Chapter 37

The pain had been so intense, almost as though she were being impaled on something sharp. It was blinding in its power to make her head spin and her body feel like a bowl full of half solidified jelly. She felt sick. More than sick. She felt as though she were dying and there was nothing she could do about it, especially not now she was on her own again. Now that Nurse Guillyham, her saving grace in this hell hole, had gone back to her duties.

If she could have screamed out for help she would have, but the painful sensation had taken her voice away, along with pretty much all her other senses. She felt completely powerless. Worse even. And all she could do about it was allow herself to sink to the ground. The sterile, grey, laminated matting covering the floor felt cool below her. Something about its coolness felt good against her skin and almost soothed the pain she was feeling. For a long time she just lay there, half wondering if she was dead, when a light coughing nearby alerted her to someone else's presence.

Using what strength she had, she pulled herself round to face the newcomer. For a long time she didn't recognise who it was. The dark blondness of the hair, fringed with black and the iridescent blue of the eyes made her head swirl. But then something in the shaping of the face, in the lining of the jaw snapped into her exactly who it was she was faced with.

'SK…?'

'That's right,' he nodded, his tongue briefly skating over his lower lip. 'It's time for you to leave this place and go home now.'

'Home,' her voice was weak and weary, 'back to Kansas.'

'Kansas,' SK frowned.

'This isn't my home,' she felt almost too weak to move, 'this isn't where I belong. This isn't the world I came from.'

'No,' he sighed, 'it's not. Although I'd have rather you didn't know that.'

'Why?'

'Because it just complicates matters.'

'How?'

'Now's not the time Catilin,' he sighed again, 'we have to get you home.'

'Back to Duke? My Duke?'

For a long few minutes SK was silent. There was something about the silence which chased away what remained of the pain inside her. Suddenly she felt more alert than she ever had in her entire life. Opening her eyes she sat up and, with grave anticipation, stared into the new face of SK.

'He's gone, isn't he? My Duke, there's no way for you to get him back, is there?'

'It's more than that…'

'What else could it be? I'm prepared to help him get better, even if I never get my Duke back.'

'But there isn't anyone to help,' SK shook his head.

'What's that supposed to mean?' Catilin was starting to feel more than a little panicked now.

'It was the only way to stop the Teen. The only way that would work.'

'What was? SK what happened? What did you do?'

'Nothing,' he shifted his gaze away, 'I did nothing but allow myself to finish my evolution. I just stood by and let what had to happen, happen.'

'What had to happen?'

'The Teen had to be stopped Catilin, you understand that, don't you?'

'The Teen, yes, but my Duke…?'

'In the end it was the only way.'

Again there was silence, during which Catilin found herself gripping the material above her heart. There was no getting round it. No other explanation now. That pain had felt like death because it was death. It just wasn't hers.

'Who did it,' her voice shook as she spoke. 'Who killed him?'

'It was suicide.'

'Suicide,' she laughed in dull disbelief. 'He wouldn't… no… he couldn't have. Please…'

'It was what happened.'

'I don't believe you SK,' she locked her gaze with his. 'It was murder, it had to be; it can't be anything else.'

'Catilin you weren't there…'

'And you were?'

'No,' there was something almost too careful about the way he spoke.

'Then how do you know it was suicide? Did his killer tell you that? Did they?'

'Catilin you don't understand, his death did more than stop the Teen; it completed my evolution. It's… it's what I've been waiting for.'

'What, are you trying to say? You wanted him dead? The multiverse wanted him dead? What?'

'No,' he grabbed her tightly hold by the shoulders and forced her gaze to meet his, 'this wasn't about want, it was about need. Your husband needed to die, not only to stop the Teen but to complete my evolution. Please trying to understand this because I don't know how else to say it; there are now two parts of me that are in love with you.'

'What?'

'I was always destined to evolve, but I was never destined to evolve alone. My evolution started with Win's power boost, without which I wouldn't have been able to accept what was left of Jay; to become the first part of the Hybrid I now am. The Hybrid Duke completed.'

'SK…' she stared up at him wanting to pull away in horror, 'what… what are you saying?'

'Your husband completed my evolution. He is a part of me, just like Jay is a part of me. We are one, but we are also three. I know their thoughts, their feelings. I am them, they are me. Do you understand?'

'No, no I don't understand. How? How is it possible? How can you be him?'

'I'm not him, he's a part of me.'

'But how? How did it happen? How did he become a part of you?'

'Isn't it obvious?'

'No,' she shook her head, 'and even if it is I want you to tell me. I want to hear you say it.'

'It's not something to be afraid of Catilin. I'm sorry it had to be like this, but it was the only way to complete the evolution. From the moment I worked it out… I had mixed feelings about it. I didn't always want for this to happen, but I came to terms with the fact it had to happen. That's why I couldn't be around the rest of you. I couldn't stand there, knowing he was going to die, and do nothing.'

'You did nothing…' her voice broke.

'There was nothing I could do,' he turned his gaze away, 'this was always his destiny.'

'I don't believe you. How… how could this… how?'

'I don't… I can't…' he shook his head, 'just know this; I love you and I will take care of you no matter what, because that's what he wants, that's what they both want and since they are me, that's what I want now too. So please let me take care of you Catilin, this will all be okay, I promise.'