Chapter 38 #2
“They decided,” Red interrupts coldly. “They decided the moment they created me. When Anna couldn’t handle the reality of what needed to be done, when Mads was too emotional to see clearly—that’s when they called me into being.”
She leans back, examining her bloody fingernails again. “I am their decision, Domhnall. I am what they chose when they couldn’t choose for themselves.”
I stare at her through the screen, this woman who wears the face I love but speaks with the voice of a stranger. “You’re not what they chose. You’re what their fear created.”
For the first time, Red’s smile falters. Just for a second, something flickers across her features—uncertainty, maybe even pain.
“Perhaps,” she admits. “But fear has always been an excellent motivator.”
Her head snaps to the side again, and she frowns deeply. “Now they’re both yelling at me. Quite rude, really, considering I’m trying to have a conversation.”
“Let them talk to me,” I beg. “Please. Just for a second.”
Red sighs dramatically. “Fine. But they can’t take control. I won’t allow it.” She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, there’s something different there. Still Red, but... more.
“Domhn?” The voice is Anna’s, small and frightened, though Red’s lips don’t move quite right around the words.
“Anna!” I lean forward desperately. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m scared,” she whispers, and I can hear tears she’s not allowed to shed. “I want to come home. I want this to be over.”
“It will be,” I promise. “I’ll make it stop. Just tell me where you are—”
“No!” This voice is Mads, sharp and commanding. “Donny, you have to stay away. This is bigger than you know. If you get involved—”
“I’m already involved!” I shout. “The moment they took you, I was involved!”
“You’ll get yourself killed,” Mads continues, talking over me. “And then what was the point of any of this? What was the point of protecting you if you just throw your life away now after everything?”
“My life doesn’t mean anything without you in it,” I say, and the words come out broken, desperate.
There’s silence on the other end, and when Red’s voice returns, it’s cold and clinical again. “How romantic. And how utterly impractical.”
The faces I love are gone again, locked away behind Red’s empty stare.
“They’re quite done talking now,” Red informs me. “All that emotion makes them tired. But they wanted me to tell you something.” She pauses, as if listening. “They wanted me to say they love you. Both of them. Very much.”
My throat closes up entirely. “Tell them—”
“I’ll tell them,” Red interrupts. “When they’re ready to listen. Right now, they’re too busy arguing about strategy.”
She stands up, and I get a better view of the carnage she’s wearing. Her shirt is soaked through with blood, and there are dark stains on the walls behind her that I don’t want to identify.
“Where are you?” I ask again, though I know she won’t tell me.
“Somewhere safe,” she says vaguely. “For now. But we’ll be moving soon. We always keep moving.”
“For how long?”
Red shrugs. “Until it’s finished. Until everyone who might hurt you is dead.” She says it so casually, like she’s discussing grocery shopping.
“You can’t just kill everyone who might be a threat,” I say desperately. “There are too many—”
“Are there?” Red tilts her head thoughtfully. “I’ve always found that most people are cowards at heart. Remove a few key pieces, and the rest scatter like roaches when the lights come on.”
She moves closer to the camera again, and I can see my reflection in her eyes—small, distant, helpless.
“Don’t look for us, Donny,” she says softly. “Don’t try to find us. Don’t try to save us. We’re beyond saving now.”
“No,” I say firmly. “I don’t accept that. I won’t accept that.”
Red smiles one last time, sad and terrible and beautiful. “You don’t have a choice. None of us do anymore.”
Her finger hovers over the screen, about to end the call.
“Wait!” I shout. “I found your safehouse. The hidden server room you’ve been hiding this whole time.
Whatever you’re doing, you’ll need me. Let me be your eyes and ears.
” I’m talking fast, but I see the hesitation on Red’s face that’s stopped her from hanging up, so I keep going.
“You need me. I have connections. I can access satellite imagery. You know I’m good on the dark web. Whatever you need, I can get you.”
Red bites her bottom lip—exactly like Anna does when she’s considering something.
Then the screen goes black.
“Fuck!” I slam my thumb against the callback button, but it just rings and rings, each tone another nail in the coffin of my composure. After the tenth ring, it goes to a generic voicemail message.
I try again. And again. Nothing.
“Sir?” Carlos approaches cautiously, probably recognizing the look of a man about to lose his shit completely.
I ignore him, staring at the black screen for a long moment, my hands shaking with fury and helplessness and grief. Then I hurl the phone across the room, watching it shatter against the wall.
But even as the pieces scatter across the floor, I’m already reaching for my laptop, fingers flying over the keys as I start tracing the call, mapping connections, following digital breadcrumbs.
She thinks she’s protecting me by keeping me in the dark.
She’s wrong.
I’ve been playing defense for too long, reacting instead of acting, letting fear make my decisions for me. But not anymore.
We were always playing chess, weren’t we? And she’s been a step ahead of me the entire time.
If Red wants to clear the board, fine. But this time, I won’t stop until I find her. Until I bring her home. Until I prove that whatever she thinks she needs to do alone, we can do together.