Page 33 of The Next Lie

“All right.”

“No, I mean don’t do that. Don’t be kind now. I don’t know what to do with that from you.”

I nod.

She wipes at her face again, angry at the tears, angry at me for seeing them, angry at herself for having them.

Good.

Anger will keep her upright for a little longer.

“Does she know about…Mother Superior?” Delia asks.

“Some.”

“Does she know…?”

“No.”

Delia’s breath catches and she casts her gaze to the ceiling. “You cannot let her find out.”

“I am aware.”

“Are you?” She steps closer again. “Because she looked at me tonight and I saw it. Whatever she has become, whatever Cal made her, whatever her life was, she is still Reva. Stubborn as fuck. She will pull every wire out of the wall if she thinks there is an answer behind it.”

“She already has.”

“Then stop her.”

“I don’t think any of us can stop her.”

“You mean you don’t want to.”

I look toward the door Nash used, then back to her.

“No,” I say. “I mean it may be too late for so many things.”

Delia’s lips press together. For a moment, she looks younger than she is. Then older. Then only tired.

“She just shouldn’t have come,” she whispers.

“No. But she’s here now, and I’ll take care of her.”

The answer surprises her. It surprises me too. But it is true.

Reva should not have come to New Orleans. She should not have walked into Noir. She should not have found my name, my city, my sins. She should have stayed in Chicago with Cal and her EMT books and her terrible aim and her hyena laugh. She should have lived a life where the past remained a locked room behind her.

But she did come. And some ugly, selfish part of me is glad. Delia sees that too.

Her mouth twists. “You care about her.”

“Yes.”

The admission leaves no room for maneuvering. She absorbs it like another insult, turning away. For a few seconds, she says nothing. When she finally speaks, her voice is so low I almost miss it under the music of the club.

“She laughed when she saw me.”

I remember the sound. Cracked. Impossible. Full of disbelief and grief and impossible, indescribable joy.