“That’s not true. There is another entrance. I’m the only one here with high enough security clearance to know about it. Although it looks like someone must have let Dorian in on the secret as well.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Finn. “What old entrance?”
“The trapdoor beneath my office on the island. It leads down to it. That’s why the office is out there. It’s not an office. It’s a guard post meant to stop people from knowing what’s beneath it.” I stared straight at Dorian, holding his gaze. “If we get down there, we could repair it manually.”
“No,” he said quickly. “It’s impassable, flooded ages ago. I told you that already.”
“You told me that when you thought I was Robin. I’m not Robin anymore, you dick, and I know that it wasn’t flooded.”
He squinted, roiled by some emotion I couldn’t quite grasp. “Even if you tried to access it from there, it’s basically useless. It was built hundreds of years ago.”
“It’s archaic, but I can still use it.”
“No,” Dorian said with a quick shake of his head. “You’d never survive.”
“What do you care if I survive?” I looked over at the others. “I can fix it.”
Panicking now, Dorian looked around at us. “It’s not too late. You all could come along with me. Think splendor and luxury beyond your wildest dreams.”
“Yeah, I think you can fuck right off there, Dorian,” I said.
“You’ve always been such a stubborn little bitch.”
Finn locked eyes with Dorian. “They’re going to be on the wrong side of history. You don’t want to be on it with them.”
“We won’t be on the wrong side of history,” he said, a slightly crazed look in his eye—the look I’d seen that day out in the woods. “We’ll be able to control them. We’ll be among the righteous, honoring the Mother like we’ve always done, just now much more actively.”
“You can’t believe what you’re saying,” pleaded Aspen.
Suddenly his face grew red with rage, and the veins in his temples looked twisted and engorged. “It doesn’t matter what I believe. They have the power now. We’re either with them or against them, and there’s no way I’m going against them.”
“He’s scared,” said Aspen, her own features contorting with fear at the prospect. “What are they threatening you with?”
“I told you once that I’ve seen evil before—true evil—and I have. You don’t know these people like I do,” he said through gritted teeth. “Like my dad and I do. One doesn’t want to disappoint them.”
Was that what they were holding over him? His family?
“But you can’t believe in what they’re trying to do,” said Finn.
“Don’t tell me what I believe!” he yelled.
“What the hell is he talking about?” said Lexi.
Dorian focused on me. “You’ve said it yourself. The world is filled with sin.”
“I never said that.”
“Violence, then. You see it everywhere you look. Vile obscenity, unholy depravity. It must be stopped. And these”—he gestured toward the water—“are our holy vessels, the Mother’s sword in the coming holy war.”
“Oh god.” Aspen shuddered.
Raising his hands, he stepped away from me, toward the creatures.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“The only thing I can do,” he said, smiling. “I had one task, and I needed to fulfill it. If I can’t complete the task, I need to make alternate plans.”
“Don’t act crazy,” Finn said. “We can help you, Dorian, protect you from them. You can tell them whatever you want. All we ask is that you don’t stop us.”
