His hand, which is still wrapped around mine, gently squeezes tighter, giving me the strength to face him, and when I do, I see that the truth does set one free.
Tears stream down his cheeks.“Oh, Hallie, I didn’t know.”
“Of course you didn’t.How could you?”I reply, his familiar touch a comfort I didn’t realize how much I missed until now.“There’s more.”
He gulps, sniffing back his tears.
It must feel nice to cry.I wouldn’t know.I’ve forgotten what it feels like.It’s as though my body refuses to show weakness after what it’s endured.
“I met a girl.Jupiter.She helped me.Well, I thought she did.She had skeletons in the closet too.But who doesn’t?However, her skeletons began to pile up.Have you heard of the XY Killer?”
Dandy nods quickly, eyes wide.
“Well, it’s Jupiter.She’s the one murdering all those men.She experienced something similar to what I did.Her way of dealing with it was killing men, each one representing the men who stole from her.And I helped her.”
“What?” Dandy exclaims, eyes wide.
He wanted the truth, so here it is.
“Yes.Although I didn’t kill them, I lured them like prey for her.She killed them, and I helped clean up the mess.But I’m just as guilty.I watched, and I liked it.I liked it because it felt as though I was taking the power back.
“The power that was stolen from me that night in the woods.It felt like tiny fragments of myself were being healed by ending the lives of men who were despicable human beings.Jupiter had a code.She only killed bad men.These men had done horrible things to women, to children.I know it doesn’t make it acceptable, but these men would continue hurting others.
“We just did to them what they’d done to others.”
Dandy wears a blank expression.Is he in shock?“Why are you back?Why now?”
I breathe out slowly.“Jupiter knows the identities of the men who assaulted me.I’ve…I’ve killed one already.”
Dandy gasps, placing a hand over his mouth.I see that he has a planet tattooed on his wrist.I love that he never let go of his true self this entire time.But me, I don’t even know who I am.
“Now, I need to hunt down the other two.”
“Two?”Dandy asks, doing the math.
I’ve killed two out of the three.
But the fourth, he’s the final piece, the piece that is the reason this entire thing began.
“Yes.Someone was directing the men.It wasn’t a random attack.I was a target for a reason.And that reason is why I’m back.I need to find the two remaining men and do to them what they did to me.”
“You mean Jupiter found them for herself so she could kill them and drag you down with her,” Dandy adds, shaking his head in disgust.“You’re doing this because she’s got a hold over you, right?She won’t let you be free unless you play her game?”
“Something like that.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
And this is the moment I tell him about Kit.
But it seems the man in question does that for me.
“That she lied to me this entire time.”
That husky voice is fucking pissed off.I should be terrified he’s here, but I’m not.
I meet Kit’s eyes, expecting to see surprise, but I don’t.
“How did you find me?”I ask, feeling relieved.
