The Better Part of Darkness

over a worn out recliner. To my right, the curtain was drawn back to reveal my sister lying in a similar bed, her head turned and staring, teary-eyed, at me.

“Bryn?”

A smile came slowly to her face, and though it was a happy one, there was an air of sadness about her, a flat, haunted look that hovered behind her eyes and dimmed the light that was usually there. My lips parted, about to ask her what was wrong when Aaron came through the door with two vases of Gerbera daisies. I bit my tongue. Immediately, he headed toward Bryn’s bed, but when he saw where her attention was fixed, his gaze shifted to my bed. “Well, it’s about time.”

“Hello to you, too.” I coughed, my throat dry and sore, as he set one of the vases by my bed and the other by Bryn’s. When that was done he glanced from sister to sister, shook his head, and grinned, taking a seat in the empty chair next to Bryn’s bedside.

“Would someone mind telling how I got here, and why Bryn is in that bed?”

Emma scooted more fully onto my bed as Rex sat at the foot, making me move my feet over.

“Ash,” Aaron explained. “It doesn’t have the same effect on us as it does on humans. Bryn was in a coma for five days. But with Titus Mott’s help, she and the others are now on the road to recovery.”

“And outside, what’s been happening on the streets?”

“It’s quiet. A few more overdoses trickled in, but, so far, it appears that field you flooded halted the supply. And no other cities have reported any cases, so looks like we got to it before it went wide.”

For now. It was only a matter of time before someone else picked it back up again, or introduced something entirely new into society.

“And you should know,” Aaron continued, “it’s dark outside. Charbydon dark.”

My eyelids fluttered closed for a few seconds as I composed myself. I knew it. I’d felt it in the circle, had seen it shooting up from the ground, and I felt it now, in my bones, in the faint thrum of my Charbydon side. I accepted the news with a nod, not ready to deal with those repercussions right now. “How long have I been out?”

“Seven days.”

“Seven days!” I tried to sit straighter, but gave up as weakness stole over me. I hadn’t used my muscles in a week. My gaze drifted to Emma. “Where were you this whole time?”

She shrugged and popped a bubble with her chewing gum. “I stayed at Aunt Bryn’s with Daddy.”

Okay, so maybe I hadn’t woken up all the way. Surely I hadn’t heard that correctly. “Come again?”

Rex gave me a pointed look. “Em and I took care of the shop, and looked after Gizmo and Spooky. Disney World will just have to wait.”

My pulse surged. I’d dreaded the moment when Emma would discover that the man she knew as her father was gone. I never had the time to sit down and really think about how I would tell her or what I would tell her. Panic shot through me. I wasn’t prepared.

Rex stopped making eyeballs at me since obviously I wasn’t getting his meaning. He let out an impatient huff, and leaned in for a hug. His mouth pressed against my ear as he whispered. “I know, not many actors can pull off a role like this,” he said, clearly amazed by himself. “Good thing for you I just happen to be an exceptional artist. You can thank me later. And just remember to call me Will.” Emma grinned at his display of affection, and I felt the most horrible sensation in my gut as I realized he was playing the part of Will. Lying to my kid was not something I was comfortable doing.

I put an arm around him and made like I was kissing his cheek. “We’ll talk about this later …”

A low chuckle bathed my cheek in warm breath. “Oh, Charlie,” he said loudly. “I’m glad to see you, too, baby.” He straightened and let out a happy sigh. Yeah. Exceptional, my ass.

Emma beamed at the man she thought was her father.

“You sure you’re okay?” I asked her.

“Uh, yeah. Everyone can stop babying me now.” She rolled her eyes. “Although, I’m cool with the extra junk food and later bedtime.”

Rex shushed her with a hand over her mouth, but she just giggled and shoved him away. “C’mon, kid.” he said “Let’s go tell the doctor she’s awake before you rat me out some more.”

She gave me a happy eye roll that said, Daddy has lost his mind, but I like it, and then hopped off the bed.

As they left, I sat there stunned for a long moment, unsure how I felt about him taking care of my kid for the last week, or the fact that he, we, were lying to her. I’d have to tell her. Sooner rather than later.

“She’s been well looked after, Charlie,” Aaron said. “Hank’s been sleeping over at Bryn’s, too. Rex seems to have taken on the role of father like he was born to it.”

The doctor came in, so we shelved the conversation as he listened to my heart, checked my blood pressure and the bandages on my arm and back. He gave me another day in the hospital before I could leave, which I immediately objected to. I wanted to go home. My bed. My clothes. My life to get back to normal as soon as possible. We finally settled on me leaving mid-morning tomorrow if everything still looked good.

Hank woke during the exam, shell-shocked to see me sitting up and speaking. Watching him try to wake up and digest it all was an amusing distraction. His hair was ruffled and one side of his face held the pattern of the checkered pillow he’d been sleeping on. The voice-mod was still stuck on his neck, but I tried not to let my gaze or thoughts dwell on it and ruin the moment.

After visiting for a little while and keeping things light, Aaron and Hank left, followed a few minutes later by Rex and Emma. She had school in the morning and homework to finish.

“Amanda came by a few times to visit you,” Bryn told me once we were alone. “They let her go home yesterday. Cass fled the country. He left the lab and everything in it, so Titus had all the samples he needed to study the drug.”

I turned more to face her. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m awake,” she said as though it was one step above a No, I’m not okay. “I don’t like the fact that every other day I have to take a small, regulated amount of ash to keep my system from shutting down. And if you want to know the truth, I feel like a fucking drug addict.”

I winced. Bryn never cussed like that. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” She shrugged. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” An air of depression settled around her, and for a long moment she didn’t speak. “Rex is good with Em,” she finally said, changing the subject. “I don’t think you need to worry about him. But there is one other thing … He, um, sort of rescued a pet. It’s living in your backyard.”

“Why do I have a feeling this is not going to be good?”

“It’s the hellhound. Brimstone. Once he found out Animal Control was going to euthanize it, he had a fit. He and Aaron broke into the pound and stole him.”

I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.

“He bought him a reinforced kennel and is working with him, training him.”

I nodded. Great. Just great. Now I had an illegal hellhound living in my backyard. “That hound gets anywhere near my kid and I’ll shoot it.”

“Yeah, I told him. So did Hank. But you should see it, Charlie. Anytime Emma goes out to visit him in the kennel, he becomes completely docile. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

This was the first time since I woke that she sounded like the old Bryn. “Thank you,” I said, knowing our fight had cost her far more than she’d ever admit. “For what you did. Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

An ache blossomed in my chest. Bryn always wanted to talk about things. That was—had been—part of her personality. Now she was different. Changed. Like me. Like Hank. Like Will. Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back before Bryn could see. But it didn’t really matter. When I looked over, she had fallen asleep.

Waking up to two giant forms hovering over me wasn’t exactly the best way to start the morning. I gasped and sat up as one of the forms reached over and hit the lamp switch.

The chief and Hank stood on either side of the bed. Hank with his hands shoved deeply into his front pockets, in dire need of a shave and haircut, and the chief, folding his big, leather-clad arms over his chest. I suddenly felt very small and very under-dressed.