chapter fifty-three
THE POISONER
W ho knew what became of the two creatures? It mattered little to me now. They would just be one of many things I left behind. If luck would have it, both men would have perished.
The tip of my cigarette cherried with each breath as I watched the boat push away from the dock. The wrinkled paper with my new destination was clutched in my hands.
WHITE STAR LINE
From Liverpool to New York
New York. A fresh start.
Well, as fresh as it could get from here. I had a new purpose now. Not only did I have new subjects to play with, I had a new poison to perfect.
For Silas’s sake, I hoped he would assume me dead. It was best for both of us. Would he feel betrayed if he knew I was alive? Betrayal. I wondered if he was capable of feeling even that after all this time.
“Are you coming inside?” Phoebe asked, pulling her wool shawl closer around her as she approached me at the back of the deck.
I sighed and tilted my head back, letting the smoke push through my nose, watching it disappear into the gray sky, giving me snowflakes on my lashes in return.
“Yeah.” I sighed, flicking the cigarette overboard. “Let us go.”
The land behind me slowly turned into an endless horizon of water, disappearing with the memory of my old life.
It was good to disappear for a while.
I was heading west.
END OF BOOK I