White Orchids {BOOK 1 COMPLETED}

ACT 2: Chapter 22 - (part 2)

I take a deep breath and force myself to take those last steps through the gate. The small, hidden meadow lies on the other side of the door. Rampion is already seated on the white chair.

"Does it usually take this long for you to walk through one fucking gate?" He asks like I was minutes late.

"What was that back in the hospital? What were you doing?" I ask, unable to hide the frustrated side of me.

The dark and hollow eyes seem filled with irritation even though the pink mouth smiles.

"I was reaping."

"He thought you were someone else."

I cross my arms and a lump gets stuck in my throat. If Paweł was fooled this way, then it's likely my dad was too.

"I was someone else. All that shit didn't come from me. That's the thing with shapeshifting. It doesn't just change how you look like; it invites them in, you become them. Or like a mix of them and yourself. It's hard to explain."

"So, was it Ewa that asked him to give you his soul?"

I'm trying to feel sure of my own opinion. But at the same time a small thought has entered my head. I'm not that different. I wanted to lie to that woman on the mountain, to use her religion against her. Maybe Rampion had gone through the same thing, tried reaping in a sincere way but realized that he had to lie to get the best results. Or did he know from the beginning that it was impossible?

"It was I that asked," he admits but the tone in his voice is still coated in bitter annoyance, "but she would have done the same thing."

I frown. "How do you know that?"

"Because I was her." He sighs, he mutters a few words I cannot catch before he continues, "how many times do I have to explain? When you shapeshift you receive all their memories, their feelings, and personalities. I was her. I was on the inside and controlled her like a game character. But everything she said and did was her. Not me. I made Ewa do what she needed to, to make sure that the old codger would give us his soul. And I know how she thinks, and she'd do the exact same thing even if it meant lying. How hard is that to understand?"

I move close enough to place my hands on the table. "And if those who you shapeshift into would hate you using them in that way?"

I cannot read what he's thinking under the large bear head.

"I take comfort in the fact that I fool them into a better choice. I rather be reborn or taken to a paradise over being a ghost in a hospital. That's something you'll understand eventually."

I've already understood it, and I know that he's right. I'm not even sure why I want him to admit that what he did was wrong. Am I so desperate in being right that I refuse to back down?

I sit down at Sun's chair. "Then how do you choose who you want to shapeshift into?"

I'm tired of this pointless argument.

He moves his shoulders. "I do my research."

"And what does that entail?"

He leans closer and I automatically recoil.

"Arkaros has a library for the dead. You can go there and check for any relatives or friends of the contract. The only rules are that they have to be dead or be a soul wanderer."

The Contract. It sounds unpersonal and leaves a foul feeling in my stomach.

"There's a library in Arkaros?"