Page 112 of The Circle

And that means that somehow, somewhere, it’s within me.

There is something I can control.

Myself.

There is something inside me that has the power to make different choices than those I was taught to make.

I can bring it all back around.

I truly can.

“Pigtails…” Theo moans out.

“What? What’re you saying, man?”

“It’s what he calls her,” Danny says. “She told me he calls her Pigtails sometimes.”

I don’t know why Danny having that unique, specific knowledge about Andra and Theo gives my heart a fleeting pop of joy, but it does.

Zander can’t make off with her. Of all the things that may not happen, Zander van den Berg may not make off with my child. He may not take away the future that is possible for her. And unless he is stopped, he will.

I can’t let him get away.

CHRISTINE

Alec sprintsin the direction of the door where Theo told us Zander and Andra have gone. I start to follow, as does Danny, but I place a hand on his chest, stopping him.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Stay here.”

“But—” he starts to lobby.

“Stay here. You’re… Just stay here.”

“Why?”

“Because someone should stay with him”—I point at Theo—“and it should be you.”

He should be the one to look after Theo because there’s something about Danny that makes you feel safe. Comfortable. Like nothing and no one will ever be able to hurt you, ever.

It’s what’s going to make him an amazing father. Assuming…

Best not to assume anything just yet.

Regardless, there’s no time to get all moon-eyed about what a badass fuckin’ daddy Danny Fortnight is and will become when our kid is born (and this kid will be born), so I can’t spell it all out in this instant.

“But—”

“Danny, stay. Alec and I will deal with… whatever is left,” I tell him.

Alec is pounding down the stairs that lead back to the main courtyard area. I don’t think anything will happen to him, not really—Zander wants me and Danny dead, not him—but you can never be too sure. “I’ve got him. I’ve got it. You stay here, protect Theo in case someone else shows up, and let me… do what I need to.”

There isn’t a lot of hemming and hawing. No big argument. Danny just shakes his head in a half-acceptance and I take off after Alec. I think to give Danny a kiss, but I don’t. There will be many more kisses in our future and I refuse to believe otherwise.

As I exit through the door, I discover that I’m in a stairwell. An old, circular, stone, castle stairwell from the fifteen hundreds or whenever this place was built. I know fuck all about European history, quite honestly, so I don’t know if this is some famous castle that once survived some great war or if it’s just some random-ass castle that Zander took over and claimed squatter’s rights on. And I don’t care. I just know that now, today, in this moment, it will become the place where a vast, massive avalanche of personal history comes full circle and whatever spirits haunt these walls will bear witness.

I can hear Alec’s footsteps beating on the stairs as he runs down. I start to trail him, but then…