Page 40 of You Only Love Twice
"I heard about the explosion while aboard. I didn't... I didn't know what to think. I thought you were dead, and a part of me was so angry at you, because I'd loved you, and you'd tried to kill me. But I didn't want you to die."
Obsidian cocked his head, as if he were trying to pick through her story. "Why would I believe you?"
"The question you should be asking yourself is why did you think I tried to kill you? If you cannot remember what happened in Saint Petersburg, then someone had to have told you. Do you trust their version of events? Or do you trust mine? What reason would I have to lie to you?"
Obsidian stared at her flatly.
Then he pulled his pocket watch out of his waistcoat and examined the time. "Your twenty minutes is over. I'll leave you to get dressed."
Then he was gone, and Gemma didn't know what to think.
Chapter 10
What reason would I have to lie to you?
Damn her. The words played over and over in Obsidian's head, twisting and warping his memories until he could almost smell the smoke curling off the pistol in his hand, and see Gemma's eyes widen in shock.
I shot her.She's not lying about that. But why? Why did I do it?
Why can't I remember?
He couldn't afford to let any of his turmoil show. Not right now with both Dr. Richter and Ghost watching him like a pack of hounds circling an injured calf.
"Tell me," Dr. Richter said, picking up one of his infernal notebooks. "Have you been suffering from any strange dreams or... recollections that might seem like memories?"
Obsidian hadn't been able to avoid this assessment session. Ghost insisted, the message had said, and he'd come here directly, his fist still crumpled around the scroll of paper one of the acolyte's had given him when they tracked him down near the tower.
"Memories?" Obsidian's heart kicked hard, and the doctor glanced at the machine on the counter as the arrow on the pendulum ticked, just faintly. Obsidian eased out a breath, his chest straining against the leather straps that bound him to the chair. "No. Should I?"
He lied as easily as he breathed. He hadn't been able to, once. He remembered that. But now he knew all the little quirks they'd be looking for. The right words to say.
Richter examined hisdissimulerdevice, examining the counterweights. The faintest pressure could set the pendulum moving; a sign of a swift intake of breath, a rapid shift of his heart rate, or muscular tension. The doctor claimed it could help discern a man's truth.
But he'd managed to outwit it years ago.
Obsidian stayed as still as a cobra about to strike, forcing his heart to still to a slow, steady beat. His body held the silence of a sniper taking a breath before he peered through his rifle and pulled the trigger. He let all of his inner turmoil—his thoughts—wash out of him, leaving nothing behind except for a sudden, intense clarity.
"Hollis Beechworth. Do you recognize this name?"
"She tried to kill me," he said, by rote.
"Very good." The doctor made a notation in his notebook. "And Gemma Townsend? What does this name mean to you?"
"One of Malloryn's spies. She was once Hollis Beechworth. She seduced me, then tried to kill me in Russia."
"Excellent."
The doctor put his notebook aside and picked up the leather mouthpiece. "Open, if you will."
Obsidian allowed the intrusion, breathing heavily through his nose as the doctor strapped it into place, some of his hair pulling as it was caught in the buckle. He stared directly at the far wall, thedissimulerpendulum making a rabid clicking noise as his heart rate accelerated and his breathing quickened.
A dull pit of fear blossomed within him.
He couldn't afford to forget again. Not now, with Gemma locked up in Mably House, and Ghost's assassins out there searching for her.
And the truth beckoning....
"It's all right," Richter assured him, patting him on the shoulder. "This is an assessment, nothing more. I promise."
