Page 430 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

And he remembers now how everything in him, every single cell that is Lachlan Tanner,

conspired to swallow the truth

and lock it away.

Sometimes we have to hide the things we love.

His whole life since that point…

was a lie.

Revenge for the people he loved.

Lie.

Justice for their deaths.

Lie.

I swore revenge for what they did to you and her.

A self-fulfilling prophecy.

A walking, talking Catch-22.

A blind sniper in a tall tower is everyone’s problem.

Daddy Bang Bang.

You’re so blind, Lachlan.

For the last seven days, the only person he had to kill was himself,

and for each of those days,

he was immortal.

Love puts us on the losing side.

Lachlan is on his knees.

The fire is killing him the way it kills everything. He should let it.

He should die.

He deserves to.

Your mind will always think it’s better than your body. Your body can’t feel pride, only your mind can. Disconnect the two. Pride goeth before destruction.

Lachlan disconnected them.

He cut pieces of himself away and threw them into the fire, only they didn’t die, and they didn’t burn.

Monsters cannot burn.

Lachlan opens his eyes.

The fire is gone.