Nightfall (Devil's Night 4)

“Where are we?” I asked.

He met my eyes again. “North of the border,” he said. “We’re cruising the coast, and we’ll pass under Deadlow Island and arrive home in the morning.”

So, Canada, then. Where the hell had they gotten this train? And there was a tunnel underneath the seabed between Deadlow and Thunder Bay? No one ventured to the small island off the coast of our town, beyond Cold Point, because it was surrounded by an impassable reef.

It was deserted, or so I’d thought.

“Sorry it took us so long to get there,” he told me. “We had a find a way in undetected, and some of the track was in bad shape.”

It’s fine. I didn’t need them there any sooner, but I wouldn’t tell him that.

“Just make sure…” I paused a moment. “Make sure she doesn’t actually jump off the train, okay?”

She could be that stubborn, and I knew what I had said to her, but I was mad. I didn’t want her dead.

And I definitely didn’t want her to end up in Aydin’s hands again. He’d had enough influence over her in five short days.

Damon struggled to hold back his smirk before he turned and left, and I closed my door, the phone in my hand forgotten.

Trailing over to the bed, I ran my hand over the black suit laid out, shivers running down my spine at the long-lost feel of good clothes.

Then I spotted my mask sitting on the bed, as well. I reached over and picked it up, the familiar texture filling me with memories and a charge of excitement in my veins at all the moments I wanted to keep, despite the ones I wanted to leave behind.

For a second, I felt like the old me, and I gazed at the white mask with the red stripe down the left side, suddenly ready for a thousand more adventures.

I smiled. Whatever was I going to do with Emory Scott when we got back to Thunder Bay?

Emory

Present

I knocked on the door, pretty sure she was going to slam it in my face, but I needed some clothes, and I didn’t really know the other women enough to ask.

When there was no answer, I knocked again. “Alex,” I called.

Her name was posted on the door.

But still, no answer.

She could be asleep. I hadn’t located a clock, a phone, or a computer between hiding at a dark table in the empty dining car and now, so I had no idea what time it was, but it was still dark.

Twisting the handle, I entered her cabin, a shot of fear hitting me, and I didn’t know why.

She might not be alone.

What if she was with Will?

Deep down, I knew that was ridiculous, but I couldn’t help it.

Moonlight streamed through the windows, casting light onto the small space through the little curtains, and I looked around the empty room, closing the door behind me.

The coast was clear, so I didn’t waste time. Stepping over to her closet, I opened it and pulled out some jeans, a flannel, and some sneakers.

I needed underwear and a bra too, and I almost blew it off, but I pulled open a small drawer in the cabinet, spotting lacy things.

A shot of heat rushed under my skin.

Setting my hand inside, I felt the black corset bra, kind of angry I’d never experimented more with clothes. When I lived at home, I didn’t want my brother to see anything he wouldn’t approve of, but in the years since I’d been gone, it never occurred to me to take an interest.