Ellison sighs quite loudly, like depressed someone just spilled his secrets.
“Alright, I’ve done some thinking,” I say. “Ellison, am I free to speak about what I believe is happening?”
“Have at it.”
“The person stalking Ellison has always been so ridiculously fast that it’s been impossible for me to gain anything on him. But what I found strange is that sometimes it’d take my senses a moment to identify him. Usually, I’m extremely good at identifying an assailant before they even show up. And then when we fought on the roof, it was quite dark and he did well to hide himself, but his body type, size, and frame felt extremely familiar.
“So as I sat outside pondering this and sacrificing a few mosquitoes to the demon gods, I came to the realization that maybe the reason I didn’t always catch his presence immediately—and more precisely, the reason why I felt at ease despite him following us in the woods—was because I knew who he was. My senses are phenomenal but I’m a weak man at heart and I get used to those I trust, which is the first thing you’re told not to do in demon school. Trust no one.
“So when I was waiting for Ellison to come out of his meeting with Valerie, and Ellison’s illusion greeted me, I knew that there was only one way to test my theory?—”
I’m immediately cut off by Ellison, who goes, “Was there only one way? Yousureone way was all you had?”
“With onlyoneway to test my theory?—”
“You know,askingme or Valerie was definitely another way that was significantly safer,” Ellison says.
“With onlyoneway to test my theory, I followed the illusion. He was talented and knew Ellison’s mannerisms, but there was something a little off about him. When he seemed interested in my knife, I gave it to him?—”
Ellison’s hands slam down on the table. “Yougave him the knife?”
“It was the only way,” I assure him.
“It sure as fuck was not the only way!”
“So I knew he’d try to distract me before making his move, and the second he went to kiss me, I knew it was coming. I protected my vitals and drove him to stab me lightly in an area that has nothing of importance… because it was the only way.”
“It wasnotthe only way!” Ellison cries as he pulls at his hair.
“I’mveryconfused. The only thing I’ve understood about this entire thing is that there was only one way to do it,” Landon says.
“Ellison’s illusions… are they illusions at this point? Whatever they are, they seem to have a mind and personality of their own,” Nolan explains. “And one of them is the ‘stalker.’”
“Weird how Nolan said like five words, and it explained so much more than NoTouchy rambling for like ten minutes. We should call him NoMonologue-O,” Landon declares.
“Shush your sweet lips, my monologue isn’t done,” I say. “So why now? Why do Ellison’s illusions now have minds of their own? Did they always? Did he just keep it hidden from us? Which is perfectly fine if he did, but how did he keep hidden the one who attacked me when he didn’t seem to know what was going on until recently? I don’t envision him staying hidden. Something happened that caused this specific illusion to come after me, am I right?”
“Yes,” Ellison says.
“And that something was being attacked in the woods,” I state.
Landon asks, “But you said there were two people in the woods, right? We believed that Henrik had a helper at that time, and we now know that Henrik was the one who cut Ellison, but he wasn’t the one who followed him. That was Ellison’s illusion. Yet Ellison got attacked by Henrikafterthe illusion followed us for days.”
“I wasn’t talking about him being cut open, although I have to assume that caused him to lose further control… I was talking about Zacia scratching his chest.”
Ellison looks confused, making me question whether I’m completely wrong here.
“Or… not?”
“No, you’re right… but how?”
“I was raised to observe everything. The tattoos seem to cause you some discomfort to look at, which is why I assume you wear suits. What are they?”
“They were made using a man’s superpower… he could use tattoos to lock away others’ powers. I had them done when I was a teenager in hopes of gaining better control over my illusions. It never worked completely, but it was enough that I could keep their personalities at bay… for a while.
“I guess I should start from the beginning, shouldn’t I? Start with his death.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
