Chapter Two

Doppler

“Dorian! About time you got here.” Finn eyed me, alerted by the jingle of rattling chains Dorian wore too often on his pants. Something he considered trendy in his goth phase. This was the version of Dorian that Finn remembered at twenty-two, so I ensured I always presented myself in this manner.

I didn’t care much for Dorian’s try-hard style, from the heavier eyeliner and eyeshadow to the constant over-accessorizing of silver chains: necklaces, bracelets, and the thin chains looped on his overly tight black jeans. Fuck, I hated that man.

Still, my chest warmed at Finn’s sweet smile, taking me in.

He sat up, ready to hop out of the hospital bed, until I added a little trickle of magic to leave him woozy. It was cruel to leave him locked in this illusion of a hospital room, reliving the same few days of recovery on loop for months on end. My magic couldn’t erase his memories, but thankfully, Finn’s retrocognition controlled all facets of the past, including his own. A subtle shift here and there, and I managed to sway his branch to repress those horrifying experiences bound in tar and trapped for over a decade as some magical battery to a power-hungry monster. It wasn’t control or force, mere suggestion. A whisper in the corridors of the mind we borrowed for safety, guiding and instructing Finn’s branch unbeknownst to him.

It felt manipulative, like I was stealing pieces of him. But it wasn’t. I wasn’t. I had every intention of divulging the whole truth to Finn, to Milo, but they needed time. Once I’d fixed everything, they’d see they needed me as much as I needed them. Finn wasn’t ready for the full extent of the truth; I sensed his fragile subconscious, still scarred by the atrocities inflicted at the hands of the chimera.

And there was so much for Finn to absorb and reflect upon when the time came. He was dead. Well, he’d died, but his memories lived on in a piece of fragmented magic stolen by that chimera who sought to take Finn’s branch. The only blessing in Finn’s cursed fate was that the actions used to torment him had kept him alive in a sense. He could live again. He would live again. I’d ensure it.

Still, it was too much to fully unravel, from Finn’s torture to his death all the way to a small piece of his being, his magic, his consciousness, ending up bound to the chimera. I scowled. That damn demon had proven harder to remove than anticipated.

“You look like you’re in a mood,” Finn said. “ At least you’re not stuck in here all day. Feels like I’ve been in this hospital forever. ”

“It’s been three days.” I approached, sitting at his bedside. “Don’t be dramatic. It’ll just make your recovery longer.”

Finn chuckled. Slowly, he slid his hand across the bed, reaching mine, then pausing. My heart thumped. My throat dried. Everything froze in those fractions of seconds as our skin tingled so close to contact. I felt more like Dorian in these seconds than I’d felt in years. The desire to brush my pinky against Finn’s, the hesitation, the wonder, the unexplored feelings.

Yes, Finn had feelings for me. Or had feelings for who he believed me to be. But I wasn’t Dorian. Not anymore. I’d broken free, expunged from the shackles of that worthless witch. Still, under the guise I’d taken, it would be cruel to indulge in Finn’s affections. I didn’t deserve it, not until I’d saved him. Truly freed him and found a way to resurrect this piece of his soul into physical form. Dorian lacked the knowledge or stomach for the measures I planned on taking.

With a delicate touch, Finn interlocked his fingers with mine, and all the anxiety for what came next washed away. Such a beautiful man whose gentle aura soothed one as monstrous as mine.

Finn squeezed my hand. “ So, your branch is working then? ”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” I asked, delving into what sparked such a curious question from him.

“My branch has been off since I got here.”

Not that I needed to pry into his thoughts. Finn remained an open book, trusting me implicitly. And why wouldn’t he? I loved him. I wanted what was best for him. Always.

He traced his thumb along the knuckle of mine, his eyes staring off while his mind trailed into theories. “ I figured the hospital put up wards to block branches, but it’s just me. Just my magic not working. Maybe you were right, and that gorgon did a bigger number on me than I realized... ”

“It’s just a few days.” I scooted closer, bringing our interlocked hands to my chest. The thump of my heart hit harder, banging so loudly I worried it’d echo in the witch’s mind I’d borrowed. Finn had that effect on me. Always had. He saw me as more than a piece of Dorian’s magic, some manifestation puppet of a weak witch’s willpower.

“Since when do you dwell on your manifestations?” Finn asked, joy in his hazel eyes. “ Hey. I just glimpsed a memory. ”

I forced a cough, offering an excuse to pull my hand from his and clear my throat. “See. Your branch is just fine.”

And that’d be a problem. I hated retreating from him, but if Finn glimpsed my memories too deeply, he’d see past the fa?ade of shallow memories I guarded my surface with on an illusion of Dorian. He’d see how I spent months torturing that demon latched to Finn’s being. He’d see how I skirted around Milo’s clairvoyance, avoiding The Inevitable Future because I sought to paint a new future for us.

Most of all, he’d see the deepest memory of my manifested core—the day Dorian consciously summoned me based on research he’d done at Gemini Academy during his first year as a student. Dorian really had no comprehension of how deep his branch ran or the fullest potential it held. If he did, he’d have known manifestations were but the tip of the iceberg. Finn called me real that day while Dorian smothered me back into his subconscious because he was incapable of handling the dual vision we shared, having compared it to a kaleidoscope. Fool.

“You really should quit smoking.” Finn grinned, boyish and teasing. “If not for you, how about for me? Or Milo?”

“Not happening,” I said, adding the gravelly rasp of Dorian’s typical disdain he held in his early twenties. “I don’t like either of you nearly enough.”

“But you do like us,” he said with a joyful lilt.

Love. I loved them. My face heated. Finn and Milo accepted Dorian’s brash hostility too willingly. Anyone else would’ve brushed that prick aside, which he deserved. But those two were truly the best.

True to Dorian’s fashion, I kept my feelings to myself, unwilling to let Finn see too deeply. This masquerade of bodily reactions was something I took solace in despite my very hollow creation. I didn’t have blood that flowed up to my face, making pale skin burn bright red. I didn’t have a heart to thump so loudly it might burst from my ribcage. None of that existed in my core, but the illusion of them, the sensation, all came from the fine craftsmanship of magic sewed into the stitching of my very being.

“You play it close to the vest, but I see you, Dorian.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“It’s like Jasper. He acts like he doesn’t care, clocking in and out, doing the day-to-day…”

“What?” I cocked my head while Finn continued comparing me to Jasper.

Fuck.

I’d allowed myself to be distracted by Finn, and now his retrocognition had bloomed in full effect. Not only had he latched onto my memories, but his magic had seeped beyond this phony hospital room and into the deepest recesses of Jasper Cononley’s mind. I’d spent too much time analyzing Milo’s magic to avoid his visions, too much time failing to carve out that chimera latched to Finn’s being, and plotting ways to remove the obstacle of Dorian. I had to prioritize all that I’d worked for if I wanted a happy ending for Finn, for Milo, for myself.

“Finn, you’re truly the smartest man I know. You always find a way to stumble onto the mysteries of the universe without even trying.” I leaned over, kissing his forehead. “But I need you to rest for now.”

“Huh?” Finn’s mind spun beyond the parameters of what I’d dimmed from his perception and into a blur of Jasper’s mind.

Jasper. I ground my teeth. A worthless witch whose mind I’d borrowed to store Finn and myself away from Milo’s magics. Jasper was a boring man with a rudimentary understanding of his root magics, no effort to improve his lot in life, and an underwhelmingly dull branch magic that offered him no potential for greatness. Couple that with a bland personality, a sloppy physique, and poor features, and Jasper really had nothing grand to bring into this world. Honestly, if he had even an inkling of our presence in the inner core of his mind, he’d relish it since this was truly the highlight of his droll existence.

I kissed Finn’s closed eyes, careful with the beautiful curl in his lashes, and wiped away Jasper’s memories that’d soaked into Finn’s thoughts.

Soon, I’d take Finn from Jasper’s hovel he called a mind. I trembled, skin tingling in anticipation. Soon, I’d set everything into motion, saving Finn from the demon latched to his consciousness like a parasite, revealing the best future for us to Milo and removing the stain on existence that was Dorian Frost.

Before I could bring any of this to an end once and for all, I had to remove the demon, kill that false devil, and finally free Finn of it. Since Finn was technically dead, the piece of his magic still alive, needed to be cleansed of demonic energy if he ever had a chance to truly live again.

But in order to exorcise that monster, I needed more power. Power that’d help purge the feral beast locked deep inside this mind. Once I obtained the magics necessary to remove the chimera, I could return to Dorian’s mind with Finn at my side.

There were so many variables to consider when overtaking Dorian’s mind and claiming the body and life that rightfully belonged to me, but when he saw I’d done what he couldn’t. When Dorian realized his failures to their truest extent, it’d shatter his psyche. I’d show Dorian that I’d saved Finn where he’d failed. I’d show Dorian every potential future of Milo’s magic that’d synchronized within me because Dorian’s feeble being couldn’t fathom such overwhelming force. I’d reveal the full extent of our branch magic and use it to shatter Dorian Frost’s mind into nothingness.

I deserved to finally be happy, and Dorian deserved what came next.