Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90672 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“No, there’s something I’m supposed to give you.” He bites his lip and holds up his finger. He opens his dresser and retrieves a narrow, rectangular wooden box. Opening it, he reveals a necklace. It bears a cross, like the ones we wear.
Does he know?
“What is this?”
He seems to hesitate before saying, “It was your father’s, then your mother’s. She once told me I would need to give this to you and that I’d know when the time was right. I didn’t understand what she meant, and honestly, it slipped my mind.”
He passes it to me, and I run my finger along the cross, thinking about how this is one of the only things aside from the Sinners’ bible that links me to Dad’s secret past. And Mom’s too, it appears.
“Thank you, Dan.”
“Can I ask what that means to you?”
“Uh…”
His lips twist into a frown. “Remember when your parents went on that trip when you were younger, for a few weeks?” I struggle before he adds, “Their anniversary trip.”
“Oh yeah.” Mom and Dad always said they didn’t have much of a honeymoon, so they wanted to redo it, and Dan babysat.
“I remember. That’s a weird thing to bring up.”
“It was a weird thing to happen. They didn’t seem like they were ready to go on a big fun trip. They were on edge. Agitated. Like how you were acting before you wound up in the hospital.”
The way he looks at me, he must’ve realized something else was up.
“When they returned,” he goes on, “your dad was wearing that necklace. I thought it was a souvenir. I never saw him wear it again after that. Then when I came to the hospital to see you, I saw your friends’ necklaces and the one you had on—the one you’re wearing now. Even then I didn’t think much of it. But last night, I woke up in the middle of the night, and the day your mom gave it to me was like it happened yesterday, her telling me I needed to wait to give it to you. Even now, I’m wondering why I forgot for all this time or why it came up just now, but all I know is that this belongs to you.”
The way he tells the story, it’s clear he’s somewhat disturbed by his memory lapse, and I can’t help thinking there might’ve been some magic involved. But Mom wasn’t a part of the Sinners stuff. Was she…?
He studies my expression. “Is there anything you want to tell me, Luke?”
Like with Alexei, part of me wants to share the truth with him, but my parents must’ve had their reasons for not sharing this with him. And I fear that if I tell him the truth, it might pull him into this with me.
I’d rather spare him. Not give him a reason to worry about me attending St. Lawrence. Or about what’s to come.
“Nothing right now,” I make myself say, since I don’t like lying to him.
“Well, I’m here if you need anything. Anytime. I hope you know that.”
As always, I can feel his love, his acceptance, his care for me. The love and care of the man who took me in as his own and selflessly gave so much of himself to me.
“Thank you, Dan,” I say, hugging him tight.
I put the necklace on with mine and return to my old bedroom, where I tell Brad about the odd exchange. Still with the necklace on, I sit up in bed, assessing the cross.
“How would your mom have known to put a spell on Dan?” He slides close to me, places his hand on my abs. “She couldn’t have known that all this would happen.”
“But what if she did? It sounds strange, but maybe the answer is as strange as everything else. I just wish I knew what my parents knew about all this. Like, did Dad tell Mom? And what was that trip about? And this on top of all the other questions related to Kysar. Too many questions, too few answers.”
“Now you know what it’s been like for us since we found out about this stuff.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Well, come here and let your boyfriend make it better.”
Just hearing him refer to himself as my boyfriend has this strange power over me.
He leans close and offers a kiss. It’s a gentle reminder of how far we’ve come from the Lust-fueled kisses we shared early on, back when it felt beyond our control. Inescapable. Now that we spend so much time together, it feels more natural. We’re more at ease, like this is the way it’s supposed to be for us.
He rolls onto me, and I reposition comfortably under him as he pushes his weight against me. He nibbles at my ear, then kisses down my throat, stirring that familiar desire, as something moves through me.