Page 112 of Lust

The way he looks at me, he must’ve realized something else was up.

“When they returned,” he goes on, “your dad was wearing that necklace. I thought it was a souvenir. I never saw him wear it again after that. Then when I came to the hospital to see you, I saw your friends’ necklaces and the one you had on—the one you’re wearing now. Even then I didn’t think much of it. But last night, I woke up in the middle of the night, and the day your mom gave it to me was like it happened yesterday, her telling me I needed to wait to give it to you. Even now, I’m wondering why I forgot for all this time or why it came up just now, but all I know is that this belongs to you.”

The way he tells the story, it’s clear he’s somewhat disturbed by his memory lapse, and I can’t help thinking there might’ve been some magic involved. But Mom wasn’t a part of the Sinners stuff. Was she…?

He studies my expression. “Is there anything you want to tell me, Luke?”

Like with Alexei, part of me wants to share the truth with him, but my parents must’ve had their reasons for not sharing this with him. And I fear that if I tell him the truth, it might pull him into this with me.

I’d rather spare him. Not give him a reason to worry about me attending St. Lawrence. Or about what’s to come.

“Nothing right now,” I make myself say, since I don’t like lying to him.

“Well, I’m here if you need anything. Anytime. I hope you know that.”

As always, I can feel his love, his acceptance, his care for me. The love and care of the man who took me in as his own and selflessly gave so much of himself to me.

“Thank you, Dan,” I say, hugging him tight.

I put the necklace on with mine and return to my old bedroom, where I tell Brad about the odd exchange. Still with the necklace on, I sit up in bed, assessing the cross.

“How would your mom have known to put a spell on Dan?” He slides close to me, places his hand on my abs. “She couldn’t have known that all this would happen.”

“But what if she did? It sounds strange, but maybe the answer is as strange as everything else. I just wish I knew what my parents knew about all this. Like, did Dad tell Mom? And what was that trip about? And this on top of all the other questions related to Kysar. Too many questions, too few answers.”

“Now you know what it’s been like for us since we found out about this stuff.”

“I don’t like it.”

“Well, come here and let your boyfriend make it better.”

Just hearing him refer to himself as my boyfriend has this strange power over me.

He leans close and offers a kiss. It’s a gentle reminder of how far we’ve come from the Lust-fueled kisses we shared early on, back when it felt beyond our control. Inescapable. Now that we spend so much time together, it feels more natural. We’re more at ease, like this is the way it’s supposed to be for us.

He rolls onto me, and I reposition comfortably under him as he pushes his weight against me. He nibbles at my ear, then kisses down my throat, stirring that familiar desire, as something moves through me.

I’m no longer looking at the ceiling, images flashing through my mind in quick succession. Like memories, though not mine.

“There’s something I need to do,” Dad tells Mom,and I somehow know I’m in his body. “I must go back to St. Lawrence. It’s life or death.”

“I’m not letting you do whatever it is by yourself.”

“You have to stay here. For Luke.”

And then I see Josh Dobbers and Dad and Mom in the church cellar.

A series of images collide, moving so fast, I can’t keep up. One moment I’m sitting in a room with recliners and IVs, the next I’m walking around an office, and finally, I’m in a car and hear an ominous voice before I snap back to the present with Brad lying over me.

“Luke? Luke?” he asks, panic in his expression.

“What happened?”

“Your eyes went black like you were having a vision.”

Despite only seeing flashes, I have a deep awareness of what took place in the past, as though it downloaded into my brain. As though I’ve known it all my life.

“The cross,” I say. “It stored the memory of what happened to my parents. When I was a kid, Kysar called them to the Rift—my dad and Josh. Something evil had escaped. A monster they knew could tear apart our world. After Dad told Mom the truth about the Sinners, she insisted she go with them. She didn’t want them to fight this on their own. She didn’t know what she was getting into, but while working with them, she discovered her telepathic ability. Once they found the monster, they couldn’t find a way to get it back into the Rift, and knew it would be fatal to fight it,but the Guides told them it was the only way to keep others from dying. Mom used her power to split its consciousness between them, locking it in each of their bodies. They thought they could use their combined powers to keep it at bay, but after Josh got cancer, Mom and Dad knew it was only a matter of time before it broke free and took control of their bodies. When it started to take over Dad, he used his powers to give himself the aneurysm. Stored the memory for Mom to see in the necklace. Then when she felt the same thing happening to her four years later, she drove herself into a wall to keep the creature from driving into oncoming traffic. It was different than the Slasher they killed while in college. This thing could only survive as long as they were alive, so once they were gone, it was too.”

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