Page 129 of Obsession

I frown. She is pretty, but talking to her is like pulling teeth; she makes no sense. My head hurts more and more, and I’m only getting more frustrated.

“When I have this choice,” I say, meaningfully patient, “what am I supposed to do?”

She smiles. “You bite.”

What?

I stare, and she stares back, aware that I have no idea what that means. I bite? My teeth push against one another at the thought. Bite what?

“There is another reason I wanted to speak with you,” she continues, cutting off my train of thought as she straightens. She can’t be much taller than me, but she has the same presence as Ryan when he enters a room. “To apologize.”

Apologize… for what? I glance at Aris. For freezing him? For confusing me?

“Apologize?” I ask aloud. I’m still caught on her first message: Bite. And the promise that it will make sense later.

What could it mean?

I would like for things to make sense now.

“Yes. You see, I am not like my brothers, and I can acknowledge when I have done something cruel,” she says. “I made you—something pure and good—to appease the embodiment of Chaos itself. Part of satisfying Aris meant making someone naïve: a guileless fool he could busy himself tampering with.”

Fool.

Naïve.

I don’t like those words.

My head shakes before I understand why I’m shaking it. I’m not offended, am I? All she’s saying is that I appease Aris; I love appeasing Aris.

And yet…

“I want to be very clear with you, Mary: I am sorry. I’m sorry for the life you've led. But someone had to lead it. You must understand that."

"Understand…"

Hot tears trickle down my cheeks—ones she stares at with woe, and I suddenly feel like I’m watching this from someone else’s eyes, like this is a movie or game.

“You created me,” I see myself saying. “For him?”

She gives me a grim look. “Yes, Mary. I forged your personality and dreams and planted you in your mother.”

The image of a woman flashes in my mind, a face curled in a sneer. Sem put me… inside of her?

Sem was right; none of this makes sense.

I look at Aris desperately. I need his touch; I need him. I’m useless on my own. I don’t want to be thinking these things and feeling this pain.

“I know him better than anything. He is my brother, and my opposite,” she continues. “You are his other half, born for him.”

She is telling me painful things. They feel like forbidden things.

“Once he’s unfrozen, he’ll hear everything you just told me,” I murmur, the words coming out strange.

“Everything will play out as it should.” Her eyes dart to the side, smile wavering. “Hopefully. I may have jeopardized things by speaking with you like this, but…” She steps forward, taking my hands in her own again. After being with Aris for so long, I expect cold to emanate from her skin, but she feels… normal. Her skin is soft.

“But?” I whisper.

“But I am not like my brothers,” she says.

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