Darkly, Madly Duet

by Trisha Wolfe

“From yourself,” I say. “From Lydia, apparently. We’re human, London. We waver. We doubt ourselves. I couldn’t risk losing you.”

“You’re the closest thing to freedom I’ve ever tasted.”

“As your doctor, as the woman who loves you, I’m telling you to embrace him. He’s not your enemy. Stop trying to escape, Grayson.”

“A lock and a key,” she says. “We are an inevitability.” My smile stretches. “Till death?”

“No. We still need him.” She glances at the guard. He’s watching us. “It’s my choice. Mine.” Rage lashes at my insides. “Then you better get to him first.”

The second I saw the tattooed key on her hand, I knew exactly which lock manufacturer it belonged to. From there, it was only a matter of obtaining blueprints. Getting a record of which jails and holding cells in Maine used the same manufacturer. “I chose Rockland for more than its scenic beauty,” is all I say aloud to her.

She smiles knowingly. “We’re a fucked-up kind of inevitability. Not fated. Doomed.”

“You’re still beautiful,” I say, my voice thick with the accent I try to conceal. “My dark angel.”

I shake my head. “I didn’t. That’s the fated part, London. The variable between us I’ve never been able to break down and analyze. We’re inexorable. Inescapable. The one prison I don’t want to escape.”

London’s key will be an exact fit.

“We’re connected on some deeper level,” I say to her. “Through bars and cages and prisons…in the physical sense and the mind. That’s why you could never be expendable to me. You’re my match.”

“He’s going to take me,” she whispers. “Let him take me.”

They’re taking their time, making the adequate preparations. Making sure I have no chance of escape. And Nelson is going to take her. London’s only chance is if Nelson is terrified to touch her. I work at the key, sweat leaking into my eyes. The burn satisfying. When it’s time, I go. And I make sure I do enough damage on my way out that Nelson knows I’m coming for blood.

Grayson has yet to make contact. After his violent escape from police custody, he apparently fled Maine. I can only speculate as to how it happened, the reports biased and muddled and not having near enough facts. Three officers were injured during the escape, but only superficially—and with the state I left Grayson in, I’m truly surprised there were no fatalities.

A clover rests on a bed of fleecy cotton. I glance around the garden, my chest tight. “Grayson…” I close the box and head out of the aviary, the feeling that I’m not alone lingering on the edge of my thoughts. It started here. It has to end here.

We had a design. We had each other.

Death at my lover’s hand. The ultimate reward and punishment for our perfection.

I aimed to set Grayson free. In the end, I succeeded.

Only I lived it—and now my name is synonymous with the Angel of Maine. We’re a duet. Forever linked.

They sound, and I look up into the branches of the tree. Two silver keys twinkle above. My heart lurches.

It was a huge risk.

Glancing over my shoulder once, I note that I’m still alone, then enter the unit. I pick up the globe and laugh. “Of fucking course.”

I coordinated an elaborate scheme, but I believe the most impressive bit of magic I performed was in becoming invisible.

A hand slides into mine. I stop walking. I’m held back from the rest of the tour group as they progress ahead. For a few beats, I let the coarseness of his palm speed my heart. Adrenaline pours into my veins and skitters along my skin. Then I turn to face Grayson.

I then had ten minutes to make it to a storage unit in London’s name and administer the antidote she concocted. Seems she had a scientist friend in the forensics’ department who enjoyed a challenge. And who enjoyed money even more. The key to the antidote is under the container. Her whispered words to me right before she pressed the knife to my neck.

But change and acceptance are a part of becoming a couple. A duo. A team. And that’s all there is. Fin.

She is stunning, beautiful. My dark goddess. My angel and savior.

Because I know, if that day ever comes, London won’t fail me. She’ll give us the tragic ending we truly deserve.

Then, Grayson and I will move to another country for a time. Our plan is to keep relocating. Leaving behind no more than one victim in each place.

“We’re safe, London. We’re free.”

Grayson says I’m his angel, but it’s he who watches over me. My dark protector.