Fate's Demand (Twisted Fate, Book 3)

Chapter Forty-Five

"Are you okay?"

Squeezing my eyes tight, I tried to ignore Deryk and find my way back to the dream. To David. Finally seeing him, connecting his identity to the soul of the boy I had loved, didn't change anything. The fear that finding out would make him somehow less had been stupid. He was still David, no matter the face he wore.

"Alyssa, are you—"

"I'm fine," I said and opened my eyes to look around.

The room became clear. The walls, shining bright and red, weren't a part of the dorms. The windowless room was just big enough for a single desk across from the door, a couple of visitor chairs between, and the small loveseat to the right of the door, jammed against the wall to leave a foot-wide walkway, where my legs dangled off the end.

"Where's Tyler?"

"In the infirmary."

"What?" I blinked, jerking my head to focus on Deryk, who was wearing a hoody—the first time since he'd reintroduced himself after his death. "H-he's Darkness! He should be snuffed from existence!"

"Aly—"

"No!" I raised my arm, pushing my palm towards him. "How do dead people need an infirmary?"

"Well, that's more or less just for rest," he said and shrugged. "You drained him of energy and now he needs time to recuperate."

"Why? So, I can kill him from scratch?" Sitting straight, I set my feet on the floor and my elbows on my knees so that I could lean forward. "You can't actually be helping him?"

"Of course, I can," he said, smiling. "He's a Dark Soul, Aly, just like me. I want to help him. It's not like we have angels to help us, so we must be there for each other. Unless you want the job, there's no one else."

Deryk raised his eyebrow and I looked down to my hands.

No way was I healing anyone who had accepted Darkness, though that didn't mean I wouldn't rid them of shadows. Why would I waste the effort? I mean, once they were better, what would stop them from letting Darkness back in?

"I need more of the potion that brought me here. It busted on the way and I want to leave. Now. Go get some or-or bring Renalda here. I don't care. Just..." I sighed and looked up to meet Deryk's gaze. "I won't stay where Darkness resides. You said that it didn't, and since that was a lie, I want to go. Now, Deryk."

Mike was waiting for my return, and I couldn't wait to finish our kiss from the dream.

David was Mike, or... Mike was David?

Either way, it was all I could think about.

Could I tell him that I saw him or was that forbidden? Could anyone else see us in my dreams or was that private? I assumed so, since that's where he'd kissed me. He wouldn't have done that unless it was somewhere that he wouldn't be caught. Maybe that was where I had to tell him I knew—Gabe had said that nothing was stopping me from finding out on my own.

"Darkness doesn't live here, Aly. I don't know where it came from, but we are checking everyone," Deryk said, losing his smile. "Tyler doesn't have Darkness anymore."

"He is a Dark Soul, Deryk. You all have Darkness to some extent, but Tyler is filled with it. Just like you, before you died."

His eyes narrowed. "Not. Anymore."

There were two ways out of this ridiculous conversation: scream or bail.

Pacing was difficult in the small space, but it kept me from running off by giving me something to do.

"This is ridiculous," I mumbled. "You can't save him from Darkness, Deryk. Trust me."

"True."

My feet were wearing a path into the floor in front of the couch. If my body was present to bruise, my hip would already be blue from how many times I had bumped it into the couch and the chairs. Why did everything have to be conveyed in circles? For once, I wanted a logical path to the solutions that people eluded to.

This time, I didn't think there was an answer.

Deryk was naïve.

He couldn't save Tyler. Not now. It said a lot about his character to see how much he wanted to. Considering the attitude of the boy I'd thought had been killed, it gave me hope that some of the Dark Souls could at least improve.

"Aly, stop worrying."

I scoffed. Worried? Who was concerned?

Pacing not only distracted me from leaving, it kept his presence from disturbing the plans that I was concocting from forming. Deryk was like background music while I studied. Get to Tyler, and then, Darkness. Since Tyler was already dead, it wouldn't be murder. The boy wouldn't want to live with Darkness. Killing it—I might be able to do something about Tyler if I only thought of him as an it—could even be considered compassionate.

Deryk's hands landed on my shoulders. I realized I'd been too wrapped up in my thoughts to hear him speak. He'd rose from his chair and rounded the desk until he stood in front of me, apparently waiting for me to respond.

What had he said?

Why was he smiling again?

"Stop, Aly." Deryk pushed down so that I couldn't move and forced me to meet his gaze. "Listen to me."

"Unless you are about to say we can go fix Tyler from becoming more of a problem, I don't want to hear it. Now, if you want to tell me you can get me back to my body, go hard. That I will accept."

"We can't cure Darkness from a soul," he said, "but you can."

"I'm sorry, what?" I blinked. "I think you stuttered." Or took a one-way trip on a crazy train. I shook my head. "Tyler fooled you if you think that. How did you say that you are checking the Dark Souls to see if they have Darkness again?"

"Give me a little credit," he said, rolling his eyes and dropped his arms to step away. "I was rooming with Darkness before I died, remember? I know how to tell the difference."

"Then how did he walk around without you knowing it was there?"

"I... don't know," he said. His eyebrows knitted together, and Deryk looked down to the right. When he glanced up again, the uncertainty was gone. "This is different. He can't be faking."

Taking a step back, I laughed. "You are so gullible!" Sobering, I glared at Deryk. "Of course, he can. Who knows how long he's been practicing?"

Deryk sighed, yet a hint of a smile etched the corners of his mouth. "Aly, when any of us come here, even if we've been accepted to Glory Academy and choose not to go, a part of us turns dark. It doesn't mean we're bad—"

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes and began pacing in front of the door. Three steps forward, three back, and then again. "You might want to re-evaluate that."

"Whatever. My point is that we may not be bad, but we're no longer pure." He exhaled, saying his next words as they were released in one full breath, "You made Tyler pure when you touched him." He paused, sucking in another breath, and then added, "You killed the Darkness inside of him without killing Tyler."

"Oh crap."

I stopped pacing and sat on the armrest of the couch and stared back as Deryk watched me.

The plan was to come here and learn about the Dark Souls. I was going back once the secrecy behind the Sisters' summons was revealed, which I still hadn't learned. If I didn't think I was leader material, why was Deryk looking at me like I was now some sort of saviour?