Page 65 of Fall onto me
“I agree,” I reply, breaking off a piece and putting it in my mouth. “But I don’t want to be Robin.”
He turns the ignition but doesn’t go anywhere. “I’m Batman,” he teases in a low voice. We laugh even though there’s nothing funny about this situation, finding out his parents were not only in debt, but murdered and we’re next if we don’t either follow through on the Keeper’s demands or finish him entirely. But we need laughter, if nothing else.
* * *
We sneakinto Foster’s room, thankful that the guys are having a quiet movie night downstairs. I don’t know if could handle the chatter and noise of a party right now.
I look at his broken expression and frown. “If you need to talk—”
He stops me with a quick raise of his hand. “I can’t think about it, I can’t talk about it.”
“Foster, you can’t hold it in.”
It’s the first time he’s ever raised his voice towards me, but I know it’s just a swarm of emotions rolling through them. “I will feel what I need to feel when I’m ready,” he pleads, and I nod.
He claps his hands, as if ridding the thought of his parents’ murder to get to the task at hand, but I see it in his eyes, the glimmer of sadness that seems to cover his irises in a permanent frown.
“Did you hear his laughter?” Foster asks.
A chill runs up my spine, like I can still hear the remnants of the distorted, unnatural laugh. “That echo will give me nightmares.”
“It wasn’t an echo, Sky,” he breathes. “He was still laughing after I broke the television. I think that’s going to be his downfall.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m going there,” he tells me, grabbing the red thread from the table and pulling some from the spindle. “I’m going there.”
My eyes widen in surprise. “The harbor? You really think TK is just sitting where he does his dirty work somewhere?”
He nods, and I look around the room. “Should we maybe consider it?”
He stares at me, his mouth agape. “I’m not going to murder anyone. Those were the rules.”
“The rules you made for your deal don’t apply to your father’s debt,” I repeat the harsh truth.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m not entertaining this discussion,” he growls. “I can’t believe you’re considering this.”
“I would do anything to protect you,” I tell him.
“You would kill?” He shakes his head. “I know you hate your father, but you wouldn’t want to live with that on your conscience.”
“Wouldn’t you kill for me?”
“Obviously, but it’s different. The Keeper won’t touch you; he has a moral code no matter how fucked up it is.”
“He already threatened Sophie,” I remind him. “And the second he kills you, she’ll be the next in line.”
He runs his hand down his tired face. “I know all of this, Sky. But we’re not killing anyone, do you understand me? We cannot become killers to appease a killer.”
“Then we have to catch him, get him arrested,” I say with a shrug.
Foster nods. “Exactly.”
“We can’t do this alone.”
“I know.”
“But anyone we bring in …” I trail off.