the middle of Temple Bar with no freaking clue how’d I gotten there! I have no idea what happened. And everything has changed! It’s all so different, like I came to in the wrong—” It broke off, narrowing its eyes. “That happened a year ago? I was in that alley a year ago? I’ve lost a year? What is the date, I need to know the date!” Its voice rose with hysteria as it surged to its feet.
I took a step forward without meaning to and it pressed back against the crate, trying to become paper thin. Its hands went to its head, then one shot out to ward me off. “No, please, don’t come any closer!” It whimpered until I took a step back.
I looked at Barrons.
It is conceivable, his eyes said.
“Bullshit!” I snapped. “Then how do you explain the body I buried?”
Fae illusion?
I cursed and spun away. Turned my back on the imposter. I couldn’t keep looking at it. It was dicking with me royally. I couldn’t believe the body I’d buried hadn’t been her body. I didn’t want to believe it.
Because deep down—desperately and with every ounce of my being—I wanted to believe it. Discover that someone, somehow, perhaps a Fae, had hidden my sister away and she’d never died at all. What a dream come true!
Unfortunately, I don’t believe in clichéd happy endings anymore.
“Why do you have a ring on your finger?” I shot over my shoulder.
“Darroc asked me to marry him.” Its voice caught on a sob. “You said he’s dead. Is that true? Have I really been missing for a year? Is he alive? Tell me he’s alive!”
I glanced over my shoulder at Barrons. Is it really human? Could whatever it is be fooling even you? I sent silently.
I sense her as fully human. Further, Ms. Lane, she smells like you.
I blinked, my eyes snapping wide. Do you think she’s my sister? If Barrons believed it, I might have a complete meltdown. Or suspect my entire reality of being false. Barrons was nobody’s sucker.
Not enough evidence to make that call.
What do I do?
What do you want to do?
Get that thing out of here.
Kill it?
No. Remove it
What will that accomplish, Ms. Lane?
It will make me feel better at this very moment and that’s enough.
Continue questioning her, he ordered.
I don’t want to.
Do it anyway. I’m not taking her anywhere.
She’s not a “her.” She’s an “it.”
She’s human. Deal with it.
I waited for him to remove the imposter. He didn’t. Pissed, raw, seething, I kicked a crate out from the wall and dropped down on it. “You can start by telling me about your childhood,” I fired at it.
It gave me a look. “You tell me,” it fired right back.
“I thought you were afraid of me,” I reminded.
“You haven’t done anything.” It shrugged. “At least not yet. And you’re staying far enough away. Besides, if I really lost a year and Darroc’s dead, do your worst,” it said bitterly. “You’ve got my sister. I don’t have anything left to lose.”
“Mom and Dad.”
“Don’t you dare threaten them!”
I shook my head. It was acting like my sister. Bluffing me like I would have bluffed. Tried to keep the Book from knowing I had parents, if it didn’t already know, then threatening if the Book appeared to be threatening them. Another twist of the worm in my apple. I was rapidly losing my grip on reality.
“Who was your first?” Failure, I didn’t add.
It snorted. “Leave it to you to remind me of that. LDL.”
Limp-dick-Luke. The town jock had remained a virgin much longer than most high school guys for a reason. He hadn’t wanted word to get out that the powerhouse on the football field wasn’t in bed. The loss of her virginity had been an epic failure. He’d never managed to get hard enough to break her hymen. But Alina had never told. Only me, and we’d christened him LDL. I’d never told either.
If my sister wasn’t dead, what had I been fighting for? Grieving? Avenging? If my sister wasn’t dead, where the hell had she been for a year?
Dani carried the blame for her death. If my sister wasn’t dead, what really happened that night in the alley?
“Rightie?” I looked at Barrons. I so didn’t want this thing—or anyone for that matter—checking out that man’s package, but there were things, intimate things, Alina and I had shared. Such as eyeing a man’s crotch and deciding which side he tucked his dick down. Alina used to say, “if you can’t