“What do you mean, when we think we have forever?” I ask. I obviously don’t know her as well as Rez, but I know she’s a friend. I barely tap against her mental shield, and I’m hit with an all-encompassing terror and flash of a symbol.
“What would you do if you knew when you would die?”
I jerk back, losing the symbol as if she slapped me.
“What?” I ask, flabbergasted. I physically reach for her to strengthen our connection, but she steps back and slowly shakes her head.
“Sometimes, you can’t run from Fate, no matter how much you want to.” She pulls a small bag from a pocket of her dress and hands it to me. “Please give this to Rez for me.”
“Why can’t you do it yourself?” I hold the bag in my hand, but I can’t bring myself to let go of her hand. I’m scared to.
“No matter which path is shown and taken, the Dreamworld has spoken, and I’ve been claimed,” she says as she pats my hand.
There’s a scuffle around the dance floor, and a few students who have had too much to drink run past us to join in, pushing us along with them. Once I hit the edge of the dance floor, I turn to Desar and find her missing.
Shit. Desar!
“Break it up!” Chief Cloak yells, pulling my attention back to the party. “This is a party, not a sparring match.”
He pulls the group apart and glares at them until they quickly disperse before turning to the band and nodding. He then fixes his tux and turns to the room and growls, “There’s nothing to see here.” As everyone goes back to business, he holds out his hand, and Lilith elegantly takes it, making my jaw drop as the atmosphere suddenly changes. Chief gently guides Lilith around the dance floor once before other couples join in, and I feel like I’m watching a once-in-a-lifetime documentary. I’ve never seen this side of the Chief, and I feel like I could be strung up for seeing it now.
Either way, I need to find Desar if she’s in trouble, but as soon as I make that decision, dread hits my stomach as I hear someone’s thoughts about me.
“It’s amazing to see people truly in love, isn’t it?” I don’t need to turn around to know who’s snuck up on me. His thoughts are screaming at me, and he’s allowing them to. “You’re lucky to have Zeke and Nerezza,” he tells me.
“You know you’ll find your own love someday, too, right? It’s not over for you.”
Dad steps up into my periphery. “Even if it isn’t, I have more important things to do now.” I can feel his eyes on me as I scan the room for Desar.
“What’s that?” I ask, keeping my voice down so only he can hear, and take a sip of my wine.
“Hopefully, being a dad and grandfather soon.”
I choke on my wine, and some of it dribbles out of my mouth onto my suit. Dad hands me his pocket square and smiles as I say thanks.
“Any time.”
“You did that on purpose, though,” I growl out, turning to put my drink down and notice a small box next to a candle on the table. I freeze as I watch the small box and notice something about the box that makes my skin crawl. Turning back to Dad, I make sure I’m looking straight ahead and keep my voice down. “Um, have you seen any black boxes around the ballroom, and if so, do you know what they are for?”
Dad chuckles and puts his hand on my back to gently move me away from the box. He leads us into the forest and into an area where there’s little moonlight.
“Here, sit,” he insists, and throws up a bubble for us to talk. “Yes, they are spread through this ballroom, and, unfortunately, they will be throughout the Gauntlet as well. But since I did not create this Gauntlet or have any part of it, I can tell you. They are video devices to allow this year to be broadcast.”
“What?” I sway slightly on the bench, and he reaches out to study me. “Since when do we televise our sacred Gauntlet?”
“Someone even higher than the Leaders of Nova asked for it.”
The only people higher than the Leaders are the Fates, and why would they ask for it, when they are all-seeing and wouldn’tneedto televise it? This doesn’t make sense at all.
“There are a lot of things that don’t make sense, JP. Adam, Cain, The Fates changing things, Asmodeus’s sudden power.”
The mention of Adam jars me out of my stupor, and I give Dad an unreadable look.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, looking sincerely concerned.
“A lot,” I confess. “The first thing I need to tell you is that Rez just found out she has two fathers.” Dad’s eyebrows perkup while mine narrow, and I zero in on his thoughts, but his barriers slam down like a vault.That’s interesting.
“Oh. Who?”
