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Red laughs again, that horrible broken-glass sound. “Oh, sweet Donny. There is no ‘us’ anymore. There’s just me now. They’ve gone very quiet.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “No. No, they wouldn’t?—”
“Wouldn’t they?” Red’s head tilts, studying me like I’m a specimen under a microscope. “Anna tried to erase Madscompletely. Mads was ready to sacrifice everything for you. They’re both so tired, Donny. So very, very tired.”
She reaches toward the camera again, and I find myself leaning back instinctively. “But I’m not tired. I’m energized. Focused. I know exactly what needs to be done.”
“And what needs to be done?” I ask, though I’m terrified of the answer.
“The board needs to be cleared,” she says simply. “All the pieces that threaten our king need to be removed.”
“What board? What pieces?”
Her smile turns predatory. “You’re so cute when you’re confused. Don’t worry your pretty head about it, Donny. Just know that when I’m done, you’ll be safe. All of you will be safe.”
“That’s not your choice to make!” I snap, anger finally breaking through the fear. “It’s their life—Anna’s life, Mads’s life. They get to decide?—”
“They decided,” Red interrupts coldly. “They decided the moment they created me. When Anna couldn’t handle the reality of what needed to be done, when Mads was too emotional to see clearly—that’s when they called me into being.”
She leans back, examining her bloody fingernails again. “I am their decision, Domhnall. I am what they chose when they couldn’t choose for themselves.”
I stare at her through the screen, this woman who wears the face I love but speaks with the voice of a stranger. “You’re not what they chose. You’re what their fear created.”
For the first time, Red’s smile falters. Just for a second, something flickers across her features—uncertainty, maybe even pain.
“Perhaps,” she admits. “But fear has always been an excellent motivator.”
Her head snaps to the side again, and she frowns deeply. “Now they’re both yelling at me. Quite rude, really, considering I’m trying to have a conversation.”
“Let them talk to me,” I beg. “Please. Just for a second.”
Red sighs dramatically. “Fine. But they can’t take control. I won’t allow it.” She closes her eyes, and when she opens them again, there’s something different there. Still Red, but... more.
“Domhn?” The voice is Anna’s, small and frightened, though Red’s lips don’t move quite right around the words.
“Anna!” I lean forward desperately. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m scared,” she whispers, and I can hear tears she’s not allowed to shed. “I want to come home. I want this to be over.”
“It will be,” I promise. “I’ll make it stop. Just tell me where you are?—”
“No!” This voice is Mads, sharp and commanding. “Donny, you have to stay away. This is bigger than you know. If you get involved?—”
“I’m already involved!” I shout. “The moment they took you, I was involved!”
“You’ll get yourself killed,” Mads continues, talking overme. “And then what was the point of any of this? What was the point of protecting you if you just throw your life away now after everything?”
“My life doesn’t mean anything without you in it,” I say, and the words come out broken, desperate.
There’s silence on the other end, and when Red’s voice returns, it’s cold and clinical again. “How romantic. And how utterly impractical.”
The faces I love are gone again, locked away behind Red’s empty stare.
“They’re quite done talking now,” Red informs me. “All that emotion makes them tired. But they wanted me to tell you something.” She pauses, as if listening. “They wanted me to say they love you. Both of them. Very much.”
My throat closes up entirely. “Tell them?—”
“I’ll tell them,” Red interrupts. “When they’re ready to listen. Right now, they’re too busy arguing about strategy.”
