“Making wishes like this never comes without a price,” said Cora. “I thought the price was my heart, but it’s more than that. I wanted everyone to live and I was the one to kill Cal.” Her voice broke on the last few words. She sniffed, swallowed, gazed upward as if refusing to let the tears fall. “Nothing comes for free. We just don’t know what it’ll cost.”
She took another breath, and when she released it, she looked calmer. She finally turned to face Dee, making no attempt to hide her own grief. “Listen. I’m telling you this because I’m not going to be there.”
Dread unfurled within Dee’s stomach. “Cora…”
“It’ll be two years in a week,” said Cora. “I’m getting my heart back. That’s why I was so worried about the Daemon abandoning us. I wasn’t sure I’d get my heart returned to me. But now he’s back and… well.” Her gaze dropped.
“You’re not going to be there for the next void,” said Dee.
“I’m not sorry. I mean, I’m sorry that it’ll just be the three of you, but I’m not sorry about getting my heart back.” Cora pushed herself to her feet. “I just wanted you to know. Why I tried to stop him. Why I didn’t want anyone else to get hurt.
“Don’t die,” said Cora.
Dee wished she had something profound to say, to reassure Cora that Cal’s death wasn’t her fault, that accidents happened, that whomever she had wanted dead had probably deserved it.
But all that came out of her mouth was, “Good luck.”
THIRTY-FOUR
There was comfort in having a deadline.
Dee looked at her calendar.
Then she made a list.
The thing was, knowing she might die made things simpler. It put life into perspective. Things that had seemed enormous became trivialities, and there were some things she wanted to do. Needed to do.
Dee woke early on a Saturday and stood next to Gremma’s bed. Gremma rolled over, saw her roommate less than twelve inches from her nose and, to her credit, did not flinch or even gasp. She simply blinked once and said, “Paranormal emergency?”
“No,” said Dee. “But I need your help.”
She had thought about this. All night, she had tossed and turned, racked with shivers and nerves and so many doubts she thought she might choke on them. But she needed to do this.
And she wanted backup.
“Would you come home with me?” she said.
There was little traffic before eight in the morning on a Saturday. They got through a coffee drive-through in record time, and Dee sipped a hot chocolate. She felt jittery enough without too much caffeine in her system.
Gremma parked on the curb and looked at her. “You want me to stay outside?”
Dee had also thought this over. “No. Mind coming in?”
Surprise flashed across Gremma’s face. “A-all right.” She was so startled it took two tries to unclip her seat belt and follow Dee up the walkway, past the overgrown plants and up to the porch.
Dee did not bother knocking on her front door. Nor did she remove her shoes. She simply walked inside.
She heard voices in the dining room, but she ignored them. With Gremma at her heels, she hurried to the stairs and up to her bedroom. She pulled the empty backpack from her shoulder and placed it on the carpet, then glanced around herself.
There were a few things she wanted—old childhood books and knickknacks. A picture of herself and Gran. A snow globe with unicorns. Then she went to her desk and opened a drawer.
Tucked inside a folder were her passport and birth certificate. She slid both into her backpack.
“Social Security,” said Gremma. It was the first time she had spoken and Dee looked up, startled.
“You’ll need your Social Security card when you apply for jobs,” explained Gremma. There was no surprise or judgment in her voice. Rather, she looked… satisfied somehow. As if all her wild theories were coming to fruition.
Dee found her Social Security card at the bottom of the drawer.
