Page 119 of Blinding Light

“I hear you,” he choked.

Good light. Finally.

He felt a click inside his head and the pressure became less, replacing it with a sense of awareness. A heavy silence that, if possible, made Cyprian feel even more on edge.

“Hello?” He whispered.

It took a few seconds. Then, as if an alarm had gone off, that voice repeated,

Help him. Help him, help him, help him, help him…

“Cyprian?” Archer lit up the path he’d come through with his flashlight. “Over here!”

He found Archer behind his canvas, a goofy smile on his lips. “At last! I thought you’d never make it here. Where did you go yesterday?”

“Moargan called,” Cyprian lied. “I’m sorry.”

Archer grinned. “Don’t worry. I only stayed for an hour afterward myself, I didn’t want to linger on the streets after five. Did you bring your gear?”

“Nah,” Cyprian’s gaze swept the place. Perhaps it was aninteresting location, from a morbid point of view. “I need to find inspiration first.”

“Here. Have a candy.”

Cyprian froze when his eye caught the pink wrapper. He snatched it out of Archer’s hand, frowning. It was identical to the one Theo had handed him. “Who gave this to you?”

Archer shrugged. “Same guy as the one who told me about this place. He took Professor Dai’s class last year and is in my photography class.”

“It’s not Theo?”

“Theo?” He frowned. “No, but now that you mention it. He looked like him.”

Cyprian unwrapped the candy. On the inside of the pink paper, he saw curly letters. He’d missed those yesterday.

“Attica. Good light, Archer, did you watch the press conference yesterday?”

His friend shook his head. “I was down here, painting. Waiting for you to arrive.” His gaze narrowed. “Why? You’re looking all funny.”

“Cyprian?” One of his guards called out. The heavy door banged shut behind them as their flashlights switched on. Cyprian’s stomach churned. They were making too much noise.

“This candy.” Cyprian showed Archer the wrapper. “See this?”

“Attica,” Archer read.

“During the press conference yesterday, they were identified as the killer.”

“What?” Archer’s eyes widened in shock.

“This guy, who gave you this candy, the one who looked like Theo. Was his name Bekn?”

Archer nodded carefully. “Yes, it was.”

Good light, Bekn. If it wasn’t for the physical similarity Theo shared with him, he would have already forgotten the guywho’d trained him on the space shuttle.I'm a known figure in the right places.Those had been his exact words.

“Have you eaten any of the candy?” Cyprian asked instead.

Archer shook his head. “I was waiting for you.”

“Okay, good. Just…don’t eat them. They contain drugs.”

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