the wild eyes and the secret smile and the knife clasped so easily in her hand.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the butcher block on the counter.
In one fluid movement, he grabbed the large serrated knife and wrapped it in a tea towel. He tucked it in his coat pocket, thinking only of revenge.
“I love you,” he said to Corinthe. “More than anything in the world.” More than almost anything, he amended silently. He wouldn’t sacrifice Jasmine’s life so that Corinthe could stay.
He knew that he could find a way to get them both back. He had to.
He stopped at the door. His chest ached. His throat ached. It was like the pain of taking a deep breath in the cold, a sudden slicing in his lungs. If he failed, this might be the last time he ever saw Corinthe. “I need you to wait for me. Will you do that?”
She had started crying again. “Luc, please. Whatever you’re going through … whatever’s going on … you can tell me. Stay here. We’ll get through it together.” Her eyes were a soft violet, the exact shade of the sky in Pyralis. He wondered whether she still thought of her old home. She had given all of that up for him. Now he was leaving her. He had a moment of doubt—but the thought of Jasmine dead, gone, was unbearable. Impossible.
“This isn’t the end,” he said. “I’ll come back. I promise.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said. Her lips brushed his neck. They were so soft and warm. She smelled like the best kind of summer day. “But come back soon, okay?”
Luc counted to three. He inhaled her, memorized the way she felt in his arms. His eyes were suddenly blurry with tears, and he knew if he didn’t go now, he’d never be able to walk away. He pulled away, wiping his eyes quickly with his forearm.
“I promise,” he said. He didn’t look at her again. Just turned and took the steps at a jog. After a minute he heard the door click behind him. It took all the strength he had not to turn and go back to her, start pounding on the door, tell her he loved her and wanted her to stay.
With each step he felt sicker and sicker. And then angrier and angrier.
What kind of universe did he live in, where choices were impossible, where people didn’t get to be happy, where loved ones died?
He moved quickly, head down, as if depending on momentum to take him away from Corinthe. Each time his heels hit the pavement, he imagined the street cracking, fissuring under his weight. He wished he could destroy everything, the whole house-of-cards universe and its crazy rules.
He caught himself sympathizing, momentarily, with Miranda, and then immediately felt guilty. Even though he was tired, he started jogging, just to get some relief from the tension in his body and his head. He’d always liked to run. The ragged sound of his breathing drowned out the thunderous noise in his head, the thought of Corinthe’s eyes and the softness of her touch.
Luc headed back to Mountain Lake Park, figuring that since the Crossroad had spit him out there, he’d be able to find a way back in. He nearly stumbled on a group of kids from his high school lying on the grass, the remains of a picnic spread out on a patchwork of beach towels and blankets. Even from ten feet away, he could smell the cheap, sugary wine.
Luc ducked into the treeline, not wanting to be seen. He hurried along the edge.
“I just can’t believe it,” a familiar voice said. “Just last week I gave her a ride to school. And now Jasmine is gone.” Karen swirled the red wine around in her clear plastic cup.
“It’s not like you knew her or anything,” Lily said.
Luc clenched his fists. God, she was such a bitch.
Karen’s shoulders stiffened. “She was Luc’s sister, Lily. Can you imagine what he’s going through right now?”
“You weren’t too worried about him at your party,” Lily said.
Luc watched Karen pour the rest of her wine over Lily’s plate of pasta. The rest of the group oohed, laughing as if Karen had done something hilarious. She got up to leave, and a small affection for her tugged at Luc’s chest. Karen wasn’t a bad person. She had made a couple of bad choices, but so had Luc.
Maybe when this was over and