Page 118 of Penance

I double-click on one labeled Mercy_Killian_Raw_Footage_Night_1.

I hit play, and the footage begins. I watch as she climbs into bed, and then time crawls by, and before long I can see that she’s asleep, and a shadow looms in the doorway.

It’s me.

I watch as I climb into bed beside her, that first night just lying beside her, staring at her face, and listening to the steady beat ofher heart. I didn’t touch her, not then, but there was no doubt it was still a violation.

Yet, there’s a part of me that recoils, that hates the image on the screen, a fragment of humanity that still clings to something inside me.

I’m a fucking monster.

I should be fucking shot.

I could stop at any time, but I don’t. I reach up, grab the USB, and rip it out, tossing it back into the drawer and pushing it shut.

I push away all thoughts, all emotions as my fingers dance over the keys, the commands for wiping the hard drives ingrained in muscle memory.

A black box with a question pops up on the screen.

**Are you sure you want to delete all data? This action cannot be undone.**

A flicker of hesitation stirs in my chest, a tiny, insignificant flutter, like a moth fighting to keep flight in a storm.

I could call the police.

I could turn myself in.

I could—

“There’s no other way.”

I slam the Enter key and turn away from the screen. The hard drives whir to life as they begin to purge their memories.

In a few seconds, it will all be gone.

The evidence of the stalking, the manipulation.

The rape.

It will all be gone, and no one will know.

When their hard drives are wiped, the computers will be gone too. I’ll take them apart, piece by piece, and scatter them into the dumpsters around town. The world will never see the web I’ve woven in the dark.

They’ll see me as the victim, the way they should have all along.

Chapter 23

Mercy

When I wake up the next morning, it’s still dark.

What time is it? How late did I sleep?

I see the outline of a shadow looming behind me, and for a moment, my heart clenches—but it’s only Draco, turned towards me, his breaths deep and even.

Part of me hadn’t expected him to stay.

I expected to wake up alone, with his side of the bed cold and unused.

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