I brushed his smooth forehead with my lips, then rose and slid out the door.
It was not late, and the caves were not empty. I could hear voices bouncing around, strange echoes that might have been coming from anywhere. I didn't see anyone until I was in the big cave. Geoffrey, Heath, and Lily were on their way back from the kitchen. I kept my eyes down, though I was very glad to see Lily. In the brief glimpse I allowed myself, I could see that she was at least standing upright, her shoulders straight. Lily was tough. Like Mel. She'd make it, too.
I hurried to the southern corridor, relieved when I was safe in the blackness there. Relieved and horrified. It was really over now.
I'm so afraid, I whimpered.
Before Mel could respond, a heavy hand dropped on my shoulder from the darkness.
"Going somewhere?"
Chapter 58: Finished
I was so tightly wound that I shrieked in terror; I was so terrified that my shriek was only a breathless little squeal.
"Sorry!" Jared's arm went around my shoulders, comforting. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."
"What are you doing here?" I demanded, still breathless.
"Following you. I've been following you all night."
"Well, stop it now."
There was a hesitation in the dark, and his arm didn't move. I shrugged out from under it, but he caught my wrist. His grip was firm; I wouldn't be able to shake free easily.
"You're going to see Doc?" he asked, and there was no confusion in the question. It was obvious that he wasn't talking about a social visit.
"Of course I am." I hissed the words so that he wouldn't hear the panic in my voice. "What else can I do after today? It's not going to get any better. And this isn't Jeb's decision to make."
"I know. I'm on your side."
It made me angry that these words still had the power to hurt me, to bring tears stinging into my eyes. I tried to hold on to the thought of Ian-he was the anchor, as Kyle somehow had been for Sunny-but it was hard with Jared's hand touching me, with the smell of him in my nose. Like trying to make out the song of one violin when the entire percussion section was bashing away...
"Then let me go, Jared. Go away. I want to be alone." The words came out fierce and fast and hard. It was easy to hear that they weren't lies.
"I should come with you."
"You'll have Melanie back soon enough," I snapped. "I'm only asking for a few minutes, Jared. Give me that much."
Another pause; his hand didn't loosen.
"Wanda, I would come to be with you."
The tears spilled over. I was grateful for the darkness.
"It wouldn't feel that way," I whispered. "So there's no point."
Of course Jared could not be allowed to be there. Only Doc could be trusted. Only he had promised me. And I wasn't leaving this planet. I wasn't going to go live as a Dolphin or a Flower, always grieving for the loves I'd left behind me, all dead by the time I opened my eyes again-if I even had eyes. This was my planet, and they wouldn't make me leave. I would stay in the dirt, in the dark grotto with my friends. A human grave for the human I had become.
"But Wanda, I... There's so much that I need to say to you."
"I don't want your gratitude, Jared. Trust me on that."
"What do you want?" he whispered, his voice strained and choked. "I would give you anything."
"Take care of my family. Don't let the others kill them."
"Of course I'll take care of them." He dismissed my request brusquely. "I meant you. What can I give you?"
"I can't take anything with me, Jared."
"Not even a memory, Wanda? What do you want?"
I brushed the tears away with my free hand, but others took their place too quickly for it to matter. No, I couldn't take even a memory.
"What can I give you, Wanda?" he insisted.
I took a deep breath and tried to keep my voice steady.
"Give me a lie, Jared. Tell me you want me to stay."
There was no hesitation this time. His arms wound around me in the dark, held me securely against his chest. He pressed his lips against my forehead, and I felt his breath move my hair when he spoke.
Melanie was holding her breath in my head. She was trying to bury herself again, trying to give me my freedom for these last minutes. Maybe she