Page 59 of Lovely Violent Things

Devyn hasn’t been hiding herself from me at all.

“So is that why you’re doing this,” I ask, needing the truth from her. “Because you feel unseen, unappreciated? Disregarded?”

Devyn huffs a derisive laugh before she tosses my bag into the backseat. “The psychology would be simple if that was the case, huh? But no.” She lightly shakes her head. “It’s just not that simple, friend.”

As she approaches me, the guise effectively falls away. “I really thought I blew it on day one,” she says, a tenuous smile easing into place. “God, with that stupid Chaucer quote. I was being honest though, when I said I hated reading him. Everything I’ve told you, I was trying to let you see me, to make a connection, but he just kept getting in the way. Although, I guess, without him, I might have never really seenyou, Halen.”

For the second time tonight, I feel violated. “You watched us,” I accuse her.

“You invaded my ritual ground.” She arches an accusatory eyebrow.

“I’m not whatever…link to some divine madness, Devyn.” I step around the car door to stand before her. “God, Kallum is insane. He used all that nonsense to his advantage to seduce me. He might have even brainwashed me. That’s why I trusted you with the evidence, to try to help me understandlogicallywhat happened during the ritual. But none of it…it’s not real. Whatisreal is that I care about you, and want to help—”

“You will help, Halen,” she interrupts. “You already have so much.”

My lips thin, frustration searing my patience. “You tore apart a deer,” I say slowly, soberly, trying to rationalize with her. “Devyn. A deer. Torn apart. By your own hands and teeth.”

“At the height of frenzy,” she explains casually. “Truthfully, I didn’t actually recall it right away when the hunters found my ritual site. I had to make sure I was first on-scene to eliminate any evidence. I steered Emmons away from the deer, but you wouldn’t let it go. Teeth casts? Really?” She sighs incredulously. “I didn’t have a choice but to botch the molds and contaminate the saliva sample. You left me very few choices.” She props a hand on her hip. “At least I’m going to offer you some.”

An ill feeling churns bile up my esophagus. “You killed people, Devyn.” I hold her gaze, trying to make a connection right now. “You killed Landry, and Emmons’ brother—”

“No.” She holds up a finger. “No, I didn’t. I’m not a killer. Leroy sacrificed himself. That was his calling. And Jake was already dead. I haven’t taken a single life.” Her dark gaze traps mine. “Can you say the same?”

Her words hold a menacing weight, the implication not directed toward Wellington, but the lives taken during the car wreck. The one where I was driving.

A crack fissures through my defenses, and I shake my head at her. “That’s low.”

“That’s life. Cruel, unfair. Full of secrets, and you have so many secrets.”

I reach out and take her hand. “Ones I would have told you about,” I say honestly to her. “But I don’t even understand what’s happening myself, Devyn. I’m lost, confused. But…we can both figure all this out together.”

She releases a breath, looks down at our clasped hands. “Maybe a few years ago,” she says, her hand pulsing mine in a reassuring squeeze, “that would have been possible.” Her gaze lifts to capture mine, and a hardness descends over her features.

A dull ache burns inside my chest. Dropping her hand, I step away. “What is the hemlock for, Devyn?” If what Kallum believes is true, that Devyn wants me in place of the victims, then there’s at least a chance I can reason with her here.

“Where is the knife, Halen?” She counters, cocking her head. Dread prickles my skin. If she knows about the missing evidence, then Agent Alister might already know, too.

“Oh, that’s right,” she says. “You don’t play by the rules, but you expect others to do so.”

I look back at the diner, waiting to see Agent Hernandez walk through the door, and a hazy glow stems from the florescent interior. The streetlights twinkle a little too brightly, and as I tilt my head, multicolored tracers streak the night.

“You could…” Devyn says, following my line of sight. “You could scream. You have a phone in your back pocket. You could call for help, or you could just run. I won’t chase you.”

“I won’t run.” Wherever Devyn wants to take me, that’s where I’ll find the victims.

When Kallum first told me his theory of the Overman, that I was in danger, a part of me was exhilarated. Knowing I could bait them. And that’s why Kallum hasn’t left my side. He felt that within me. He wasn’t fearful of the suspect—he was frightened that I’d risk myself to lure the Overman out.

Finally, a worthy sacrifice.

Through my fuzzy vision, her face blurs, and I blink hard. I touch my forehead as I stagger to the side, the sudden bout of dizziness increasing my heart rate.

I bring the coffee cup up, and realization grips my lungs in a vise. “Why didn’t you just—”

“Take you?” she says, eyebrows hiked. “Steal you away in the middle of the night like some brute? Attack you and force myself on you like that bastard Alister?”

My bleary gaze snaps to hers, and her features reflect her commiserating tone. “Yeah, I know what he tried to do,” she says. “Choice is the most powerful weapon we have, Halen. As a woman, you know this. I’m not taking your choice away from you.”

My laugh is clipped. “You’re not taking my choice away, but you drugged me. Do you see the faulty logic there?”

---