“I knew it,” he says. A smile of joy creeping up his face. “Iknew it!” he laughs.
Somewhere, deep inside this factory, the crowd erupts—a distant roar.
Rise a God!Rise a God!Rise a God!
And this is when I understand the true meaning of losing.
37 - JASINA
It was the disappearance of Lilikathat triggered it. After thinking about this for three days, I’m absolutely sure of it now.
Finn was perfectly fine that morning.
Was he, Jasina?
Was he really?
He was attentive, affectionate—the sex was good.
Wasn’t the sex good that first time too? When he bent you over the couch, got you off with his fingers—then passed out?
I hesitate, unsure once again.
I’ve been going through it in my head, over and over, deciding something new each time, only to talk myself out of it a moment later.
He was fine that morning. But. Just for the sake of argument—the argument I’m having with myself—let me think… his eyes were glowing, but it wasn’t a bad glow.
Do you hear yourself, Jasina?
Eyes don’t glow!
I understand this. But he’s being augmented. It’s part of the process.
Is what he did last night part of the process too?
That’s it. I can’t even bother to pretend to play devil’s advocate anymore. The pretense is over. Because this nagging inner voice of mine is right.
None of this was good.
None of it. It was a set up.
Deep down, I know this. Iknowthis.
It’s just… I don’t know what to do with this information. What do I do? Finn is gone.
Gone!
He’s not the same man I met back home. Which wasn’t even a good man. Only marginally an acceptable one. But he got better.Wegot better together. And it was good before we came here to this city.
That’s not even true. Because we didn’t come to this city, we were brought. We don’t even live in this dimension, we’re visitors. This god is…
Say it.
Just… say it.
Evil.
There’s something wrong with him. With this place. With all the people here, even. Because the girls—how could they not notice Lilika’s gone?
