A Beautiful Dark

anyway, because he put his arm around me gently, as though he could infuse me with the tranquility he always seemed to emit when we were alone. When Asher wasn’t there.
    “It’s all right, Skye,” he said softly. “That’s the reason I’m here. To watch over you, to protect you.”
    I surprised myself. I melted into him and buried my face in his chest. I could feel his breathing hitch in his throat. Slowly his other arm wrapped around me.
    “The fight . . . that night at the Bean . . . during my birthday . . . was that about me?”
    I felt him stiffen, hesitate, then relax. “Yes. Asher made contact with you before we were supposed to. It upset the balance of things and has been causing chaos ever since. It’s like I’ve tried to tell you. He’s dangerous.”
    There was that word again. Dangerous. But it meant so many different things. Dangerous because of his effect on Devin? Dangerous because I had no idea who—or what—Asher truly was? Or maybe— Could I even let myself think it? Maybe he was dangerous because of the effect he had on me.
    “Are you all right?” Devin asked after several moments. He was holding me so close that I could feel him swallow.
    “No.” I sobbed. “I’m the opposite of all right.” He brushed his hand over my back, and I started to feel calmer. “I didn’t really get a chance to know my parents that well. I was so young when they died. I have no idea if the memories I have of them are real or . . . if I, you know, made them up. And now you’re messing with all that. All the memories I thought were one thing. Now you’re telling me . . .” But I couldn’t finish. I didn’t know how.
    I pulled away from his chest and looked into his eyes. Something flashed in them. Confusion? Something more? As though he was only just seeing me for the first time. He touched my cheek. “You’re so special. In ways . . . I wasn’t expecting.”
    He tensed and abruptly released me. “I have to go,” he said with an unexpected icy demeanor, and my heart sank at the abrupt change. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
    “Okay.”
    He seemed to have second thoughts. “Skye,” he said almost tenderly. “Tonight you’re tired. I know. But soon you’re going to have to meet your destiny.”
    “And if I don’t want to meet it?”
    He didn’t smile. This was all so serious for him. He was on a mission even if I didn’t completely understand it.
    “It’ll be easier if you embrace it,” he said.
    “For whom?”
    “Everyone. Trust me, Skye. I . . . care about you. Probably more than I should. I only want what’s best for you.”
    “How can you know what’s best for me?” I asked. “You just met me.”
    “The Order can see our destiny. It guides us. It allows us to exist in a place with no fear.”
    Maybe that was why he always looked so calm. I wondered what it would be like to live in a place where there was no fear. Maybe, I thought, that was some kind of Paradise after all.
    He nodded at my car. “Are you okay to drive home?”
    I was upset, but I wasn’t dizzy anymore. I could drive.
    “Barring any unforeseen disasters, I think I can manage.”
    Devin reached as though to touch my cheek and then dropped his hand to his side. “I know all of this is overwhelming, scary. But think of that afternoon when we sat on the boulders. How peaceful it all was. The Order is like that, only much, much more so. It’s beautiful, Skye. You shouldn’t fear it.”
    I swallowed. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow?”
    He nodded and, with a slight smile, trudged away. I didn’t want to admit that I was sorry to see him go. I walked up to my car and unlocked the door. As I got in, I had that same prickly feeling I’d had when I felt Asher watching me on the first day of the new semester. I whipped around, wondering if Asher had followed me.
    But it wasn’t Asher.
    Several rows away, I caught a glimmer of blond hair. A stunning girl stood glaring at me. I’d never seen her before. But something in her shocking blue eyes was familiar and cold. Instinctively I slammed my door, locking it behind me. But when I looked out the window, the girl was gone.

Chapter 18

    I fought my way out of bed the next morning and, legs shaky, somehow managed to get in the shower. I turned the water up as hot as possible without scalding myself, letting the steam billow in clouds. I tilted my head back and opened my eyes; the beads of water clinging to the ceiling