Liz lifted an eyebrow. "Are you sure you are well enough to travel?"

"I think I am," Terra replied, "but regardless, I have to. It will not be safe for me or this town if I stay."

Will moved toward the door. "We will need some provisions. I need to go before the markets close."

Terra called out to him. "No, Will! You can't be seen now. Later tonight you can go to your apartment and get what you can, and grab my stuff. Make it look like I left in a hurry."

"She's right," Ginny added. "You can raid my pantry. Just don't touch the bourbon. Liz, put together what medical supplies they may need."

Liz asked Will, "Where are you going?"

Terra shook her head before he answered. "I know an out of the way place, but it is best that as few people as possible know where."

Accepting his explanation, Liz walked out to complete her task.

Well past midnight, Will loaded several boxes of food and medical supplies in the back of his truck, and placed Terra's and his bags behind the seat. Liz and Zoe made one last medical examination of Terra and redressed her wounds.

Ginny shot a glare at Will as he came back inside, and he dipped his head, muttering, "I know."

Terra narrowed her eyes as she observed the exchange of an unspoken message. What are they hiding?

Liz and Zoe helped Terra walk outside toward the truck. After a round of hugs, Will assisted her into the passenger seat. They drove away into a moonless night.

Terra watched Will as he drove, weaving through side roads and dark alleyways to minimize the chance of being seen. Only the dashboard display and a few passing streetlights lit his face, casting subtle shadows across facial features. True, there were unrevealed secrets, but this man saved her life and showed her compassion, far more than she believed she deserved. A warmth spread through her like a summer breeze. He cares about me, regardless.

As they reached the edge of town, Will noticed her gaze and asked, "Are you all right?"

"Everything is fine." Terra smiled. "So, what is this out of the way place?"

"I have a cabin up in the mountains northwest of here that only Ginny and I know about, very remote. It will take about four hours to get there if we go the back way. It's beautiful around there. I think you will like it."

"That sounds good."

Will parted his lips. "Terra, what do you think the Dynasty people will do in Freehold?"

"They will search everywhere and probably break a few things. The story about me and a mysterious hooded man heading east will draw some out, but not all. I am sure Zoe, Liz, and Ginny will be questioned, but if they keep to the story, they should be fine."

Terra furrowed her brow as Will laughed. He explained, "I was just thinking about the poor investigators who try to interrogate Ginny. They may suffer the stare."

"The stare?"

"Pray you never experience it. She has this look when sufficiently annoyed that can make a grown man curl up in a fetal position and cry like a baby, or cower a charging grizzly bear."

Terra grinned. "Have you experienced this stare?"

"A few times when I was a rebellious teenager. Now I am immune to it — well, partly."

After a few minutes of silence, Terra began the line of questioning that most laid on her mind. "Will, I need you to tell me about your power and how you took down Necros."

"Okay, I owe you that much." He sat in thought for a moment. "I am sure you tried to assess my Talent by checking my aura. What did you see?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She shook her head. "That should not be possible."

"And likely you accessed my Talent test records?"

Terra glanced down as if caught doing something wrong. "You had the lowest possible ability."

"Almost true, actually I have no Talent at all."

Will pulled over to the side of the road. He reached into a bag behind the seat, pulled out an apple, and placed it on the seat between them. "Use your Talent to lift the apple and suspend it in the air."

"That's easy," Terra said. "Even a T8 Talent could do that."

"Just do it."

Terra barely had to access the aura for such a simple task. She telekinetically lifted the apple, spun it around, and placed it down again. "Easy."

"Okay, now try it again."

Silently scoffing, Terra flicked into the aura again. Her eyes saw the apple in the dim light, but she could not get a vision of it in the aura, as if it didn't exist in that plane. She tried harder, wrinkling her brow while concentrating — still nothing. In frustration, she cast a telekinetic push in the general direction of the apple, but it did not move at all. Her jaw dropped as she raised widened eyes.

"No?" Will asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"What did you do?"

"I can take away an aura, or perhaps it is more accurate to say I dissipate it. I have an anti-Talent. The tests do not measure for that."

"So you did that to Necros? Took away his Talent?"

"Essentially, yes. And also to the other Enforcer, you left injured in the alley. Necros so relied on his Talent that he became paralyzed when he lost it. That can be very terrifying to a high function Talent. You probably felt some of it, too."

"Yes, I remember." Terra shuddered as she recalled the swirling darkness. "But it hurt Necros much more than me."

"Well, I tried to direct it at him, and I don't think you have as much reliance on the aura for everyday function as he does."

Terra recalled the cold, emotionless expression on Will's face. "When you killed Necros, it was personal for you, wasn't it?"

Will's face hardened. "Vengeance, yes. He was the one who killed my wife, like he killed your friend, and he was going to kill you."

Terra bowed her head. "That I understand."

He took a deep breath. "There is more, Terra, and it is difficult for me to tell you. Do you remember the Day of Darkness?"

"Remember?" she gasped. "It was terrifying. I lost my Talent, and the aura was gone. It was like vertigo, nausea, despair, and fear all at the same time. When you disabled Necros, it..." Terra's eyes widened as the realization came over her. "You?"

"Yes." Will tightened his lips as he nodded. "When I found Ell's body, it was more than I could stand and I lashed out. I caused the Day of Darkness. I am the Darkness you fear."