Page 57 of Tear of Destiny
Patricia does as she’s told and shoots Charles an apologetic but warm glance. You could almost believe she actually cares about him.
Frida finally takes the thing out of her bag that she wanted to show Charles. It’s a stack of photos. She hands them to him. I can’t see the pictures, but Charles’ eyes widen. He flips through them, faster and faster.
“It was a while before I got a chance to photograph it. But there’s your proof: Patricia with two victims. She followed them down a street, lured them into a dark alley, and drew out their destiny threads to rewrite their destinies. And right at that moment, you can see the threads.”
Charles stares first at Frida and then at Patricia. “You… were just toying with me this whole time. No, worse than that – you were using me!” He slowly turns to face his lover. “You took advantage of my position as a hunter to keep yourself safe. I can’t believe it.” He runs his hands over his face. His expression is one of pure horror.
“It’s not true, Charles. Please! You know I care about you. I wasn’t faking that.”
“You think I’m going to believe a word you say now?!” he screams, standing over her threateningly. “You’re a fraud. Actually, it’s worse than that: you’re one of the monsters thatwe’re fighting against. It’s our purpose to hunt you down and end you. I can’t believe I was so stupid.” He laughs bitterly and walks in a circle. “What will the others say when they find out that I was taken in by you?! There’ll be an investigation; I’ll lose my job; I’ll never be a hunter again!” He comes around to face her again, his face contorted with hatred. “And all because of you! Because you used me and toyed with my emotions!”
“Charles,” Frida interjects. “We can fix this. First, we incapacitate her and take her to hunter headquarters. Then we’ll figure out what to do next.”
“What to do next?!” he snaps at her. “Nobody will show me any sympathy. I was duped by this monster. The Council will think she spied on me and that I’ve leaked information to her. And who knows? Maybe I have. Maybe I’ve revealed far too much to her.”
“Charles, that’s not true,” Patty ventures again, and I can hear the desperation in her voice. “You know that’s not true. I love you. Why else would I still be here? Why would I keep trying to get through to you? I realize you’re in shock, but you know me.”
She takes a tentative step toward him, smiles nervously, reaches out to him. And she’s almost touching his cheek when it happens: Charles casts a hex that bathes everything in blinding light. His key spirit bursts out of the undergrowth. Patricia is hurled away from Charles, and a thousand needles of light shoot out of his spirit’s mouth and pierce Patty’s body like spears. Standing behind her, Frida is splattered with blood. Frida stands rooted to the spot, looking down at the critically injured woman lying on the ground. She slowly bends down and checks her pulse. She must feel that Patty is still alive.
“What have I done?” Charles groans, bending forward with his hands on his knees. “I’m ruined. This is the end for me. The hunters know I was in a relationship with her. When they find out that she was a goddess… that I was in a relationshipwith a goddess… And now I’ve killed her without Council authorization.” He turns to Frida. “There’s nothing I can do. I’m screwed. It’s over.” He’s breathing heavily and seems to be racking his brains. But then he gives up and says, “We have to tell the others. What choice do I have?” Like a broken man, he goes to Patty.
From this point on, I recognize the scene again. This exact scene is what led me to draw the wrong conclusions last time.
Charles is staring down at Patricia with a numb expression. He’s pale, and his hands are shaking. Frida goes to him. There’s a strange gleam in her eyes that makes her look insane.
“Please, Charles!” She turns to him with outstretched hands as if he were a wounded animal. “Don’t do anything rash. You know what’ll happen if you tell anyone about this. Don’t do it, do you hear me? Let this be our secret.”
She takes another tentative step toward him and puts her hand on his forearm, which makes him flinch in fright. It’s almost as if he wasn’t aware of her until that moment – and maybe he wasn’t.
“We’re a team, we always were, and this doesn’t change that,” she says.
I see the hesitation, the disbelief in his eyes, which I didn’t notice the first time. He seems afraid. But probably only about his future. Finally, he nods and says, “Yes, it was an accident.”
Frida smiles and nods. “Exactly, that’s what it was. I’ll take responsibility for this. Nobody will find out that she was a goddess. I’ll take care of everything.”
Charles nods again. He now looks like a lifeless puppet suspended on strings, being led off-stage by a puppeteer.
Frida bends down to Patricia and strokes her hair. “I didn’t want him to kill you. Yes, I wanted you to be recognized for what you are and captured. And for you to receive a fair sentence. I never thought Charles was capable of something like this. Heloved you. But it was all over from one second to then next. Even when he attacked you, you didn’t try to defend yourself. You just gazed at him with that look that I know so well. You love him.”
Frida regards the lifeless woman pensively and seems to come to a decision. She tears off a piece of her shirt and bandages the wounds.
“I know what I’m doing is wrong. But it would be bad for Charles if the Tempes find out that he killed a goddess of destiny without authorization – especially one that he was in a relationship with.” She sighs. “I’ll take you to a hospital and give you a small head-start after you recover. But at some point, I’ll come looking for you again, and if you’re still going about your work, then the hunt is on.”
But I know it never came to that. Patty was so critically injured that she wound up in hospice care. And I’m pretty sure I know who arranged that: my great aunt, who didn’t kill this person.
Chapter 25
Iblink and find myself lying in the Odyss again. I see the doors in the background, and, above me, the man’s pale face. He’s still holding my arm, and his left hand is grasping Kate’s sweater. It’s possible that only seconds have passed while we were inside the vision. And judging by the guy’s expression, he has no idea.
He pulls us toward him, trying to get a firmer grip on both of us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Yoru hurrying toward me. I send him odeon and flames instantly blaze around him.
Gray tries to coil himself around the stranger’s leg and trip him up. But it never comes to that. A figure suddenly hurtles out of the darkness and launches at us.
Frances drags the guy to the ground. He’s so startled that he lets go of me and Kate. Frances and the stranger skid past us a short way and come to a stop, both lying on the ground. The Noctu throws herself on him, and her key spirit – which is already a huge bear – transforms and becomes even bigger, his claws elongating. He rushes to Frances’ aid at a breathtaking pace. She turns to us, still holding down the stranger, and calls out, “Get out of here. Now! This guy is an ovlem. I’ll take care of him.”
I’m not sure what to do. My first instinct is to help Frances. But she’s warning us off with such a fierce look that I can tell what she thinks of that idea.
“Go. You’ll only get in my way here, and you’ll attract the fallen.”