Page 198 of Fallacies

It sits like an empty husk up on that hill. Lifeless and empty.

Pax appears at my side, my father steps in on my right, and then we wait.

In this moment of being still, exhaustion begins to wear on me, warping my reality. I stare so long at the horizon that I start mistaking the speck of distant buildings for Cin. For her silhouette. I squint so hard my eyes begin to burn from the effort, and the silence around us presses in.

Seconds blend into minutes that morph into thirty. I go from concerned to terrified, and after a while, all I feel is irritable anger—a festering sting working its way through me.

My voice breaks the silence, jarring enough that Pax flinches. “I’m going back.”

He grabs my arm. “Just wait, Cal.”

“I’ve waited long enough.” I tug out of his grip, taking off across the rocky ground.

“Callan, wait.”

I don’t.

“Callan,” Pax warns again.

There’s a high-pitched ringing in my ear when I make it to the bottom of the hill.

“Son.”

I come to a reluctant stop, hands fisting at my sides as I turn to face my father. I’m not angry at him—I’m angry at the situation. I’m angry because I’m the one who put her in it. I’m the one who allowed her to go.

It was me who was hellbent on finding these people, and I didn’t really care what it took. I don’t regret this mission, and I certainly don’t regret who we’ve saved, but I do regret that she had to take on the most dangerous part of it. I regret that it isn’t me in there instead of her.

And if she never comes out, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.

“Can’t you feel her?” my father asks, pulling me back to the present.

“Feel her?” I parrot back. “What do you mean, feel her?”

My father points at my chest. “The Lure, son.”

One second, my anger is hot. Boiling. And the next, it’s ice fucking cold.

I look down at the metal chain disappearing into the front of my vest, and realization dawns on me with such force that for a moment all that exists is the tarnished silver around my neck.

I sent her to you, you know? It was the only option we had. The only way we could guarantee she’d find the right people.

I’d felt it. The pull. Like a song I couldn’t remember the words to. A whiff of a scent that I couldn’t place. A nagging sensation that I knew I should know, should remember, but I never could.

It clicks now, like a roll of film that was just developed. A memory slotting into place, pulled forward by one. Single. Word.

Lure.

“Okay, Cal,” my father takes my hand, pulling me to face him. He’s so tall that even as he crouches before me, I have to tilt my head back. “I’m going to hide this time, and you’re going to use the Lure to find me.”

I nod fiercely, a giggle bubbling up my throat in anticipation of the game.

“You can’t ask anyone for help, okay? Follow the feeling in here,” he puts a large hand to my small chest, “it will lead you right to me.”

I nod again, too excited to wait any longer, and I hear him chuckle as I hurry to cover my eyes.

Screaming out each number, I become more aware of the heavy chain around my neck the farther he gets from me. I count as many numbers as I know, screeching when his time is up and I’m free to chase after him.

The sun beats down on my shoulders as I move wildly through the hedge maze, never wasting more than a second at each turn. I follow the tug in my chest, letting it pull me along the path. It tightens as I move deeper into the maze, winding up around my heart.