“You better not mess this up,” Lila says, being all hardcore. “If anything happens at all, I’ll track you down and cut off your balls.”

The detective appears highly amused by the threat. “Duly noted.” He turns to me. “I need to go over a few things with you. First and most importantly, under no circumstances are you to get into a vehicle with anyone.”

“You think they’re going to ask me to do that?” I ask, stirring my soda with my straw.

“It’s a possibility, yes.”

“Can’t you just arrest them when they show up?” Lila absentmindedly steals a fry off my plate and pops it into her mouth.

He puts his hands out in front of him being very down-to-business. “We will arrest them, but we have to be careful and move slowly so we don’t spook them. We want to make sure that this ends with us getting Sadie back. You have to understand, these people aren’t your typical criminals. They have heavy beliefs that bind them to each other. Cracking down on them and trying to get them to out the rest of the group isn’t something that’s going to easily happen. In fact, from all the information I’ve collected on them throughout the case, more than likely, they’d easily go to jail to keep their secrets.”

Lila swallows hard. “All right, I’ll trust your judgment, then.”

“Thank you,” he says. “Now, Ayden, I want you to listen carefully.”

He gives me rule after rule: no acting spooked, keep calm, no trying to take matters into my own hands. He acts as though I’m going to flip out when the person shows up and try to kill them. While I briefly ponder the idea, I would never do something like that.

By the time he’s given me the rundown, there’s ten minutes left before go time. I’ve eaten probably a total of five fries and feel sick to my stomach.

“Are you ready for this?” he asks me after he pays the bill.

I shrug and then nod. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The detective and Lila leave the diner first, getting in his unmarked car and driving down to the location. I climb in Lila’s car and remain in the parking lot for five more minutes before backing out. Then it takes me three minutes to get to Golden Center Docks and another two to get out of the car.

I reach the dock that stretches out over the water with no time to spare, which is exactly what I was hoping for. The last thing I want is to be standing out here in the open, terrified to fucking death.

The water laps under the wooden dock I’m standing on, and the trees enclosing the area move with the wind. The sky is dark, the moon full, and the stars bright. In the distance, I spot the building the detective mentioned. Every now and then, I hear a noise and wonder if it’s the person meeting me here or if it’s the police. I can’t really tell. In fact, I can’t really tell much of anything other than I’m edgy as shit.

Finally, at around a quarter after ten, I spot movement from the path that leads down to the dock. I turn and watch as the figure descends the shallow hill and heads straight for me. My muscles seize up, and I want to run, but force myself to stay put.

When the person reaches the edge of the dock, I realize I’m cornered. The only place for me to go is in the water. Whoever it is has all the control, which instantly makes me think it’s someone from the Soulless Mileas.

They slowly make their way toward me, each step premeditated. As they get closer, the moonlight casts across them, and my jaw drops. They’re wearing a red raincoat with the hood pulled over their head and black rain boots.

She stops halfway down the dock, leaving at least ten to fifteen feet between us.

“Hello, Ayden.”

“You’re the person who was at that house,” I say with my eyes trained on her. “The one who warned me the place wasn’t safe.”

“It wasn’t safe,” she answers calmly in the same gruff voice she used that day. “It wasn’t time for you to go yet.”

A chill slithers up my spine.

“What do you want?” I ask, daring to take a step toward her. “Why did you ask me to come here?”

“I didn’t ask you to come,” she replies, taking a step back. “You were chosen to come.”

“You were chosen, Ayden,” she whispers in my ear. “You were chosen for this since the day you were born.”

I blink from the memory and step toward her, my legs shaking. “It was you . . .”

“Close your eyes,” she says. “This is going to hurt.”

I stop in the middle of the dock. “You were there.”

She shakes her head. “No, I wasn’t. I’m here now, though.”

She speaks like everyone else in my memories, her words wrapped in riddles.

“Tell me why I’m here,” I demand, my voice echoing around us.

She glances at the water behind me, and then her gaze slides to the trees. “Ayden, you’ve been a bad boy.” Her eyes land back on me. “You were supposed to come alone.”

Shit.

She turns and races off down the path toward the direction she came. I run after her without thinking, refusing to let her get away. Tree branches whip at my face as I keep my eyes on her, tracking her as she swings left then right before veering into the trees.

I dive in after her, the leaves and branches thick around my face. I know somewhere in the midst of the trees there are officers, but I can’t hear or see anything other than the woman laughing from somewhere.