Chapter 22

"So," Mary said with a saccharine smile. "Tell me."

"Tell you what," Reid asked sullenly from his seat across the room. The witch sat composedly against the door, not having made another move towards him. Reid wasn't sure what to think. Kat was safe-ish, but his great plan seemed to have deflated since her release. Mary had done nothing but sit and watch him in silence since he put the knife back in his pocket, and it had been at least half an hour.

"Tell me about her. The girl. Why would you die for her?" She sounded… well, to say 'genuinely interested' would be a stretch, but she at least sounded a little curious. Reid looked at the older woman, suspicious, and Mary made no effort to hide the nasty threat in her eyes. Still, the question lingered, and Reid could detect no ulterior motive for asking.

"Not planning on dying," he finally answered ambiguously. She stretched carelessly.

"That will be decided later, boy. Until then, I'm curious."

"I'm so sorry for you," he said sarcastically. "Curiosity killed the cat, right?"

"I won't finish that moronic quote for you."

"Thank you."

"Why don't you want to talk about her? Surely you love her; don't you want to rhapsodize?" Reid rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Like I'd rhapsodize to you, of all people."

"I just let her live. I want to know why she deserved it." A gleam came into the blond's sharp blue eyes, and he tilted his head.

"I'll make you a deal. Tell me why she deserved to die, and then I'll explain why she didn't." Mary shrugged.

"She was convenient," she said, blasé to the end. Instead of bristling, Reid laughed. There was a certain brash edginess to the laughter that grated at Mary, but she ignored it.

"That's your reason? That's why a 17-year-old girl deserved to die?"

"It wasn't a matter of deserving."

"And neither is her life. She didn't deserve to die, and I guess by your reasoning, she didn't deserve to live, either. But either way, it's none of your business. You don't get to decide who's deserving and who isn't." Mary shrugged again, a simple roll of her shoulders.

"Granted."

"You were really gonna kill her, weren't you? When I first got here."

"Of course." Reid focused his quicksilver gaze on the witch, resting his elbows on his bent knees and letting his hands dangle between them.

"Ever killed anyone before?" Across the room, Mary's darkling eyes narrowed. Her hair, burnished coppery red, looked almost like tendrils of living, moving blood as it fell across her cheeks. Sinuous. Deadly. Reid thought of Medusa, beauty and monstrosity all at once. He felt, in that moment, very still.

"Have you?" There was something terribly intimate about that question, and it made Reid extremely uncomfortable. It wasn't intimate in the way he was most familiar with, but in a way that was alien to him, soft and poisonous and awful.

"No." She smiled.

"You've come close, though, right? I've read your file, Reid Garwin. I know all your little personality… quirks."

"That explains why you underestimated me over and over, right?"

"Still. I know your history." Faking nonchalance, he lifted one shoulder.

"So? Still haven't answered my question."

"I've killed before," she said quietly. "When I had to. I know how it feels. Just like you."

"I've never killed anyone," he retorted, the calm quickly fading.

"But you've put them in the hospital. You put that one boy in a coma, Reid, and that's practically the same thing as murder."

"I did not kill Todd Alvers," he said, low and angry.

"No. You just came so close you scared yourself, didn't you? Scared yourself so bad it was months before you got in another fight. Face it. If you survived tomorrow, how long would it be before you took that extra step, pushed that extra inch? How long before you killed someone for real?"

"I'm no murderer." She pushed herself forward, leaning towards him across what felt like miles and miles and oh God, it felt like there were mere inches between them. A slow, knowing smile crawled its way across her face, her bloody hair teasing her throat.

"Not yet," Mary hissed, very deliberate. Reid held her gaze, sickness sliding around his gut in hot, insidious waves. "You're already addicted, Reid," she continued steadily. "Even now, you can't stop yourself from using." Muscles constricting with surprise and horror, Reid looked at his hands, felt them humming with energy, felt the seductive power rushing through him. His eyes burned black.

"No!" Slamming his open palms against the cold floor beside his feet, he ripped himself away from the power. Panting, he regained control. So weak. God, so fucking weak! He couldn't let her get to him. Couldn't let her win.

"See? I'm helping you, Reid," Mary told him gently, and the worst thing was, she actually seemed to believe it. The cruel hiss was out of her voice as if it had never been, and as she reached up and gingerly tucked strands of red hair behind her ear, the image of Medusa faded. "I'm helping you, and everyone you care about. Once you ascend, if you get out, how long do you really think it would take for you to lose it? To destroy everything in your path, including your friends. Including Kat."

"I wouldn't hurt them," he responded softly. "I'd kill myself first." To his utter amazement, Mary's eyes filled with tears. Compassion flooded her features, and her voice, when she spoke, was quiet and understanding.

"You'd think that, wouldn't you? But it'll take over. The power. You won't be you anymore, and you won't have any control over it." Reid stared at her, unable to recognize the hard-hearted bitch who had shot Kat, threatened him and called him a killer.

"You're insane," he breathed at last. "You're fucking nuts." She bit her lip.

"I do what I have to do, to protect and provide for my coven. To honor my Goddess." He shook his head.

"Insane," Reid repeated. Mary shrugged.

"If I must be criminally mad to do my work, then psychotic I will be. I know the truth, and so does She." Reid could feel the capitol 'S' of the word. Swallowing, he turned his head away and closed his eyes, counting in his head.

1…2…3…

Don't lose control. Just because you're trapped in a room with a sociopath does not mean you can lose control.

5…6…

Just keep counting. Be calm. Be strong. Be smart. Be goddamn Caleb if you have to, but keep it together!

8…9…

Wait it out.

13…14…

Just wait.