“Possibly. Isn’t that what you want?”
“I…I’m not sure.” Throughout all of this, I haven’t considered the idea that this combination of women in front of me could somehow change into one being. Would the others leave, or would they all merge into one?
Do I even want that to happen?
Without a doubt, all of this is confusing and frustrating and completely fucked up, but I’m not convinced I would want it any other way.
“Bishop?” Netti reaches over and touches my arm.
“Yeah?”
“Seri cares for you deeply,” she says. “Don’t frighten her again.”
“Well, what should I do next time? I don’t want to upset Seri, but sometimes I need to talk to you.”
“Whisper my name three times,” she says. “I’ll hear you.”
“That would be a lot simpler.” I smile. “Can you bring Seri back now? I know I scared her, and I don’t want her to be afraid of me.”
“Yes, I can do that, but Bishop—you can’t tell her any of this.”
“Don’t you think she has a right to know?”
“Maybe someday,” Netti says, “but she is fragile. We are all fragile.”
“That’s a crock of shit. You don’t tell her because you and Iris are afraid.”
“Yes, we are.”
“What do you think will happen if Seri understands the truth? What do you think she will do if she knows she is not the only one inside of there and that she wasn’t even the first?”
“We don’t know. We just know that the risk is too high.”
“I don’t think you give Seri enough credit.” I hold my hands up in surrender before Netti can argue about it any longer and change the subject. “What else do I need to know about Kyle?”
“I think Iris has told you everything,” Netti says. “None of what she said was untrue. He is ruthless, and we don’t think he will stop looking for us.”
“And he did try to kill her before.”
“That was his intent.”
“So it stands to reason that he would try again.” Dark thoughts invade my mind once more.
“We believe he will. If he finds us, he will kill us.”
“I’m not going to let that happen.”
Chapter 27
Weeks pass.
Solo has become a sleek and muscular cat, and he is determined to reach the highest points possible inside of the cabin. His latest game is to climb to the top of whatever surface he can reach and knock whatever is on said surface to the floor. He’s driving me nuts, but he is still fun to watch.
“Bishop, do you know what the date is?”
“No,” I reply. “Late December, I guess. Something like that.”
“Has Christmas passed?”