The Darkest Legacy (Darkest Min - Alexandra Bracken Page 0,54
to be able to get away from them; once I’d gotten in the car at the motel, I’d sealed my fate, the same way they’d sealed theirs now. Everything else had been hope and delusion.
The day-old gas-station hot dog I’d eaten for breakfast sat like a brick in my stomach. “I’m just making sure that we haven’t been followed. They prefer night arrivals.”
It was easy to lie now. Just a simple matter of shutting down every stray feeling and keeping my focus sharp. Of course Ruby and Liam didn’t prefer night arrivals. They also had a step-by-step process for kids in need to make contact with them. I still remembered it from my last and only visit.
But we weren’t going to use it. We were going to make our arrival as suspicious as possible.
Priyanka’s fingers danced along the backs of the two seats. Roman took the last sip of his coffee, his eyes on the street. The wind tore one of my WANTED flyers off a nearby streetlamp and skimmed it across our windshield. I would have laughed, if I were any less anxious about this. Instead, I reached up to pull my baseball cap lower and push my sunglasses up.
Roman’s jaw tightened, a single ripple in that calm exterior. I wondered if there was something he wanted to say, or something he didn’t trust himself not to.
“Fine,” Priyanka said, bouncing a little in her seat.
I remembered almost nothing about the drive here, or even the dreams I’d had that left my throat feeling like it had been clawed at from the inside. But I did remember one thing. One word.
Lana.
It didn’t matter if they were looking for Ruby, or if they were looking for whoever Lana was—they weren’t ever stepping foot inside Haven.
Hours passed, carrying the sun in its wide arc through the sky. I moved the car several times to avoid the parking enforcement officer checking the time left on the parking meters. Eventually, I settled us at the edge of a cul-de-sac, in front of the construction fence on a house that had been torn down to its foundation.
Finally, at sunset, I put the keys back in the ignition and turned, letting my heart roar along with the engine. If I could keep it together, this weight would be off me soon. I’d be able to breathe again once all the lies and secrets were unraveled.
“Headlights,” Roman reminded me, his voice thick with sleep.
“Not this time,” I said.
It was a short drive outside the town, weaving through back roads and side streets, then looping back through them again one last time to make sure I wasn’t being followed. The car’s tank was dangerously low as I drove us away from the signs of suburbia into the sprawling dark forest.
When I was sure there was no one nearby, I briefly switched the headlights back on.
“What are we looking for?” Priyanka asked.
The length of blue tape flashed as the headlights skimmed over it, marking a hidden gate.
I slammed on the brakes. Priyanka gasped as her seat belt snapped over her chest. “That.”
I pulled the car over and left it running as I got out. “I’m going to need help.”
Roman joined me, shutting the door quietly behind him. We made our way over to what looked like a tall, overgrown blackberry bush and I carefully reached into it. The metal gate beneath it had absorbed all of the day’s heat. The latch gave way with a loud click.
Roman had a small smile on his face as we pushed the barrier out of the car’s way. I was standing close enough to feel the excitement vibrating off him. “Is this really it?”
The cleared lot started narrow at the gate, then funneled out to allow for parking. It was like an optical illusion. From the road, you wouldn’t even notice that the trees were missing in an otherwise dense forest.
“This is it.” I stepped out of the way as Priyanka climbed into the driver’s seat and navigated the car through the gate. Roman and I made quick work of shutting and re-latching it behind us.
The few cars belonging to the residents of Haven were lined up neatly on one side of the clearing, most covered in camouflaged sheets. The sight of a familiar truck made my heart jump.
They’re here.
Priyanka climbed out of the car with a low whistle. “Quite the setup,” she noted mildly.
I smiled. “Oh, just wait.”
“What should we bring with us?” Roman asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Actually…maybe the flashlight.”