Page 53 of Forged in Deception

She offered him a weak smile. “I don’t know about amazing. But I’m trying. If nothing else, I do think he knows I’ll always be there. We all need someone to love us unconditionally. Our parents didn’t, so that means it’s my job to be that for my brother. I just wish his addictions didn’t rob him of his ability to really do the same for me.”

The passion in her words stirred Asher’s heart, but they also made him a little bit sad. How could someone so brilliant be so blind?

“Karlin, even if you had no one at all, not one single person, you wouldn’t be alone,” he said quickly, hoping desperately that the words would come out right. “I know He might be hard to see or hear sometimes, but God is always there. God loves you unconditionally.”

She was quiet for a long moment, watching the sunrise through the window as it continued to light up the canyon in pinks and purples of a thousand hues.

“The funny thing is, I think John really does believe what you believe. Even though he keeps messing up, he has this faith that God is going to bring him through his pain in the end. Even if hehas to say sorry five hundred times, he never stops trusting that forgiveness is possible. I’m actually jealous of him. How messed up is that?”

Several questions floated through Asher’s mind, but he didn’t say anything.

Instead, he offered a silent prayer to God to bring Karlin closer to Him. It was beyond clear that this beautiful, brilliant woman needed her Father as deeply as any struggling soul he had ever met.

“It’s crazy to be jealous of him,” she said, breaking the silence. “He really went through hell. He watched as his teammate was killed in front of him. Actually, it was worse than watching it. He got blood on his clothes. He got blood on his face. I just...I don’t think we can imagine what it’s like to go through something like that and find the will to move past it, let alone believe in this good God who loves us.”

Asher tightened his jaw.

He had just been handed an opportunity to share his own story.

It was the perfect timing. She made it clear by the empathy she had for her brother that she would at least try to understand.

But he couldn’t do it.

She wasn’t the only one who was good at running away.

“You’re right,” he said at last. “I’ve never experienced anything quite like that. Despite his flaws, John’s faith is inspiring. I’ll pray for him.”

He looked out the window, not wanting to look at Karlin, even as he continued to cling to her hand like a lifeline.

He didn’t lie. He had never experienced exactly what John had experienced.

But he did know what it was like to have a teammate of his own die.

And worse?

He hadn’t been a witness.

He’d been the cause.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR

THE WOMAN

BEFORE

Mother did not keep the woman waiting.

It seemed that the closer the two of them grew, the more quickly the serpent could find her.

What had once taken hours of focus and great gulps of foul-tasting liquid now required only sips and moments.

The woman wondered if one day, she would be able to contact Mother without the need of drugs at all, but she was not yet prepared to ask.

For all of the kindness that Mother exuded, there was still something terrible and mighty about her. It always felt like she could break apart the world in an instant, sending the woman falling into the depths.

Perhaps she could.

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