Don't think about it. Don't.
But I do.
He's going to think the worst things about me, and that hurts more than anything else. But when his mom's free, he'll know why I did this. Why I had to.
I look out the window, and every street we pass feels like it's dragging me closer to something I can't escape.
When we start to get close, I'm forced to realize I'm going to have to run.
I have no money. No wallet. Nothing.
The guilt claws at me. Using people has always made me sick. It is one of the things I hated most about the Order, but I need to get to Cormac as fast as I can.
It was always the plan to run, however, as the address I gave him is a block away from where I really need to go.
So when he pulls onto Sycamore Main and we hit the first red light, I know this is my chance.
"I'm sorry," I say, and shove the door open.
"HEY!" the man yells.
But I take off, weaving in between honking cars and people yelling at me to get out of the road.
I cut through a side street, my lungs burning, my knee throbbing where I scraped it on the wall.
I don't stop running until I get to my destination.
The Old Ruins, as Cormac has called it since I reconnected with him all those years ago.
It's also known as the Old Donoghue Ruins, and it's where the massacre happened. The exact location where Callum's grandfather tried to end things.
Years later, after the fire and when Cormac got out and inherited his money, he bought the land, which had turned into a business complex.
It was here the first headquarters of Shadowharbor was formed, but now it's an empty building that Cormac keeps for only the most sacred rituals. So if he's here, he intends to kill someone. Me or Callum's mom.
I slide through the fence and into the parking lot.
It's going to be me.
I know it, and deep down, I've always known it.
I look around, and it doesn't seem like anyone's here, but I know better.
I walk inside, and the air is stale. I walk the halls from memory, my skin crawling as I approach the one room I've been in two or three times for special rituals.
That is for sure where he'll be.
I'm scared, but I push through it, opening the door.
The flicker of candles surrounds the Morrígan statue and the altar in the center. That damn incense burns, and it's the only thing I can smell.
But no May. Callum's mother doesn't appear to be here.
"You have betrayed me, Sister Omega," he says, his voice coming from the shadows.
My stomach drops.
"Where is she, Cormac?" I demand, spinning, searching for him.
