Lovely Darkness (Creeping Beautiful)

“I guess. Whatever. But he’s dangerous, don’t you think? I mean… Carter, Nick. Carter. He’s all the bad things about our past rolled up into one delusional psychopath. And they can’t be fixed. I don’t care how good Merc is, he’s not gonna be able to fix the guy. Donovan and Carter were born that way, don’t you see? Just like I was. Just like Indie was.”

“No.” And again, it’s too loud. “Don’t say that.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not true, number one. And number two—” I pause, then internally say fuck it, and I lie. “Because I know more than I’ve told you.”

“More what?”

“I know more about how you girls were made than I’ve told you.” Her face crinkles up in confusion. And I know I should stop this here—just put an end to this whole conversation, take her back down the driveway, hit Doc up for some sleep aids, and force her to take them—but I don’t stop here. I keep going, even though I know I’m making everything worse. “I know how to fix you, Wendy. I know what the cure is.”

“You do? What is it?”

And the look of hope on her face almost kills me.

But I keep going.

“I have the cure, Wendy. I came here to discuss it with Adam and we didn’t have a chance tonight, so we’re gonna do that soon—”

“What is it? How does it work? When can I have it?”

I put up a hand to hush her up. “Adam and I are gonna discuss it. Then I’ll let you know.”

“That’s not fair. This concerns me and I want to know now!”

I pull her in to me. Wrap my arms around her tight. Hug her. Keep her quiet as I take a moment to regret this lie.

It’s gonna come back and bite me.

And that bite is dripping with poison.

But I don’t care.

I double down.

“Tomorrow,” I whisper in her ear. “We’ll all talk about it tomorrow.” Then I kiss her. I kiss her hard. I push her up against the gate and slip my hand up her t-shirt. I take her mind off Indie, and Donovan, and that stupid cure that doesn’t exist.

I lie to her in all these ways.

But it’s OK because my intentions are true.

And anyway, there’s a code when it comes to lies.

If you’re not actively seeking the truth, the lies don’t count.

She wants the lie.

And I have a burning desire to give her what she wants.

CHAPTER THREE - INDIE

“Did you hear that?” I ask. Nathan doesn’t answer me, so I push him and hiss, “Nate.”

“What?” he grumbles.

“Did you hear that noise? I think I heard a noise.”

He sighs and buries his face deeper into his pillow.

“Did you hear what I said?”

I know he wants to tell me to go back to sleep, but he won’t. Because once I get it in my head that something is happening, I’m focused. Or, as he would put it, obsessed. He throws off the comforter and sits up in bed, swinging his legs over the side and placing his head in his hands as he sighs.

“I’m sorry, but I heard something. I think it’s Adam and Maggie. They’re sneaking off again.”

Nathan doesn’t answer, just rubs his face, then glances over at the clock on the bedside table—which says three-seventeen AM, by the way, but he doesn’t complain. Just stands up looking handsome as fuck in his sweat shorts, his bare chest gleaming in the moonlight, showing off all his cut muscles. And that messy blond hair is like the cherry on top. He scowls at me.

“What?” I ask.

“Nothing.” He turns and walks to the door and I jump up to follow. He opens the door slowly. McKay never did care that his bedroom door creaked like a mofo when he lived in this room, but I did. So I oil it regularly and it pays off tonight by not making a sound.

Nathan and I peek out into the hallway.

Empty.

He looks down at me, shooting a dirty look.

I point up at him. This point says, Don’t start with me, I fucking heard something.

And he understands all my points so he rolls his eyes and crosses the hallway to Maggie’s room. He opens the door slowly so he won’t wake her, just in case she’s in there, but she’s not in there. Just an empty bed. And it’s not even messy. She didn’t even sleep in it.

“I knew it.” I say this out loud and I do not say it quietly.

“Shhh,” Nate chastises me. “We have guests upstairs.”

I lower my voice to a whisper-yell. “I’m tired of this! We are her parents, not Adam!”

“Indie.” Nate is tired. And he’s really not bothered by Adam’s possessiveness of Maggie, which kinda pisses me off. But then again, it’s probably my fault because he never got to be Maggie’s father, even before Adam took her away from us. His voice is low and grumbly. “If she’s with Adam, she’s fine. We should just go back to bed—”