I get back to my room and slam the door behind me as the sun is disappearing under the horizon. I don't bother turning the light on as I chuck my phone at my bed.

My mother has been breathing down my neck even more than usual. She's even got a Hunter to follow me around at all times.

It's driving me up every wall on the island.

Part of me wants to jump into the ocean. See how close I make it to the mainland before I'm eaten by sharks. It would be better than staying here another minute, feeling her fingers gouging into my shoulders every time I try to move. Feeling the Hunter's eyes on me every time I try to slip away to the bathroom.

I can already hear the elevator dinging as my new "friend" comes to berate me for evading him. "Fuck this," I snarl and start for the window. I may be several stories up, but I'm a Protector. My legs won't break. Or... they'll heal. I'm halfway out the window when the phone on my bed starts to buzz. My eyes snap to it. An unknown number, but with the city's area code. My heart stammers. It couldn't be. He'd never. Not after what I did. Not after the look he gave me in that facility.

But there's a chance.

And I wouldn't pass it up for anything.

I scramble back inside and throw myself at the bed with reckless abandon. I roll and slam into the wall as I'm bringing the phone to my ear. "Hello?" I ask, hoping against hope.

"Hello, we've been trying to reach you about your car's-."

I sink into the bed at his voice. "Mason," I whisper.

He quiets and I imagine him looking at his shoes, running a hand over his hair. "Yeah, sorry, bad joke." Then he catches himself. "I mean, I'm not sorry."

"Mr. Singh, please open the door! Your mother is expecting you-."

"Leave me alone!" I roar and throw a pillow at the door.

"Bad time?" Mason asks.

"No," I breathe. "No, no, I'm just... dealing with my mother's..." I don't know. Everything.

"Ah," he says.

"Where are you? I'll come meet you and I'll explain everything and-."

"And what?" His tone is suddenly harsh and cold, like an iceberg.

My lips tremble. "Mason, please. I wasn't choosing her. I had to. I-." The reason had seemed so good when I told my mother. Saving Daisy. It had seemed worth it. But now, all that matters is that I hurt Mason. "Why did you call if not to make me explain myself?"

Mason sighs, harshly. "I don't know. Maybe I want to punish you."

"Knowing you're safe is the opposite of a punishment."

"Mr. Singh!"

"Piss off!"

"I'm getting mixed messages from this call," Mason says.

"Not you," I coo into the phone, holding it close to my face. "Please, don't hang up."

"I won't. I haven't finished giving you a piece of my mind or whatever yet."

It takes great effort not to laugh. Even if it wouldn't make him mad, I don't want to hurt him anymore than I already have. "Well?"

"Oh, right. Well, your mother is experimenting on people who can't fight back. I don't know what she's looking for yet, but I'm gonna find it. And when I do, I'm gonna kill her."

"To punish me?"

"No," he sighs. "No, because... because I want to punish her too. I blame her for killing my parents. And I blame her for Daisy and Dion. I blame her for Amari, and me, and the world. I blame her for you. And maybe I'm the only one willing to be a martyr for this cause, but that's okay. I'll be the martyr."

My heart crawls into my throat and I almost open my jaw to see if it'll fall onto my comforter. "A martyr? Mason, what? You don't need to be a martyr. There doesn't need to be a martyr at all."

"Open your eyes, Tarak. You saw what she did to Daisy. To Dion. You've been seeing what she's been doing! You've known all along! And I'm sorry I want her dead because she's your mother. But that doesn't mean the world won't be better off without her. Without me."

"Okay, but we can try her legally, or-or something."

"Why? So the truth can disappear with me when she kills me? I'll be just like my parents then, won't I?"

"I'll do it, then."

"You're not going to prosecute your mother, Tarak."

"No, I mean the other thing."

"What, you'll kill her? As if."

"I will," I rasp, my heart humming along at its normal pace. I hold the mic closer to my pulse. "I will," I insist.

"Right," he growls. "That'll be the day. The day Tarak Singh holds a gun to his own mother and tries to shoot her. Give me a break."

Tears gather in my eyes, and I take a short breath to keep them in. I ball my fist and shove it into my mouth.

Mason closes his eyes; I can feel it. Feel him regret what he said. "No, Tarak, you're not going to kill your mother, because I am. You're not going to take my revenge away from me."

"I'm glad you've accomplished your mission with this call," I murmur.

Something rustles and I know he's sat down. I can picture him now, if I close my eyes, outside some shitty convenience store. In a pair of sweats that aren't his, and a loose plaid, button up, cow-boy shirt, and his combat boots that he won't get rid of. He looks like a mess. Bloodshot eyes, his hair getting too long so it's swooping in his face, tears on his cheeks. If I breathe deeply enough, it's like I can smell him on the wind. Sweat and something cedar. If I squeeze my eyes tight enough and ignore the Hunter still knocking on my door, I can see myself right next to him. I lean into him until we can feel each other, and he shudders.

Mason on the phone takes an asthmatic breath and the Mason in my mind's eye covers his face with his hand, pressing closer to me. "You know, I think Ryan wants me like this," he says.

The fantasy crackles, but I force myself to hold onto it, even though it hurts now. "Do you want him?" I ask, my voice jack-knifing.

I imagine him turning his head to me and giving me that 'are you stupid' look I know so well.

"I want to want him," he admits. "So that I can stop dreaming of you."

"I had a good reason," I whisper, as if that'll let him stay mine.

Mason in my mind is chewing on his lip and the Mason on the phone is breathing heavily. "I know," he says, finally.

"You know?"

"I know. I know whatever reason you have will absolve you, Tarak. I know I'll forgive you because I can't hate you. But none of that changes the fact that every single time I tell you something in confidence, it goes back to her. Whether you've chosen her or not, I still get hurt, Tarak. I trust you and all you do is give me reasons I shouldn't. You've got no idea how much it hurts that the one person I want more than anything is the one person so determined to ruin things."

"I don't want to ruin anything, Mason. I want you, too!"

"But you can't even want all of me. Because I can't tell you about all of me. Because you'll tell her. I understand having secrets, Tarak. I want to have secrets with you. But I can't. Because those secrets will become her secrets and she will use them to destroy me."

"Give me another chance."

"I can't."

"Please."

"I won't. I'm done, Tarak. I have to move on."

"But I can't, Mason."

He takes a shuddering breath again and I see him pinching the bridge of his nose as tears drip down his face. "That's not my problem, Singh."

The line goes dead.