Daughter of Night (A Daughter of Nyx novel)

Chapter Twenty-Three

The beginning of the end. 

~~~

 She raced to the room Jonathan had been using and frantically dug through drawers, throwing clothes around in her desperate search. The closet revealed nothing. Nothing under the bed. She yanked the drawer from the nightstands and stood shaking in the center of the room. Staring at the bed, she took a breath. Old beds were good for something. She looked under, not in between the floor and mattress. Dropping, she shoved herself under it and ran her fingers along the wide wooden slats. She met resistance and gave a bitter smile. After more minutes than she had, she had all of them.

After a moment, she tossed his notebook on the bed. They didn't need to know about that.

She shoved her feet into shoes before taking off down the hallway for the door to the garage. He kept the keys to his cars on a pegboard and she muttered a soft apology at the coming theft.

Which was the fastest? It didn't matter, she knew nothing of cars.

Grabbing a set, she matched it up and slid behind the wheel of a dark blue Audi. She hit a button and tapped her fingers on the wheel as the garage doors slowly parted. It had been forever since she had driven, but she remembered. What was the worst thing that could happen, she die? No, because that unknown girl would die as well. Probably Jonathan.

Finally, she hit the gas and drove down the winding driveway. She wasn't certain where she was, but was pretty sure she could find her way to the interstate. Time ticked away as she drove slower over the unfamiliar roads then she wished she could.

She wiped away a tear at the thought of those she left behind. What was this going to do to them? What would they think happened? How she wished she could have told them how much she loved them. Yes, them. Because she loved Nikolas. Damn her heart. Why wait till now, when there was nothing she could do?

Finally, she found the on-ramp to the interstate and went faster.

Nightmare scenes of the cops chasing her flashed through her mind. But then, if they followed her to her destination, what would happen? If they let her make it that far. Spikes could easily stop her and a girl's life would end.

There was not a doubt in her mind that Anne would make good on that threat and she couldn't let an innocent girl go in her place.

Time raced her as she dared the needle. Why was the city so big? The sun dropped closer to the mountains that she was desperate to get to. Lower and a wild fantasy developed in her frantic thoughts. But even as she thought of them waking soon, again, there was no way to find her. As quickly as it was born, it died and she bit her lip. Struggling with tears at the speed she was going could only end in disaster.

Closer and she cursed at the clock. Her exit would be coming soon, but it was still quite the drive to the mountain top.

Barring a lumber-truck, she would make it by the skin of her teeth. Teeth. She laughed. After everything, it wouldn't be the teeth that got her. A full circle from the loss of her memories to her death.

Traffic was always hell, only now it seemed so much worse. The whole fucking world, from city planners to other motorists, conspiring to stop her.

The exit loomed in front of her and she barely made it, cutting in front of someone who honked at her. The light at the bottom turned green and she took a left and headed out into the more rural parts. She glanced at the clock.

Fifteen minutes.

The sun was lower but she knew better then to feel hope. Being honest with herself, she wasn't feeling anything. Numbness had taken the place of fear, of despair. Would that numbness protect her when they started cutting into her?