Page 65 of Her Gluttony
“I have to,” I say.
“There is no way back from what you are about to do,” she says in a sad tone.
“Shaw,” I say. “I have to. I need the hat. I need peace.”
There is a moment of silence on her end.
“What was her name?” she asks me, and goosebumps spread over my arms. She is too good. She figured it out. I gave her too much.
Words don’t come over my lips. Instead, my heart races faster than it can beat.
“Whose name?” I bark out because my throat closed.
“Come on, Avery, we’re done with the games.”
I stand at the arc, leaning against a column as I stare at the fountain. The last time I was here, it was with her. Almost ironic, Shaw asks me about her now.
“Emily,” I finally say as I spot the slim woman with the grey hair sitting by the fountain, her back to me.
The water shimmers in the morning sun, reflecting the beautiful shades of the autumn trees in yellow and orange in it.
“What happened?” Shaw asks.
“She died,” I say coldly.
With that, I hang up.
I walk up to Hedda and sit next to her.
“I must say, it took me a moment to figure it out,” I say without looking at her.
She chuckles darkly.
“It was a brilliant choice,” she says.
“No,” I say. “It was predictable.”
“What gave it away?” she asks.
“You were always a sucker for hiding in plain sight.”
She smirks slightly.
“I have raised you right,” she says.
“No,” I say coldly and look directly at her. “You didn’t raise me. You used me. All I am today is because I am stronger than anything you could ever do to me.”
She scoffs.
I pull the gun.
“You will never find it if I am dead.”
“Tell me where it is.”
“Certainly not,” she says, laughing derogatorily. “What you don’t understand, kiddo, is that you’re searching for redemption with something that was never real.”
“What do you mean?” I say.
