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He appears tired, dark bags under his eyes and the wrinkles on his face even more pronounced, but his eyes are still as sharp as ever, a steely blue that pries open my soul.
“I know you heard that conversation, Ryker,” he says in a voice that seemed to have aged one hundred years in a span of seconds. He slowly peels open his jacket to reveal the gun holstered to his side.
My heart stutters to a stop at the obvious threat.
Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck.
Raymond’s lips dip down into a frown. “I think we should have a talk. Don’t you agree?”
30
ELLIE
Ishould’ve known I wouldn’t be able to avoid Fischer forever.
So far, I’ve been declining all his calls and refusing to respond to his texts. Before I discovered the truth about his involvement with POP, I offered him half-assed excuses for why I couldn’t come home over the weekend. But that was before.
Now, I just pretend he doesn’t exist.
Out of sight, out of mind—or so the saying goes.
But nothing has ever been that easy for me.
I’m walking with Dom to the academic building, bundled in my brown winter coat, when a voice calls to me from farther away.
“Ellie! Ellie! Wait up! For fuck’s sake, stop.”
I freeze. Every muscle in my body locks together, as if my joints have been fused together by ice. My breath is embarrassingly choppy and uneven, creating plumes of smoke in the air.
“Fuck,” Dom murmurs, placing an arm around my shoulder and guiding me deeper into his side. He quickens his pace, hurrying us toward the main entrance of the academic building, but a hand on my shoulder stops me.
Fischer’s hand on my shoulder.
“Ellie.” My older brother sounds agitated…and maybe even a little hurt. “Why are you ignoring me?”
I shake his hand off me but don’t turn around. It’s too painful to look at him, to stare into the face I once loved above all others.
How could Fischer be a member of the Paragons of Prosperity? How could he be okay with everything the cult does?
I saw the way he was with The Divine One. The familiarity he seemed to have with her.
Does he know her?
God, maybe everything would be easier if I just confronted Fischer for answers.
But do I even want to know?
Yes.
No.
Yes.
No.
Yes.
