Yes, he did. And Thorn knew why.
“We’re in the theater room.”
Shadow appeared instantly, then pulled up short. “I see the ‘we.’ Have you any idea how stupid and reckless that is?”
Thorn sighed heavily. “Yes, I do. And I’m pretty sure Acheron is the reason you’re here.”
“You know it.”
“On a scale of one to ten?—”
“He’s ninety.”
Thorn cringed. He could just imagine. “Over my attack on the humans?”
“Screw that. Over Simi.”
That was what he was afraid of. Acheron didn’t play when it came to his children. Especially his eldest daughter.
“And because of the bodies,” Shadow added. “He’s really unhappy about those. More pissed over Simi. But the body count just makes it all the worse. Why did you do it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Thorn—”
“No, Shadow. I mean it. I don’t know what happened to me. I lost something.”
He scowled. “How do you mean?”
“I … I can’t even explain what happened. I was me and then I wasn’t. It’s like a fever dream I had until I saw Simi and brought her here. Then I found myself again and had clarity.”
“That is not going to save your ass. You know that, right?”
Sadly, he did. He’d screwed up in a major way.
“You have to send Simi back to Acheron.”
No! That word resonated in his soul. “I can’t do that, Shadow.”
“If you don’t … There’s no telling what Ash will do to you. But I do know that I wouldn’t want to be you.”
Simi pushed Shadow back two steps. “Tell akri that his Simi is safe.”
Shadow let out a nervous laugh. “Oh, I’m not about to do that. I like my body parts in their current location, and I have no desire to turn Acheron into Picasso.”
His heart breaking, Thorn glanced to Simi, then back to Shadow. “How do we resolve this?”
“No idea. Your killing spree was quite impressive.”
“I don’t even know how it happened. I went to kill my father and the next thing I knew … I don’t know if it was something they did to me or the insanity of being trapped for centuries.”
“Where were you?” Shadow asked.
“The lowest pit of the dungeon. I didn’t even know they went that far down. I couldn’t hear or see anything … I just went insane.”
Shadow nodded. “Look, I’m going to give you two some room, but you need to decide what you’re going to do. And you need to decide that fast.”
“Are you planning to tell Acheron?” Thorn asked.
