DAUGHTER OF DARKNESS

15

I took a step back, bumping my waist on the kitchen counter, and he dropped my hand. “I’m fine. I can take care of this.”

“Kenna.” He reached for me again.

What the hell? Why was he being like this? Didn’t he know I wanted him gone? Our first night here, I had made a promise to myself. I would stay here without complaint for Lia’s sake, but I wouldn’t let anyone get close to us. If Slater found us, he would use them to hurt us. He would hurt them.

My distress and frustration got out of hand, making me lose control of my powers for a second. The kitchen lights flickered.

Devon looked up. “What was that?”

I took a deep breath, calming down. “I don’t know.” For good measure, I walked to the other side of the kitchen. I didn’t have plans to treat my burns, but so I had something to do, I grabbed the first aid kit from the cabinet.

When I spied over my shoulder, I saw as Devon grabbed the book I had been reading from the kitchen counter. “I think this is ruined.” He held the book up to me.

The book’s top corner was black. “Oh no.”

I rushed to his side; I grabbed the book with my good hand. I had left the book right beside the food processor, because my intention was to read a few more paragraphs while the sauce was cooking. A spark must have shot out toward it, burning the corner of several pages. I flipped through the pages. A good chunk of text was burned. I couldn’t read it like this now.

“s**t,” I said.

Devon’s lips tugged up, and I tried not noticing how even more handsome he was with that half smile.

“What’s funny?”

“You’re more worried about the book than your hand.”

Shrugging, I placed the ruined book on the kitchen island, beside the GED forms and study books. I hadn’t been to school in seven years, but Lia had taught me a lot of what she remembered, especially in the last two years. Every stop we made, she bought me a new textbook—chemistry, biology, math. I had learned a lot on my own, but she was insisting I dive into our new life. I should study, take the GED exam, and apply for college. There were a couple of small community colleges nearby.

Devon stared at the GED forms.

A sense of embarrassment cut through me. What did he think of an eighteen-year-old—nineteen in less than two months—who hadn’t gone to school? He was probably now trying to think of an excuse to leave.

It was okay. I could give him one. “I can take it from here.” I picked up the burn cream from the first aid kit. “Thank you, though, for coming to check on me.”

Devon’s dark eyes locked on mine, and I felt he was trying to see past me, to find the reason I was shooing him from the house through my eyes. However, as he stared at me, I realized a girl really could get lost in those ebony pools of his.

“You’re welcome,” he finally said, his voice tight.

Devon spun around and left, closing the back door behind him.

The moment he was gone. I let out a long breath, as if I hadn’t been able to breathe right the entire time he had been here.

I didn’t like it.

I didn’t like how my body reacted when he got close or how kind he was. I especially didn’t like the possibility of him getting too close and getting hurt.

Tonight, I was going to have a talk with Lia. No matter what, she had to stop asking Devon for help and inviting him to dinner. She would understand where I was coming from. After all, I had suffered at the hands of Slater for five years, but she had suffered for sixteen.

If someone understood why we needed to keep our distance for people, it was her.

We had chosen to escape and live, but we both knew we would never be able to live a normal life. The only way of doing that was embracing the solitude that came with our freedom.

Alone, but alive.

Past

Kianna

The cold water in the kitchen’s wash basin was a balm to her hands on this very humid and hot day. Spring was well underway, but there were days when Kianna wondered if summer had decided to show up early. She wished she could ditch her duties, even if only for a few minutes, to go for a refreshing dip at the lake below the hill. She bet the water was nice and cool.

She closed her eyes and imagined herself swimming through the clear water.

“Here’s more.” Cat’s voice cut through Kianna's dream.

She opened her eyes as Cat deposited a basketful of produce beside the wash basin.

“That’s a lot.” Kianna reached for a lettuce head. “She said we’ll be using all of these?”

Cat shook her head. “Your mother just said you need to wash them all.”

Groaning, Kianna washed the lettuce, making sure she got all the bits of dirt from it, then set it aside and grabbed another one. She guessed standing in the kitchen and washing vegetables was better than being under the hot sun and working the field like Giles and Devon were doing.

Despite herself, Kianna glanced out the window. There, in the middle of the field, Devon working like a mad man, his muscles flexing and shifting with each repetitive movement.

Cat stood closer to her and followed her gaze. “Hm. I know you’re still wary of him, but you have to admit, he has been a blessing for the farm.”

A long sigh traveled past Kianna’s lips. “I know.”

It was true. Giles was getting old and he didn’t have the stamina to work all day in the field, especially when it was too hot or too cold. Her mother was thirty-eight, not too old. But after years working in the field and running the house and managing the kids, her back hurt more days than not, her hands were covered in calluses, and her face was becoming covered in wrinkles. Kianna thought her mother was still beautiful, but it was easy to see all the hard work taking its toll.