I picked up my pace, panting, my hands throbbing as the pine resin inflamed them.

No. Didn’t make sense. Didn’t make sense.

The pain stopped.

I regarded my hands. The boils and scratches were gone. Yes!

But still more trees stood in my way.

Trees… Trees… Trees…

Until they were gone.

And I stood once more in the clearing.

The steel cube stood in the distance.

The elevator.

I ran.

And I ran.

And I ran.

Yet the elevator seemed to be getting farther and farther away.

Until I stopped abruptly, the steel wall only a foot away from me.

On the mossy ground lay the key.

Pick it up.

Was that my voice? No, it was my head. Someone had planted the words in my head.

Perhaps that someone was me.

Was I ready?

I didn’t move, and the key stayed in place.

For so long I’d buried this memory under layers and layers of steel in my mind.

The roots, the cold, the tree—all were barriers I’d created.

I’d made it through the barriers.

Only this last barrier—this key—remained.

Pick it up.

The words again.

I bent over and grasped the key. The metal was hot against my flesh, so hot I nearly dropped it. Metal should be cool, not hot. I inhaled.

An acrid scent of burnt flesh.

The key fell from my hand, and in my palm, a sizzling red burn in the shape of it remained.

No!

No!

I bent over and picked it up again, determined to see this through. It still burned my hand, but I didn’t care. I slipped it in the keyhole above the elevator pad.

Turned it.

The elevator doors slid open.

And I entered.

51

Charlie

I sat in the waiting area. I’d leafed through another issue of Cosmo and was now looking at People.

Roy hadn’t talked much at dinner, and I hadn’t told him about my lunch with Blaine. Didn’t matter. Nothing had been accomplished, anyway, and Blaine knew now where I stood. Of course, I’d made it clear before, and that hadn’t stopped him.

I sighed.

The receptionist looked up. “Do you need anything?”

I shook my head. “Sorry. I’m just a little antsy.”

“I’m sure he’s doing fine.”

I smiled and gave a slight nod. I was sure he was doing fine as well. I was just nervous about what was about to be revealed.

What it might mean for Roy.

I loved Roy Wolfe. I loved him more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being. I wanted the best for him. I wanted him free from pain. I wanted whatever had been tormenting him out of his head.