“That’ll have to do then. You ready, Daggett?”
Daggett faked a smile. “To put my body through excruciating pain again in hopes that a bunch of women chase after me and kill me? Who wouldn’t be ready?”
“At least you’ve thought this through. Come on.”
Before they left, they grabbed an old duffle bag of Dana’s so they’d have something to carry the battery in. Since they would have to remove their clothes as well, and it was horrifically cold outside, I suggested they take an extra bag to keep their outfits and coats in. They’d either have to strap it around their bodies or carry it in their mouths.
They were ready to walk out the door when I pulled Max aside to say our goodbyes.
“You’re leaving me with Priscilla,” I said.
“It’s only fair. You did the same to me.”
“It’s still blowing my mind that she even agreed to come along. You must have done some amazing persuasion.”
“Actually, it was the opposite.”
Hmm. Color me surprised.
Max placed his hands on each of my arms and stroked his fingers beneath my elbows. “If something happens to you while I’m gone—”
“It won’t.”
“But if it does—”
I pressed my fingertip against the center of his lips, silencing him. “We’re gonna get out of here in one piece. All of us. No more losing people.”
Max took a shallow breath in and nodded. “All right. But just know that if something does happen to you, I’m probably gonna let Molly finish me off.”
I nervously laughed. “That got super dark super fast.”
A faint grin formed on his mouth. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Don’t try to be brave. Just hide out for as long as you can. If something goes sideways and you have to leave, run. Run and don’t look back. I’ll find you eventually.”
“I know. You already did, and you always do.”
He pulled me in for a hug and held me tight, allowing me to inhale the scent of his hair. He smelled so good, like snow and firewood. Max then kissed me on the lips and held me in place as his hands grasped onto my lower back.
When we stopped kissing and hugging, I smiled. “That pep talk was nice. It was very Last of the Mohicans of you.”
Max threw his head back and rolled his eyes. Yeah, I could be a pain.
“Be serious,” he said to me.
“I just compared you to Daniel Day-Lewis, and that’s your response?”
“Daniel Day-Lewis let three other characters die in that movie. Let’s not create too many parallels there.”
I was about to say something smart, but then I had a revelation and laughed. “I just realized the main girl in that movie’s name was Cora.”
He laughed. “So?”
“I told this cop back in Rookridge that the only famous Cora I could think of was that little girl who died in Titanic. I was wrong. There is another.”
I sounded like Yoda.
Max’s brow raised. “You pick the strangest times for these conversations.”
“In fairness to me, if the last things we say to each other are stupid, then maybe the universe won’t stand by and let it be our last words. We’ll have to reunite.”
“Strange way of thinking, but I think I like it.”
I kissed him softly, and he grinned. Max brushed his thumb across my cheek and bottom lip and then said, “You better be here when I get back. It’d suck if you died.”
I put my face to his chest and laughed. He was repeating something I had told him the summer we first met. “You remembered,” I said.
“There isn’t a single thing about you that I’ve forgotten.”
“I’d be touched if I weren’t an embarrassment of a human being. You can forget a couple of things, Max, I won’t be mad.”
“Not a chance.”
I smiled. “I love you.”
Max was silent.
“You’re not going to say it back?” I asked.
“Those would be final words. We’re not doing that. Remember?” He flung the duffle bag strap over his arm and gestured for Daggett to follow him, and the two quietly left through the front door and out into the apartment hallway in search of the basement.
I stood there, breathless and hoping that wasn’t our last goodbye.
Chapter Twenty-Two
MELANIE
Molly, Veronica, Tiffany, and I had been on the search for hours. We were fifty miles outside of Lunar City at the time, breaking into abandoned buildings and tearing apart vehicles in hopes that we’d find the daywalker hiding. Master sent us because he was busy with other matters. Things he wouldn’t tell us about.
It had been months since I’d been out in the fresh air, and all my senses were in overload. I felt lightheaded and queasy, and all I wanted to do was nap. Somehow, the other three weren’t even tired. Which, at the time, confused me until Molly rolled her eyes and said, “You’re not drinking. That’s why. Just find someone to drink from and stop being useless.”
All three of them had killed. They broke into a farmhouse and mutilated an elderly couple and then drank them dry. I could smell the blood from outside. It was thick, vibrant, everywhere. My stomach twisted and turned from hunger the more the couple bled out, but I wouldn’t join them. “Come on,” Tiffany gleefully said with blood dripping down the sides of her mouth. The way she said it was like we were kids who had stumbled onto a basket of kittens. We were killing people.
