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Paying a ridiculous sum of money to have CrimeTech hacked and ensure their problematic criminologist was assigned to Hollow’s Row should have been what got me caught. But damn Torres and those emails. Having access to exchange email was the only reason I agreed to his fucking case study and let him wade around in my head.
Not only was he a risk, he was a liability. It was only a matter of time before he lost the last of his faculties.
“Unbelievable.” She’s barely audible beneath the insects stirring to life, their habitat disturbed. A rumble of thunder rolls in the distance, and the vibration flows along the ground.
“The whole theory around the case…your obsession with the duality and Dionysus.” Her breaths come faster, and I lock on to her general location in the reeds. “Every bit of it was you.”
“While my ego enjoys being stroked, I’m not omniscient. I didn’t create the circumstance, I only seized the opportunity.” I tear a hand through my hair in frustration. “I told you, it’s the universe, little Halen. Nearly every philosophy is steeped in paradox.” I push off the tree and stealthily creep through the reeds, staying hidden behind the tree line. “All schools of thought adopt some form of ‘opposites attract.’ If not Nietzsche’s doctrines, it could have been Nicholas of Cusa’scoincidentia oppositorum, orLogos, or hell, there’s no limit with Jung. Take your pick. History repeats itself, remember? It’s just our turn to observe it.”
After I was remanded to Briar, I pored over emails for weeks in search of very specific qualifiers I could utilize on the outside. As an authority in the occult, who has a somewhat notorious reputation, I receive all kinds of interesting messages.
One such anonymous message with an encrypted address held promise. The author had reached out to establish a foundation for explorative shamanic rituals in connection to the higher self through alchemical practice. Again, this could have been any philosophy at play. The options are limitless.
After three emails, I provided a starting point for their experimental pursuit, steering them toward an awakening with a specific sacrifice. But it wasn’t until the news aired of a ritual crime scene involving eyes that I knew this person was committed to their pursuit. Then Halen walked into Briar, and our fate took over. When I discovered the symbols carved in a tree near the hemlock, my exhilaration was legitimate.
I couldn’t have designed a better game board for us.
I took all the risk. Because while the author knew who I was, I didn’t know their identity. Yet they couldn’t reveal me without revealing themselves. A real conundrum for them. So it stands to reason that Devyn would try to have me removed from the case by framing me for murder. That, and she wanted unobstructed access to Halen.
After I realized I was being framed for Jake Emmons’ murder, I started to narrow the scope on suspects. While I had some suspicion about Devyn, there was no certainty she was the author of those emails until that moment in the cave when she sank to her knees and confessed her failure.
I could have driven that antler into her and ended the threat to us right then.
I glance down at the ink on my knuckles, every selfish desire marked on my flesh. My opposite, Halen could never be as selfish.
That’s why I had to be the one.
My sacrifice had to be astronomical.
Silence descends over the marsh. It stretches until the screech of insects competes with the drumming of my heart. I push farther into the willow sprays, a violent energy coiling my spine as I realize my clever runner is using their strong scent to mask her own.
“Run out of accusations?” I call out to her.
I stop walking, becoming as still as the reeds while I wait for her voice to lead me in her direction.
“Come on, Halen,” I shout. “Don’t leave me in suspense.”
“I want the truth,” she says, her voice breathy. “Were you ever going to tell me?”
The truth.
I rub my fingers over the inflamed crescent on my chest, feeling the truth of us deep down in the rotten marrow of my bones.
“Yes.” My voice carries across the clearing. “But timing is everything when it comes to us, muse.”
“So you wanted to make sure I was good and seduced before you sprang it on me.”
A dark chuckle slips free. “Are you angry that I seduced you, or that you wanted to be seduced?” I goad her, fanning that flame.
At her prolonged silence, I say, “Six months was already too long. I made a promise to you sealed in blood. I couldn’t risk you being alone if it all came crashing back. I admit, fear ruled me…the fear of what you might do to yourself while I was trapped inside that fucking place. That fear will drive a man to extremes, Halen.” I swallow past the burn in my throat. “Tell me I’m wrong, that the guilt wouldn’t have destroyed you.”
There’s a distinct rustle in the grove of willows, and a devious smile curves my mouth. “I tried doing this the nice way, but that’s never worked for us, has it? I’m going to catch you. NotifbutwhenI catch you, Halen, I’m going to bind your wrists, then I’m going to fuck you until you’re screaming, tears smearing your beautiful face as you finally submit to the goddamn inevitability of us.”
She rises up in the middle of the clearing and darts through the reeds.
Blood hot and adrenaline peaked, I bound out of the gloomy coverage after her.
Her hair is loose, dark tresses whipping behind her as she streaks through a field of tweed and gray, her feet finding solid purchase to push her farther ahead. I stay close behind, my breaths chopping the air, muscles on fire as anticipation to wrap my arms around her batters my skull in ruthless demand.
