Dead Letter Days by Kelley Armstrong

Author:Kelley Armstrong [Armstrong, Kelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781989046753
Published: 2023-07-02T18:30:00+00:00

After that, I take Storm for a walk by myself. Casey doesn’t ask to come. One look at my face, and she squeezes my arm, murmurs she’ll have coffee with the others.

I walk for nearly two hours. I don’t go far. Twice, the path leads me back toward the lodge, and I veer out again after checking to be sure Storm’s up to it. She is, and even if she were getting tired, I think she understands what I need and how much I appreciate the silent company, the soft pant of her breathing as she stays in front of me, checking now and then to be sure I’m still there.

I come to a realization on this walk, and it’s the second-toughest thing I’ve had to admit to myself.

The first-toughest was when I had to face the fact that I didn’t want to lose Casey. I’d spent half my life losing people. First, my parents, and then, the endless stream of friends and lovers in Rockton, where no one stays long—no one except me. I’d girded myself against the pain of loss and kept every relationship light and casual. And then along came Casey. In the end, I had to admit that I’d rather endure the pain of her leaving than not have her in my life for a while, fully and completely.

With these letters, my gut says it’s the best of all possible outcomes, and that feels . . . I can’t even articulate how monstrous that feels. Am I really saying that the anguish my parents endured was good? Fuck no. But as a solution to what happened to me, this is the answer I can live with the most, even if it makes me want to catch the next plane south, pin Gene Dalton to the wall, tell him exactly what I think of him and hope to hell I don’t kill him with my bare hands.

I wouldn’t kill him. Wouldn’t even beat the shit out of him, though I bet most people wouldn’t believe that. Casey would. She knows that the badass sheriff is an act. I can throw a punch—and I will—but it’s theater. I will get my revenge on Gene Dalton on behalf of my parents and myself, but I will not lay a finger on him.

I have lived the last ten years of my life not knowing who’s the villain in my story. Is it Gene, who took me from my parents? Is it my parents, who neglected me to the point where I needed to be rescued? Was it Émilie and the council, who knew of my kidnapping and turned their back on the obvious lie of it? Or could it even be me—was I such a terrible child that my parents didn’t want me back?

The answer is that there is only one true villain. Gene Dalton. Émilie and the council were fooled, easily done when they didn’t live in Rockton or even have a video link.

And my adoptive mother, Katherine? I don’t have the answer to that yet, but I’ll need it.

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