“Absolutely not.”
The crowd murmured, some in shock, others saying they knew all along it would never work out.
Jonas only shrugged, his face unreadable, but in his eyes I caught a hint of disappointment.
Huh.
Not that I cared. Especially after the smug bastard had asked me for a song for Demi and then groped Cassie the first chance he got.
I regretted never having sung it to her myself. Why hadn’t I? There was no time for me to reflect on past mistakes.
There were two couples left. And the sky had deepened into bruised purple, Venus gleamed like a herald of what was to come. Soon the moon would follow the planet named after my grandmother, and with it, the moment I dreaded most.Damn it. This couldn’t be it.
I rushed through Todd and Olivia, Diego and Fiona. Both couples agreed it was a match, though each hedged with similar reservations: “We’ll see how it goes in the real world.” Honestly, their words barely registered with me.
Because now there was only her.
I was required to call Demi onto the stage, though it was the last thing I wanted to do. My throat tightened, the title of “Architect of Love” curdling into irony. Why did it have to be her humiliation, to stand alone as the final woman?
The lanterns glowed brighter and the crowd hushed, almost as if they too knew that Demi’s life and heart hung in the balance, as the moon’s edge began to crest the horizon. Every beam of light felt like a spotlight trained on her.
I swallowed hard, forcing the words past the ache in my chest.
“Demi . . .”
She stepped onto the dais and tiptoed toward me, the golden fabric of her dress brushing against the wooden steps. Her eyes locked on mine, pleading, searching for a lifeline I could not give. But every part of me wished I could.
I wanted to reach for her. To shield her. To rewrite the script.
Titans, please help me. Help her.I silently pleaded.
“I fear I owe you an apology,” I said, my voice faltering, the microphone catching the tremor. “I promised you this season I would architect your love story, and I failed. You were right to question me. Even laugh at the title.”
Those words weren’t in the script, but I felt like I owed them to her, especially now.
The crowd shifted uneasily, the silence thick. It was unfair that Demi had helped every person in the group, yet she was left with nothing.
“Is there anything you would like to say?” I asked, hoping she would tell me what to do. How to save her.
Demi’s lips parted, but for a moment no sound came. She stood in the lantern glow, her hands trembling at her sides. Every eye was on her, waiting.
Junie’s words pounded in my head and my heart.Be very brave for Demi.
But how?
Then Demi squeaked out, “Well, I did my best tolay everythingon the line.”
The words pricked me like a pin. Those were my father’s words that I’d repeated to Demi. His warning aboutsoulmates who were unnaturally separated. Was Demi trying to tell me something?
I wasn’t her soulmate. I couldn’t be. And yet—what if I was? Or was that just wishful thinking?
I looked to the heavens for an answer as the sky above deepened into indigo. Venus gleamed, the moon’s edge rising, and I felt as if the heavens themselves were demanding an answer.
Another thought came to me. Demi had said the man she’d fallen in love with wasn’t in her past. That I wouldn’t find him there. What if he was in her present? Again, I dared to ask myself, what if it was me?
If it was how could I lay it all on the line for her? I only had minutes. Maybe seconds. And she knew I loved her and I would risk anything for her. But was that enough?
Maybe her knowing wasn’t enough. Perhaps I had to actually risk it all.
