“That’s absurd,” I said, laughing nervously.
Blake shook his head. “No. I should have told you the truth from the beginning. I never should have touched you. Especially when I?—”
My everi was ripping through me, tightening every muscle in my body.
“When you what?” I whispered.
Blake stood like a dark angel with only the dim starlight to silhouette his outline. Just a candle flickered from the bedroom, his shirt open, revealing him in a state of vulnerability that was not like him.
When he looked at me, the red flecks glowed in the darkness.
“I was there that night,” he said, his voice strained.
I swallowed, not moving. “What night?”
“The night your mother was murdered,” he said.
The world stilled. The flame flickered out, the smoke trail a mere wisp. Blake didn’t move, didn’t breathe, didn’t look away.
“I don’t know what happened to her, Anna,” he said. “I am not even sure how I got there, only that, somehow, The Falls is responsible for what happened.”
Inside, someone was screaming. I willed it to stop, trying to stop the pain splitting through my head. Blake. The Falls. Mom.
The shadows. Stretching, crawling, choking…
…falling.
“Anna!” Blake shouted.
I was against Blake’s chest, his hands bracing me.
Everything hurt, like my blood was no longer flowing enough to sustain life. It was like something had drained me of energy, enough to make me black out momentarily. I felt Blake’s everi within me, rejuvenating me as I curled against him. He pulled me close, the warmth easing my pain, the balance calming my mind.
“It was you,” I whispered, my head against his chest. “You were the one I ran into in the woods.”
Blake exhaled in relief. “Yes, that was the first time I ever saw you and it was the last time until I saw you again on your first day at Nightfall.”
I flinched, pulling myself away. Blake didn’t reach for me, watching me cautiously.
“Where did you take me?” I asked.
“I did not take you anywhere,” he said. “I was not supposed to be there; it was a mistake. I found you in the forest. You were running. You ran right into me. I caught you but you passed out. I went to the house and lost consciousness. When I awoke, I was back in The Falls and you were gone.”
I tore myself away and started pacing, the restlessness within me threatening to brew into something more nefarious by the second.
“You were in Raven Falls?” I asked. “How?”
“Yes. I was training,” he said. “Somehow, I was drawn through a rift, but I don’t know how or who could have done that.”
I stopped, fixing my gaze on him. “You must know more. I was missing for the next year. Are you saying I was in Raven Falls?”
“I do not know,” he said. “I have told you everything I know.”
I growled in frustration, and a voice sounded in my mind.
“You are a dirty little secret, aren’t you?”
Malakai.
