Page 137

I made to leave, grabbing Adrian’s hand to drag him from the room with me before he did something stupid. Like let Leo out of his cage so he could fight him.

But Leo’s voice called me back. “Didn’t you ever wonder what made him snap that day?”

“Enough with your games,” said Adrian. “You don’t deserve to be in her presence any longer.”

But Leo’s words had unsettled me. “What are you talking about?”

“Glad you asked!” Leo clapped his hands together, sitting back down on the edge of his cot, crossing his legs gracefully as he relaxed his shoulders. “I’d spent a lot of time thinking of all the ways I could get you back to One, obviously landing on the staged alien invasion. Easy enough with my army at my command, and chaotic enough that you wouldn’t have any other choice than to come back to One . . . with us.” His eyes narrowed at Adrian in annoyance.

He continued, “I will say, waiting until you reached the age you could enter Delirium took more patience than I’m proud to admit. I even gave you an extra year. Bringing you back to One at midnight on your twenty-fifth birthday seemed a little too on-the-nose, don’t you think?

“But I couldn’t stop thinking about what would happen once you got here. I’m a desirable guy, or so I’ve been told⁠—”

“Gross,” I whispered.

“Ah . . .” Leo put his hand up. “Don’t interrupt.”

I rolled my eyes and sighed loudly.

“Where was I? Oh, yes . . . But you’re a smart girl, Bryn, you always were. I didn’t think acting as the valiant hero from another world would be enough to gain your trust on its own.”

He had gained my trust, though. Easily, too. Clearly, I wasn’t smart enough. But there had been one major moment, when I’d finally accepted what Leo had started to mean to me. When I had decided to act on it . . .

“Ah, you’re getting close to figuring it out. I can see it on your face.” Leo uncrossed his legs, leaning forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “I’ll help you out. Let me think, what was that guy’s name again . . .” Leo brought his hand to his chin, tapping his finger against his cheek in feigned concentration.

I had stopped breathing.

Adrian noticed because he stepped close to me, his entire stomach pressing against my back. His arm came around my midsection to haul me out of the room before Leo could land his final, punishing blow.

“Aaron!” Leo exclaimed. “That was it, wasn’t it?”

“Leo . . .” I whispered, my chest rising and falling too quickly.

“Yes, Aaron, your lover. The decorated war hero who drowned his girlfriend in a swimming pool. Well, girlfriend is a loose term. In his mind, that is what he wished you were, more than that actually . . . The guy was absolutely smitten with you. I’d say possibly even in love with you.

“See, I can’t read minds per se, but when I want to cloak a thought, or emotion, I can see it as a tangible thing. But I must be looking for it.” Leo raised his finger as if stating a fact. “I knew he had strong feelings for you, I’d been watching you two for a while. All I had to do was find that emotion in him, then cover it, erasing it as if it was never even there . . . Then replace it with a thought or emotion far more sinister, like hate. When he walked into the pool room that day, he had only one feeling for you: revulsion. He’d been convinced you were the enemy. And what do soldiers do when faced with an enemy? They kill them, Bryn.

“And man, did he try. But I was there, ready to intervene. To play the role you needed me to play so you would trust me later and convince yourself that we were meant to be together all along. And Aaron got what he deserved in the end.”

“What he deserved?” I screamed, pushing off Adrian to lift my hands, letting my daylight beat down on the bars of Leo’s cell. Screaming curses at him.

But it did nothing. My magic couldn’t harm him while he was in there.

Leo stood, so he was only a foot away from me. Separated by the indestructible metal. “No one gets to touch you, love you, and live. You should be thanking me too, Adrian.” Leo pierced Adrian with a hardened stare. “I gallantly protected your wife from being caressed by another man, after all.”

No one touches you like that and gets to live, Leo had said to me before.

I looked away from him. I couldn’t stand to see his face anymore.

I never wanted to see him ever again.

Aaron had died over his jealousy, when I had never even belonged to him.

I’d only ever belonged to Adrian, who stood there ready for me with open arms, drawing me into a hug.

Adrian whispered into my hair, “I’m sorry, Bryn. I had no idea. I knew something had happened, but I didn’t know the full extent.”

I shook my head against his chest, burying my tears in his shirt.