Free Darkness Becomes Her by Jaime Rush

“I only met him once, but he seemed like a good-natured guy.”
    “If he stays that way,” she whispered, her eyes locked to Magnus. He’d been easy to talk to, with a quick smile and hearty laugh. How could he remain that way with something dangerous lurking inside him? He would be angry. Confused. She looked up at Lachlan, who didn’t appear to smile much. He’d been watching her but now shifted his gaze away.
    Cheveyo said, “Petra will take good care of him.” His smile was warm. “She’s just that way. We’re staying in Annapolis, so we’ll be close by.”
    Relief and gratitude suffused Lachlan’s face, but he simply said, “Thank you.”
    “The car is out front, too.”
    “You brought the car?” Lachlan asked. “How?”
    Pope smiled. “Whatever we touch, we bring with us. I’ve never brought something quite so large before, but it worked splendidly.”
    “Brought it with you?” She looked at the courtyard. No car.
    “It’s out front,” Pope said.
    “You just popped in, out of thin air.”
    “Teletransported, actually.” Pope smiled. “Where astral projection is sending your soul to another location, I actually send my body. After Eric told me what was going on, I ’ported to Cheveyo’s and Petra’s, explained the situation, and then he and I went to Magnus’s car. We brought that here, then saved time by ’porting to the courtyard.”
    All these years she was an oddity, but these people . . . they weren’t exactly like her, but they were definitely different. That they, and her father, came from another dimension, that was harder to believe.
    “We’ll go, then. If you need help, call us.” Pope’s gaze flicked to her. “Be careful.”
    Did he mean to warn Lachlan about her? Yes, because she was dangerous.
    Cheveyo took a step closer to Lachlan. “I can put a psychic shield over this place. It helped when the others were hiding. Eventually the enemies who came directly from Surfacia did break through, but it should buy you some time.”
    “What does that do?” she asked. “Will it keep Russell out?”
    “If he has abilities to remote view or psychically see or find you, he’ll get stopped at the shield. It won’t keep him out physically.”
    “Do it,” Lachlan said. “Thanks.”
    Pope put his fingertips on Magnus’s forehead, and Cheveyo put his hand on Pope’s shoulder. They disappeared, all of them.
    She rushed forward, running her hands over the flattened sheets where Magnus had just been lying. They were still warm, but he was gone. Completely . . . gone. She met Lachlan’s gaze. “This is crazy.”
    “Yes.” He was staring at the bed, too.
    “No, I mean all of this. You, astral-projecting, parallel dimensions—”
    “Your father having Darkness.”
    That stopped her. She was part of the madness. “Yes, all of it.”
    “It’s late. Get some sleep.” He nodded toward the room in general. “You can stay here.”
    She sank to the bed, her legs growing rubbery. “This was Magnus’s bedroom?”
    He walked to the doorway. “For ten years. I’ll be next door if you need me.” He cleared his throat. “Like if you hear anything out of the ordinary. Even with the shield, we’ve got to be wary.” He started to turn away.
    “You lost your abilities?”
    That made him pause. “Ten months ago.”
    “Then how did you know what would happen to Magnus?”
    His body was rigid, fingers tightening on the door frame. “I don’t know. But seeing your picture triggered it.”
    “Because it was my fault.”
    He shook his head. “You didn’t slice Magnus’s throat. It was Russell. Don’t take the blame for that.”
    “But it happened because he was with me. I tried to call off the flirtation between us.”
    “Magnus could be persistent when he wanted something. Or someone. He likes you. You weren’t going to put him off easily.”
    Magnus liked her and this is what happened because of that. Guilt dragged her shoulders down. “Why did you lose your