Rituals (Cainsville 5)

"It was exactly like that, Pamela. You said my father did it. That he loved me so much he did that for me. You threw my father under the bus to save yourself."

"No, I said it because you love him."

I stared at her. "You accused him out of jealousy?"

"Of course not. You've always loved him more, and I never blamed either of you for that. He is easy to love. I am not. I accused him out of panic. Obviously, I didn't think it through, or I'd know you'd get to the truth eventually and hate me for the lie. All I thought at the time was that you loved him and so you would forgive him, as you would not forgive me. You would understand he did it out of love. With me? Nothing I can say will convince you I did it for you. You cannot forgive me."

"But I have."

A bitter laugh. "Ah, yes, I can tell."

"I forgive you for killing four people because they were killers. If their deaths let me walk? I'm okay with that. What I cannot forgive you for is James and Gabriel. The death of a man I loved. The attempt to ruin the life of a man I love."

"Love? Gabriel?" Her spine snapped straight. "I hope you're saying that to taunt me, Eden."

"I'm saying it to drive home exactly how much I hate you for doing that to him. You say I loved you less, Pamela? Maybe so. But I did love you. I might still. Yet it'll never erase what you did and how much it hurt me." I got to my feet. "One last question. How did you find out about Greg Kirkman?"

She stared at the table, eyes unfocused, as if she heard my words but couldn't relate them to anything we'd been discussing.

"Greg Kirkman," I said. "How did you know he'd be a Cwn Annwn target?"

"Because he killed a girl with fae blood. I heard talk in Cainsville." She settled in, finding her balance now. "The elders are careful, but once you know what they are, you understand more of what you overhear, as I'm sure you've realized. I knew there was a serial killer, and one of his victims was partly fae, which meant the Hunt would want him."

"But Kirkman wasn't charged with any crimes. The police had barely begun investigating him. How did you know he was

the killer?"

"I heard the elders speculating. I did some digging and then confronted him and tricked him into a confession. I killed him, and the Cwn Annwn came."

--

I sat in Gabriel's car, still parked in the prison visitors' lot. He'd been waiting in the hall. I hadn't said a word as we walked out, nor once we got into the car, and while I could feel his impatience strumming, there was too much going on in my head.

It felt like I was under a cliff, an avalanche rumbling above, and I was frantically trying to figure out what to do next, where to run, one eye on those trembling rocks and Gabriel standing in the distance, motioning that he needed to speak to me.

Wait. Just wait. Let me figure this out first.

Once I got my thoughts as ordered as I could, I turned to him and said, "Sorry. I'm just..."

"Busy."

I nodded.

"Did Pamela confirm your theory?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And..."

I said nothing, just stared out the window.

After a moment, he said, "Olivia?"

"I need to get another answer."

"One you don't want."

"Yes."