The Imaginary Friend’s Obsession (Monster Research Facility #3)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

D orian is finally free, and we are finally together, as we were always supposed to be. But stepping into the dark hallway reminds me that he’s not the only monster loose in this facility, and we’re not safe yet.

Dorian cups my face with his gloved hand, tilting my chin up so I look at him. I watch as the crack in his mask seals together until it’s whole once more. “What now, my darling?”

I startle. He’s speaking without the radio. He still sounds like a radio, his voice faintly staticky and musical, but the words and the voice are all his own. I’ve freed him in more ways than one, it seems.

But my smile fades as I consider his question.

What next, indeed. It would be easy for us to slip out amid the chaos. Now that Dorian is free, we could leave the MRF and Ash Valley behind and start a new life together, just the two of us. That would be safest, now that I’ve revealed myself to their security cameras.

I could run away again, leaving behind the monster that I set free and all of the destruction he’ll cause. I can abandon Ezra like I once abandoned Dorian.

I shake my head before the thought is fully formed. “We can’t leave,” I say. Then I correct, “ I can’t leave. You can. You should. Go while you can. You can go to the house and wait for me there, or…or go wherever you want.” I’ve finally set him free, like he should’ve been all this time. Free even from me. “You don’t need me anymore.”

But Dorian huffs a laugh from behind his mask. “You think I’ll leave you now?” His grip on my chin tightens, and he shakes me playfully. “Never again, Daisy.”

“But I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I say. “Even if I can banish that thing once and for all, you might end up locked in a cell again. And if I can’t beat Godric, then…” Then I’ll die trying. Even that will be better than running and living with the guilt.

“We will never be parted again,” Dorian says. “Not even by death. I swear it.”

The idea of dying together shouldn’t be romantic. But…he’s right. It’s right for us to be together, forever and always.

“Do you think we can fight your father?” I ask. “Together?”

“I think we can do anything together,” Dorian says. “Believe it, and I’ll make it so.”

From anyone else, that would be a hollow promise. But from Dorian, I know it’s true. Dorian is my imaginary friend. He’s been shaped—and limited—by my beliefs all of this time. But now I understand the power of our bond. The power inside of me . And I refuse to bottle it up and pretend it doesn’t exist ever again.

I press up on my tiptoes and carefully lift Dorian’s mask just enough kiss him. When I pull back, I whisper, “I believe you can do anything.”

I catch a glimpse of a smile—his real smile—before the mask slots back into place, hiding him behind that ferocious forever-grin. “Then what will you have me do?”

“Get that thing out of Ezra and send him back to hell where he belongs.” I squeeze his hands. “ Without hurting Ezra. Please. He’s my friend.”

Dorian hesitates. But when he sees the plea in my expression, he inclines his long body in a deep bow. “As you say, darling.”

Together, we go to face my demon.