“I’m not crazy. I see everything with perfect clarity. I saved those kids.”
“You murdered them.”
“I set them free. Don’t you wish someone had set you free, Rain Chaser? Wouldn’t a painless death have been preferable to the life you’ve been forced to lead?”
“No,” I said adamantly. “And I think those kids would rather be alive today than to have proved some point for you. They were children, godsdammit.”
He paused. “You’re right.”
A chill went straight down my spine, making me sit bolt upright. If the crazy man was agreeing with me, that probably wasn’t great.
“So stop killing them,” I told him again.
He chuckled.
“No, no.” He let out a dreamy little sigh, which sounded extra weird through the voice-augmenting software he was using. “I think I’ll move onto adults instead. Wonderful idea, thank you.”
“Wait, I—”
“See you soon, Tallulah.”
Click.
I lowered the phone and held it in my trembling hand, unable to look up at Cade. All I could do was stare at the blinking Call Disconnected screen.
Finally I said, “I think I really fucked up.”
Chapter Eighteen
I continued to stare at the phone, disbelief rooting me in place.
Suddenly I desperately wanted Sawyer back in the room. With her out of sight the only thing I could think was that this monster was out there, following her, waiting for his moment to strike.
My blood went cold.
Cade left the room and returned a moment later with a glass of water and a small bottle of whiskey from the minibar. If he was trying to distract me, that was the right move.
“Not the twelve-dollar whiskey,” I whined.
He ignored me and cracked open the little bottle, handing it to me. “It’s fine.”
“Sido is going to kill me.” I pictured her going over the credit card statements in front of me, line by line, her frown deepening with every expense she thought was too much. We did this financial dance monthly, and frankly I doubted she was going to be too sympathetic about my emotional state. She didn’t really think of things in those terms.
“It’s fine,” Cade repeated. “Plus it’s already open, so just take it.”
I did as I was told and took a swig from the bottle. At least it tasted like a nice twelve-dollar whiskey. No cheapness from the Lucky Star on that end. As the booze warmed its way down my throat and into my stomach, Cade crouched and braced one hand on either side of my legs.
Not that long ago, this move would have sent me into a senseless sex blur, and I’d be dragging him into bed with me. Now I was just letting his presence act like a soothing balm to keep me tethered to reality. I took another sip of whiskey and grimaced.
I still couldn’t quite believe the phone call had been real.
“Tell me everything,” Cade coaxed.
And I did. The story fell out of me in one rapid succession of sentences, each running into the one that followed as I laid out the details of the twelve dead initiates and how I’d questioned Prescott. I even told him about the guy who’d attacked me in the alley, which now seemed like a dream from a very long time ago.
Throughout my story, Cade said nothing. He nodded occasionally, or he’d press his thumb against my thigh as a way to calm me when the story started to get a little loopy, but at no point did he interrupt me.
When I was done, I polished off the last of the bottle and chased it with the water he’d brought along. Then I looked at him as if he might have all the answers I’d been searching for this whole time.