is terrible. A huge mistake. But when you walk away today, you won't be leaving her." He laid a hand over Luce's heart. "She's with you."
"Still, I can't - "
"You can, Luce." His voice was firm. "Believe me. You have no idea how many strong and impossible things you are capable of." He looked away from her, out at the trees. "If there's any good left in this world, you'll know soon."
A single blip of a police car's siren made both of them jump. A car door slammed, and not far from where they stood, they heard the crunch of boots on gravel. "What in the hell - Ronnie, call the central office. Tell the sheriff to get down here."
"Let's go," Daniel said, reaching for her hand. She slid it into his, giving the crest of Mr.
Lockwood's headstone a somber pat, then started moving with Daniel back through the graves near the eastern side of the cemetery. They reached the bent part of the ornate wrought iron fence, then quickly ducked back into the grove of oak trees.
A cold wall of air slammed into Luce as they walked. In the branches ahead of them, she saw three small but seething shadows hanging upside down like bats.
"Hurry," Daniel commanded. As they passed, the shadows reared back, hissing, somehow knowing not to mess with Luce when Daniel was at her side.
"Now where?" Luce asked at the edge of the oak grove.
"Close your eyes," he said.
She did. Daniel's arms circled her waist from behind and she felt his strong chest press into her shoulders. He was lifting her off the ground. A foot maybe, then higher, until the soft leaves of the treetops skimmed her shoulders, tickling her neck as Daniel pushed through them. Higher still, until she could feel the two of them burst free of the woods and into the bright morning sun.
She was tempted to open her eyes - yet she sensed intuitively that it would be too much. She wasn't sure that she was ready. And besides, the feeling of the clear air on her face and the rushing wind in her hair was enough. More than enough. Celestial. Like the feeling she'd had when she'd been rescued from the library, like riding a wave on the ocean. She knew for certain now that Daniel had been behind that, too.
"You can open your eyes now," he said quietly. Luce felt the ground under her feet again and saw they were at the only place she wanted to be. Under the magnolia tree near the lake's edge.
Daniel held her close. "I wanted to bring you here because this is one place - one of many places - where I've really wanted to kiss you these past few weeks. I almost lost it that day when you dove right into the water."
Luce stood on her toes, tilting her head back to kiss Daniel. She had wanted to kiss him badly that day, too - and now she needed to kiss him. His kiss was the only thing that felt right, the only thing that comforted her, and reminded her that there was a reason to go on, even when Penn couldn't.
The tender pressure of his lips soothed her, like a warm drink in the dead of winter, when every part of her felt so cold.
Too soon, he pulled back, looking down at her with the saddest eyes.
"There's another reason I brought you here. This rock leads to the path we'll need to take to move you somewhere safe."
Luce lowered her eyes. "Oh."
"This isn't goodbye for good, Luce. I hope it's not even goodbye for long. We'll just have to see how things ... develop." He smoothed her hair. "Please don't worry. I will always come for you. I won't let you go until you understand that."
"Then I refuse to understand," she said.
Daniel laughed under his breath. "See that clearing over there?" He pointed across the lake about half a mile away where a small pocket of forest opened up to a flat, grassy knoll. Luce had never noticed it before, but now she saw a small white plane with red lights on its wings blinking in the distance.
"That's for me?" she asked. After all that had happened, the sight of an airplane barely fazed her. "Where am I going?"
She couldn't believe she was leaving a place she'd hated but where she'd had so many intense experiences in just a few short weeks. What was Sword & Cross going to be anymore?