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Her hand moves to the cross she’s still wearing around her neck. Her soft body is otherwise naked. “She’s with her Lord and Savior.”
I watch her for a moment as her breath lengthens, and visible emotion pours out of her eyes. I put my arm around her, not wanting this moment to end.
“Do you still want me now?” she asks, moving her hand to the teeth mark I left on her.
My body freezes, trying to imagine this sweet, innocent girl doing that to her mother or Father Malcolm.
She hums. “That’s what I thought.”
I open the blanket, letting the cool air snake in, and as much as it pains me, I rise out of bed and walk to my dresser. “Come on. We should go up and talk to everyone. I’ve messed up by keeping you down here this long.”
She sits up and keeps the sheets wrapped around her.
“You look different,” she says, clearly admiring me, then shifts to being more contemplative. “You look better than before.”
I shake my shaggy hair. “I am better than before, I think.”
She grows quiet again, and I want to kick myself for saying that. I am better, but for other reasons that have nothing to do with her. Her being back makes me feel complete.
She climbs out of bed, scours the room for her clothes, and I toss her one of my Doors band T-shirts.
“How are you after last night?” I ask her. The comedown from LSD is brutal, and judging by how intense her trip was, she’s probably experiencing flashbacks.
“Why would Talia drug everyone like that?” she asks me as she pulls the T-shirt on. I watch every movement as she slides her tight jeans on over her slim, sexy body.
I shrug. “Talia does what Talia does. She has her reasons.”
I wish I knew what Talia was thinking—I doubt I’ll ever understand her motivation for anything—but I follow her blindly, anyway.
She crosses her arms. “Why are you doing these horrible things?”
I pull on my shirt. “Because we can and always will. Look, if you want to leave this house, I won’t blame you. I can sneak you out before Talia notices. There is a secret entrance to this basement. You can leave, and you don’t have to come back.” I glance at the dark hallway that leads to the tunnels that would take her into the forest. It’s dark and scary, but a way out if she wanted it. For a split second, I think she might take it. “But if you want to stay, then there’s no coming back from this, Didi. Once you’re in, you’re in. So, what’s it going to be?”
She quietly faces me, her mouth set in a thin line. “I think it would be rather rude if I didn’t go upstairs and thank Talia for her generous hospitality, don’t you?”
I’m screwed.
I nod toward the beaded curtain. “Come on, let’s go meet her. It’s noon, and she’ll be expecting us.” I can already sense her anger for taking Didi away all night and locking the door. When Talia is pissed, her energy gets sucked into the air vents, pushing it through the whole house.
There is no getting away from it.
Didi hesitates. “Can I have a few minutes to freshen up?”
“Take all the time you need.” I walk over and take her hand. “Don’t worry, Didi, I won’t let anything bad happen to you again.”
Lies. If she stays, she won’t survive this.
I turn to face her, the turmoil inside me almost unbearable, then slide upstairs to face the music.
DIDI
They like chaos and death.
Everything else is a mystery to me.
I take a few minutes to catch my bearings and sanitize my mind from the past twelve hours, where my worst nightmares came to life inside my head. I find a bathroom through a door, down a darkened hallway, and a draft hits my face.
I consider leaving. I could start somewhere new. They wouldn’t miss me…not really. But I can’t. I’m involved in this; I don’t know how, I don’t know why, but I’m as deeply embedded in the Order of the Shadows as Tommy and Remy are.
