Page 78 of Anorthic Anarchy

I only awaken to pee again. Little Bert is becoming a burden to my sleep.

It’s still too early to get up for the day, so I wash my face, brush through my hair, and head back to bed, then stop. My husband is gone, the sheets tossed to the side.

On the nightstand beneath the glowing lamp stands an envelope addressed to:

My angel.

Chapter 29

Strauss

My angel,

Words cannot express what you have done to me. Maybe it’s because I knew my time on this earth was done and my plans were coming to fruition. And perhaps it’s because you saved me at the last moment. In more ways than one.

Whatever the reason, I love you. With all my heart and soul.

I’ve been planning the demise of Herodius and Clavius for twenty years. One of their sacred rituals is upon us today, and they’ll be expecting my blood. And they’ll get it.

But it also lives on in you.

The reason why I have chosen this path has always been for a sole purpose: revenge.

Then you came along and showed me that maybe this old man can feel things other than a simmering rage or the roaring agony of apathy. You were like a small reflection of me. Except your anger was always coupled with a sweet innocence that my mother ripped from me.

In the beginning, I wanted vengeance for her death. So I took it out on my father. Then, it was for the life they took fromme, imprisoning me and making me their scapegoat. A name to do their bidding without lifting a finger. The others before me did it with joy, but I only wanted a way out.

However, once I learned what love genuinely is from you, then it was for a deeper purpose. My mother didn’t love me. Not in the way she should. I understand that now.

Slyvious is small in number, but sent me resources in Dilan and Falcon. Others were sent to me to bring me a word of hope from them. They helped to cover some of my covert missions, such as ending the trafficking line for some of the women. I wish I had saved more.

Only I can make the sacrifice needed to save you and our child from the perils of this city. They want me. And you and our son were the only reasons I wanted to do this. But you changed me.

Now, I do it to set everyone free.

If I remain, so do Herodius and Clavius. If I run, they’ll continue to haunt the city through subversive means, kill me, and my death will mean nothing. May as well use my end for good.

They are celebrities, school board members, judges, and politicians. Sunday school teachers, doctors, lawyers, and influencers. Their reach is deep and wide.

I’m only one person, but I can destroy the factions located inside Gnarled Pine Hollow.

And that’s what I’m doing today.

I’m sorry for hurting you. Take care of our child. You have been granted everything in House Strauss. This is why YOU, my darling, are my ultimate weapon. You and our son will live on with my fortune and continue my legacy. Everything is yours. Let my loyal servant Sevastian have whatever he wants. Then he can go tomorrow, if he chooses.

If we were different people, had met at different times and under different circumstances, I would have taken you around the world. I’d meet you at the Crystal Maiden and make you mine the way a man should.

Maybe by giving up my life for others, I have a chance for redemption to meet you in Heaven where you belong. Until then, my soul will follow you and our baby to every corner of this world.

I love you, my angel.

Goodbye.

The doors are heavy. It’s been such a long time, perhaps a full year, since I was in the Crimson Angel. It still smells of dust. And sin.

Dressed in full robes and masks, the owls line one half of the sanctuary and the Johns the other. Black and maroon part for my approach as I walk like a bride down the long aisle toward the front.

Someone murmurs that I am unbound. But I keep walking, hoping no one will stop me. Not yet.