“And Fleur? Did you choose her, too?”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Try me.”
He doesn’t answer right away, as if he’s searching for a way to explain. “The magic Springs possess is unique—it requires empathy to place oneself inside the limbs of another living thing, to feel its pain and its strength enough to move it. To bend it. The balance of power and empathy is extraordinarily difficult to master. In this regard, Gaia always knew Fleur’s magic was exceptionally strong, and because she would hesitate to wield that power at the expense of another, Chronos would have few opportunities to see it. He did not recognize the power she held in check before, and he will not be looking for it now.
“Fleur did not fall below the red line because she was weak, Jack. Fleur does not fear death the way most Seasons do. She does not fear her own pain as much as she fears the suffering of those sheloves.
“Gaia choseFleurbecause she knew Fleur would chooseyou, Jack. That when the time came, Fleur would use every ounce of her strength to fight for you. That she would protect you above all others. And Ichoseyoubecause you reminded me so much of myself. And because being with you made me feel closer to the person I wished I could be.”
“A Winter?”
“A father.”
My throat constricts painfully. I shut my eyes, hating myself for the ways those words make me feel. I hate that even as he’s destroying everything I thought I knew about myself, he still knows exactly what I want to hear. And more than any of it, I hate myself for not wanting him to go.
“So what now? You’ve been pulling our strings all along and now you’re just going to disappear? What are we supposed to do?”
“Finish what you’ve started.”
“We didn’t start this!” I hiss into the phone.
“Maybe not, butyouhave the power to bring about its end. Chronos is afraid of you.”
“Afraid?” I almost laugh. Chronos’s piercing blue eye and the swing of his scythe are still emblazoned in my memory. He wasn’t afraid when he whispered my fate in my ear. Fleur stirs and I lower my voice. “He saw medie. He watched his own Guard kill me.”
“But at what cost? What else did he see in that vision beyond the small piece he revealed to you?”
All I remember is Kai Sampson’s face as she drew back her bowstring and bloody water rushing over my head. My death was all I registered in those tightly cropped images. It was enough. I have no burning desire to face Kai Sampson in real life.
“No thanks. This is your battle. Not mine.”
“It’s not me he fears. He is only now beginning to realize the threatyou pose to him. That’s why he sends his Guard, while he hides in the Observatory behind monitors and screens. That’s why he’ll only look upon you through the eye of his staff. Because he’s afraid, Jack. Only when he’s certain of his own future will he muster the courage to face you.”
Fleur sleeps peacefully beside me, the pale yellow bedspread pulled snugly to her chest. I fight back the memory of Chronos’s scythe cutting through the Spring girl he Terminated, the color of the blood as it spread through her shirt. We can’t let him find us. I don’t care how strong Fleur is. I can’t let her face him. Not for Lyon. Not for anyone.
“You have inspired them, Jack. The Seasons and their Handlers have been watching you. They saw your storm. Whispers of rebellion are breaching the walls of the Crux.”
“Rebellion?” I think back to the Seasons we saw walking in the fields on the sides of the highway in Oklahoma... they watched us summon the storm. I press the heel of my hand into my forehead, imagining the rumors that must be circulating back on campus. No less than six Seasons saw us touch and generate that tornado, proof of everything we’re capable of. And now the entire Observatory is probably convinced I’m starting some kind of war.
“Soon, Chronos will be forced to leave the Observatory, either to hunt for you himself and snuff out the spark you’ve ignited or to flee the insurrection we’ve begun.”
“‘We’?” He lumps us together as if we’re somehow on the same side, as if any of this was my doing, or even my choice. “Allwewanted was to run. To disappear.”
“When has hiding helped you evade death before?” I bury my head, remembering every death I suffered at Fleur’s hand. How futile itall seemed. That’s why we left, to break the cycle. Yet here we are again, finding death on the road we took to avoid it, just like Lyon said.
“So Chronos was right? No matter what I do, I’m going to die?”
Lyon’s quiet for too long. A chill passes over me when he says, “Sacrificing for others takes courage, Jack. Sometimes, that means imagining a different ending for them, if not for yourself.” Fleur shifts toward me in her sleep, warm against my back. Her arms come around my waist, holding me to her. “When you grow tired of running, go to that place you hold in your heart. The strength you need will find you.”
Lyon disconnects. The silence on the other end of the line leaves me feeling strangely untethered.
Numb, I rest the phone in the cradle and ease back under the sheets, staring at the ceiling.
Fear makes me more of a man, he said. But I don’t feel like one. I’m scared of what waits for us outside this room. Outside this bed. I’m terrified I’ll follow my heart and it will get cut down right in front of me. I curl around Fleur and bury my face in her hair, praying Lyon’s right. That there is another ending, if not for me, then for her. And that somehow, the strength to face it will find me.
40
