“There’s a kind of purity to it,” he murmurs. “The culmination of obsession. The moment the fantasy finally breathes. You ever notice that? I mean, you’ve been to war. Maybe you saw it too. That sometimes... people look more beautiful right before they die.”
The words jolt me awake. Not because they shock me, but because it's the first time he’s said it so plainly. He doesn’t want Sabine for love. He never did. He always meant to kill her.
Everything else, the candles, the music, the rice, the performance, is just decoration for his funeral pyre. A backdrop for the grotesque fantasy that killing her is some kind of communion. A twisted sacrament to whatever filth whispers in his head.
My heart slams in my chest.
“I sent her a dress,” he says, puckering his lips and raising his brows. “A real pretty one. Told her I’ll cut your finger off if she doesn’t wear it.”
I swallow hard. Fear slides back into my bloodstream, not sharp, not ready to make me move. Just worn-out and slow.
But it’s not even for me anymore. It’s for my sister.
I can’t help but wonder how she felt getting a message like that. How did it reach her? Through the phone he kept sending things to? Did Eli leave something behind for her to find? Or worse, did he reveal himself in a moment she couldn’t escape?
Did he trap her somewhere, force her to listen, to acknowledge the dress, to shake her conviction just enough to make her leave safety behind?
“Don’t tell me...” I begin. I don’t have the strength to yell. I just ask, quietly, matching the tone of the man across from me, who sounds just as somber. Just as hollow.
“She’s coming, Cassian,” he says. “In two hours, your sister will walk through those doors, and we’ll see this through.”
I stare at him, my vision swimming, the heat in the room amping up with each second. The candle scent turns rancid in my nose. The ropes bite deeper into me.
Two hours.
Two hours until Sabine walks into this godforsaken place, wearing a dress picked out by the man who plans to harm her.
“Why?” I ask. “Why would she do that?”
He lifts his brows, still staring into the distance.
“For you,” he says. “Told her I’d let you go afterwards.”
The irony almost makes me laugh. I was supposed to save Sabine, not be used as bait. She has to know I don’t want her anywhere near here. Of course she knows that.
“They wouldn’t let her go,” I whisper, shaking my head. “My family… they wouldn’t.”
He clicks his tongue and nods.
“Eli’s resourceful. He’ll get her out.”
The way he says it, I believe him. I wish I didn’t, but I do. There’s a finality in his voice that makes it sound like this plan has been in motion for a long time. And everything so far has gone according to it.
This will too.
“I…” I start, not even sure what I want to say. “Why are you telling me this?”
He finally looks at me and takes a deep breath.
“Well,” he says. “Believe it or not, I know what it’s like to be on the other side. I understand it. I just don’t choose to care. The world’s cruel. And so am I. But I have my moments.”
He watches me for a long beat. I don’t know what to say. Maybe there’s nothing left to say.
Finally, he slaps his knees, breaking whatever moment had passed. He stands, dusts off his clothes, and switches off the heater.
“Well, it’s warm enough in here, but I’ve still got a lot to prepare,” he says. “You should rest in the meantime. It’ll really do you good.”
He smiles. Maybe the most disturbing smile he’s given me yet. This one says he knows exactly how cruel he’s going to be, and he’s going to do it anyway. Then he turns away.
