04 Last (50 page)

“You know what I loved about New Orleans?” he asked me.

“What?” I asked.

“Sunshine and warmth…no snow…ever. It was awesome. A boy could live outside without the worry of freezing to death.”

“Clouds and snow have their appeal as well,” I said.

“That’s because you like to dwell on things,” Spider said. “Dwellers always like cloud cover. It’s written in to their DNA.”

“That’s an interesting theory,” I said.

“I thought so…” Spider replied.

He sighed and looked up at the swirling clouds thoughtfully; he was in the middle of his own ‘dwelling.’ Thoughts so intense I did not dare ask what he was thinking about circled his brain. I was too preoccupied with my own dwelling.

“When I met you, I never thought I would be going to war with you,” Spider finally said.

“Life is funny that way,” I said.

“You’re not going to leave me out of the fight with Marcus, are you?” Spider asked.

“It’s war, Spider. It’s not breaking in to someone’s house to steal a silver spoon.”

“Or chemical equations that cause a super virus?” he asked.

“Or that,” I replied.

“I’m as much a part of this as you are,” Spider said.

“I know,” I replied. “The planning won’t all be up to me, though. I don’t know how much say I’ll have.”

“But you’re the one everyone will be looking to for leadership,” he pointed out.

“That’s ridiculous,” I scoffed.

“Is it?” he asked.

“People will look to Reaper and the others for that,” I said. “Not me.”

“Clare, don’t you think it’s time you got real?” Spider asked. “Accept the truth…They will look to Reaper for a plan, but they will look to you as a symbol of hope. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you will get used to the fact that it is necessary. People need the hope to face what they are about to face.”

His words were wise above his years. I also knew they true. I felt the truth settle in to my chest.

“Spider – kid – you talk too much,” I said.

“Don’t hate me for being right, doll. Hate me because I’m beautiful,” Spider said.

I laughed at his words. He smiled. His smile turned in to a frown as he noticed something. He pointed at the horizon, his frown growing in to fear.

“Look!”

I followed his gaze. The reason for his fear was immediately made obvious. The horizon had filled up with Nightstalkers. There were a thousand, easy. Many of them had made it to the valley floor, but others were still crossing the mountains. They moved faster and more fluidly than any Watcher I had ever seen; the terrain was not the challenge it would have been for me. My eyesight let me see more details than Spider. Those details calmed me.

At the head of the pack, I saw a Nightstalker with white eyes. The shape and size was familiar. Alex was back. I did not see Daniel among the many forms, but that might have only been because there were so many other Nightstalkers dominating the landscape. I could feel him close, however. He was near. She had found him.

“Are they…from Marcus?” Spider asked.

“I don’t think so…” I replied.

“Alex?” he asked.

“Yeah…but I’m not sure what’s going on. Maybe you should wait inside,” I said.

“Not a chance,” he replied.

I shrugged in acceptance of his choice and walked out to meet the Nightstalkers. Alex saw me and ran ahead of the others. When she reached me, she came to a sliding stop in front of me. She didn’t change back – I sensed a certain tension in her as she looked at me. The others were not enemies, but they were not exactly friends either. I put out my hand to talk with her. Her snout touched my hand with a gentle bump.

I found him,
she said before I could ask.
The others are bringing him.

What’s going?
I asked.
Where did all these Nightstalkers come from?

They were headed this way, apparently,
Alex thought.
I ran in to them on the other side of the mountain. They helped me get Daniel before he hurt someone. Some of them are the Nightstalkers we rescued in Alaska…the others are from all over the world, really. There’s someone you should probably talk to.

Who?

The others reached us. The crowd of Nightstalkers parted, and I saw Daniel. He was being drug along the ground by five Nightstalkers holding heavy silver chains in their mouths. He fought against the chains with tooth and claw, but he was too securely wrapped up to escape. When he saw me, there was no recognition in his eyes. I was just another threat in a sea of threats.

“Release him!” I said.

No one moved.

I ran over to him and put my hands on the chains. I started unwinding them from his scaly body. The Nightstalkers holding him tried to growl around the chains in their mouths. As I moved, a voice penetrated the warning growls of the others.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” a woman said.

I turned and saw someone I had thought I would never see again.

Anna, her red hair a brilliant beacon against the blanket of white snow was standing next to a large Nightstalker. Her hand was on the Nightstalker’s forearm in a gesture of surprising intimacy. She was naked but her nakedness was the least of her concerns. She did not seem even to register it. Her black eyes were focused on my face. In her eyes, I saw another level of intimacy. It was the intimacy of the experience we had shared.

“He is out of control. You need to wait for him to calm down,” Anna added.

I was shocked to see her. My heartbeat increased to an almost human level. I searched for the proper way to express my feelings on what had happened the night we had killed Lorian. I had changed her without meaning to – I had given her the ability to change in to a Nightstalker. I had thought she would hate me for that. The expression on her face suggested anything but hate. She actually looked happy. It was strange to see such a hardened killer – one of Lorian’s top soldiers – look so pleased in a time when there was not violence to be had.

She saw the apology, the explanation forming on my lips. She held up her hand.

“There’s no need,” Anna said. “You saved my life when you changed me. Not only that, but you gave me back the love of my life.”

She caressed the Nightstalker she was touching.

At the caress, I realized I recognized the Nightstalker she was touching. He was the same Nightstalker who had helped me escape Lorian’s prison. We had become allies in our escape. I had ridden on his back to freedom. He was the reason she had turned against Lorian? The reason she wanted to forget her life entirely? I had been more connected to their love story than I had thought.

The realization was not as important as the sight of Daniel struggling against the chains. My hands were still on the heavy silver; they hovered across his thrashing body. I wanted to free him from the chains, but the logical part of me told me he had been imprisoned for a reason. Alex would not have let them chain him if it was not necessary. If I freed him, he would hurt someone – or himself.

I abandoned the chains and put my hand on his side. The scales were a world of difference from the snowy white skin I was used to feeling. The scales threatened to cut in to my skin as he moved. His breathing was heavy as he struggled against the silver – his eyes were wide with his anger. Despite the animalistic way he was responding to the present, I could sense Daniel beneath the change. He was still there – he was fighting to get out. I opened my mind and tried to find a way through to his.

Stepping in to his mind was like stepping in to a fire. It burned in a chaotic rhythm. Luckily, I was not afraid of fire.

I made my way through the chaos of his violent thoughts, searching for the part of Daniel that was aware under the hatred, rage and utter abandonment of reason. As I worked, I felt his brain trying to attack mine. I was an invader in his space; he would make me pay for the attack. The weight of his mind threatened to crush me. For the first time since the change, I did not fight the full expanse of my mind. I pressed down on him with my mind, urging him to obey my control for the time being. I was there to help, not hurt. The attacks stopped as my mind crushed his. He retreated back. I let up some of the pressure and started throwing images of us in to his mind. Images of the times we had shared and our love. A dawning of awareness started at the back of his mind. Daniel started clawing his way out of the darkness of the rage. The anger gave way to his awareness. He let go of the darkness.

As he did, his body started to shift and move again. The sound of bones popping filled the air again. The man emerged from the beast.

The chains dropped to the snow as Daniel reappeared in front of me. When he was fully changed, I dropped to my knees and hugged him. I did not think of my guilt or of my fear that he was changed forever by my actions. I was just glad he was back. I was glad I had not lost him.

Daniel struggled to catch up to what was going on. He blinked at me in confusion; his arms did not immediately move to hug me. The change had made him sluggish and confused. Part of him was trying to understand how he had gotten out to the snow. He did not understand. The past was a blur. The change was still fresh.

“Why are you crying?” he asked me.

“I’m happy,” I said, wiping at the tears.

“Shouldn’t you be smiling then?” he asked.

“A person can cry when they’re happy,” I said.

“You’re such a girl,” he teased me.

“Shut up,” I said.

He started laughing. I smiled at his laughter and felt the burden of his death lift. He was okay. He was not as changed as I had feared. I hugged him again. This time he hugged me just as tightly.

“You were gone,” I said.

“Was I?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“I had the strangest dream,” Daniel admitted.

“What?” I asked.

“There was a man,” Daniel said. “I think he might have been one of the fallen. He had grey eyes and the kindest face I have ever seen. He told me that we had to attack Marcus by tomorrow – that waiting any longer was dangerous. He said that when I got back to give you his love. He called himself Farris…Then, in the dream, I saw another angel with a blindfold. He talked to her for a minute about a bargain of some kind. Farris said I had to go back. It was time. The second angel touched me on the forehead. Then I woke up here.”

“Farris?” I asked. “As in Ferris Buelller?”

“I told you, it was a strange dream,” he said.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked.

“For what?”

“For being the reason you changed in to a Nightstalker,” I said. “You’ve spent so long fearing it…and I just... I’m the reason you saw yourself changing…Me. Not you. It was my fault all along.”

Daniel’s smile was gentle and warm, but he couldn’t hide his fear. I sensed him battling a new demon that was directly related to the change. He feared the change, but he knew what I had done was not something he regretted. He was glad to be alive – he was glad we had not been separated.

“I don’t blame you,” he said. “It’s going to take some getting used to, of course, but I’m glad that I’m not…”

“Dead,” Spider provided.

“Yes,” Daniel agreed, looking beyond me to where the boy was hovering as far from the Nightstalkers as he could get, while still being close to us.

Daniel finally noticed the Nightstalkers around us. Tension filled his body. His last moments of life had been focused in violence; he expected more of the same from the Nightstalkers. His body was coiled and alert. I hoped it would not mean another change. My touch soothed his senses. He relaxed only slightly. I held out my hand and helped him stand. He stood slowly, his normal grace momentarily replaced by unsteadiness. He leaned on me – I liked the feeling.

Daniel finally saw Anna, and his eyes widened. He couldn’t understand where she had come from. I shared what had happened with him through our touch. When I was finished telling him, he turned to Alex, who was still hovering in Nightstalker form.

“Thanks for looking out for me,” Daniel said.

Alex gave a low whine. Spider had a different emotion. His face was pained.

“I know this is a happy moment, where we all feel glad you’re not dead, but, dude, do you think you could find something to cover your junk with?” Spider asked.

Daniel looked down and realized for the first time he was naked.

“Oh,” he said.

Alex made another sound of comfort and trotted her way toward the house. As she moved, the Nightstalker Alex disappeared and the girl returned. Spider turned to look, but I turned his head back to face me instead. My glare told him not to look, if he knew what was good for him. Alex did not take long to dress. When she was clothed again, she brought Daniel a change of clothes. He took them gratefully. Alex helpfully held out a pair of pants and shirt to Anna. Anna looked at them as if she had never seen clothes before. It was apparent she did not feel the need to dress just because of us.