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A shadow dances beside us in the darkness. Whispers in my head I can’t quite capture. Echoes of everything that matters. “He told me to tell you everything will end soon. It’s almost over. I know how to fix this.” My hands tremble, and my stomach bundles up in a knot as my hands move on their own, like an invisible force is controlling them.

I’ll kill again. It’s what I was born to do. It just won’t be an innocent person this time.

I’m fighting with every fiber of my being not to pull the trigger. My aim is perfect, honed by the best. Yet, that won’t break the cycle. This is just the beginning for me, far from over. I’ve been the Constellation Killer since the day I was born.

Beth’s body releases, but the concern doesn’t leave her eyes. “He’s in your head, isn’t he? You feel him everywhere. It’s overwhelming you. I should have seen how much you were in love with him. I missed it.” Finally, someone understands.

I move the gun to my chin as the voices in my head get stronger. “He’s the only one who can stop me. He was only ever trying to stop me.”

Beth bites her lip as the sirens stop. The blue and red lights take over. “You’re grieving, Layla, don’t do this.”

Time’s up, wildling.

The front doors burst open and Sarah Crawley storms in, an officer right behind her, gun drawn and aimed straight at us. “Don’t move! Put the gun down!” she yells, pistol fixed on me.

My eyes are still on Beth. “It’s almost over.”

“Don’t move,” Beth screams, lifting her hands to stop Sarah. “Please, for the love of god, don’t come any closer.” One little slip of my finger and this all ends.

“Layla,” Beth whispers. “Don’t do this.” Sarah freezes too once she sees I’m about to shoot my brains out.

“The Archer only shoots bad guys,” I say back to her.

Regina, who had been sleeping in the guest room, and my father rush into the room. “Get back.” Sarah motions at them.

Regina freezes, taking in the situation. “What’s going on?”

Beth doesn’t take her eyes off me. “Layla’s being delusional again. She thinks this is all her fault.”

“Layla,” Regina says, her voice calm as she assesses the situation. I don’t move. My hands tremble as she approaches. “I’m taking this gun from you now. You’re going to let go.”

Let go…that sounds perfect.

“I deserve this,” I choke out. Regina slowly approaches me. I don’t have any fight in me anymore. I release the gun and crumble into Regina’s arms. The second officer snatches it to safety. In a flash, Sarah Crawley moves toward Beth, taking her hands and yanking them behind her back. “Beth Ashby, you’re under arrest for the murder of Keely Wilson. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. Do you understand?”

I crinkle my eyes. “Mom.”

“It’s okay, Laylabug.” She winks at me. “I’m tired of hiding. It’s time for it to all come out.” The second officer puts my dad in handcuffs too, giving him the same message.

“But she didn’t kill Keely,” I confess. “I offered Keely one hundred thousand dollars the day I met her at the coffee shop in the washroom to kill Gabriella. I didn’t think it through. I didn’t realize Gabriella would fight back.”

Sarah shakes her head at me as if giving me a silent message to shut up. “Your friend Gabriella has a different story, which so far checks out. Keely didn’t die of frostbite. She had a puncture wound in her throat. Your friend Gabriella stabbed her out of self-defense. Keely confessed everything to Gabriella before she died. She said Beth was the one who paid her to kill Gabriella.”

I drop to my knees as I watch my parents get hauled out in handcuffs. Regina on one side of me, and Sarah crouches and grabs my face. “Layla. Listen to me…”

I press my hands over my ears, watching my world crumble. All Beth did was protect me. “This isn’t right.”

“Layla,” Sarah says again. “Listen to me. Listen to what I’m saying to you.” She knew…She knows everything. “It’s over now.”

Chapter 36

Six Months Later

Ipull my attention from the trees outside where I’ve been gazing the last half hour as Regina talks my ear off about Beth’s upcoming trial. The yellow wildflowers that grow on an animal path outside my window and the sprawling valley below with rows of orchids provide me with a sense of peace I almost forgot existed. Tomorrow marks my final day at the Three Valley facility deep in the mountains, which has been my home since Beth’s arrest last December. It’s June, and summer is in full bloom in the interior, almost a full year since my isolation, and six months at the psychiatric ward.

A year and a half since Nick died.

The whole time I’ve been here, I’ve been thinking about Nick. Praying for any sign that he’s still out there. The Archer investigation is still open. Nick’s body was never recovered, so there’s a chance he might still be alive. A part of me holds onto that hope—it gives me something to cling to and helps me deal with my grief and guilt. Both emotions are fickle bitches that never let go, and perhaps that’s what I’ve been clinging to all along.