The Severance Game, page 39
I definitely wanted to know the truth about him. But if Daniel didn’t want to tell me on his own, did I really want to be the person that pried it out against his will?
As satisfying as it would be to know what he meant by me ruining his life, it would mean nothing if I ripped it out of him. Forced trust is hardly better than no trust. And right now I needed a reason to put real trust in Daniel.
I sat forward and huffed a strand of hair out of my face, knowing what I had to do.
“All right,” I finally conceded. “I’ll tell you what, Daniel. If whatever you’re hiding really is that bad, I’m not going to push you to tell me. But I am going to ask you to give me something else to go on instead. I don’t care what it is, just give me a reason to believe in you. Be honest with me about one thing—your life before Lord Channing’s, your prologue prophecy, what that magic watering can imprinted on your hand, whatever. Just give me something, anything, and I’ll call us even. Okay?”
Moments ticked by without a response from him. I thought he wasn’t going to bite, but then he reached into his pocket and pulled something out.
Before I could see what it was, he tossed it over to me. I caught it and discovered it was the golden pocket watch that I’d seen him looking at so many times before.
“I wanted you to save my sheath from the Therewolves because I hid the watch in a secret compartment at the base before they confiscated our stuff,” he explained. “It was too important to me to lose.”
I held the pocket watch carefully; its metal felt cold against the palm of my hand. Daniel signaled for me to open it, and with bated breath I did so.
Inside I found a picture of a girl. She was about our age with long, wavy black hair. Her eyes were a rich brown and her smile was mischievous. She was pretty, beautiful really. But I had no idea what her picture was doing inside of Daniel’s watch.
“Her name is Kai,” Daniel said.
“Sorry?”
“The girl, her name is Kai,” Daniel explained. “We’ve been together for three years, but I’ve known her my whole life. She’s everything to me—my entire world—and I didn’t think anything would ever come between us until my stupid protagonist book appeared. When it showed up, not only was I forced to leave her and my life in Century City behind to attend Lord Channing’s, my prologue prophecy said . . .Well, among other things it said we might not end up together. Worse, as a result of how my fate plays out, something might cause her to come to an end. And I do mean in the very permanent, mortal sense.”
“That’s why you came with us,” I thought aloud, the truth sinking in. “That’s why you want to find the Author. You want to change your fate so that you can save Kai and the two of you can end up together.”
“Yup.”
I took another look at the girl in the picture then closed the pocket watch to hand it back to Daniel. He refused to take it.
“There’s more,” he said.
“Daniel, it’s fine, really,” I assured him. “I meant what I said. You don’t have to tell me everything. You were honest about this and that’s enough.”
“No,” he shook his head. “You were right.”
“I’m sorry, what was that?”
“I said you’re right. As inconceivable as it is, in this particular case you are. I can’t expect you to trust me if I’m not willing to do the same. So let me get this out before I wise up and change my mind.”
He sat up straighter and turned to face me completely. “The thing that my prologue prophecy predicts might bring us to an end, bring her to an end . . . Knight, that thing is you.”
“What?” I stammered.
For a second I thought he was joking. For a second after that I wished he was joking. But he wasn’t. It felt like a brick had hit me in the chest. A lot of questions ran through my head. But in an effort to not come off like a babbling idiot, I settled on just one.
“How’s that even possible?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “The specifics aren’t there, but the wording is clear. Within you lies the potential to seal both Kai’s fate and mine.”
“That’s what you meant when you said I ruined your life, and that you’re only on this quest because of me,” I said softly. “I’m the potential foil to your happiness—your life with Kai—and you want the Author to change that.”
He nodded.
I rubbed my arm awkwardly. “If that’s true, how can you even stand to be around me?”
“My prophecy also says that you’re going to be a key ally for us both. So despite what damage you could potentially cast on our lives, I get that I might need your help too.” He sighed. “It’s complicated.”
“I’ll say.” I huffed and shook my head. “I . . . I’m sorry, I guess. I don’t know Kai, and I don’t really know you either, but I guess I owe you both some kind of apology.”
“No. You don’t,” Daniel said. “It’s not your fault. This prophecy is my responsibility and I accept that. Only I can change it, and I’m going to do everything in my power to do so because there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”
He reached for the pocket watch and I handed it back to him. However, I couldn’t help but crinkle my eyebrows as I reflected on something in the process.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing. It’s just, after all this . . . who would’ve thought that what was motivating you the entire time was true love.”
Daniel shrugged. “Hey, love makes you do crazy things.”
“Yeah,” I said, thinking back to Ashlyn. “So I’ve heard.”
I paused for a second. “Thank you for telling me. It couldn’t have been easy for you to admit that to anyone. And the fact that you were honest about Kai with me of all people . . . Well, it means a lot. So, um . . . thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” he replied. “Tell anyone though, and I’ll have to kill you.”
“Get in line.”
He smirked and the two of us sat quietly as we allowed our new understanding of one another to sink in.
I still couldn’t believe what just happened. Not only had I just been completely, irrevocably honest with Daniel, but he had been honest with me in return.
All he wanted to do was change his fate, to make the future his own just like I did. For the first time I looked at him with total empathy. He really had been right all those nights ago when we’d talked on the carriage ride over to Emma’s.
We were not so different.
“Changing the subject,” I said eventually, clearing my throat and the air between us, “I am sorry you’re stuck in here. That one is on me and I actually do feel pretty bad about it, especially now that I’m starting to hate you a lot less. I’m probably the last person you want to be trapped in a lamp with.”
“You’re up there,” he said with another shrug. “But you’re not the last. I would say you’re more like . . . a solid third.”
“Aw, I guess I’ll have to step up my game then,” I responded with a smile, remembering the night of our ball in Adelaide when I’d said the same thing to him. “Coming in third sucks.”
Daniel returned my smile and stood up from the couch with a sense of renewed purpose.
“Where are you going?” I asked as he tucked the watch back inside his pocket.
He gestured to the genie journal we’d left across the room. “Like I said, there are some pretty good ideas in that book and I think we might be able to make one of them work. If we want to have a shot at getting out of here before Arian delivers us to Nadia, we should probably get started.”
He was right. I was about to stand and follow him, but before I could Daniel offered me his hand to help me up. I hesitated to reach out, staring at his hand with both trepidation and uncertainty.
It was a harmless enough gesture. It was just a hand. And for the time being Daniel had proven that he was someone I could count on.
I knew that now. I knew so much now, in fact, that I was beginning to wonder if within the limitations of this lamp Daniel and I had just affected our fates in some small way neither of us had ever intended.
Our paths ahead were uncertain. Even with my own clairvoyance, I could not see what lay in store for him or me or us. But I felt like something had changed. Here, by our own design, not the Author’s, something had shifted. We had shifted.
The quandary remained, though, as I considered taking his grip—had we shifted enough to influence anything with lasting outcome? The connection and clarity we’d forged in these last few minutes of valiant vulnerability were strong. But they were also full of torrid unpredictability.
He was the boy who drove me mad and pushed me to my limits. I was the girl with the potential to bring down his true love. So while the decision to change our clashing relationship was a wise choice, it also bore one crucial, unforgiving question. A question that was as painful to consider as it was to ignore:
Would he and I really change?
I knew full well that change was possible. It had characterized my world since I’d gotten my prologue prophecy. Just as surely, I knew that I had changed throughout this journey. At this very moment I felt myself altering as my heart opened up and my head felt a real sense of clarity.
But that wasn’t the question I was posing. I wasn’t asking if we could change—like did we have the potential to. I was asking if we would change—as in, did we really want to.
There is a difference between change that just happens to you and change you actively fight for. The former is sudden and the result of something outside of yourself. The latter requires the constant, unwavering dedication to hold true in your selected course no matter what obstacles, temptations, or old habits try to tear you down.
I remembered how insecure Daniel made me feel whenever we talked. Would I really learn to be confident enough in myself to not let him get to me like that?
I recalled the hesitation Daniel had shown when I was falling from the magic train. Would he really get past the fact that I had the potential to bring an end to his true love?
It all seemed very unlikely.
Given what Daniel had always been to me—and what I apparently was to him—I was not completely certain that this newfound commitment to change our ways toward one another would hold.
And yet, as I glanced up at Daniel’s open hand, I knew that I wanted to try. So I placed my hand in his. With one strong sweeping motion, Daniel helped me to my feet.
I held on for an extra moment—holding his gaze as I fought back the uncertainty—and finally, confidently, spoke my intentions into existence.
“Let’s do this,” I said.
End of Book Two
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Geanna Culbertson adores chocolate chip cookies, watching Netflix in pajamas, and the rain. Of course, in her case, the latter is kind of hard to come by. As her dad notes, “In California, we don’t have seasons, we have special effects.”
On the flip side, she is deeply afraid of ice skating and singing in public. Although, she forces herself to do both on occasion because she believes facing your fears can be good for you.
During the week Geanna lives a disciplined, yet preciously ridiculous lifestyle. She gets up before dawn to train and write. Goes to work where she enjoys a double life as a kid undercover in a grown-up world. Then comes home, eats, writes, and watches one of her favorite TV shows.
On weekends, however, Geanna’s heart, like her time, is completely off the leash. Usually she’ll teach martial arts at her local karate studio, pursue yummy foods, and check out whatever’s new at her fav stores. To summarize, she’ll wander, play, disregard the clock, and get into as many shenanigans as possible.
Geanna Culbertson, The Severance Game
