Page 117 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

Donovan St. James. She’d never felt anything likehim. He exuded a strange, animalistic kind of power. An allure she’d never seenin all the eons she’d existed in one form or another. In her defense, she’dbeen incorporeal during all but the last five years ofthose eons. But the man had a sultry prowess that had her yearning to be nearhim.

Damn her human body.

She had to find Benji. She needed to know if the being she’dthought of as a sibling was still alive. Maybe he was, and this was justanother game.

Kursch’s specialty was mental warfare. For his own pleasure,of course. He would reward them with gifts when he wanted to feed off theirlight, then he would take it all away and terrify them when he wanted to feedoff the dark. But it was all mental. None of it had ever existed and it hadtaken them millennia to figure that out.

No, that wasn’t true. They’d never figured it out. A godnamed Charley Davidson had. She’d opened their eyes to the fact that they werenothing but the soul eater’s puppets. That he’d locked them in the void and hadbeen living off their energy since damned near thebeginning of time. And she’d taught them how to fight back.

They’d barely begun that fight when Charley was pulled outof the void. Those who could followed her before the portal closed. Sia hadbeen one of the lucky ones, and she owed Charley everything—they all did. Butnow it looked like their awakening was all for nothing.

Had Kursch followed them, as well? Or had he simply foundthem on this plane when there were literally as many planes in existence asstars in the sky? If he had sought them out, it wasn’t for the ka-zhouah. It wasn’t for her or Benji or any of the others.They would be a mere side dish. Sia knew that. Kursch had gotten a taste ofCharley when she was in the void and he wanted more.

Sia also knew that he would never let the god go again oncehe found her. If Charley were truly human now, she would be much safer. Siahoped that much for her. Even so, there was Elwyn. She was just as powerful asher parents. Sia felt it every time she was near her. Raw, untamed energychurned like a nuclear power plant inside the girl. She was like a magnetar,this plane’s most powerful type of star—a thousand times more powerful thanEarth’s sun.

Sia could not let the soul eater find her. The haven only worked when Elwyn was within it. She would haveto leave its confines eventually, and if Kursch were anywhere on this plane, hewould feel the girl immediately. He would destroy the world to get to her ifthat’s what it took, just as he had with Sia and Benji’s peaceful home world.

She took the highway, heading toward Roswell. From there,she would keep going until she hit I-40 East and eventually make her way toNorth Carolina. She had to physically check on the others, knowing this couldall be a trap. With the soul eater’s skill at warping reality, who knew if anyof what she was seeing now was even real. She wouldn’t put it past Kursch todangle a delicacy like Donovan St. James in front of her. The feelings she hadfor the man bordered on sinful, and it was probably like nothing Kursch hadever tasted before. Therefore, putting as much distance as possible between herand Donovan was of the utmost importance, as well. He’d gotten lucky this time.He may not survive their next encounter with Kursch, and Sia would neverforgive herself. If the iron dagger did not work on Kursch—and they had no ideaif it would—she knew it would work on her. She would take her life beforesubjecting Donovan to the soul eater’s whims.

She thought about trying to contact Benji again but realizedthat Kursch could be tracking them that way. Maybe that was why the others hadgone dark. She wouldn’t know for certain until she physically found them. Ifshe did, they could come up with a plan together. There was a chance they couldkill Kursch. It was an infinitesimal one, but it was better than none at all.

Once she was on the road, she called the one man she knewcould prevent Donovan from trying to pursue her: Garrett Swopes. In some ways,he was Donovan’s boss. At least when it came to Elwyn and her prophesied army.Donovan had to listen to him. She just prayed he would.

“This’d better be good,” Garrett said when he picked up, hisvoice groggy with sleep.

“Donovan St. James is hurt.”

“What?” Garrett asked, sounding fully awake now.

“He’s in room 212 at the Motel 6 on Canyon Road in Ruidoso.I did what I could, but he needs X-rays.”

“What happened?” he asked, his voice suddenly razor-sharp.She heard shuffling across the line, like he was already getting dressed.

A lump formed in her throat when she realized that she wouldnever see these people again. They had become as much of a family to her as theka-zhouah, and she would forever be grateful toCharley for that. “Please tell Elwyn it’s been an honor knowing her.”

“Doc?”

“I will love you all forever.” She hung up before he couldget any more information out of her. The less he knew, the better. Even if shewanted to, even if things were perfect in their world, she could never be withDonovan. He would see her as a parasite, a leech, having taken over a humanbody. It wouldn’t matter that it was no longer being used or that she’d healedit instantly upon entering it. She couldn’t bear to see any disgust directedtoward her on his face. It would be her undoing.

Garrett called her back. She rejected the call and blockedhis number just as she hit the main highway, leaving everything she lovedbehind.

* * * *

The pounding would not stop, no matter how much hebegged. If he could figure out where it was coming from, he could kick theoffender’s ass—if he could find his way back to the world of the living, thatwas.

“I got it!” a female said from somewhere in the distance.

“How did you manage to get the room key?” A man. One with avery familiar voice.

“I told him my fiancé was in there with another woman, and Iwanted to catch them red-handed.”

“When the fuck did you and St. James get engaged?”

A giggle and then a clicking sound, followed by a lightbright enough to illuminate a black hole. It hit Donovan square in the face,making him thankful that he wasn’t a vampire.

“Yeah,” the woman continued, “the cheating-fiancé trickdoesn’t work at the Marriott in Albuquerque, in case you were wondering.”

“I’m not even going to ask how you know that.”