Page 161 of Challenge Me

He gave her one of his easy smiles. “I never knew any better. It was just life.”

“Still.” She wrung her hands in her lap. “I hate that this is happening. And with what Clara already knows . . . There’s a special place waiting for her. If you believe in that sort of thing.”

“In the old stories,” I began thoughtfully, “liars go to Náströnd—a hall of shadows where venom rains from the ceiling.”

“Is it wrong to wish that on her?”

“The Old Ways have no rules that require me to forgive evil deeds. If you spend your life weaving poison, you shouldn’t be surprised when the gods let you drown in it.”

“Do you believe that?”

“Yes. If anyone’s still watching over me, then there is a list of names promised to the serpent of Helheim.”

“For your sake, Remi, I hope you’re right.”

When she took my hand, I looked down at it. My chest felt like it cracked open, and not for the first time, I filled those familiar gaps. Once, I might have believed that I’d manage to keep them sealed. I was a different person then, still capable of hiding behind ambiguous words and false hopes.

Chapter 44

Remi

If heaven bore such ruthless art,

It would damn this mortal heart.

The bond that burns, yet sets me free;

Salvation’s fire that ruined me.

They didn’t want it to seem like we were panicking, so they told Amir to go back to Seattle for their last away game in the city. Selfishly, I’d stopped him and asked him to stay. It was pointless, really, but for a second there, I thought the air in my lungs quit working. Every breath felt like it held no oxygen until he pulled me into his arms and assured me that he wasn’t going anywhere. Not right now anyway.

And so we waited.

When five rolled around, he turned on the TV. Seeing it on the big-screen seemed dramatic, but I didn’t have it in me to ask for anything else right now.

“Today, I’m joined by a special guest.” Clara’s voice prodded at the defenses I’d built up since yesterday, but it didn’t get through. Tucking my face into Amir’s side, I listened without watching. “She’s remained silent all this time, afraid of what might happen if she comes forward. The question we’ve had for months is: Who is Remi Keane? I’ve brought his aunt, Charlotte Keane, here today to shed some light on the situation. Thank you for being here, Charlotte.”

“Thank you for giving me a place to speak,” Charlotte replied.

The armor shattered, sending shards in every direction. They sought flesh and every weak point in my body. My defenses were dismantled in a single breath, and fear rushed in to replace what I’d spent so long building.

The skin I’d once shed should’ve been gone for good, but this existed deeper than that. It spread through my veins, replicating until I couldn’t escape its reach.

“Let’s turn this off,” Amir suggested. “It’s not important.”

I stopped him before he could grab the remote. With a sigh, he leaned back again, holding me while the two women exchanged pleasantries. I managed to tune out for a few minutes, until my name came up again.

“I just—I never wanted to speak badly about Remi,” Charlotte said. “He’s my brother’s boy. After Graham passed, there was really no other option but to take him in, of course.”

“Will you share your experience? What exactly is Remi capable of?”

Charlotte drew in a shaky breath. Exaggeration at its finest. “He’s not who he pretends to be. At first, he was confused, then he became angry. I thought it was normal. He’d just lost his parents. Violently, at that.”

“Of course. It must’ve been terrible. For him and for you.”

“Yes, it was. My son, Evan, was eighteen when we took in Remi. They’d met, but I hadn’t seen my brother much in the years leading up to his death. I struggled with drugs, you see, and it got worse after losing my brother. Maybe that’s why I didn’t see the signs.

“Remi started acting out terribly. It went from shouting matches to breaking things. I asked Evan to be his mentor, to guide him the best he could, but there was no fixing him. One day, a social worker came by for a routine visit, and Remi told her that he would run away if she didn’t take him away from me. He claimed that we were abusing him. I never laid a hand on Remi.”