Page 145 of Obsession

I stare at the space they inhabited and go to touch my amulet, seeking comfort. But all I find is skin.

I turn back to Sem and Aris, who are still having a conversation.

“I’ll return in a few days to see you off,” says Sem.

“You do not need to do that,” Aris replies sourly.

Sem smiles. “Yes, but I would like to.” She winks at me, disappearing into a shimmering mist.

Aris shakes his head, then turns his penetrating gaze onto me. There is a question in there, a challenge. He’s wondering how I will react after what Simon told me.

My eyes go to the rug on the ground, and the circle beneath it. A villain, vanquished. A chapter of my life, ended. My hand twitches at my side, wanting to touch the scarring on my back where the runes used to lie.

Aris holds out his hand, redirecting my attention. “We’ve vanquished a foe,” he says. “I think that calls for a drink for you, hmm?”

After a pause, I take the hand, allowing him to interlace our fingers—just like used to hold hands. It’s strange, to mourn someone when they’re still alive. Mourning who they used to be.

He looks at our interlocked hands, and maybe he is also thinking of who I was when I didn’t have my memory. Who I will never be again.

I almost smile. It’s like we were in love triangles with ourselves.

“Let’s have that drink,” I say.

Chapter thirty-five

“Are you ready?” Aris asks me.

We’re back on the lawn, the castle raised proudly behind us. Sem constructed a portal midair, no doorway required, and the gray mass swirls before us. It’s the only thing standing between me and a new world.

Aris’ followers are already on the other side, having left yesterday to set up a suitable residence for their master. All I know is that we’re setting out into the unknown universe. Anything could meet us on the other side.

I tighten my hold on my suitcase. In it are the few earthly possessions I wanted: clothes I’ve become attached to, snack foods I may never eat again, and my old hospital bracelet—something I can’t seem to get rid of.

I glance from Aris, to the portal, to Sem standing beside it. She watches us and smiles softly. “I think so,” I tell him.

Aris takes a few steps back, and it’s then that I feel the urge to speak to Sem. I realize: he understood what I needed without me understanding it myself. The thought makes me soft.

Of course, given how Aris can read my mind, walking back is more performative than anything, an illusion of privacy, but it isn’t ineffective. Without him looming over me, I feel I can speak candidly.

I walk toward the goddess as she walks toward me, and we reach for one another in chorus.

She is so ethereal, so beautiful and pure, that, even knowing the depth of her scheming, it is impossible to feel resentment. Sem is how I imagined angels to look when I was little. All she needs is a halo.

“You are making the right choice,” she tells me, voice like spring mornings and songbirds.

“Did I ever have a choice?” I can’t help but say.

Her answering smile is sad, and she releases one of my hands to cup my cheek. I arch into her touch, a tear falling as my eyes close.

She assures me the only way she can: “I will look after your world. It will rebuild. People will be healthy and happy.”

Sem lets go of my face, and I feel her touch next on my neck, exactly where my amulet used to hang. I open my eyes to stare at my skin as she does, the two of us musing on the empty space.

“Take care, my child,” she says quietly. “And be well.”

I can promise neither, but I’m charmed that she thought to request it of me. I smile, squeeze her hand once, and let go. When I take a step back, my back hits something solid—Aris.

To confirm my thoughts, his hands come to my upper arms in a secure, familiar hold.

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