Lightning Destroyer: (Lighting Seeker Book 3)

Glistening Dagger

Looking at Vale was painful. It took far more of Dash's ability to pretend to be unflappable than he ever thought he had in him. She looked at him like... he was a stranger. And it left Dash feeling hollowed out. He had a thousand questions but didn't dare ask any of them. 

Is she still Vale?  Will she get her memories back? Is she okay? 

"I'm Dash," he said, watching Vale's place carefully, trying to make sure he didn't look at her with more familiarity than he should. That he didn't let her know just how much he had missed her. How much patience it took not to try and drag her away from the den of wolves that she now apparently called home. 

"Dash," Vale said, trying out his name. The sound of it sent Dash smiling before he could help himself. Like an involuntary tic he couldn't control. Vale seemed fazed by his name, like she was attempting to fit the name into a puzzle she didn't have all the pieces to.

"Yep," he said with a shrug, to cover up his smile.

Vale raised a brow as if waiting. "Do you have a last name Dash, or is that the only name I apparently know you by?" 

"Careful..." Mortem growled in Dash's earpiece, reminding him that even when he was alone with Vale in a garden, he was never actually alone. Enemies were right inside, both Vale's father and most likely his own Grandfather. And Mortem was counting on Dash to convince Vale to run away with him. 

Let's just hope I'm charming enough to pull this off... 

"I have a last name," Dash said with a grin, expecting Vale's eyes to narrow due to his dodgy response. But instead, she grew more curious. 

"Are you going to share it?" she asked. 

"That depends..." Dash took a step towards her, and Vale held her stance, seeming determined not to be rattled. "If I share it with you, are you going to turn me in?" 

Vale's eyes went wide, searching Dash's face with a hint of fear and fascination. Dash smiled back, his smile daring, oozing a confidence that would shatter if she pushed too hard. 

"That depends..." Vale replied, looking up at Dash from under her lashes, nearly sending him stumbling backwards when he realized she was looking up at him with the hint of a flirtatious smile. A smile that had never been one for him. A simple look that had always been reserved for his cousin, Sky. It made it hard to breathe. Guilt and want warred inside. But he pushed them away, trying to school his features as she continued. "What did you do?" 

"I'll show you, if you'd like," Dash said with a smile, and before she could respond, Dash wrapped his arms around her waist, starling her. "Just promise not to scream." 

Then Dash lifted Vale into his arms, tucking his hands under her knees and shot into the air, his metal jet boots shot off the ground, fire filing the garden with light.  Vale gasped, but didn't scream. Instead she looked at him, awe and a sense of familiarity filling her deep green eyes. Like forests from the jungles of the dark zones, vibrant, beautiful and so full of potential chaos. "We've done this before, haven't we?" Vale said. It wasn't a question. She seemed sure. And that certainty made Dash brave. 

"Several times, yes. Although you are taking this sudden lift into the air far better than you did last time." 

Vale finally looked away, staring down at the ground, her grip growing deadly around Dash's neck, digging into the curls of his hair as she realized how high they had gotten. "Okay, I hate this." 

Dash laughed, his voice hardly audible in the roaring wind. "Yeah, that sounds more like you." 

"Where are we going?" Vale asked.