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I couldn’t help but wonder how I would have reacted if David had died and not Allison. Or Collin. I wouldn’t have been able to leave without looking back. I couldn’t expect any different from him.
I gently removed David’s hands from Allison and guided her head to the floor, trying not to look at her poor body. I couldn’t believe he couldn’t see the torture she had been through. The poor victims in Manteo must have suffered for hours. Why hadn’t I seen their wounds in the photos? “I need my phone,” I muttered, digging for it in my pocket.
“Who are you calling?” David asked.
I hadn’t considered calling anyone other than the police. But then a thought popped into my head, an unshakeable one. I needed to tell Collin. Just not yet.
“No one,” I said. “I need to take a picture.”
“You’re going to take her picture?” he asked incredulously, his eyes widening. “You want amemento?”
I opened up my camera app. “David, just trust me on this one.”
Thankfully, he didn’t try to stop me. Instead, he climbed to his feet and walked over to the sofa and sat down, cradling his head between his hands.
I centered the screen over her face and upper body. I could see the wounds on my screen, but when I snapped the photo, she looked like she was sleeping, which explained why I hadn’t seen any disfigurements in the photos Tom had shown me.
“Curse Keeper, you must leave,” Tsagasi said, his voice firm. “The longer you stay, the more danger you are in.”
“You mean of getting caught by the police?”
“The human police are by far your lowest concern.” He turned his focus to David. “The Raven Mocker was on a mission. It was obvious she didn’t intend to kill you, but she took pleasure in taunting you. She could come back to finish the job.” He tilted his head toward David.
I knew he was right, but it felt so wrong to leave her like this. Allison hadn’t liked me, and it wouldn’t surprise me a bit to learn that she’d done everything in her power to win David back tonight, but that didn’t mean she’d deserved to die. “Tsagasi, thank you.”
He nodded, looking solemn and serious. His ever-present scowl still puckered his face, but it had softened. For the first time I noticed a wound on the side of his head, black blood trickling down his cheek. He’d risked his life to help us. Why? But trying to reason it out was like pulling on a loose thread—everything just kept unraveling. My poor brain couldn’t handle another puzzle at the moment.
I grabbed David’s arm and pulled him toward the front door, stopping to peer outside to see if anyone was around. When it looked clear, I dragged him to the car and opened the passenger door, pushing him inside.
“We can’t just leave her like that, Ellie,” he said as I got in and started the car. But his voice sounded like it was drained of fight.
“Tsagasi will take care of her.”
He turned to me; the pain raw in his eyes. “Can you really trust him?”
“He has given me every reason to trust him in the little time that I’ve known him.”
“And how long has that been?” There was accusation in his voice. “Have you known about him for weeks without telling me?”
“No,” I said, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. I deserved his questions. “I found him in your backyard after I left you with Allison.”
“Can you blame me for asking? You went to see Collin yesterday without telling me. And you avoided giving me any details about seeing Okeus so you could keep it secret. What happened when you were with Collin in the ocean, Ellie? When you weretouching marks?” His voice was ugly. He knew what had happened, what I was refusing to say. “What other things don’t you want to tell me?”
“David, please. Let’s not do this right now.”
“Why not? Now seems like theperfecttime, with my dead ex-girlfriend being ‘taken care of’ by your new friend.”
“No, you’re hurting.” I swallowed my tears. I deserved all of his accusations and more. And it would be easy for him to push me away in his anger, but I couldn’t let him do that. He needed me whether he wanted me or not. I had to be calm and strong for him, just like he usually was for me. “But you have every right to ask me if I kept him from you. I’ll admit that I’ve kept things from you while trying to protect you.”
“Even though you promised not to do that.” Bitterness laced his words. “You promised no secrets, Ellie. Youliedto me.”
“Yes, I’ll admit that I’ve tried to protect you.I love you, David.I’ve put you through enough hell…I thought that I was doing you a favor if I could save you from some of it. But I was wrong, and I’m sorry for that.”
He shook his head and stared out the window, his shoulders trembling. “She didn’t deserve to die.”
“No, she didn’t. I’m so sorry.”
“Wedid this to her.” His voice was drenched in self-disgust. “We killed her.”
