Into the Dark: The Shadow Prince Part 43

Haden cringes. "'Scuse me?" he asks, his speech starting to sounds slurred.

"Sarah and I have met before, remember? She told methings. . . ."

"You didn't care to share?" I ask.

"I wasn't at liberty to discuss it. The decision needed to be Haden's alone. I'll tell you more later," Dax says. "We've got another problem on our hands."

"Seriously?" Haden says, dropping his hand. "We almost all died in the worst children's game I have ever heard of; I almost had to kill my man-eating pet; I stood up to my lunatic father-who has a major G.o.d complex, by the way-and had my soul electrocuted three times; and now you're telling me there's another problem?"

"Ha!" I laugh.

"What?" he says.

"That is the most human I have ever heard you sound!"

A clap of thunder rolls outside the darkened windows.

"Save the flirting for later," Dax says. He points up. "Skylords are coming. Simon made a call before he came in here. I have a feeling his buyers are just about to show up. They'll be wanting to take delivery of the goods, if you know what I mean."

"Harpies." Haden looks around. "Where did everyone else go?"

"I sent them to pull up the car," Dax says. "Daphne and I were getting ready to carry your body out. I just hope they didn't take off without us."

Rain starts pelting the windows. There's a clash of white lightning that makes me jump, followed by a roll of thunder so loud, it shakes the building. "That's some storm."

"Not a storm," Dax says, helping Haden to his feet. "We've got to run for it." He and I lead Haden out of the empty hospital. Brim follows at my heels. Haden leans so heavily against me, like he can barely put one foot in front of the other, that it makes me dread finding out what more had happened to him in the Underrealm.

"Where are the patients?" I ask.

Dax explains that Simon had requested that the staff take all the patients on a walk-which is why no one had come into the common room during the commotion. Thank goodness.

The rain is so thick, my clothes are soaked through almost immediately after we exit through the back doors of Sunny Ridge. Lightning rakes the sky above the hospital. To my relief, Tobin, Lexie, Garrick, and Joe are waiting inside the car at the curb. Joe holds his wadded-up jacket against the top of his head, as if staunching a wound that must have been caused by the falling debris that had knocked him out. I am glad he is relatively okay, but at the same time, I can't bring myself to say anything to him. I don't have the time or energy right now for the anger that might unleash.

Dax insists on driving. I imagine Haden lets him only because, at this point, he can barely keep his eyes open. I sit with him in the third row. We fly out of the parking lot as a strike of lightning explodes against a power pole. The downed lines flail out at us like electrified tentacles. Dax whips us out of their way and out onto the open road. If I'd thought Haden was a crazy driver, that was nothing compared to the way Dax maneuvers around lightning strikes and traffic to get us to the freeway.

"Who are these psychos?" Lexie shouts. "Are these more lightning freaks from your family?"

"Worse," Dax says. "Skylords have lightning and thunder. But they are family, in a way. They're kind of like our second cousins a few times removed."

"What?"

"They're the sons of Life," Haden mumbles beside me.

"How?" I remember the story he told me about the twin sons Hades created and the Sky G.o.d stole. "I thought Life was torn apart by the Keres when he was just a kid." Haden nods.

"The Sky G.o.d pieced him back together," Dax says, swerving around a slow-moving semi. The windshield wipers can barely keep up with the barrage of rain on the windows.

Tobin screeches as lightning strikes the tail end of the semitruck. He holds his hand to his face like he is merely stifling a sneeze. Brim jumps into my lap. I stroke her bristled back rea.s.suringly.

"He can do that sort of thing, among others," Dax says.

"So the sons of Life are the Skylords and the sons of Death are the Underlords?" I ask, remembering that Haden had said something about that earlier. "The descendants of two twins locked in epic battle."

"Sounds about right. Except the Skylords have daughters, too."

"They do?" Garrick asks, sounding surprised.

"Yes," Dax says, like he knows this for sure. "Oh yeah, they can run through the clouds," he says, pointing at the churning, gray sky above us. I can't see any Skylords, but they must be up there in the clouds. "They're like the new and improved model."

"This was my worst trip to Vegas ever," Lexie says as we sail past a billboard that says, Not Everything That Happens In Vegas, Stays In Vegas. Get Tested!

"Where are we going?" Haden asks. His head is leaning on my shoulder now.

"Ellis Fields," I say. "Sarah made it sound like Ellis was some sort of safe haven. Like we could hide there without being found. I hope she's right."

"Good plan," Haden says, sounding almost completely out of it. "You should stay there. Be safe.

Forever."

The idea of being trapped in Ellis is one that had haunted me my whole life. I'd kicked against it as hard as I could while still trying to respect my mother, but at this moment-and I can't believe I'm admitting this-the idea of going back, of staying there forever, sounds more appealing than touring the world as a music star ever did.

The tempest chases us as we head for my hometown. The traffic is thin; probably most people are staying off the roads in this storm. Normally, it's supposed to be a two and a half hour drive between Ellis and Vegas, but the way Dax is driving, we'll be there in half the time.

Haden's head lolls on my shoulder and I worry he may be in worse shape than I'd thought. And what is to come of him and Dax and Garrick? Would they stay in Ellis with me? Or would they make a new plan and move on? Now that Haden had quite literally-from the sounds of it-burned the connection between him and his father, he has to be in more trouble than I can ever imagine. I can't help thinking about the Oracle's predicting that he may cease to exist. Would the path he chose today lead to his eventual death? Had he traded his life to spare mine?

And why would he do that?

I am lost in thought for so long, that I almost forget that we are running for our lives-until a blast of lightning takes out the speed limit sign we've just careened past.

"Take the next exit," I call to Dax from the backseat.

"What exit?"

"The one coming right up."

"I don't see it."

Is the rain blocking his view that badly?

"Quarter of a mile," Tobin says. "Right up there."

"There's nothing."

"Trust me, there is." Tobin leans forward and grabs the steering wheel. He yanks it to the right and we swerve onto the exit ramp just before missing it.

"Where did that come from?" Dax asks.

"Turn left . . . right now," I shout.

He follows my instructions even though they seem to bewilder him. "Oh, there's the road," he says, as if he can only see it now that we're on it. "What now?"

"Keep following this road. It will take us through the canyon for a few miles before we get to town." We fly up Apollo Canton Road, dodging lightning. At one point, a strike hits the canyon wall beside us, and a tumble of red rocks starts to fall. We barely make it through before it crashes into the road.

Lexie isn't the only one of us who screams.

"Daphne, I don't know about this!" Dax says. "Where do I go now?"

"Straight ahead," I say as Ellis starts to come into view. "We're almost to town."

"What town?" Garrick says.

Joe groans like all of this is too much for his head.

"The one right in front of us," I say. I can see buildings and homes through the rain, nestled in the heart of the canyon. Lit up like little lighthouse beacons beyond the storm. My mom's shop is there.

Home is there. The walls of red rock surrounding the town that had once made it feel like a prison, now make it look like a fortress of safety. "You can't see that?"

"Daphne, we're heading straight for a giant mountain!" Dax says.

From what I can tell, it isn't raining over the town. That and the fact that Dax and Garrick can't see it rea.s.sure me that Sarah was right. Safety is only half a mile away.

Lightning crashes right in front of us. Dax yanks on the wheel hard, and we swerve in a circle, spinning donuts in the red mud that covers the road to Ellis Fields.

"Just keep going!" I shout. "We're almost there."

The car speeds up. Thunder shakes the car and a lightning bolt rips a hole in the road right where we would have been if we hadn't surged forward. Dax clutches the wheel hard and clamps his eyes shut.

He's bracing himself for impact as we pa.s.s the Welcome To Ellis Fields city limits sign. A second later, he relaxes and looks around, stunned.

"Well, I'll be harpied." He whistles under his breath.

"Where the Tartarus did this all come from?" Garrick asks, staring out the windows as we roll into Ellis's Main Street.

I direct Dax to stop the car in front of Paradise Plants. The road here is dusty and dry as always. I get out of the car, followed by Dax and Tobin, and stare in disbelief at the storm we've left behind. It's like a great fence of rain and clouds circles the whole town, but above us the near-evening sky is dusky but clear. Out on the sidewalk, a couple walking their dog stops and stares, pointing at the strange phenomenon. The door to Paradise Plants starts to open. I brace myself, expecting to see my mom or Jonathan for the first time since I left. I don't know what I am going to tell them.

Can I possibly tell them the truth?

I hear the bells over the door and out walks Indie. She snaps a photo of the wall of rain with her phone. Then she sees me.

"Daphne?" She waves. "What're you doing here so early? Did you see that crazy storm?"

"Yeah, just drove through it. I decided to come early for winter break," I say. "Thought I'd bring some friends home for a couple of days to meet my mom."

"Oh," Indie says. "Didn't you know? Your mom isn't here. She and Jonathan went to Salt Lake City this morning."

"What?" I ask, taken aback. "What could get my mom to leave Ellis? She wouldn't even come to see me off to Olympus Hills."

"I don't really know. They took off in a big hurry. It has something to do with CeCe; I know that much."

Dread pulls at my stomach. I listen to the thunder rolling in the sky beyond the outskirts of town. My family is out there somewhere. "What about CeCe?"

"I don't know exactly. Jonathan called here this morning all in a panic. He said something about how he thought CeCe hadn't left here on her own. It was like he thought she'd been taken or something. . .

"Taken?" There was that word again. It had haunted me in Olympus Hills and now followed me here.

I want to sit down in the dust right here and now. On top of the day I've had, this last bit of information is more than I can bear. People aren't supposed to disappear from Ellis. Bad things don't happen here. This is supposed to be the safe place. My haven.

"Jonathan said he found a receipt for a bus ticket from Saint George to Salt Lake City in the stuff CeCe left in her apartment. Only the station said the ticket had never been redeemed. Jonathan said that he remembered that CeCe had some friends in Salt Lake, and they just took off and left me here.

Your mom said she was going to call you."

Yeah, but my phone is in a bucket of rags back in Olympus Hills. She could have left a thousand messages without me knowing it.

"I think they're totally overreacting, if you ask me," Indie says. "So what if she didn't take the bus after all? I still think she jumped at a chance for a new job to get out of this h.e.l.lhole."

"Daphne," Lexie calls out from the car. "I don't think Haden's doing so well." Dax and I exchange a worried look.

"Um . . . carsick," I say to Indie.

"Yuck. I'm out, then. I'm supposed to finish watering plants before I can lock up." She goes back in the shop, and Dax and Tobin help me get Haden into the house. He's grown very cold; his fingers and lips look blue. We settle him on the couch and I pile blankets from the linen closet on top of him. Each one smells like a piece of home to me.

Brim curls up in a ball on top of Haden's chest and starts purring. My mom always claimed that the frequency of a cat's purr has restorative properties that can help a person heal more quickly. At the moment, I hope she's right.

"This place is . . . quaint," Lexie says, coming through the door, followed by Garrick and Joe.

Garrick plants himself at the kitchen table, looking as forlorn as possible. Joe lingers in the doorway, like he's not sure he's welcome here. "You guys have running water, right?" Lexie asks.

"Yes," I say. "But if you're looking for a bathroom, you'll have to trudge to the outhouse in the backyard."

Lexie looks like she's about to faint in horror.

"I'm kidding. The bathroom is upstairs, second door on the left."

"Oh good," she says, but from the bewildered sound of her voice, I'm sure she thinks that a house with only one bathroom is almost as archaic as one with an outhouse.

She makes her way up the stairs, with Tobin trailing behind her. Garrick lays his head on the kitchen table. Joe clears his throat from the doorway.

"You can come in, Joe," I say, but I don't look him in the eye as he enters the house.

He starts to approach me as if my invitation to join us had meant more than that. "Daphne, I . . ." he starts to say but I hold my hand up to stop him.

"Don't, Joe," I say, barely able to keep my anger in check. "I don't want to hear any more of your apologies right now. I don't have the energy. I don't know if I ever will."

"Daph, please," he holds his hands out in front of him.

"I forgive you, Joe, for what you did. But that doesn't mean I can forget." I know that Joe hadn't intended on trading me personally to the Underrealm when he made that deal, but knowing that he would give up the idea of me for fame and fortune, still stung like h.e.l.l. It sucks knowing your father would have chosen to make it so you never existed in order for him to become a rock star. "Now respect me when I say I don't want to talk about it."