Page 2 of Lost Feather
“Lie.” A flicker of pain shocked me, like someone had laid a burning branch against my face.
Ow! I told you my name!
“That isn’t your name. Lie again, and your judgment will be more severe. Your name, now.”
I didn’t have a better answer. I mean, murderer was certainly accurate. But I didn’t know who I really was or evenwhatI was.
I don’t know,I admitted, after another tiny flick of fire landed on my arm. It used to be Tili. I call myself Feather.
A vast silence thrummed in my ears. “You do not remember? We will discover who made you and what you are. Besides a murderer.”
Great, he’d heard my thoughts. And who was “we?”
“I hear every thought.”
Awkward. I guess he’d also heard all the sexy thoughts. Ugh, this was so not my day. Well, it wasn’t like I’d ever meet Sexy Judgy Voice Guy in the real world. Might as well play along.So, I have a theory.
“A theory?”
A hot press of fire brushed my neck when I hesitated.Ugh. Stop that, whatever it is!It felt like a knife made out of lava. And I was definitely not into knives, no matter how sexy the guy.
“I’ll stop when you answer me.”
I take it back. I don’t want to play punishment bedroom games with you. What kind of jerk just breaks into a woman’s mind and starts demanding answers when she has a migraine and is covered in blood? Who the helter-skelter are you?
The silence stretched into a steel edge. “Answer me.”
Like I said, I have a theory.I took an imaginary deep breath. The last time I’d admitted this, I’d ended up eating all my meals with spoons and sitting in a circle in group therapy, drooling from the effects of some very strong psychotropic meds.I think I’m a superhero.
“A super… what?”
I know. But I can do stuff, or stuff happens around me. Time moves slowly when I need it to.
The voice didn’t answer for a moment, and the deeper growl took me by surprise when he finally spoke again. “When you need it to?”
Yeah, like tonight. When Wright was trying to hurt Lily—more than hurt, and my mind bloomed with gratitude that I had been there to save her from so much worse—and I needed to stop him, and there was a knife, but not close enough—
“So you neededtimeto kill him.”
Not exactly, I thought quietly. It seemed like he had already decided I was a simple murderer, so explaining wouldn’t help. I’d been trying to save Lily from becoming a killer. But this guy wouldn’t believe me, I could tell.Whatever,I thought, as loud as possible.Had to get the angle right, you know? It’s harder than you’d think to kill a guy with a table knife.
A chill filled the imaginary room. The silent, frigid moment stretched longer as I waited for another flick from the invisible blade. This was getting old. It was time to start making excuses to some very nice detectives, see if I could talk my way out of jail… without lying. I wouldn’t add even the tiny sin of deceit to the ones I’d already committed.Hadto commit.
But it was still pitch dark.I wish I could see you. Or see anything. Are you holding my eyes shut? I mean, this is a very strange chat we’re having. I wonder if I’ve lost my mind. Is this what crazy feels like? Maybe I’m in a coma, or—
“Do you ever stop?” the voice snapped out.
It’s my hallucination, I snapped back,so I guess not. What the hello do you want me to tell you anyway?
A pulse of anger. “The word isHell. It’s what the Abyss wants with you that has me concerned. You saved the girl.”
She has a name. Lily.
“Lily, then. You saved her life, and then her soul when you took the knife from her, and the smut on yourself. The evil you bear now.”
So much for hiding my thoughts.It’s called smut?He could see the burden I carried, the heaviness that coated my soul when I protected my vulnerable and defenseless charges? No one ever had before; not even I could, though I felt it in every moment of every life.
“Tell me about your smut.”
