Page 113 of Death is Familiar

“That doesn’t matter, when we both know the truth.”

I was fairly certain Imaginary Todd was reading my mind.

“It’s not reading your mind if I’m part of your imagination.”

He totally was—the jerk. So just for fun… I tried and failed to picture him with hair. Because he said he was bald by choice. The liar.

“Whatever makes you feel better.”

We sat in silence for some time. Me and Imaginary Todd. Even though we didn’t speak, just the steady rise and fall of his breath was enough, the loneliness was somehow less.

What I was doing was dangerous. I wasn’t kidding myself, I’d dissociated from reality, and was having an imaginary conversation. If I ever got out into the real-world, Todd could never learn of this. I’d need to take it to my grave.

“You are going to get out, Delilah.”

“Yeah?” I scoffed. “How?”

“You’ll think of something.”

“So helpful.”

“You already know what to do.”

“And apparently that involved conjuring you up, so clearly I’m doing really well so far.”

A devilish grin graced his features. “Calm down.”

“What?” Anger licked my insides. I was calm. Well, I had been until I was told otherwise. Telling me to calm down, never worked.

“Settle down.”

He had to be kidding me. “I’m chained to a table in some sort of underground lab dissociating from reality and you’re telling me to calm down?”

Todd’s smile grew ten-fold. “Relax.”

I shot to my feet, fury simmering just beneath my skin. “You’re making me angry.”

“Good.” Todd crept into my space. “I need you to get angry.”

The temperature around me rose. “Why? Why can’t I just be fine, and calm, and okay?”

“I need you to fight.” Fuck, even Imaginary Todd knew how to motivate me. “So, stop feeling sorry for yourself and do what you do best.”

There was a crackling, like kindling catching flame. “Like what? Cause trouble? Make everything worse?”

In one swift motion, Todd took hold of my throat and brought his lips to my ear. I couldn’t see his hands, couldn’t hear the words from his lips, yet somehow, I felt them in the very core of my being. “Kick some ass.”

The world around me erupted into flames. The pit that kept me safe and warm when I couldn’t handle any more turned to ash.

Because I was angry. Because I wanted it to. Because I couldn’t be contained.

But even as the world around me burned, I didn’t leave. Not yet.

First, I listened.

26

“You didn’t think to check, did you?”