Night's Darkest Embrace by Jeaniene Frost

that she didn’t see as she concentrated on the road. More mature than I was at her age, for sure. And I had to tell someone before I went back. Just in case I didn’t return.
    “Rafael’s involved in shuttling Partials out of Nocturna and into the next realm. He has two secret barriers in the bathroom of his castle.”
    Lena swerved, narrowly avoiding another car before easing back into our lane to the tune of angry horns blaring.
    Yeah, guess I should’ve had her pull over before I blurted that out.
    “You’re shitting me!” she exclaimed.
    I didn’t criticize her language, though my father would have, had he heard her use that word.
    “I wish I were,” I said glumly while another tiny, invisible spear jabbed me in the heart.
    “You saw the barriers yourself?” she went on, glancing at me.
    “Maybe we should talk about this when you’re not driving—”
    “I’m fine,” she cut me off, looking back at the road with a clenched jaw. “Go on.”
    “I went through one of them to get here. It opens in the sewage facility a few miles back; that’s why I stink,” I said. “All I know about the other one is that it doesn’t lead to anything on this side, so I give you three guesses as to where it does go.”
    Lena was silent as she absorbed this, getting onto the freeway. We were several cities away from the Bed Bath & Beyond gateway, and it was already afternoon. I had to get back to that gateway before dark or risk giving Rafael a whole day to think up a way to stop me from telling others what I’d discovered. He’d know I’d found the barriers. The puddle of water I’d probably left on his bathroom floor crossing over would be enough to let a smart bastard like him figure it out.
    And if I gave him time, he might decide to come after more than just me. I glanced at Lena again. Maybe it was a good thing my father was out of town. In fact, Lena and my aunt and uncle should all follow suit.
    “When you drop me off at the mall, I want you to go straight to tell Aunt Nancy and Uncle David what’s going on. I’ll tell everyone I can over in Nocturna. Maybe Jack’ll believe me, he’s a friend. Billy . . . I don’t know, but I’ll try. But even if not everyone believes me, I should be able to get enough of them riled up to demand to see that bathroom for themselves. Once they do, Rafael’s finished.”
    Damn the little needles of pain those words caused me. What was the matter with me, still getting upset over the well-deserved fate of a murderer?
    “Are you going to be all right?” Lena asked softly. “I know you’ve always had a thing for Rafael. . . .”
    “I’m fine,” I said briskly, echoing her words from before. I didn’t want to talk about it, let alone think about it. “Got any paper towels in here?” I went on, changing the subject.
    She pointed to the glove box. I opened it, relieved to see a travel pack of tissues and a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer. I should have just squirted the entire bottle all over me, but even that wouldn’t have been enough. Instead, I dabbed some on a tissue and flipped the vanity mirror down, determined to get the nasty grime off my face and hands, at least.
    But one good look at my reflection made a scream escape me. Lena didn’t swerve again, though she yelled, “What the hell!” at the top of her lungs.
    Words failed me. I squeezed my eyes shut, sending a fervent prayer to any god listening that I hadn’t seen what I had. Then, very slowly, I opened my eyes.
    The five pinpoints of light around my pupils were still there, taunting me. I’d seen them before in other Partials’ eyes, such as my father’s when my real mother was alive. These weren’t the temporary flickers of illumination that happened during the heat of the moment. They were the mark of claiming for my kind, more intimate than a wedding ring and far harder to get rid of.
    Despite my suspicions before, and what I’d found out afterward, at some point when I’d been in