8. Callum
CALLUM
I drop the phone as Atlas walks into the room. “Who were you talking to?
“No one.”
“Cut the crap, Callum. You look like you saw a damn ghost. That tells me whoever you were talking to is someone you want to keep from me.”
I hate lying to Atlas. Every truth I omit to tell him is a heavy punch lodging in my body, but I don’t want him to hate me.
Atlas doesn’t need a reason to see a bigger monster than I already am.
But I’ll no longer be a piece of trash who mindlessly hurts others.
I’ll be a soldier breaking rank to do the right thing.
“The less you know, the better.”
“Fuck off. I’m not a child, Callum.”
“I’m getting her out of here, and…” I don’t know how to say the next part. How can I tell the man I love that I’m busy hatching a plan to kill his father?
“And what, Callum?”
“They’re going to kill Meyer. It’s the only way all three of us can be free. Turns out that Mona is connected. Really connected. Her sister works for Alaric Cinder.”
Atlas sits on the bed, stunned into silence.
I am not sure if he cares about his father dying.
That man should have lost the privilege to breathe years ago.
The only concern I have is the void Mona will leave in our lives.
In such a short time, she’s changed our decrepit world into something better. “What will happen to Mona?”
“She’ll go home. She isn’t like us. She has a family. A big one full of people who love her.”
“You think you’ll be able to let her go?”
Will I be able to let her go?
“No, but we have to give her a shot. A chance for something decent. We owe her that.”