Page 39 of Carved in Ice (Made of Steel 3)

“So what’s the other side? All I’ve ever seen is the darkness.”

“The one without the mask of course. You’re not looking hard enough, Summer. The answer has been right in front of you the whole time.”

I thought about how V always spoke in riddles. How he always made me think. How he seemed to know everything about me and my past.

Dr. Miller was young. Mid-thirties maybe. I stared into his eyes. They were brown, just like V’s. My gaze wandered to his lips. Could it be him? He clearly had access to this apartment. Apparently more so than I even had. It didn’t seem like anyone had let him in. He just…appeared.

Like V always appeared when I needed him. And lots of times when I wished he wouldn’t.

If I could get a few more answers from Dr. Miller, maybe I could piece it together. Maybe I’d be able to see whatever was apparently right in front of me. “V always calls me Sadie. Why?”

“Because that side of him didn’t know you when you were Summer. Calling you Summer would violate his…psyche. He feels like it would be a betrayal.”

It was all starting to make sense. “So it’s the other part of him…the light part that loves me?”

“I believe so, yes. It’s hard for people who have been hurt to open themselves up to love again. He’s been cut deeply.”

That’s why he was so torn when he said he loved me. The darkness wasn’t supposed to love me. “So he?

?s crazy?” That was really the only conclusion to all of this.

“Aren’t we all a little crazy?” He smiled.

I sighed. “You know what I mean. V clearly has a split personality…”

“No. He doesn’t. He might feel as though he is insane, but he’s not. I just think that when he hides behind a mask, it’s easy for him to hide a part of himself. But he’s all one person. The hate and the love. It’s hard for him to hold on to all of it. So he separates it. The real him loves you to the ends of the earth. And the masked part of him…he loathes your existence.”

“He hates me?”

“Yes. Very much so. To the point where he finds it hard to be around you.”

“So why is he helping me?”

“Because love is stronger than hate, Summer. You know that.”

“I don’t. Hate rules this world. Just look at our city. Everyone voted for a mayor who is the leader of the Helspet Mafia. A rapist. A murderer. He’s vile.”

“People see what they want to see. And Don knows how to give a good speech. You can’t blame this city for believing a lie that's presented in such a nice way.”

Presented in a different way. Behind a mask. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Is it him? Is Don V?” It would make sense. He hated me, but a part of him loved me. He always fucked me instead of holding me close. He wore a mask so I wouldn’t see the real him that I wanted dead. And he knew about our extraction plan. It was like he had inside information.

Dr. Miller laughed.

The sound calmed me.

“No. I can assure you that Don Roberts is not V.” He shook his head like it was the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard.

“So who is V?”

“It’s not my place to say.”

“But you just told me all that other stuff. Just give me his name. A letter from his name. Anything. One tiny hint is all I’m asking.”

“He’ll tell you when he’s ready. Until then, look a little harder, Summer. See if you can’t find his light.”

There were the riddles again. I swallowed hard. “Is it you?”

Dr. Miller smiled. “I need to get going.”

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