Shadow People (The Forbidden Darkness Chronicles, #2)

Twenty-Six: Hayden Williams

The three of us sat in the room, waiting for Heather to return from her slumber. We didn't hear a single word, so I assumed that was a good sign.

Philip stood by the door while Kristen and I sat on the bed. Kristen was staring at the wall in front of us, and my pocket buzzed. That was the first text I'd gotten in a while from someone that clearly wasn't Heather. I pulled out my phone to see who it was.

Blayne.

Please stop texting my phone, the text said. I'm happy you're okay. But I want you to leave me alone.

My heart felt like it was just crushed by the weight of his words. I didn't know what was better—him ignoring me or finally saying something. At least he was talking. I texted back and asked, Why?We used to be such good friends.

Kristen bumped against me with her shoulder and smiled. "You okay?"

I nodded, trying to keep back the tears. Damn feelings. If only it were that easy to get over him. This is why I need to stay away from Frostbite, I thought. "I'm okay," I replied. "Just some guy troubles."

Philip eyed me from the doorway but didn't say a word.

"What's going on?" Kristen asked. "I never really did hear why you—you know, tried to do what you did. I don't really know anything."

"Well...there was this guy named Blayne," I told her. "I really liked him. I told him the truth, and it went from a conversation about that it was 'perfectly clear' that being gay is wrong." Saying it now, after everything I knew, felt strange. If there really was a God, was he the way we thought he was?

"That's horrible!" Kristen said, wrapping her arms around me in a hug. "I'm sorry he said that to you. Did he just text you?"

"For the first time since before I went into the hospital."

Kristen pulled away and exchanged a look with Philip. They were thinking the same thing I was. "With everything we learned—do you think that it's true? That being gay really is wrong?"

It was a thought I kept trying to avoid. A conversation I knew I needed to have with my Dad. But it was one that kept getting continuously put off, and I needed answers. "After this is over, I'm going to talk to my Dad," I said. "There's a lot he and I need to talk about. That being just one of the things on the list."

"You know," Philip said from the doorway, startling me with the deepness of his voice. "I don't really have a stance on the topic. But I do think what he said to you was wrong. He should have been more considerate." He came and sat down on the other side of me, putting his hand on my shoulder. "What I do know is that you are a good person. If God, whoever or whatever he really is, hates you for that, it's his loss."

Tears formed behind my eyes, and before I could stop it, one slipped out and down the side of my cheek. I wiped it away and laughed. "Gosh, I don't even know anymore. There's so much we don't know about our world. So much we've been blind to."

"There really is," Kristen said. "It's something I keep trying not to think about. I mean, Djinn? Being hybrids of Monsters? Angels and Demons? We're in a deep load of shit, I can tell you that."

Philip laughed. "Yeah. We really are. We'll figure it out, though. We always do."

Kristen and Philip exchanged a look. There was some sort of something between them, but I wasn't sure what. Whatever it was seemed complicated.

"Hayden!" a voice said.

The three of us jumped up to see Frostbite standing in my room. He was Djinn form and said, "Oh, you're all here! Thank God."

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It's about Kadin," Frostbite said. "I don't feel him anymore." Sheer terror spread across his face when he noticed Heather and the bed. "Oh no."

"What?" Philip asked, stepping forward. "Why do you look scared?"

"And what do you mean you don't feel Kadin anymore?" I asked. "Is he okay?"

"We need to get her to wake up now!" Frostbite shouted, practically flying across the room. At my bedside, he shook Heather. "Wake up!"

"What the hell is going on?" I asked. This didn't seem good. Philip and Kristen looked worried, too. "She seems fine."

"Did she go to let out the souls?" Frostbite asked.

"Yeah," Philip said. "We told her she couldn't go, so she came here and went to sleep. Since she was already asleep when we got here, we figured we'd let her try to do the right thing. What do you know that you're not telling us?"

"Dammit!" Frostbite shouted, knocked over my dresser. "Kadin was going Majlis al Jinn to let them out of the cage. He said he felt guilty about trapping them in there, and he wanted to get them out before the Darkness made him to something he regretted." He tried shaking Heather again, but had no luck. "It wasn't until I couldn't feel him anymore that the thought occurred to me the Darkness would know what he's doing. It pretty much lives inside of him."

"What are you saying?" Kristen asked.

"Heather and Kadin tried to let the souls out," Frostbite said. "I'm sure of it. If they did, and the Darkness retaliated...that could explain why I don't feel Kadin anymore."

Oh shit, I thought. "Well, we need to get there!"

"I can't carry you all through the jump," Frostbite explained. "It'd take too much energy."

"We need to save them!" Philip said. "Do you think Heather is okay?"

From the looks of it, she wasn't. If she wasn't waking up and we didn't hear her at all, what did that mean? Whatever it was couldn't be good. "We can't think the worst yet," I said quickly. "Heather and Kadin are strong."

"I don't think you understand," Frostbite explained. "If the Darkness got a hold of those souls, it's stronger than ever."

"The nuclear Darkness," Kristen whispered.

Frostbite nodded. "I have a feeling this is only the beginning of the problems we're about to have."