Chaos (Lanie Bross) - Lanie Bross Page 0,79
he?”
Jasmine had seen that look on Luc’s face before. It was the look he got before he did something stupid—like trying to jump T.J. on a crowded street, or freaking out when a ref made a bad call. “I don’t know,” she said carefully. “I left him at the rotunda.”
Luc knelt and took her hands. “You have to stay away from him, Jas. He’s dangerous.”
“I know,” she said. It hurt to admit it out loud, like the words had punctured her lungs. Once again, she’d completely misjudged someone. Once again, she’d been an idiot. She took a breath. “You didn’t say where you were all this time.”
“I’ve been trying to make everything right.” Luc stood up and raked a hand through his hair. “I wanted to save Corinthe.”
The look in his eyes broke her heart. “Corinthe?”
“The girl I love,” he said. “She …” He exhaled slowly. “She died. I promised her that I would find a way to turn back time so we could be together again.”
Jasmine would have laughed if his words—turn back time—hadn’t sent a shock of recognition through her. “It was you?” Jasmine asked. “You’re the reason?”
Luc stared at her. “The reason for what?”
She stood up. She felt as if bees were swarming her insides. “I’ve been jumping all over the place. Back and forth to different days. Different years, even.”
“Years?” Luc’s voice broke. He passed a hand over his eyes. “Christ, Jas. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” He sat down heavily on the bed, as though suddenly exhausted. “This is all my fault.”
Jas knew he didn’t mean just the time-jumping thing.
“You saved me in Pyralis, didn’t you?” she said gently. Luc looked up, surprised. “The Executor was right. You used the flower’s nectar because I was dying.”
“How do you—” he started to ask.
“I know a lot,” she said. “I’ve been back to Pyralis, Luc. I’ve been to the Crossroad.”
“Oh my God,” Luc whispered.
Jasmine sat down next to him. The bed creaked. “Let’s start from the beginning, okay? Tell me everything you know. And I’ll tell you everything I know.” Jasmine slipped her fingers through his just like when they were little kids. “Maybe together we can figure this out.”
Luc took a ragged breath. “It started when I met a girl who tried to kill me.…”
The rest of the story tumbled out, and Jas asked questions, adding more to his story as bits and pieces of memory came back to her: snippets and fragments of images, like pieces of paper carried back on a wind.
“There were these … things. Creatures.” She shivered, recalling the high-pitched whine, like the noise of a thousand mosquitoes. “I couldn’t move.”
Luc went pale again. “The Blood Nymphs.”
“And you came and saved me. You took me to Pyralis. That’s why it all looked so familiar. I’d been there before.”
He nodded, but stayed silent.
“And now these Unseen Ones need my blood to make the flower grow again.” Finally, Jas saw that the big picture was even more hopeless than she’d feared. The highest power in the universe—the forces that controlled everything—wanted her dead.
“It won’t happen. I won’t let it,” Luc said, as if he had read her mind. “If we can all go back—if we can make it so none of this happened—I can save Corinthe. I can save you, too.”
“Do you really think you can do it?” she asked. Luc had told her that the tunnels of time stretched infinitely in two directions, and were so strange and wild and confusing, he had nearly died there twice.
“I can do it,” Luc said, with forced confidence. “I have to.”
“It won’t be that easy.”
Jasmine jumped up, crying out, as Ford suddenly appeared at the window, on the fire escape. Before Luc could block his path, Ford had slipped inside. Luc shoved Jasmine behind him. She wished she hadn’t dropped the knife.
“Get out,” Luc growled.
Ford held up his hands. “I’m not here to hurt her.” He met Jasmine’s eyes, and her whole heart squeezed up. His eyes were so warm. So comforting. She wanted to believe him. “I promise.”
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“Get out,” Luc repeated. He took a step forward, as if he intended to shove Ford back out the window.
“You can’t just go back into the tunnels,” Ford said, speaking in a rush. Luc stopped. “Didn’t you listen to anything Rhys said? Didn’t you see what it did to him? He was a Radical. What chance do you think you have?”
“I know what you are,” Luc said. “I