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Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

Cora fell to her knees, still clasping her skull, and then in desperation fell to her side, letting this absolute stranger who not fifteen minutes ago she’d bound and gagged do whatever he wanted to her with his pocketknife. He was saying something, giving instruction, but she couldn’t hear him. Then he pinned her head to the ground. She clenched her teeth, clasped her hands together in front of her as the man knelt in front of her. “Please, get it out!”

She felt him begin to dig around in her ear canal, miss a couple of times, and then one was out.

“Got it,” he said. “Turn over.”

She did as he said, and surer of himself now, the second one came out quicker. He flung them on the ground like they were poisonous insects, and she half expected him to stomp on them. She sat up, rubbing the outside of her still-ringing ears with her knuckles. Kaveh picked up the two earbuds, wiry things that looked like metallic mosquitoes clasping invisible marbles. She could still hear the screeching hell noises emanating from them. She wished she were alone. If this strange man weren’t here, she could cry like she needed to, but now it was taking every ounce of energy left in her to keep it in.

“Are you okay?” he asked. She didn’t look at him, keeping her head down, grasping her elbows tighter, and nodded.

“Hey,” he said, his voice gentle. But this time, it wasn’t the careful, tightrope-walker gentleness of a hostage negotiator but warmer, more sympathetic. It frightened her. “Listen . . . I want you to know that I forgive you for the night of pain and torment.”

Cora laughed, and a bit of a cry snuck itself in on the laugh, hitching a ride.

“I’m not going to say it didn’t suck—it did—but I understand why you did it, and thank you for giving me the option to run free and make millions off your horrible secrets. But I’m not going to, not yet at least.” He hovered his hand about a foot away from her back, like he knew touching her was a bad idea, but miming the act was fine. She found herself wishing he would drop the pantomime and touch her. “Do you think we could start over?”

Cora wiped her face, swallowing the stress that was begging to come out in the form of tears. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, are you hungry?”

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