engine as the bike sped away. “Don’t leave.”

The world closed in on me, spinning. I had no more breath in my chest. My knees felt soft. I wished for
something to grab on to—to keep me from falling.

But then I was being pulled up instead of sinking to the pavement. Strong arms wrapped around me. Warm breath tangled with my hair.

“Don’t leave,” I said.

“I’m here, Grace,” he said. “I’m here.”

A FEW MINUTES LATER

Daniel held me until I could breathe again. The only thing obscuring us from the full view of everyone on Main was a stinking Dumpster, but I didn’t care. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

He kissed me back. His lips firm but yielding, hard yet soft. He was holding back—keeping me safe.

I cupped my hand over the warm stone pendant of his necklace, holding it tight against the nape of his neck as I looked him straight in his dark brown eyes and said, “I love you.”

Daniel’s hands pressed against the small of my back, pulling me hard against his body. He kissed me deep and strong. My knees melted softer than before.

He pulled back slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. “Do you know what that means?”

“Yes. It means I’m the one who can cure you.”

He pulled away. “No, Grace. I’ll never ask you to do that. I can’t possibly ask you to kill …” He shook his head. “And it’s too dangerous.”

“I don’t care. I’ll do it.”

“Grace, we’re not talking about a little prick with a knife and a little blood on your end. You’d have to
kill
me.”

“Don’t act like I haven’t thought this through.”

“Have you, Grace? Do you realize it’s not just me you’d have to kill? The letter said to plunge the knife into the
wolf’s
heart. I’d have to be in full wolf form, and that would be too dangerous for you. I’d rather go to hell than ask you to do that.”

I stepped back for a second, creating a gap between us. I hadn’t thought
that
through. I hadn’t even considered any physical dangers on my end—staring down a werewolf that knew I wanted to kill it.

I stepped closer to him again. “You won’t have to ask.” I took his hand in mine. “I’d do anything to save you.”

“Anything?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t let you. I can’t….”

“Then why did you stay? Why didn’t you leave as soon as you knew what the cure was?”

“Because …”

“Because this is what you really want. You hoped I’d come to realize that this is what you need.”

All this time, I’d been trying to fix Daniel—save him—but you can’t save someone unless he wants to be saved. I understood that now. Like I understood a lot of things.

I squeezed his hand. “If this is what you want, then let me do it for you.”

Daniel looked up at the sky and scratched behind his ear. “You really are one of a kind. I mean, it’s not every day my girlfriend offers to kill me.”

“Girlfriend?”

That wry grin slid across his face. “That’s the part you question? Man, I
should
leave town before I really screw you up.”

“You can’t go anywhere.”

“Right, ‘cause we’ve got to go find a nice quiet place where I can turn into a werewolf, and you can run a knife through my heart.”

“Don’t say it that way.”

Daniel looked down at our entwined hands. “And it doesn’t bother you? You’d be perfectly fine with ending my life?” His voice became bitter. “You’d go on with
your
life as normal? Keep dating guys like Pete, go to Trenton without me, become some famous artist and never give me a second thought. You’d be fine with all that?”

“Yes,” I said.

He pulled out of my grasp.

“I mean, no … I mean, of course it bothers me. It will bother me when the time comes. But the rest of it doesn’t have to be like that. You can do all those things with me—not the date Pete part, of course. But it’s not like I need to kill you right now. We can—”

“You don’t understand.” He wouldn’t look at me. “I either need to die, or I need to leave—today. Before tonight. Before I cause any more damage …”

I brushed my hand down his cheek.

He flinched away.

“You didn’t hurt those people,” I said. “Maryanne, James, Jessica Day. It wasn’t you, right?”

Daniel fingered his necklace. “No. It wasn’t me.”

“You’ve got that moonstone necklace. You can live a … seminormal life. You can even use your abilities to help people if you want. We don’t have to do it today. Eventually, yes … but not right now.” Putting it off, not really having to face the reality of it all, was the only thing keeping me sane. “That’s why you can’t leave me. We need to stick together so I’ll be there when it needs to be done. Just give me more time, and then I’ll free your soul before you die.”

“Grace, I wish it were that simple. Time is exactly what we don’t have. We can’t put this off indefinitely. There’s more than one person out there who wants me dead. And if anyone other than you kills me …”

“Who? Who wants you dead?” I felt like I could wring that person’s neck with my own bare hands—moral consequences be damned.

“My father, for one.” Daniel’s eyes were wide like a frightened child.

“Is he here? Is he back? Is he the one who—?”

“No,” Daniel said. “Last I heard, he was in South
America somewhere. I’d know if he were anywhere close.”

“Then why are you so worried? We can deal with all of this when the time comes. All I’m asking for is more time. Can’t we just
live
for today?”

Daniel sighed, sounding resigned. He pulled me into his arms and leaned my head against his chest. I listened to his two heartbeats thrumming under his skin. The slower pulse seemed closer to my ear, the faster one fluttering behind it.

“Is your human heart in front of the wolf’s heart?” I asked.

Daniel made a noise like he was surprised that I’d noticed the fact that he had more than one heart. “Yes, but only when I’m in human form. When I’m the wolf, then its heart takes the dominant position. But it’s always with me—part of me.”

That must be why I needed to stab him while he was in wolf form—to guarantee that the wolf’s heart took the brunt of the blow.

“What did the letter mean when it said ‘In an act of true love’?” I asked. If I was going to do this—kill him—someday, I wanted to make sure I understood exactly how to do it right. “The letter said the cure would only work if you were killed ‘in an act of true love’ by the person who loved you most.”

“I think it means the intent has to be pure,” Daniel said into my hair. “Not something done out of fear or
hate or coercion. It has to be an act of pure, unwavering love.”

“No fear.” I pictured myself alone with a monstrous wolf. Was that something I was capable of? I’d have to be. “Just love,” I said, and buried those other thoughts.

“Yes,” Daniel snorted. “True love’s first kill.”

He held me tight against him. The parking lot had emptied and filled with a new set of cars by the time he let me go. He brushed his hands through my hair and kissed my forehead.

“You can so do better than that.” I stretched up on my toes for a real kiss.

Daniel turned his head away. “What about your brother?”

“I don’t want to kiss
him,”
I said, and pecked my lips along Daniel’s jaw.

“He’s here, you know.” Daniel swallowed air. “I can taste him.”

“Okay, let’s put that on our ‘Top Ten Things Not to Say While Making Out’ list. Supersenses are cool and all, but kinda not romantic. Besides, Jude’s probably just picking up April’s corsage for the dance…. Oh, crap.”

Daniel stiffened. “What is it?”

“I’m supposed to go to the dance with Pete tonight. We’re sharing a car with April and Jude.”

“No.” Daniel let go of me. “You can’t go out tonight. You have to cancel.”

“You know I can’t do that. Pete’s probably already spent a ton of money. He’s a nice guy. I can’t just bail—”

“Pete’s not as nice as you think,” Daniel grumbled.

I laughed. “Are you jealous? Pete’s just a friend—”

Daniel grabbed me by the hips. “Of course I’m jealous, Gracie. You just told me that you love me but you are going out with another guy. But this is more important than my jealousy. If I’m staying here, then you have to stay in. I’ve got enough to keep my eye on. I can’t have you out there. Not
tonight.”

“What’s with tonight?”

He looked down. “The full moon.”

“The full moon?” I looked at the little crescent carved in his necklace. “You’re afraid of the—”

“Even with this moonstone necklace, the wolf is hard to control under the light of the full moon. It’s when the wolf has the most draw on the emotions.” He bit his lip. “I try my hardest to never go into wolf form. Even though I can control my actions now, it scares me to give the wolf that much leeway. I’ve only gone wolf twice since I’ve been back. The last was when I was looking for James. The moon was waning, so I felt safer letting the wolf have a little freedom. But the first time … it was the last full moon. That time scared me. I’d turned and was miles from my place on Markham before I realized it.” Daniel looked at me. “Do you remember the last full moon?”

“No.” Where had the last month gone?

“It was the day I first saw you again.” Daniel dropped his hands from my hips, but he didn’t step away. “Your dad had asked me to stay away from you and Jude until we figured things out, but I couldn’t. I think he knew I wouldn’t be able to, either; he was just doing the fatherly thing.” Daniel studied the back of his hands. “I’ve always
liked
you, Grace. I don’t know if you knew that?”

My heart fluttered. “Really?”

“Ever since the day you marched home with that three-legged runt of a puppy, I knew that there was no one else quite like you. Gabriel told me to find someone who loved me—and I hoped if there was anyone in this world who could, it would be you.

“So when I saw your name in that art class, I was so curious…. I remembered you as this spunky, unbelievably caring, totally bossy kid, and I couldn’t help teasing you a bit. But then when I looked at you and saw how beautiful and amazing and strong you had become—it was like something woke up inside of me.”

He stepped back now. As if he needed to put distance between us. “I’d never felt that way before. I didn’t know I was capable of feeling that way … but the wolf felt it, too. And when the full moon came out, it told me to go find you. It told me I
couldn’t
stay away. I even tried locking myself in my room, but that didn’t work. Like I said, I was almost to your house before I came
to my senses. I had more control, but I still couldn’t leave—not until I saw you again.”