"There was never anything ordinary about you or your life, Risa, however much you might have convinced yourself otherwise."
"That's where you're wrong. The restaurant was ordinary, falling in love with Jak and then getting my heart broken was ordinary, wanting kids and a family sometime in the future is very, very ordinary. That's what I want back, and yet all of those things may now never be." My gaze pinned his. Deep in those turbulent blue depths I saw the acknowledgment of my words. "And you know it."
He wrapped his hands around mine and squeezed lightly. Longing shivered through me, but sadly, he was just another desire that was never meant to be.
"Nothing is ever written in stone, Risa. Fate is a fluid thing that changes with every decision and action. The future I see and the one you fear might never be."
"And just what fate do you see?" I asked softly.
He hesitated. "Death. Many deaths."
I closed my eyes again. There were some things better left unknown, that was for sure. And yet I couldn't help asking, "Who?"
"That is uncertain and depends on our actions going forward."
"Me? You?"
He half shrugged. "There are always casualties in a war, and you and I are front-line soldiers. The possibility is always there."
I knew that. I'd always known that. But somehow, having him say it made it seem that much more inevitable.
"I don't want to die, Azriel."
"That is not an outcome that would please me, either."
I couldn't help smiling. "Really? I mean, it would at least free you from my bothersome tendency to do what I want rather than listen to your good advice."
Amusement briefly crinkled the corners of his eyes. "Is there not a saying about challenges being the spice of life?"