Page 231 of Fangs
“When?” My heart was pounding so fast. “I’ve never seen you before.”
“When you tried to heal Dune.”
When you tried to heal Dune.
Dune.
The words echoed around and around my head, but it was like they couldn’t sink in. I couldn’t understand them.
When you tried to heal Dune.
Tried.
I realized in a removed way that shadows were back, but not to disguise him. They wrapped around me as I swayed, forming a solid seat as my knees gave out and gently lowered me into it. He didn’t move from where he sat, but his eyes watched me carefully.
“I…knew Dune,” he finally said after a long time of me sitting frozen, staring at him. “We were friends. I had to leave Carth abruptly when you were still a baby, and I was upset. I didn’t want to go. I was a child who didn’t fully understand this power. I accidentally left a string in him. I didn’t even realize I’d done it until later when I accidentally slipped into his mind. I should have removed it and left, but I was…I was lonely, and he was playing with you.”
I wasn’t sure I was still breathing.
“I had no one, and I was so sick.” His voice grew harsh. “But when I was in Dune’s mind, I could pretend I was still…that I had a family. I thought I was going to die, and I justified what I was doing with the fact that soon I would be dead and gone.” He paused. “Then I saw you heal for the first time.”
I started shaking my head as though I could keep his words from reaching me.
“I knew the prophecy. I knew who you were. I knew what it meant.”
“No,” I whispered.
“I told you not to tell anyone. I made up a story about the people of Carth burning witches and made Dune believe it, too, so he would keep your secret when I wasn’t there.”
“No,” I repeated.
“The Voiceless have eyes and ears everywhere, even in Carth. I knew they would come for you if they caught even a whisper of your power.”
I stared at him in horror.
He visibly swallowed before continuing, “I tried to help you practice with your power. I thought you’d be safe if I could help you get strong.”
“Please,” I interrupted, tears slipping out of my eyes, “please tell me you didn’t… didn’t…”
The pain that filled his face made him appear brittle as glass. “I made Dune stab himself.”
I dropped my head into my hands, sucking in deep breaths and trying to keep from splintering into pieces.
“I had no idea your healing power would flow through the string and into me instead of Dune. Being filled with your power, beinghealed—it was such a shock that I didn’t react until it was too late. You started screaming for Wolf, and I panicked that you would reveal yourself. So I told you not to tell him and left, but I now know that Wolf arrived, and you didn’t try again to heal Dune.” His voice grew even more rough. “I felt him die, and I knew it was my fault.”
I abruptly stood and paced away from him, pressing a trembling hand to my mouth as tears continued to roll down my face.
I didn’t kill him.
I didn’t kill Dune.
It wasn’t my fault.
The knowledge didn’t bring me any relief, though—just more grief.
The ground shifted beneath my feet, and I realized with horror that the narc was beginning to wear off. I turned back to Menace to see him in his perfect form again, swiftly approaching me.
“We don’t have much time,” he said urgently, grabbing my arm. “You have to decide. Do you trust me or not? There’s more…so much more, but I can’t tell you unless you let me put that string in you. I have to protect the peopleIcare about.”
