Fate's Revenge (Twisted Fate, Book 4)

Chapter Thirty-Two

"Your parents, of course." She turned to face me and narrowed her eyes as though I was the one saying something absurd.

"Yeah, but..." I pointed behind us and glanced over my shoulder. Looking back to her, I said, "I thought what we just came through would lead us to my parents."

"It has."

"No, it's led to blisters I hope I won't wake up to find on my actual body." I sighed, and my shoulders slumped. "Just tell me what I'm walking into. A tunnel? Another desert? The Antarctic? I'm tired, Lachesis."

"It leads to your parents. Would you rather wait here until you fade, or do you want to see them? Your choice."

If I wanted to see my parents? Was she on drugs? "Yes, I want to see them, but I don't want to kill myself to do it when I know of other ways."

She raised an eyebrow at me, looked to the door, and then met my gaze. I held it. We'd already come so far. You don't give up on your parents, not when they were this close. At least, when they were close by Lachesis's standards. Who knew? Maybe she was being honest, not embellishing facts to gain my obedience.

I gestured to the door and sighed. "Just open it."

"You're sure?" she asked, smirking. "We could wait until we fade."

"Oh, shht. Talk to me when you're human and we can check your endurance for the kind of torture you've been putting me through."

She laughed but turned her back to me and twisted the knob. The door swung outwards from where we stood, and she stepped forward, disappearing. I still couldn't see what was on the other side but had been left without options. No way I was fading alone if she got to see my parents. I stepped through after her.

It was so bright I thought she'd brought us face-to-face with the sun.

Then the light began to dull and the spots the flash caused began to leave my vision. Colours and shapes began to emerge. Sound was muffled like I had dove into deep waters, completely submerged. The closer I swam to the surface, the clearer it became. Finally, though, I surfaced and gulped for air.

What looked like nothing became too sharp, my vision a microscope for detail.

The scent of pine came first. Then the sight of trees, overgrown grass, and the side of a solid, red-brick building. Anywhere else and I would accuse Lachesis of being lost. Taking another detour, perhaps, but she knew exactly where we were.

There was no way Lachesis didn't orchestrate this.

I blinked everything into focus, pulling the single details into a full picture, and sucked in a deep breath before slowly exhaling as my eyes darted from side-to-side. From what I could see, Royal Academy looked unchanged. At least on the right-hand-side of the school, and I knew this spot well. After all, it's where David died. If we went out back we'd find the woods and in front, the student parking lot. Those were the places I had died. That and in Mr. Tinsley's classroom, so whichever way I went would be bad. Even the left, identical to the right, served as a trigger to remind me of memories that shouldn't exist as they had no basis within the true timeline of humans.

"W-why are we here?" I asked, glaring at her back two feet in front of me. "Why aren't we at my parents? I knew there'd be another hoop." I sighed and looked around, lowering my voice to add, "Why didn't I listen to my gut? So stupid."

Lachesis looked back, smiling, and then darted her gaze around as I had just done. "This was the closest we could come to your home without detection."

"You said we couldn't be seen!"

"We can't, but the door can," she said. "How would your parents react to a door appearing and then vanishing right in front of them?"

Even if it required an answer, which seemed asinine considering they'd been able to make my parents seemingly miss seeing me merge with myself at the supper table after returning back to life, I was too focused on the flickering in front of Lachesis, partially blocked by her shoulders. I stepped to the left and it was already gone. In its place... the spot where David had taken his last breath. Without realizing my intent, I walked over, knelt, and placed my palm to the ground.

It felt warm, the grass glistening and greener where his body had been as though his blood had soaked through and provided it with new life. Of course, the Glory must have affected it. Death for life. It seemed fitting given that balance had been kept that day.

"We should go, Alyssa."

I looked up to Lachesis and blinked. This time, the flickering didn't stop, even when I looked away and then back again. Slowly, I stood. Why now? I wasn't even in a dream!

"Alyssa?"

I looked at her and back to the image beside her, robbed of the ability to speak. This couldn't be real. Gabe. David. Mike. Gabe... David. The form beside her slowed, going from rapid to drawn out like a strobe with dying batteries. When it finally stopped completely, I thought it was over. But then, as if mocking me, it manifested once more. No more flickering.

The solid presence of Gabe was scowling back at me.

"What's going on?" I asked Lachesis, my gaze never straying from Gabe's image.

"What?"

Ignoring Gabe, I turned to Lachesis. "Don't you see it? I mean him?"

She raised her eyebrow, looked where I was pointing, and shook her head. "What do you see?" she asked.

"You've got to be kidding!" Our gazes locked. "You want me to believe that you didn't bring us here on purpose and that you don't see him? Quit lying!"

"Of course, I brought you here intentionally. I never said otherwise. But I don't see anything." She leaned forward, studying me as she narrowed her gaze. "Are you okay?"

"Am I...?" I shook my head and laughed, and kept my gaze glued to Gabe's. If a racing heart, an inability to catch my breath, and a weight in my chest indicating I was about to run out of time was okay, sure. I was fine. Time to change the topic. After three quick breaths, one right after the other, I caught enough air to ask, "How long until we fade now?"

She shrugged. "It's different for everyone."

"That's your way of saying soon, isn't it?"

"I—yes." She nodded.

Gabe flickered at her side as he crossed his arms but grew solid again once the motion was complete. Lachesis remained expressionless. I shifted my gaze back to the grass where David had died and gasped.

Either I was crazy or being in this type of astral form manifested my thoughts. David was understandable—this is where he died. His last memory was here. Gabe... well, maybe he was on Lachesis's mind, though that didn't make sense since she said she couldn't see him. Whatever it was, it wasn't a dream or Lachesis wouldn't be here.

Was I hallucinating?

Had all the strange that'd happened in my life finally made me crack?

It was too much to process and be able to remain functional. I looked from Lachesis to Gabe, and then David. His body was so clear I could see through the blood-coated skin to the unaffected grass beneath him. I looked between them two more times. Nothing changed. If I didn't leave, the electricity zapping through my nerves would kill me. Or maybe it would project outwards and kill them.

After one more round of glances, I couldn't stand it any longer. I turned on my heel and fled. As fast as my legs would carry me, it was all I could do to keep from breaking down. I felt every heartbeat and heard every step as my feet pounded pavement as soon as I passed the school grounds. It was overwhelming but manageable because, so long as I didn't fade first, my parents were the prize for crossing the finish line.