Still. I’ve shown a sign of trust. I’m the only one exposed in this room. If we’re doing this, the hands need to come out.
“What have you done with your sister’s killer?” I ask Cassian.
His jaw flexes once.
“I did to him exactly what he did to her.”
“Which is?”
“He strapped my sister to a dartboard and used her as a target. Threw knives at her.” He inhales. “So I strapped him to the same kind of board and threw knives too. I made sure he stayed alive as long as possible.” His mismatched eyes narrow by a fraction. “He begged for death. Eventually. I’ve got a more precise throw than he did and knew how to prolong it.”
Talon sits back. “Holy shit.”
“I’ve been hunting murderers ever since,” Cassian continues.
Talon’s head whips toward him. “As in… regularly?”
“Yes.”
“Man…”
“I didn’t get a chance to tell you yet.”
Talon stares. “A chance? What, you need a fucking PowerPoint presentation? You want me to die and come back to life and didn’t tell me you’re like some kind of Batman on steroids?”
“I don’t see why that matters.”
Talon scoffs. “Fuck you, man. You’re a fucking psycho.”
I fold my hands. “We’ve all killed. We’re equals on that front.”
Talon sputters. “Whoa—hey—no. No. I’m… an accidental murderer, okay? I don’t hunt people down. At least…” He stops. “Not regularly. I did that only once.”
“Did they deserve it?” Cassian asks.
“Yeah.”
“You did the right thing then.”
Talon stares at him.
Bizarre.
The three of us have committed homicide as a method of retribution and ended up in the same grief group. A strange coincidence. Or perhaps not a coincidence at all.
“How did the two of you meet?” I ask.
“I came to the grief counseling searching for people who lost loved ones and were willing to do something about it,” Cassian replies.
Thought so.
“So you’re preying on the weak,” Talon says.
“Quite the contrary. I’m searching for the strong ones.” Cassian leans forward. “The world is full of people who pretend to care about justice. Very few will do the ugly part that actually keeps others alive. The people I killed would’ve killed again. People like us”—he gestures between the three of us—“are the only ones who close the case.”
Talon snorts. “I didn’t kill for justice. I killed because they took things from me.”
“That can change,” Cassian says.
