Page 7 of Vicarious

Marriage.

Phae’s not dead.

Which means technically, she’s still married to Viper.

Fuck.

“What’s wrong?”

I blink out my thoughts. “What?”

“You said ‘fuck.’ What is it?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. Just…”

Just I thought she was dead. Viper thought she was dead. And I’ve been fucking her husband. And her children call me “mama.” And Viper told me I was his love and now… now this. Just when I thought I could stop being an imposter. That I wasn’t just some replacement for Phae and vicariously living the life she was supposed to have.

“Just give me a minute. I’ll get Viper.”

“Dele. Wait a minute. I—”

I don’t wait.

Right now, I need to get as far away from Phae as I can.

3

Viper

“I saw a body.”

“Well, when you’re in the business and circles we’re in, it’s not hard to find those. Even ones that look like someone else,” Wyan says in response.

He wasn’t meant to hear that. I wasn’t meant to say that out loud. But it’s the only thing I can think about. That when I woke up from the hospital after surgery, Eileen was there to tell me that Phae was dead and then took me to identify her body when they let me out. I was sure it was her. I was sure it was Phae’s body. It was right down to every detail. Down to the little mole on her right cheek.

And I can’t help but going over that memory over and over again, wondering if there was something I missed. Wondering if in my grief I missed something obvious that would have exposed Pray’s deception so much earlier. But I can’t remember anything. And Eileen was there. She bid her time for two years waiting for me to figure out that Pray was responsible for Phae’s death. If there was anything, she would have seen. Eileen would have…

Fuck. I have to tell Eileen her secret best friend isn’t dead.

“Are you sure it’s…”

“You think I would have brought you and Dele here if I weren’t? Checked her prints, her blood, asked her things that only Phae would know. It’s her,” Wyan assures. Or at least, it’s supposed to be an assurance. It does nothing to assure me of any of this.

The door opens, and Dele comes out the room looking much more shaken than she did when she first went into the room.

“What happened?” I ask coming to stand in front of her.

Dele crosses her arms and turns slightly away from me as she says, “Nothing. Nothing. Just… she’s ready to talk to you now.”

“Bell.”

I try to turn her to me but she shakes her head and says, “I’m fine. Really. You should talk to her.”

I could chalk it up to discovering the woman she thought was dead for seven years suddenly not being dead. But there’s something else. It’s a matter to deal with later, though.

Instead, I do what she suggests and knock on the door. The door unlocks and I let myself into the room to find Phae standing in the middle of it with her eyes locked on me.

The heavy door falls closed behind me with a loud clang, but I don’t pay it any attention. Neither does Phae as we both stand frozen staring at each other.

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