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“And what about the other members?” she asks. “Can you really keep me hidden?”

“We have to keep you hidden, Summer. Because they will kill us both if they see you, and I’ll lose everything I’ve worked for. You and I have the power to end this, but we have to be patient. We have to do it the right way.”

CHAPTER

FORTY-FOUR

SUMMER

SIX MONTHS LATER

I’ve gotten adept at sneaking around in the dark. The mask is almost like a second skin to me now, as are the tight black clothes I wear. It’s dark, midnight black, as I make my way across campus and toward the five-story building that houses the psychology department.

It’s easy to hide among the ancient trees and buildings when everyone believes you’re gone. I made it easy for the Order to explain my disappearance. I had already told Dani and my mother I was leaving, so it was easy for them to believe I ran away.

I’ve given no reason for them to think I was dead.

In the last six months, I’ve gone into hiding and Lincoln’s thrived. As the next leader of the society, and now a tenured professor, he’s untouchable. Lincoln’s groundbreaking research catapulted him to the top of the research food chain in the psychology field. He defended his thesis with flying colors.

I have conformed in many ways. I am what he wants and needs me to be. I dyed my hair black to hide from society and avoid being recognized for my white hair. It also helps him not be reminded of his hatred for me.

But I’m getting bored… The intensity in my soul has awakened, and I can’t be cooped up in a basement any longer.

Lincoln barely lets me out, for fear that one of them will see me. Sometimes I go upstairs and spy, hiding in the walls. Lucy is the only one who sees me, but she’s smart enough to stay out of it.

Sometimes he takes me to another town so I can get some fresh air and have human interaction with someone other than him. I also go home to spy on my mother, who seems to be doing just fine with the vague letters I send her.

Misty fled town and moved across the country. I’m not sure how Lincoln managed that one, but he scared her into submission. She must have had some interaction with Split. She lied to the police about where she was.

And Dani…

I am guilt ridden by Dani, who isn’t handling my disappearance well. No one thinks I’m dead, but no one seems to care, either. Except for Dani… Hopefully, she can let me go.

I continue to uncover the complexities of Lincoln Kennedy every day. He still gets little fits of rage, and sometimes when he looks at me, I swear it’s Mikael staring back at me. I want to reach out and touch him, but he disappears before I’m able to.

Split often comes to say hi, too, and I love it when Split comes to play. He’s the best one out of the three of them in bed.

Lincoln’s eyes are full of all-consuming love after we have sex, and it makes me wonder how many times a day he thinks about killing me.

He’s still a psychopath, but at least he has emotion now and can control it. I know he is dangerous. I am the catalyst that made him unravel and become stronger when he put himself back together.

Psychopath or not, we are the perfect match. I really was made for him.

A light layer of spring snow crunches under the soles of my knee-high boots, which I wear under a long pair of tight slacks as I wait until the security guard does his rounds. He leaves the door unlocked when he scouts the building—at least that’s what Lincoln told me.

For someone who cares about the difference between right and wrong, he certainly is leaving me enough breadcrumbs. It’s as if he knows I’m buzzing inside, watching me transform, day by day, becoming Him.

My self-righteous boyfriend suddenly has remorse and lacks evidence to incriminate Dr. Garcia. There is no way for him to prove any wrongdoings besides his suspicion and knowing who she is, and the evident illegal rituals done for a dark deity. I’ve begun to piece together what she did in the late seventies, and again two decades later.

My body is buzzing as I make my way to the stairwell of the fifth floor and into the cluster of offices where she works. He also informed me that Dr. Garcia sometimes works late into the night, because nighttime is when she does her best work.

Lincoln is away at a conference halfway across the continent. It’s the first time he’s left me alone, and he’s been wise not to.

My stomach twists. An instant deep pleasure rolls through my body at the exhilaration of watching Dr. Garcia sit at her desk, a lamp flickering by her side, chewing on a pencil, deep in thought.

Her eyes flicker up when she senses me.

Keen senses. Too bad her bones are brittle, and unless she has a gun stuffed in that drawer, I doubt she will do anything to me.