The Vanished Read Online Free PDF

more blush to his cheeks than I’d seen in days. The pillow was half-filled by his blond hair, a tangled and lovely mess, and his eyes were warmer than usual, the colour of the sea again now that the thunderstorms had passed. He looked almost peaceful – I wasn’t used to seeing him like that. I was so used to his nervous fidgeting or watching him stalk the length of a room.
    “You look better,” I said.
    “I feel it.” He sighed. “It sounds crazy, but since we’ve got here I just feel so much better. I feel right . I know it’s weird, and it doesn’t make any sense, but I feel like I was supposed to find this place and that I… belong here.”
    My eyes widened and my grip tightened on Daniel’s arm. “Yes! That’s how I feel too, and I didn’t know how to describe it, but what you just said is exactly it. Since we first arrived I’ve had this strange calm feeling, like everything is clicking into place. It’s like a bond.” It was like how I felt about Daniel, as though there was a thread connecting us together. Well now it was as though that thread had been tied together in a bow with the Clans. I’d found a missing jigsaw piece.
    “Have you seen your dad yet?” he searched my face, his eyes full of worry for me. He knew me and he knew how hard it would be for me.
    I stared down at my feet.
    “Mina, you can’t avoid him forever.” He reached over and placed a hand on mine. The warmth tingled in my fingers. “You want to see him.”
    He was right. I did want to see him, but I was scared of facing the man who had abandoned me when I needed him the most.
    “You need to hear him out,” Daniel said. “You always said that you would give anything for a second chance with your mum despite how you feel about her leaving you for the Resistance. You have that chance with your dad.”
    Tears pricked at my eyes. “I know. It’s just so hard.”
    He laughed. “Worse than breaking out of Area 14? The hard part is over. It’s time to make a new life here, and it’s going to be good, I can feel it. Everyone is here, Mina, just waiting to begin again, everyone in your life.” He paused. “Except––”
    “Matthew.” My blood froze. “How am I going to tell him about Matthew? His own brother!”
    “You’ll find the words.” Daniel squeezed my hand. “You always do the right thing. Well, at least you do when I’m not there to ruin things.”
    “You don’t ruin things, Dan––”
    He shook his head. “That’s not true. It’s my fault we went to the Slums that night and it’s my fault we broke into Murder-Troll’s house. If it wasn’t for what happened – if I’d just gone home like you told me to then your uncle would have made it out of Area 14. Instead, he was taken away from you just hours after you met.”
    I flinched at the memory. It was a painful one. “I could have turned around and left you that night, but I didn’t.”
    “Because of me.”
    “No. Because I wanted to go in that house just as much as you did. You think you’re the bad one and the one who makes the wrong decisions but trust me – I’d find danger on my own. I’m my mother’s daughter after all.” I sighed. “That’s all in the past now. I want to be different here. Forget the Resistance, let’s just live here, contented and happy until we’re old.”
    Daniel’s lopsided grin was back. “You? Forget the Resistance? What’s got into you?”
    “I dunno,” I said, surprised by my own feelings. “Maybe it’s the way this place feels. Maybe it’s the drama of getting here.” Maybe it was seeing Daniel hurt and near death.
    “I don’t believe you. The Mina Hart I know will be training in martial arts and planning a London invasion at any given moment.” He grinned. “That’s the Mina I know and love.” His expression changed to one of horror, and his cheeks ripened like beetroots. “I mean…”
    “Love?” I asked. “You… you––”
    “Oh, hi Mina. Did you register with the Council