She watches me, and I can't read her expression. No, I can. It's just not one I usually see on Diana, a careful assessment. She sits on the edge of the bed.
"Yes, Mathias took Storm. It was all his idea. But he doesn't have anything on me. He convinced me."
A shiver slides down my back. "How? Hypnosis?"
She stares at me and then bursts out in a laugh. "You really are well drugged, aren't you? We talked while I was watching Nicole. He doesn't like me much. He thinks I'm weak. I can tell. You fascinate him. Old story, huh?" Her lips tweak in a smile. "Don't worry--I won't harp on that. But we talked about you. Or I did. That's all he needed."
She adjusts her position on the bed. "That's all it takes, isn't it? To get people to do what you want. Understand what they want. He knew I wanted to help after you'd been shot. I wanted to get Nicole back, too. I wanted you to take down that sick bastard. Mathias convinced me he could help you do that, safely. Which he did, right? Mathias rescued you."
"Not exactly."
That same semismile. "I'm kidding. I'm sure you rescued yourself, as always. But he would have, if you hadn't."
"And now?"
She settles back. "Now he'll get Nicole for us."
"And her kidnapper? Do you know what he plans for him?"
"Nope," she says. "I don't care. Neither should you."
SEVENTY
It's been two days since Mathias and Benjamin disappeared. Two days of scouring the forest from before dawn until after dusk. We're all out there, hunting. Me, Dalton, Anders, the militia, Brent, Jacob ... even Cypher just "happened" to bump into us and agree to join the search in return for more coffee and creamer.
I haven't spoken to Diana since I called her into my room. What she did could have gotten me killed--horribly. If I hadn't shot Benjamin, there's no way of knowing whether Mathias would have arrived before Benjamin cut my spinal cord. But Diana is convinced Mathias was watching over me, and that's all she needs to justify what she did.
She can say it was for me, but she also said coming to Rockton was for me. You don't make life-altering decisions for a friend. You just don't. I keep looking for ways to redeem Diana. Redeem her or condemn her completely. It isn't that easy. It may never be that easy.
I'm tramping through the forest with Dalton. We set out on sleds to expand the search area, and now we're on foot, hunting for prints in pristine snow. He has one glove off, hand wrapped around mine.
What happened two days ago hasn't done anything to ease his fear something will happen to me, and he's hanging on even tighter, sticking closer, not sleeping well. We'll deal with that. For now, if this helps, I'll leave my glove in my pocket, hold hands and let him know, in that small way, that I'm safe and I'm not going anywhere.
We round a stand of trees and see Mathias pulling Nicole on a makeshift toboggan. I break into a run, and Dalton doesn't drop my hand--won't drop it--just holds tighter and runs with me.
"She is fine," Mathias says, in English, as we approach and see Nicole lying motionless on the toboggan. "Her captor was not kind to her, nor as careful as he was before, but she is fine."
I still drop beside her and check. She's sleeping soundly, bundled tight, her face bruised. I reach for the back of her neck. That's all I can think about, seeing her so still--what he threatened me with. But there's no damage there, and when my cool fingers touch her neck, she moves, just enough so I know she's fine.
I rise. "Where's Benjamin?"
"I have no idea. He escaped from me. I knew we were in the area where he put Nicole, so I decided to search for her rather than pursue him."
Dalton nods. "Okay, first priority is getting her back to town. Tomorrow, you'll come out with us and show us where you found Nicole."
"That's the problem, Eric. I do not remember where I found her." Mathias rubs a gloved hand over his face. "It is so cold, and I have been out for two days, and I did not prepare properly. I have been eating snow for water, and I have not slept, and my mind ... It may be hypothermia. It may be lack of sleep. I cannot think straight, and I did not pay attention to my surroundings."
"That's fine," Dalton says. "You've left a decent trail. I'll follow that. Casey will take you back--"
"Is that safe?" Mathias says. "I am disoriented. Casey is wounded. Nicole is unconscious. And there is a killer roaming the forest, one who wishes revenge on all of us."
I glower at Mathias. Diana's right--he does know exactly what to say. There's no way Dalton will leave me now. He says we'll come back tomorrow and pick up the trail, and we head to Rockton.
*
It's night. Nicole is resting comfortably. We've talked. This time I was absolutely certain she'd want to get on a plane out of Rockton at first light. But she wants to stay. Her father ran, and trouble pursued, and all the running did nothing but screw up her life. So she is determined to stay and fight, even if what she fights now is only her fears. Sometimes, that's the greatest threat of all.
If she changes her mind, Dalton will sneak her out of Rockton and accept whatever consequences that brings. It's what we have to do for now. Hope that no one is forced to leave, no one who might pose an exposure threat, not until we know what happens when they go.
While Dalton and Anders deal with other issues, I go to the butcher shop, where I find Mathias cutting up rabbits.
"It'll be easier if you just tell us where he is," I say as I walk into the rear room.
"What do you mean?" he says in French. He's lucky he doesn't give me his sly smile, the one that says we both know the truth. If he did, I'd be tempted to use that cleaver on him. But as Diana said, he knows people. He knows their limits. So he just takes another rabbit and begins slicing it up the belly.
"Eric has to search," I say. "He has to keep searching, wasting his time and letting people worry that we're not safe, that Benjamin will be back."
"He won't be. He is badly injured, from your shot, and has wandered off to die."
"And fallen into a hole?"
Now he smiles, but it's one of genuine satisfaction. "I would like to think so, wouldn't you?"
"You left him in that hole. You took Nicole and put him in, leaving him to die."
"That would be..." He pauses, knife raised. "I should say 'wrong,' but somehow, I keep thinking the word I want is 'fitting.' Let's imagine that is what happened to him. That he fell into the hole where he put Nicole, and he has just enough water that he will be in there for days, suffering, praying someone will come. Sadly, no one will."
"Eric will be able to trace your tracks."
"He can try. I believe I may have wandered. The mental confusion. And it seems as if it is going to snow tonight."
"Eric shouldn't have to search--"
"But he will. Even if he suspects the same thing you do. He must search. It's in his nature. And you will not try to talk him out of it because you like his nature. He will search, and you will accompany him, in support."
Mathias flips over a rabbit. "To understand another person--to accept them and want them to accept themselves, without changing who they are--is a rare thing to find. You are both very lucky. I was never so fortunate. But in my case, acceptance might have been too much to ask."
He cuts into the rabbit, his gaze fixed on it. "It is too much to ask, isn't it, Casey? I know that."
I don't know if I'm supposed to say something here, to tell him I'm okay with what he's done.
"If I knew you'd done it--" I begin.
"Then you would need to tell Eric, and he would need to act. He would have to punish me, try to force me to tell him where Benjamin is, whether he wanted to or not. I understand all that. Which is why Benjamin has simply wandered off." He looks at me. "Yes?"
I pause. Then I look him in the eye and say, "Yes."
Also by Kelley Armstrong
Casey Butler
City of the Lost
Cainsville
Betrayals
Deceptions
Visions
Omens
Age of Legends
Forest of Ruin Empire of Night Sea of Shadows The Blackwell Pages (co-written with Melissa Marr) Thor's Serpents Odin's Ravens Loki's Wolves Otherworld
Thirteen
Spell Bound
Waking the Witch Frostbitten
Living with the Dead Personal Demon No Humans Involved Broken
Haunted
Industrial Magic Dime Store Magic Stolen
Bitten
Darkest Powers & Darkness Rising
The Rising
The Calling
The Gathering The Reckoning The Awakening The Summoning Nadia Stafford
Wild Justice
Made to be Broken Exit Strategy Stand-alone novel
The Masked Truth
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KELLEY ARMSTRONG graduated with a degree in psychology and then studied computer programming. Now she is a full-time writer and parent. She lives with her husband and three children in rural Ontario, Canada. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Chapter Fifty-Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty-One
Chapter Sixty-Two
Chapter Sixty-Three
Chapter Sixty-Four
Chapter Sixty-Five
Chapter Sixty-Six
Chapter Sixty-Seven
Chapter Sixty-Eight
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Chapter Seventy
Also by Kelley Armstrong
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
A DARKNESS ABSOLUTE. Copyright (c) 2017 by KLA Fricke Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Jacket design by David Baldeosingh Rotstein
Jacket photograph: woman walking in snowy woods @ Stuart Brill / Trevillion Images
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-09217-5 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-25009220-5 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9781250092205
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[email protected] First Edition: February 2017
Kelley Armstrong, A Darkness Absolute
(Series: Rockton # 2)
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