Page 99 of Light As A Feather
“Casual,” she remarks, but doesn’t interrupt further. Still, it earns a laugh from me that’s probably inappropriate for this conversation.
“You’d really like her, actually.” It saddens me to know that they’ll never be able to meet since they’re both dead and very much attached to their final resting places. “Anyway, the point is, she said that in order to effectively anchor and trap him”—I take a deep breath—“we’ll need to lure him into a body and kill the host using the knife.”
Several beats of tense silence pass between us.
“Did you say kill?” she finally clarifies.
“Yes, but Sol?—”
“Absolutely not. Don’t you think I’ve considered it? Sacrifice has been recommended to me before, but I’ve searched tirelessly for another way.”
“How has that worked out?” I don’t mean to throw it in her face, but it’s a point that she needs to remember. Nothing else has worked. She’s run herself into the ground looking for options. “You said you’d let me explain,” I remind her.
“What is there to explain? We’re not murdering some innocent person. Two wrongs don’t equal a right.” She’s stepped off the ledge of patience, her speech running together as her frenzied thoughts move a mile a minute.
“Who said anything about innocent?”
“Nobody deserves that kind of fate.”
“Not even a date rapist?” I challenge, standing so we’re face-to-face. “What’s better than getting rid of one predator?” I hold my hands out. “Two. Everyone will be better off without them in the world.”
Sol inhales deeply, on the verge of arguing further, but instead, she goes quiet.
Careful not to push her, I give her time to think it through.
“What happens if you somehow get Ivan into his body? Won’t he just possess him and use the living form to do even more harm? Hell, he could just go on a murder spree.” She taps the center of her forehead anxiously, a familiar self-soothingmethod I’ve seen her do a million times. I only wish I wasn’t part of the reason she’s feeling overwhelmed.
“No, Sol. I promise I’m not going to let that happen. The second he possesses him, I’m going to kill him.” When she doesn’t interrupt me with more questions, I continue. “I’m going to drain the life from him and trap him in a vessel where he won’t be able to reach you—or anyone else—ever again. We’ll hide the body here, where it’ll be safe. I’ll even have someone come and ward it, so he can’t be moved.”
“We can’t do this.”
“Youdon’t have to do anything.I’mdoing this.” I take her by the shoulders. “Let me do this for you. Everything leading up to this moment has been for you.” This is my Eric Draven moment, to hold the one who hurt my girl accountable.
“I can’t ask you to do this. It’s too big of a sacrifice.”
“It’s not a sacrifice, but a reward for all the shit he’s put you through,usthrough. One I’ll gladly claim.”
“I’m not letting you turn into a monster for me. You’re not a killer, Thorne.” She turns from me as emotion swells within her.
“If you can’t stomach it, I understand. But there’s nothing I won’t do for you, My Omen. If I have to become a monster to protect you, then so be it. But I don’t see it this way. It’s a net good, no matter how I look at it.” I drag her backward into my arms. “Is it selfish to want to protect you? Is it monstrous to want to prevent other women from befalling the same fate? I don’t think so. He brought this upon himself. And as for that fucker tied up downstairs, he lost my sympathy the moment he decided to spike that drink.”
“When you say it like that, it’s hard to think it’s wrong.” She relaxes against me.
“Because it’s not. We’re righting a wrong.”
When she finally turns to face me again, the doubt and guilt have cleared, and all I find there is determination. “Okay, let’s end this. But I have one condition.”
“Anything,” I say before I think it through.
“You’re not doing this alone. Call Jayden.”
“He’s still recovering from all the shit he’s already put him through.”
“We all are,” she reminds me. “You know he wouldn’t want to miss this. He deserves this closure too.” The sincerity with which she says it is what really convinces me. She’s right.
“Holy shit, you actually kidnapped someone for real this time,” Jayden says as Hawthorne throws open the door to reveal the man cuffed to the chair.
I’m both relieved it didn’t take Jayden long to get here, and regretful that I didn’t have more time to prepare myself.What the hell are we doing?But as the man sets his eyes on me, I know there’s no going back. We’re in way too deep.
