Taking Light {Sequel: "For Love of Evil"}

-21-

The silence was unsettling as Roman rounded the curve, glancing at Lyra timidly. He had not told Lyra that Olivia had been at the institute, or that she knew Lyra was alive and living with him.

As soon as Roman entered the basement level, Pryce had taken Roman aside to discuss Ares's absence. He had come up empty handed on finding anything incriminating against Ares. Oneirology Project One was just as he had claimed—the study of dreams; nothing more and nothing less. Pryce was concerned as to why Ares had yet to come into work—he had not been in for two weeks; since his wife's death.

"I thought we were going to Destiny's apartment?" Lyra asked, seeing that they were driving on the familiar road leading to Roman's glass house—they were going home.

"They're gonna come over. I have to show you something first." Roman pursed his lips. He was not looking forward to telling Lyra the truth, but knew it was in her best interest. With all the threats lurking in Hemlock Grove, Roman knew Lyra deserved a safe haven, incase the danger decided to come into their home, while Roman wasn't there.

Lyra was now twelve weeks pregnant - realistically speaking, there wasn't a chance of him convincing Lyra to terminate the pregnancy. She had made it clear she was going through with it.

Roman saw that when he had gone into the basement level; he saw her staring at the monitor in amazement, looking at the fetus on the screen, watching it swim in her womb. It was strange to Roman, but then he saw that it actually looked like an infant - a very small infant with arms and legs and fingers and toes. He saw the wonder in Lyra's eyes as she watched it move. He couldn't take that away from her.

Lyra wanted to ask Roman what he wanted to show her, but kept her mouth shut in fear of him shutting down and not showing her at all. Roman seemed different—he had been unusually quiet—calm. He hadn't laid a hand on her or raised his voice. It wasn't Roman's typical characteristic behavior.

Once pulling into the driveway, Roman got out of the vehicle. He walked to the passenger side, helping Lyra get out. He rested his palm on the small of her back until reaching the porch. He unlocked the door, stepping out of the way as he waved Lyra inside first. Roman closed the door, staring up at the staircase in dread. He nodded toward the stairs, gesturing for Lyra to follow him.

She looked to Roman quizzically, trailing up the stairs in cautious strides behind him.

Roman stopped in front of the locked door, putting all his weight onto his hand as he braced himself against the wall, staring down at his feet. He looked up, his head still in a downturned position as he looked to Lyra guiltily. He swallowed, pushing away from the wall when noticing Lyra wasn't speaking. He twirled the silver ring around his finger, licking his lips nervously.

"I saw Olivia today." Roman finally said.

Lyra's eyes grew wide, wondering what had taken so long for Roman to tell her. "Where- when?"

"I saw her car in the lot when we pulled in. She was in Pryce's office, going through his desk. She knows, Lyra... she knows you're alive and that you're living with me." Lyra scoffed with a small smirk. "This is serious. Now we got someone else we've gotta be looking over our shoulder for."

"It's Olivia." Lyra stated flatly; her bored eyes unamused. "I'm not afraid of her. You shouldn't be either-"

"I'm not afraid of her. But with everything going on, she could slip through the cracks- make her way in without raising suspicion."

Lyra folded her arms, inhaling deeply in aggravation. Roman had remained surprisingly calm, which caused Lyra to react the same in turn.

"Okay," She nodded. "What did you wanna show me?"