Darkling by Jessica Kelley (ebook reader below 3000 TXT) 📕

I glanced at him occasionally through the rear-view mirror, wondering what I would do when he woke up. Then I would shake it off, and leave that problem for later. What I had to focus on now was leaving this city, maybe even this state. Getting from Point A to Point B, even if Point B was a gas station motel overridden with fleas and potentially harmful bacteria. The other problems could wait until then. 

I did my best to make sure we weren’t being followed, using old side roads and doubling back to access another route every fifteen minutes or so. I also kept an eye out for any cops; I had managed to get most of the blood off of my face, but it still covered me from the neck down, and that wouldn’t exactly go over well with the fuzz. Not to mention the unconscious minor in the backseat. And the arsenal in the back. Yeah. Not very good icebreakers. 

The sun was starting to set when I turned onto a particularly unkempt road. The honey essence was stronger than ever. I should have noticed the change, but at the time, with adrenaline coursing through my veins and blood pumping in my ears and the ever-present fear of being followed, I wasn’t exactly in the clearest mindset.

That being the case, what happened next was not my fault.

Adrien popped up like a jack-in-the-box and let loose a screech that could have raised the dead. I almost crashed the damn truck. 

We swerved violently off the road, followed by a succession of alarmed honks from the traffic behind us. “Shit!” I screamed and let go of the steering wheel—I had lost control of the car entirely. I pumped the brakes and attempted to keep the car from going any further off the road. Meanwhile Adrien was still screaming his head off and we were being knocked around in every sense, heads banging against the roof, elbows hitting the windows. I think my face hit the steering wheel at one point, because suddenly my nose was bleeding like a faucet. By the time we coasted to a stop, we were a complete mess. 

As soon as it was safe to let go of the wheel, I spun around and angrily slapped whatever parts of him I could reach. “You fucking idiot! What the hell were you thinking?” 

“I don’t—ahh!—I don’t know! I woke up—ow!—in a goddamn truck, how the hell am I supposed to react?” he spat, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth. His lip was split down the side and gushing blood. He started whining about it, took one look at my nose, then clamped up. “Where are we? What are you gonna do with me?” He reminded me of a dog you would find in the pound: mad and scared out of his mind. And who could blame him? He had been tossed out of a moving school bus, attacked by an elder vamp, knocked unconscious, and awakened in a stranger’s truck going God knows where. A little anger was understandable. 

But still. Anyone with common sense knows not to terrify the driver.

“Jesus,” I muttered, shifting the gear to Park. I rested my head on the steering wheel and closed my eyes. Sleep sounded really good right about then but I almost certainly had a concussion, so naptime just wasn’t in the cards. 

“Well?” Adrien persisted. “What’s gonna happen to me? Are—Are you gonna kill me? I haven’t done anything to you. I won’t tell anyone about this. I swear!” His eyes were darting from side to side, probably looking for a gun. 

“Relax, honey-boy.” I sighed. “You’re safe—for now. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do with you.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“An elder vampire won’t attack just anyone. There’s something strange going on with you.” 

“With me? You pushed me out of a bus! If anybody’s the strange one it’s you,” he huffed and punched the back of my seat. I let him get it out of his system, wishing I could throw a fit too. But I had to be the rational one. 

“Look. I can’t just let you go home. Not now. You’ve seen too much and you’ll tell somebody. You say you won’t but you will. Whether it’s your parents, your siblings, or your friends, you’ll let it slip somehow. And us hunters are the ones who will have to deal with that. People can’t find out about the Netherworld. They just can’t. Not to mention the fact that everyone would think you’re crazy. 

“And let’s say you can keep a secret. Good for you. But still you’d still be in danger. One person can’t fend off the Netherworld for long. And I can guarantee they know about you. Once one catches your scent, they all do. It’s just a matter of time. I’m sorry, Adrien, but you can’t go home. Not yet."

Text: I claim no rights to the cover picture, I found it on Google.
Publication Date: 09-13-2011

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