“Why the fuck would I sit?” he growls out. “You’re fucking insane—”
“That,” I pointedly say, “is up for debate, but as for right now, you and I have other things to discuss, such as Wren, so please, sit down.” The moment I say her name, I note the way his body tenses up.
“She’s not here, is she? If she’s going through the same fucked-up maze—”
I shake my head. “I would never put Wren in a maze like that.” Gesturing to the chair on the opposite side of the table, I say again, “Sit. Let’s talk.”
He looks around. I don’t know if he’s searching for a weapon of some kind or if he’s debating on whether he should just run and ignore my request. But, seeing as how he’s here and not down there having made the wrong decision, I don’t think he’s going to run. Not now that I brought Wren up.
After a moment or two of internal debate, Logan moves to sit across from me. He never takes his eyes off me, and his mouth is turned in a deep frown.
“I have to admit,” I say, moving so I face him, “I didn’t know if you’d make it out of there. Kudos to you. People tend to let their minds go when they find themselves in a situation like that.Believe it or not, you’re the first person who hasn’t disappointed me when it comes to my mazes.”
“You’re a fucking psycho.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”
“So, what, you trap people and kill them in mazes like that?”
Now I shrug. “The trapping and kidnapping, yes. Killing them, well, you remember the first message you saw. Your life was always in your hands, as their lives were in their hands.” My brothers have a much more intimate way of dealing with their obsessions. I prefer to let my subjects make their own choices.
“That’s some twisted shit.” Logan waits a moment before he asks, “What would’ve happened if I would’ve chosen my life?”
No point in lying to him now. If he’s that curious, then he might as well know what particular fate he narrowly avoided. “You would’ve walked into a dead-end room, and the door would have swung shut behind you, sealed up tight, and eventually you would have run out of air. Not a fun way to go.”
He gives me an unimpressed look. “You really are fucking insane.”
I only grin at him. I have to admit, even though he’s radiating anger, he’s quite calm, considering the ordeal he just went through. He is surprising me more and more. “Again, I never claimed otherwise.”
“What the fuck is this about? Why do you want to talk about Wren?”
“Why’d you choose her life over your own?” I shoot back. “I didn’t even have to specify whose life you were deciding on. You already knew deep down I meant Wren when you saw the choice at the end.”
Logan’s jaw tightens. “What do you want with her?”
“What doyouwant with her?” My question causes him to look away for the first time, his frown deepening. He doesn’t saya word, but he doesn’t have to. I already know what he wants with her.
Finally, after a while, he looks up and sends me a glare. “If you hurt her—”
“I would never,” I state with vehemence. “Unlike you, that is. Let’s not forget how your actions caused her to get hit that night.” As I say it, a look of confusion crosses his face. “Yes, I know all about what happened that night at the karaoke bar.”
“You were there. I fucking knew I felt someone watching me.”
“I’ve been watching you for a long time.”
The declaration doesn’t appear to surprise him in the least. “I fucking knew it. Why?”
“Because you were so close to Wren. She is… unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. She’s unique, precious, the kind of person that makes me feel alive and not so, how did you put it? Fucking insane. I’ve been watching Wren a lot, too. Getting to know her and her life. You were an unknown for a long time, and now that you passed the test, I’m confident you won’t hurt her again, but just for the sake of things, if you do hurt her, next time I won’t give you a choice between your life and hers. Next time I will simply take yours.”
“Next time,” Logan echoes unhappily. “So, what, you’re going to let me walk out of here like nothing happened? What if I go to the police and tell them all about how crazy you are?”
“If you do that, then I suppose I’ll have to tell the world you’re Pope from Black Sacrament, and that one of the other members of the band is your younger brother. I do wonder if Black Sacrament would be so popular if the mystery of its band members was no longer a mystery.”
He doesn’t ask me how I know, but if he did, I would tell him that I have my ways. My ways mainly involve secret cameras, butseeing as how he doesn’t say a word after that, I think he realizes it’d be best if he keeps his mouth shut about this.
“As long as you don’t hurt Wren again, you and I are on the same page,” I say.
“And what page is that?”