Page 118 of Obsession

My jaw sets. I understand where he’s going with this. "Okay, so I tricked you. I betrayed you. That doesn't mean—"

"This isn't about betrayal.” Aris sighs, exasperated. “Think of your nature, Mary. Really think. When I hurt you, did you curl up and retreat? Did you want to heal, or did you go after me? Did you want to punish me and hurt me back?”

“I’m not like you.”

“You just left your mother to be tortured by a devil.”

“According to you, she isn’t my mother,” I reply primly.

“Well, she is, technically. She birthed you, but I believe that Sem planted you inside of her. She curated you, formed your personality with specifications.”

“What?”

He looks at me, a brow raised, and I shake my head. Planted inside of my mother? No. I’m done. I’m dismissing the debate and the idea both; I don’t have the energy for either.

"It doesn't make sense,” I conclude.

He pauses for a moment, then reminds me, “We promised to tell each other the truth.”

I start walking again to get away from him, and Aris again follows, but with less jump in his step. I picture him waiting out here, excited to manipulate with this lie. Only, it must not feel so good now that I don’t believe him.

“I don’t like hurting you,” Aris interrupts. “But, yes, maybe I thought that it would be fun to see your reaction.”

“And? Is it everything you hoped for?” I don’t look at him. “You lock me in this hallway, make me face my mother, and tell me your sister made me to serve you. Was it fun? Did you enjoy it?”

He pauses for a moment, then says, “You are being fussy.”

I scoff. Babies are fussy. Puppies are fussy. I am not fussy—not for this.

“And it wasn’t to ‘serve me’ exactly,” he continues.

I increase my pace and he stays beside me. Hovering, his presence is cold and pulsing. He won’t let this drop. We’ll walk this hall for an eternity.

Fine, then.

“Assuming it’s true,” I say, keeping my voice purposefully thick with skepticism, “then, what, you’ve known this whole time?”

“No,” he admits. “When I came to this planet, I felt drawn to a specific area, but I did not travel there until the mages pursued me. I went and saw that it was a girl drawing me; I was expecting magic or some sort of artifact. I was curious, surprised. I thought that I would go inside of you for a moment to see what was so interesting, and perhaps to get away from those fools. That was when they put the necklace on, and I was trapped.”

“And once you were out?”

“I didn’t know until the beach with Jaegen. I have not confronted him in many years, and I was able to see then, what he knew.”

“So… because Jaegen thinks that Sem made me, you think it, too?” I glance at him, brows raised. “Why would he let you see that in his mind? He’s probably messing with you.”

“You are not understanding, so we’ll try this a different way.”

“A different way?”

“Let’s leave here, now. We will discuss this somewhere warm, where there is tea to comfort you.”

I give him a sidelong glance, suspicious. “Since when do you care about my comfort?”

“I see: you’d prefer to cling to your anger.” Aris suddenly halts, and now I’m the one following his lead, stopping as he pins me with a look. “Will you walk this hall forever, cursing my name and the truths I’ve shared?”

I take a few steps forward, then turn on my heel to declare, “Maybe I will!”

He huffs a dry laugh. “Now listen, we’ve both had our prides hurt. And, yes, I’ll admit… maybe I shouldn’t have put you here. We could have had a civil discussion about your behavior. But, what can I say? I was upset.”

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