She doesn’t pull away. Doesn’t say no. In a second, it’ll all be over. Just a flash of pain and light and I’ll be gone. But just once, I want to know what it’s like to kiss her before I go. I tip my head closer. Close enough to let her close the gap if she wants to.
Her breath comes out on a tremble. My pulse ratchets up as her mouth slants toward mine. Just before our lips brush, she jerks sharply back. Across the short gap between us, I can hear Poppy screaming in her ear. Fleur’s cheeks flush to match the redwood blooms on the tree behind her—blooms I swear weren’t there a minute ago. “We can’t do that,” she tells me. “That’s a terrible idea.”
“Why?” I snap. “Because Poppy says so?”
“Because we’ll get in trouble. You know the rules.”
Yeah, I know them. A kiss is painful for the weaker Season, a fast-track ticket back to the Observatory, complete with probations and penalties I’d rather not think about. But I would have kissed her anyway. “I guess following the rules has been working for you,” I say with a heavy dose of sarcasm.
She flinches, and I hate myself for it. Chill’s mentioned how Fleur and Poppy have been slipping in the rankings. Probably because she’s far too easy on me.
Idiot.If she only cared about the rules, she would have killed me a week ago.
“Never mind,” I grumble. “You’re right. It’s a stupid way to die.”
“Fine,” she says through her teeth. She tightens her grip on the knife with a precision that says she knew all along exactly where it should go. “On the count of three, then.”
“Don’t be an idiot,” Chill warns me.
Too late.
I brace myself. My breath comes fast. In a second, my season will be over. I’ll be locked away, asleep in a plastic cage thirty stories underground for the rest of Fleur’s season....
“Step away from the girl, Jack.”
It’ll be another six months after that before my next breath of fresh air in the fall, when I’ll be stuck chasing down Amber, and Amber can’t stand me....
“I am your Handler and I am telling you to get out of there, Jack!”
It’ll be another three months after that before Fleur comes to find me. A whole year until I see her again....
“Wait... ,” I say. I can’t get any air.
Chill bellows at me to run.
“No, no, wait! I’m not—” Fleur and I lurch away from each other at the same time, her blade scraping my rib as she’s thrown off balance. Her eyes go wide. She drops the knife on the ground, shaking out her hand as if it’s possessed.
“For Chronos’s sake, Fleur! You cut me!” I cry out, my voice breaking.
“You told me to!”
“And then I changed my mind!” The pain’s blinding. I twist, the wound screaming as I peel up my shirt and contort myself to see it.
“Don’t panic,” Chill says. “Stay calm. It’s shallow. Your vitals are good.” He’s lying. My side looks like a bad take from a 1980s slasher film. “Get out of there while she’s distracted. Keep moving.”
Fleur cringes as blood seeps through the gaps between my fingers. “I swear to Gaia, I didn’t mean to.” She reaches for me. “Here, let me see it.”
“No, no, no. Don’t—” I back into a tree, too late to stop her. Her hand grazes the exposed skin of my side, and suddenly I’m a living conduit. Every muscle in my body spasms and the hot surge of magic rattles my teeth. I cry out again and she leaps back from me.
“I’m sorry!” she says. “I was only trying to help.”
I drop to my knees, the world reeling as if I’ve stuck my finger in an electrical socket.
“You know what I said about your vitals before?” Chill asks. “I take it back.”
“I know!” I holler at him, wishing he would shut up and leave us alone.
Fleur startles.
