Chapter 29 #2
“That is a very interesting story, actually.” She starts pacing. “So, apparently, Ivan is a fucking serial killer—or was—I guess. And one of his victims is still haunting your house.”
“Our house,” I correct automatically. “Wait, take it back a sec. A serial killer?” Bringing my fist to my mouth, I have to take a beat to process what she’s just said. “Holy fucking hell.”
“Yeah. All this time, I had no idea.” She shudders. “Not that he didn’t really fuck up my life, but I feel kind of lucky, all things considered.
I level a look of disbelief at her. “Lucky? Come on, Sol.”
“Well, not lucky, lucky. But I’ll take my situation over getting brutally stabbed to death,” she clarifies.
“You narrowly escaped that fate.” Taking a deep breath, I sit on the edge of the bed, and force myself to calm down as the memories of her struggling with Jayden’s possessed form come to mind. “Sorry, go ahead.”
“So, yeah, this victim of his, she found me. She actually kind of lured me out into the forest, which sounds creepy, but I think she was just trying to be discreet. She was very intent on avoiding Ivan. Can’t really blame her.” She sighs.
“He hasn’t been able to get to you, has he?”
“No. You were right. I was safe. Not for lack of trying, but he wasn’t able to get close to me, let alone do anything.”
“Good.” She comes to a standstill in front of me, and I rest my head against her stomach for a moment, needing a physical connection to her. “So, you were saying, she lured you out there and just gave it to you?”
“We had to dig it up. But we also talked a bit. She said that she was the one to kill him, making her the last person he killed. He’d also murdered one of her friends, though. Apparently, all of his victims look like me.”
My eyebrows shoot up in surprise, imagining how difficult it would be to track down a group of women with green hair back when he was still alive.
“Not like this,” she says exasperatedly as she gestures to herself. “Dark hair, dark eyes, young, like when I first met him.” She laughs bitterly. “I caught him staring at a girl who fit that description not too long ago…”
“That sick fuck.” I wish more than ever that I could travel back in time and stop him from ever getting his claws into her. If only I’d known then what I know now.
I can’t change the past, but I can make sure his last moments are filled with as much suffering as some of his victims. It’s only fair.
“Yeah.” She goes quiet for a few seconds. “But at least now we have the knife. Did Zoey say what to do with it?”
“Well, that’s actually why I had to leave. I had to get the rest of the…stuff we need.”
“Which is?” Sol asks, her brow furrowed in confusion because of my vagueness. Impatient, she grabs my chin and forces me to look up at her. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“You trust me, right?” I preface.
“Now you’re really making me nervous.”
“You have to trust me. Just let me explain before you say anything, okay?”
“Okay,” she concedes impatiently.
“I think we can both agree that we want to get rid of him for good, with no way of getting free and haunting anyone else.” She waves me along. Her anxiety and need for answers are palpable now. “Well, I consulted with my friend who’s a witch—”
“Casual,” she remarks, but doesn’t interrupt further. Still, it earns a laugh from me that’s probably inappropriate for this conversation.
“You’d really like her, actually.” It saddens me to know that they’ll never be able to meet since they’re both dead and very much attached to their final resting places.
“Anyway, the point is, she said that in order to effectively anchor and trap him”—I take a deep breath—“we’ll need to lure him into a body and kill the host using the knife. ”
Several beats of tense silence pass between us.
“Did you say kill?” she finally clarifies.
“Yes, but Sol—”
“Absolutely not. Don’t you think I’ve considered it? Sacrifice has been recommended to me before, but I’ve searched tirelessly for another way.”
“How has that worked out?” I don’t mean to throw it in her face, but it’s a point that she needs to remember. Nothing else has worked. She’s run herself into the ground looking for options. “You said you’d let me explain,” I remind her.
“What is there to explain? We’re not murdering some innocent person. Two wrongs don’t equal a right.” She’s stepped off the ledge of patience, her speech running together as her frenzied thoughts move a mile a minute.
“Who said anything about innocent?”
“Nobody deserves that kind of fate.”
“Not even a date rapist?” I challenge, standing so we’re face-to-face. “What’s better than getting rid of one predator?” I hold my hands out. “Two. Everyone will be better off without them in the world.”
Sol inhales deeply, on the verge of arguing further, but instead, she goes quiet.
Careful not to push her, I give her time to think it through.
“What happens if you somehow get Ivan into his body? Won’t he just possess him and use the living form to do even more harm?
Hell, he could just go on a murder spree.
” She taps the center of her forehead anxiously, a familiar self-soothing method I’ve seen her do a million times.
I only wish I wasn’t part of the reason she’s feeling overwhelmed.
“No, Sol. I promise I’m not going to let that happen.
The second he possesses him, I’m going to kill him.
” When she doesn’t interrupt me with more questions, I continue.
“I’m going to drain the life from him and trap him in a vessel where he won’t be able to reach you—or anyone else—ever again.
We’ll hide the body here, where it’ll be safe.
I’ll even have someone come and ward it, so he can’t be moved. ”
“We can’t do this.”
“You don’t have to do anything. I’m doing this.” I take her by the shoulders. “Let me do this for you. Everything leading up to this moment has been for you.” This is my Eric Draven moment, to hold the one who hurt my girl accountable.
“I can’t ask you to do this. It’s too big of a sacrifice.”
“It’s not a sacrifice, but a reward for all the shit he’s put you through, us through. One I’ll gladly claim.”
“I’m not letting you turn into a monster for me. You’re not a killer, Thorne.” She turns from me as emotion swells within her.
“If you can’t stomach it, I understand. But there’s nothing I won’t do for you, My Omen.
If I have to become a monster to protect you, then so be it.
But I don’t see it this way. It’s a net good, no matter how I look at it.
” I drag her backward into my arms. “Is it selfish to want to protect you? Is it monstrous to want to prevent other women from befalling the same fate? I don’t think so.
He brought this upon himself. And as for that fucker tied up downstairs, he lost my sympathy the moment he decided to spike that drink. ”
“When you say it like that, it’s hard to think it’s wrong.” She relaxes against me.
“Because it’s not. We’re righting a wrong.”
When she finally turns to face me again, the doubt and guilt have cleared, and all I find there is determination. “Okay, let’s end this. But I have one condition.”
“Anything,” I say before I think it through.
“You’re not doing this alone. Call Jayden.”
“He’s still recovering from all the shit he’s already put him through.”
“We all are,” she reminds me. “You know he wouldn’t want to miss this. He deserves this closure too.” The sincerity with which she says it is what really convinces me. She’s right.