Page 51 of The Girl He Wanted

"Hang in there, Zelda," Paige said. She could see how frightened the young woman was, and she had to keep her calm as well. "Alvin, you don't have to do this. There's always a way out. Let's talk about it. We can find a solution that works for all of us."

Alvin shook his head. "No, there's no other way. The winds demand a sacrifice, and I am their chosen one. I must complete the Tower of the Winds, or everything will be lost."

"If you kill her, I will shoot," Paige warned him. If she couldn't appeal to any humanity left in him, she could at least use the threat of lethal force to delay him.

"That will do nothing. I am chosen by the winds," Alvin said.

Paige knew that she needed to keep Alvin talking. "And why did you choose Zelda, rather than someone else?"

"She's the perfect sacrifice," Alvin said. "She's young; she's full of life. She embodies calmness and good favor, the attributes of Zephyrus. The winds will be pleased with her blood."

"Alvin, that's not true. The winds don't need sacrifices. Your beliefs are twisted."

"You don't understand," Alvin said. "The winds have spoken to me. They've shown me the way. I am their chosen one."

Paige wasn't getting through to him. Worse, she still couldn't think of anything that would distract him enough to let her try to act more directly. The only thing was to try to keep him talking, draw the situation out, try to create a kind of inertia where he didn't ever quite bring himself to finish this.

"Tell me about it," Paige said. "Tell me about the Tower of the Winds. My colleague and I learned a little about it, but I want to hear what it means to you."

Alvin's eyes lit up as he began to talk about the Tower of the Winds, his voice rising in excitement.

"The Tower of the Winds is everything. From the moment I first learned about it, the moment I first read one of Dr. Kostopoulos's works, I knew that it would be at the heart of my life's work. The winds cover the world and embody all the different aspects of it. Eight winds, eight facets of what it means to be human, to be whole."

"And you aren't whole, Alvin?" Paige asked. It was the kind of question she might have asked back at the St. Just Institute when she'd been working as a psychologist, but now, her reasons were very different. She wasn't trying to assess and treat those deemed criminally insane, but instead, she was trying to find a way to save a life.

"No, I'm not," Alvin replied, his voice bitter. "I've spent my entire life searching for something to fill the emptiness inside of me. And then I found the Tower of the Winds. It's the key to everything. I was a weak, broken, young man. My life had no meaning until I found Dr. Kostopoulos and his work. I became his personal assistant just so that I would have a chance to gain a greater understanding of the Tower of the Winds."

"And did you?" Paige asked. She circled Alvin as she talked, trying to find an angle from which it might be possible to take a shot without harming Zelda.

Alvin backed away, right to the edge of the roof, where there was no chance that Paige could get behind him.

"I know what you're doing," he said. "Trying to keep me talking. Trying to find a spot where you can shoot me. Put your gun away. Do it now, or I'll kill her!"

Paige considered her options. There was no way to get a clear shot at Alvin without risking Zelda's life. Having the gun out achieved nothing. She couldn't let him hurt her.

"Okay, okay," Paige said, holding her hands up. "I'll put the gun away. Maybe you could lower the knife so we can keep talking."

She slowly lowered her weapon and holstered it, half-hoping that Alvin would lower his knife in response. But he didn't.

"Now come closer," Alvin said. "I want you here when I complete the sacrifice. I want you to be a part of it."

Paige took a step forward, knowing that she had to keep him talking. "Alvin, what do you think will happen after you complete the Tower of the Winds? Do you really think that the winds will be pleased with human sacrifice?"

Alvin laughed. "You don't understand. The winds are beyond human comprehension. They don't care about us. They only care about their own power. And once the Tower of the Winds is complete, that power will be mine."

"Is that what Dr. Kostopoulos told you?" Paige asked him.

"He wrote about it. His last book. It was more brilliant even than the rest. We debated it, wrote in it, worked on the theories. It showed me the way."

"That was a work of fiction, Alvin," Paige pointed out. "Dr. Kostopoulos never intended for anyone to copy it. He never planned for you to do this."

Alvin's grip on Zelda tightened, and he pressed the knife against her neck. "Liar! You're lying. You just want to stop me from completing the Tower of the Winds. You don't understand the power that it holds."

"I understand that you're about to kill an innocent young woman," Paige said, closing the distance between them.

Alvin's eyes darted between Paige and Zelda, and for a moment, Paige saw the cracks in his resolve. She also knew that they weren’t enough.

"Alvin, look at me," she said. "Look at me and listen. You don't have to go through with this. You're not alone. We can help you. We can get you the help you need."

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