Fate's Exchange (Twisted Fate, Book 1)

Chapter Forty-Four

"No, Alyssa," I whispered, slowly shaking my head, a soft smile playing on my lips. "I'm not a Guardian."

Gloom filled my heart, the kind of sadness that made you hate who you are because you have to tell the person you love that you weren't the person they loved.

"I'm one of the Brothers who oversee the Guardians. When the Sisters called on the Guardians, the Brothers knew the only way to rectify the infraction would be to send one of our own. The Sisters insisted, actually, and that is why I'm here. They wanted me to come for you."

Standing, I waved my hand through the air and began to pace as I stared down at the floor. "I didn't want to come at first, even after we sent you back that first time. It wasn't until I saw you enter school on the first Monday that you were sent back, and I saw how good you are, that I warmed to the idea."

Alyssa blinked at me, and I couldn't tell what she was thinking. "So, you hated me?"

"No," I said, and went to stand in front of her. I raised my arms to her side, but then dropped them before making contact. With a heavy sigh, I sat back on the bed. "I didn't hate you, Alyssa. That's not possible."

My feelings were so far from hate, I almost laughed. Her voice had been jarring, and only now I recognized why. The moment her light had filled my vision, my heart had thawed from the coldness of the duties I was forced to bear, and after being with her, nothing would ever be the same. How could I ever go back to that now?

I looked up to the ceiling as I continued to try explaining what didn't make sense, even to me, and it was what I called life. "The Brothers all have duties above and beyond the Guardians. In order to be here for you, I can't fulfill my other duties. At least, not in human form."

Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak, shutting it again when no words formed.

"This sounds crazy, doesn't it?" I smiled wryly.

"Compared to everything else I've experienced lately?" She sighed. "So, you were the voice?"

I nodded. "You were talking with all of the Brothers while you were between the living and the dead."

"Why are you telling me this?" She walked back to the bed and sat beside me, perched on the edge to bolt if she didn't like where the conversation went.

"Because what I feel for you wasn't part of the plan." I took her hand in mine and stroked her palm with my thumb. "At least not the Brothers' plan when I came, though I'm starting to doubt what the Sisters' expectations were." Smiling softly, I looked up and met her gaze. "I fell for you over the weeks as you showed us how brave and selfless you are. I love the good within you, Alyssa. I love you. It goes against all the rules and beliefs I've lived by, and the only way to do this"—I pointed between us—"means losing this me for the real me. I'm scared that you won't accept that."

"I don't understand." She furrowed her brows and tilted her head. "I love you, David, and I want to be with you."

"In order to be together, I have to fall. If I choose that, I won't be able to portray myself as David anymore," I said, pausing only to inhale a deep breath. "I won't look the same, and my name as you know it, will not exist."

"I don't care about that." She smiled, and I could see that she meant what she said when I met her gaze.

Now what? Could she really accept me? Would she run or stay? There was only one way I would ever know for sure.

Allowing my disguise to fade, I forced my true form visible.

My hair grew black, like the twilight outside her window, and my tan deepened, though the Glory from within my soul radiated out through my skin. I could hear the breath hitch in her throat and how her heart rate sped as she saw the added height elongate my limbs as though I had hunched down three inches since we'd met. She stared at me with disbelief. All the softness she knew in the boy had turned hard, every muscle defined and sculpted like a statue. Shock, like she was trying to decide if I was crazy—or if she would be crazy to accept me—painted her face.