Wes had insisted he pay for Lorelei to go to a residential treatment center to detox under medical supervision and receive specialized trauma therapy. After he’d made sure she wanted to do this of her own accord, he took a bet on her without a second thought.
I already loved Wes, but seeing how he took care of the people I loved with the same care and selflessness as he took care of me amplified that feeling to a dizzying degree.
Before he could respond, Hudson and Delilah arrived back from the grocery store.
“Delilah,” Hudson snapped, “you cannot go with Goose to Ibiza. It’s out of the question.Spiritual retreatis Bushwick code for psychedelics, house music, and polyamory.”
Wes and I laughed.
“Oh, yay, Wes!” Delilah exclaimed when she entered the space, grocery bags in hand. “You’re staying for game night?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.” He met my eyes again. “Tell them about the news.”
I told them about the alpha reader’s email, and Hudson stopped chastising Delilah about Goose to celebrate with me. We popped one of the bottles of non-alcoholic champagne we’d obtained for tonight as Hudson started food prep.
“Don’t worry, I prevented her from inviting Goose and his entire intentional co-living community,” Hudson whispered to me while Delilah chatted with Wes about her new job and dreamy boss.
I snorted. “Thank you for your service.”
He saluted. “You okay, Noves?” He glanced at the raised scar on my shoulder. It was hard to miss.
My response was genuine, easy. “Yeah, I really am.” I smiled.
What we’d gone through was traumatic, and I knew Wes was still grappling with having taken a life, even if he’d had no choice. We were all still struggling with what had happened—and what hadalmosthappened.
But in the vein of Memento Mori, confronting death had only illuminated all the love in my life—for my friends new and old, for Wes, for my city and my neighborhood and random, kind interactions with strangers. I no longer saw the world the same way I did at the beginning of the summer.
I’d experienced a sudden freedom, a release from all fear.
By the end of game night, my face hurt from smiling.
And Wes had rarely taken his eyes or hands off me. The way he looked at me was enough to wipe my mind of all thoughts but him. It was an intensity and adoration I could drown in forever.
Three days before Christmas, Wes had his arm around me protectively in a coffee shop in Chelsea. Jayne took a seat across from us, a mug in hand that matched the deep red of her fingernails.
“Thank you for meeting me. I can imagine it wasn’t an easy decision,” she began. Her cult leader magnetism was on a dimmer voltage than usual, as if our brush with death had humbled her. She cleared her throat. “I wanted to see how you both were doing, and to apologize again, for everything that happened within The Circle.”
I sighed. Wes didn’t speak.
I’d softened my view of Jayne since she saved my life, but she was still a complicated person who had made dangerously flawed decisions. I had a feeling she was hiding Archer’s role in all this more than she would ever admit. When she’d asked if Archer could join, we had unanimously declined.
“When we were approached by an anonymous investor with suitcases full of cash, we were running small spiritual and erotic gatherings out of our own apartment and a smaller venue we could barely afford to rent,” Jayne said. “I thought I—we—had been recognized for our potential, and we were being given an opportunity to play our small part in healing the world.” She paused, staring out the window at the rainy streets adorned with Christmas lights. “We will be conducting a thorough internal investigation to flush out any lingering poison from our community.”
Wes and I exchanged wry smiles. We’d predicted this outcome. Jayne’s position, and likely the story she truly believed, was that her community had been hijacked by Roman.
But people as intelligent as Jayne and as cunning as Archer had to have known the deal they’d made with the devil.
“The Circle will go on,” I murmured.
Jayne straightened, a flash of defensiveness breaking through her humble façade. “Of course. You heard Mr. Graves. He has removed himself. And Roman…” She glanced at Wes before she cleared her throat and averted her eyes. “He seems to have taken a nasty fall. The Circle is financially self-sustaining now.” She leaned back in her chair, skin luminous as it caught the warm light from above. “The world is a broken place. We have more work to do.”
We both stared at her. I couldn’t say I was surprised by any of this information, but before I could sink too deeply into fear or anger, I remembered this was no longer my side of the street.
Wes, Lorelei, and I were safe.
“We will not trouble either of you again. But if you or Lorelei ever need anything, as a friend, I will always be here,” Jayne said. She smiled tentatively. “Now, please tell me how you both have been doing. With the book too.”
Wes didn’t speak. I could feel his Scorpio intensity like a thick weight hanging in the air. But at the mention of my book, he managed to break through his violent protectiveness with a soft kiss to my temple.
