Page 21 (1/2)

Tynan had nothing to look forward to but the oblivion of sleep--a us had forgotten what it felt like to be as desperate as Tynan was Or maybe he’d never been that desperate His life had been hard, but it had also been filled with blessings

It was tiood life had offered him

One way or another, he needed to convince Gilda to give up her grief and ive herself for the things which she couldn’t change

Maybe Gilda would even reain

Zach woke up just before dawn His body ached, but he was no longer plagued by the blazing heat of the poison

He was going to live

A surge of joy rolled through him, and he felt the need to run and find Lexi so he could celebrate with her Only, he didn’t have far to go She was lying on the bed, asleep with her head pillowed on an open book and her pale hand splayed over his dark chest

Zach grinned down at her, letting the sight of her beauty fill him up with a deep sense of satisfaction

She hadn’t left hih he’d taken the bracelet off her wrist, allowing her to leave

He had no idea how ht, so he didn’t want to wake her, but she didn’t look comfortable, so he eased the book out from under her cheek and tucked a pillow in its place

Lexi made cute, sleepy sounds, but didn’t wake He covered her up and went to find soishness from his head that the poison had left behind

They had a big day ahead of theree to wear his luceria After all, she hadn’t left hiht? And if she cared, she wouldn’t leave him alone to suffer He knew she wouldn’t

Zach set the book down on the kitchen counter, es He ruurgling on the counter, then went to the bathroom, took a quick shower, dressed and ca ripples over the dark surface of the coffee

He poured a cup, added a ton of sugar and sat down to enjoy his jolt

The book was still open to the page Lexi had been reading when she fell asleep It was handwritten, in tight, alht it was type when he’d first glanced at it When he looked closer, he saw certain words were underlined, or boxed in Frantic scribbles filled the es

He wasn’t generally one to snoop, but if this was Lexi’s diary, he wasn’t going to be able to resist He’d be able to peek into her , anyway It was just getting a ju to see soon

Zach started reading the entry, which was near the beginning of the book It was dated twenty-three years ago

They almost found us today I hid us in a trash bin and the stink of rotting garbage masked our scent Your scent, Alexandra That sweet baby smell of your head that seeood baby, too You didn’t cry You just held on to er in your chubby fist like you knew theme How can you know that? You’re not even a year old yet

You’re special, Alexandra Your daddy told ht we made you He said I had to protect you Hide you

If anything happens toto want you for your blood You can’t ever stop running They’ll find you and they’ll trick you and then, when they’ve convinced you they’re not the bad guys, they’ll suck out all your blood for their ic

You can’t ever let that happen You have to keep running

Zach’s body went nu to write twenty-three years ago She would have just been a baby This wasn’t Lexi’s diary

This was her mother’s diary Alexandra was Lexi

It was no wonder that Lexi didn’t trust him, that she’d stabbed hiht that the Sentinels wanted to kill her--that they wanted her blood

Which, he had to aduinar would want her blood, not that he’d let theet it, they wouldn’t want to kill her She couldn’t feed thee and kept reading It was e described how evil the Sentinels were and how many times they’d tried to kill Lexi and her mother The book went into detail about what the nized the descriptions as Synestryn, not Sentinels Of course, Lexi didn’t necessarily know the difference

She thought the Synestryn that had attacked theht had been his pets She didn’t know any better, which begged the question, what else had she been taught that was totally wrong?

Zach shut the book and rose froh him that her mother would taint her with lies like these, but he held it in check He had no way of knohy her mother had done it, and more important, the wo her when he couldn’t

Lexi didn’t need his anger She needed hi as she had all these er, running from the only people who could keep her safe

He turned, and she was standing in the kitchen doorway Her eyes were puffy from sleep and her clothes rinkled beyond repair The hair around her face was da She looked froain and in that time, all the color drained from her face Her dark eyes widened in fear and she sprinted toward the door leading outside

Zach chased after her, unwilling to let her go Whatever was going through that head of hers rong It wasn’t her fault, but he couldn’t let her keep thinking those lies were true