Page 131 of The Last Session

“Well.” He shifted, lifting one ankle over his knee. “It’s like I told you the night I met you. I used to have a crush on Catherine.”

“When?”

“As a preteen. But I followed her through the years. And when I saw that Sebastian Smith had died, I knew she’d be devastated. So I drove to LA. I felt like she needed me. I tried to figure out where she lived, but she wasn’t on social media.”

My stomach dropped. The truth was dawning on me. Jonah—Joe—wasn’t just a part of this cult. He was also a stalker.

“But I caught a lucky break.” He smiled softly. “I found out where Sebastian’s funeral was and waited outside. Eventually, she came out and got in a car and I followed her to her house. The next day she came out and went to this yoga studio. All I had to do was give them my credit card and I was in. She seemed like kind of a zombie in class, so I decided to give her more time before I tried to approach her. You know, I slept in my car. Showered at the yoga studio. And just went back and forth, every day. She always went to the same class. Finally, at one point I got the nerve to put my mat next to hers. That was the day Moon was the substitute teacher. Catherine switched to her classes, and they’d talk afterwards. So I made sure to get there early and chat with Moon too. One day she asked if I wanted to get a smoothie with her and Catherine. And that was it. I was a part of Moon’s group.”

I nodded throughout, like this all made so much sense. “Then what?”

“I don’t know.” He frowned. “Catherine wasn’t what I expected. She was pretty cold. I wasn’t hitting on her or anything like that—I just wanted to get to know her. But Catherine was so focused on Moon. It wasn’t healthy, you know? I mean, Sol loved it. He thought he had this little harem or something.” A sigh. “And then we came here when COVID started. Moon got into the past-life cohort stuff, and it explained everything. Why I’d always felt so drawn to Catherine. But then when I met you… I realized I’d been wanting to be withyouallthis time. Not Catherine. I wish we had more time together. But I guess that’s what a tragedy is, right?” Joe was different from Jonah: hunched over, uncertain, his fingers picking at hangnails. Even his voice was a little different: higher, softer.

I thought suddenly of the opening ceremony. When we’d written what we wanted to release on those thin pieces of wood.

Joe/Jonah’s had confused me.DOUBT.

“Joe.” A warm feeling suffused my chest. “You don’t really believe in this stuff, do you?”

“What do you mean?” His dark eyes darted to mine.

“All of this.” I spread my free hand. “I work in mental health. I know shared psychotic disorder when I see it.”

He shook his head, his face going pale.

“Listen to me.” I made my voice confident, hard. “This is all make-believe. Moon has brainwashed you into a fantasy. A part of you knows that. And if that’s the case… Joe, you’re really hurting people. Grace could be dead. Catherine is not well. This needs to stop.Now.”

He stared at me, as if considering my words. Then he shook his head. “I wish I could believe that. But think about our patterns, Thea. They fit. What I told you about the girl at my school—that was all true.”

A cheerful knock at the half-open door.No!My hands clenched into fists as Sol sailed in.

“Aww, are the lovebirds having a goodbye sesh? Cute.” Sol clapped Jonah’s back. “It’s time, my friend.”

This was my last chance. I couldn’t let them take me down there.

“Thea, would you be so kind as to put your arms behind your back?” Sol pulled a zip tie from his pocket.

I held up my free hand. “Sol, wait.”

He tilted his head, watching me like I was an animal whose noises he couldn’t understand.

“Please don’t do this.” I remembered the conversation I’d overheard between him and Grace. “Look, I know you convinced Grace; I heard you in the kitchen. She didn’t want to go into that hole, and you manipulated her into doing it.”

Jonah’s eyes sharpened on Sol.

Sol chuckled. “I didn’t do anything, darlin’. It was her decision.”

“No, it wasn’t. You kept telling her how brave she was.”

Sol’s gentle smile didn’t waver. And that’s when I felt it: a new cold fear spreading through my belly. Sol knew exactly what he’d done. He was the best liar of them all.

“You know, Thea”—Sol crossed his arms—“I had my doubts. In fact, Moon and I got in a huge fight the day you all got in. I wanted to let the pattern go, leave it for another lifetime. But when you showed up, you were the spitting image of Catherine. And it was like,Oh, okay. Maybe it is time to handle this.But I’m ready for it to be over now. We need to move on and focus on the business.”

“Thebusiness?”

“Of course. Do you have any idea how big our podcast is getting?” He shook his head. “We’re set to really take off this year.”

So that’s all Sol really cared about. Money. Power. And if he had to harm people in the process to keep his cash cow, Moon, happy, so be it.