“I have to get out of here,” she says desperately.
“What? Why? You don’t have to worry. They’ll get Zoth and then—”
“You don’t understand.”
“You weren’t the mastermind,” I say stubbornly.
“No.”
“Then just open up to telepathy, and—”
“I wasn’t the mastermind,” she repeats glumly.
And that’s when it hits me.
She didn’t spearhead the murder.
But somehow or another, she had been involved just the same.
“Bay…”
“Just let me go.”
I hesitate, and Bay starts to fly away, but a blur zooms by me. Bracken. He tackles Bay out of the air, and I can’t stand to watch him arrest her.
Dully, through tear-laden lashes, I make my way back to the fight. Zoth is holding his own, and when he sees me, he starts to cackle, his teeth stained with blood.
“Your sister tell you the truth yet?” he calls.
“Shut up.”
“Did she? Did she explain how she—”
My knuckles meet his mouth. It hurts, the blow, his teeth scraping my knuckles, but it also feels good too.
The others pile on him, tackling him, and Cosmo manages to place the magic-dampening cuffs on him.
“Don’t worry,” Cosmo grunts as he helps Zoth up. “We’ll find a spot for you. As for Bay…”
I close my eyes. When will this nightmare end?
Hours later, Zoth is sent away to some demon prison, and Bay’s being dealt with now. I keep asking Cosmo and Bracken for any news, but considering they’re sitting outside of the main security building with me, they don’t know anything more than I do. Damon and Sage are here too.
Finally, Pine leaves the building. To my horror, Bay’s with him, and she’s still wearing cuffs.
“Let her go,” I plead.
Pine grimaces and shakes his head. “I’m afraid I can’t.”
“Why not? Bay, please, consider telepathy!”
“Rosemary, you’re only going to make things worse,” Pine murmurs. “If you’ll excuse me…”
“Where are you taking her?” I demand, shifting to the side even though I don’t want to.
“She’s being sent to Dark Fae Penitentiary, and I am going to escort her there personally.”
“What? No!”
I dash over to Bay and hug her.
She stares at me with her purple eyes, so similar to my own. Before, it used to seem as if we were two halves of the same person, but that's no longer the case. Not personality-wise and not look-wise either.
“Don’t worry about me,” Bay murmurs. “I’ll be fine.”
I stare into her eyes. She… I think she might be lying. Fairies can’t lie!
Only the most powerful fairies can.
Bay is powerful, but is she that powerful?
Just what is she capable of?
And if she can lie, who knows what secrets she’s been hiding and for how long.
“You take good care of her, do you hear me?” Bay tells Damon.
“Always,” he says softly.
“Rosemary, tell Mom and Dad I love them.”
“Anything else?” I ask. My voice cracks.
“That’s it.”
I nod, unable to talk past a lump in my throat.
“Rosemary?” she ventures.
Again, I nod.
“I love you too.”
"I love you, Bay." I break down crying, but Pine's had enough, and they start to fly off until Bay stops suddenly, and Pine can't get her to move forward.
My tears slow, and our gazes meet.
She looks so much like her old self for a second before confusion crosses her features. "Why do I feel like we have to have a girl talk about dicks?"
I want to laugh. I really do, but I'm too devastated. The vow is forcing itself on us, but now isn't the time.
"Later," I tell her. "We can talk about that later."
Pine glances between us. "Seriously? You made a vow to—"
"Don't you judge us," Bay snaps, and I love her all the more for her defending us when she doesn't even remember why we made the vow in the first place. Despite what she's done, she's still my twin.
"I'm not judging," Pine says stiffly. "I'm just… surprised, that's all." He glances between us. "That enough for you both?"
I open my mouth to answer in the negative, but that would be a lie. After a brisk nod, Pine forces Bay to fly away.
In a word, I am utterly devastated. What am I supposed to do now?
“Don’t worry,” Sage says, flying over to me. “Everything will work out. If Bay is innocent—”
“I don’t know if she is or isn’t,” I say sadly.
Damon rubs my shoulders. “You aren’t her. Her mistakes are on her, not you.”
“I know, but I don’t want to be doomed to repeat them.”
“You won’t. You know better, and you’re stronger than that.”
I snort. “I don’t feel strong. I feel…”
A sob chokes me off, and as much as I appreciate them trying to be there for me, I need to do what I have to do, what I said I would do after we located the killer.
“Damon, why don’t you go see if there’s anything anyone needs?” I ask.
Damon tilts his head to the side, eyeing me curiously before complying.
I turn to Sage. “Hey.”
“Hi,” he says after a slight hesitation, probably because we already exchanged pleasantries earlier.
I feel so utterly drained, like I'm going to collapse into myself, or maybe I'm just freefalling in a pit of despair that is going to swallow me whole. The sensation of drowning overwhelms me, and I close my eyes, focusing on my breathing, trying desperately to ground myself.
Mom and Dad. What are they going to think? Mom will want me to stay close to home as a result, but I have to be me. I have to move forward alone. Without my twin.
It’s going to be scary, terrifying even, but I will not let this break me. I won’t let this define me. The future looks dark for Bay right now, and I hate that so very much, but she would want me to move on with my life, to move forward. I have to trust that the police will get to the bottom of what happened, the truth.
Bay’s on her own now. She’s left me behind for a place that I won’t dare to follow. She’s made her choices and has to live with the consequences, and I have to do
