Fate's Demand (Twisted Fate, Book 3)

Chapter Seven

He pulled away, stepping back for composure. Resistance. My throat protested with a soft whimper, and I felt alone. The warmth his body blanketed me with receded and the room grew cold. My stomach dropped, hollowing me to the core. For a moment, silence engulfed us, but I couldn't leave my question unanswered. Not when this was the first time I'd felt whole since getting my memories back and the day I'd lost David. It was like everything had been brought back to me, and he was taking it away.

"Why did you pull away?" Trying to keep my voice steady, I brought my fingers to my lips and softly pushed the tender flesh, looking up at him from beneath lowered lashes.

He looked down at me, solemn. "We can't be together. It's forbidden for my kind to be with a mortal."

"So, I can't see you anymore?" Please say no. We can see each other all the time. A relationship is worth breaking rules for so long as we can be together.

"If you agree to come here, we wouldn't have to wait for dreams to see each other." He looked like he was in pain. "But we can never be together. Not like this."

"I'm not coming," I said and dropped my hand.

His eyes squeezed shut. "What do you want? Tell me what it will take to get you to agree," he begged. Opening one eye at a time, he held my gaze. "You think I want you here? To make you give up your friends and family? I don't. But it isn't forever, Alyssa. Let us protect you in Heaven and you'll be able to live on Earth."

"I already said what I wanted." I crossed my arms and turned sideways, just enough to feel like I was making a stand and still be able to see him. As much as I wanted to be able to take the high road and just call an end to... this, I couldn't. I couldn't stop holding out hope that something would change.

If I did as they wanted, I would be giving us that chance while keeping the people I loved safe.

"Fine." He nodded.

"I want something else now, too." Turning back, I held his gaze, but he looked at me without speaking. I took a deep, fortifying breath, and said, "And it is a deal-breaker."

He sighed. "Tell me."

"In addition to attending grad and bringing Suzie, I want my mother to get better."

"I don't know if—"

"Those are my terms," I cut in. "My mom has to be exactly as she was. Sane. And without the memories of what happened to her."

If I could heal physical injuries and they could send people back to life, this should feel like a flick of their wrists in comparison. It was simple—for them. Maybe, if I had more time and experience, it could be as easy for me. Mom didn't have time, though, and they wanted something from me now. It was a fair trade. Whatever made me special enough to be dragged into whatever this was meant to become, it was my burden to bear. Nobody else should be hurt or made to suffer because of me.

He stepped forward and brought his hand back up to my cheek, tracing the hollow between my cheekbone and jawline with his thumb, causing a jolt of electricity to shoot down to my toes. He tilted his head, following the movement with his eyes. "If I make this happen, you'll really come?" His eyes flicked back to me.

Raising my chin, I blinked once. "If you promise to be here when I arrive."

If I was so important, why couldn't they bend the rules to let us be together? If they couldn't do that, why would they help my mom? If they helped my mom, though, that would a sign that things could change. I could make a difference, and I was worth making a change in their rules.

"I'm with you when you're awake, Alyssa, you just don't see it yet."

"You're...?"

I didn't get the chance to ask who he was. My mouth opened to guess which of the three I knew he could be, but it slammed shut just as quickly. Despite telling me we couldn't be together, he silenced my words with his mouth.

Only this time, he didn't pull away.

*****

Rolling to my side, I slammed my hands down on my alarm and the buzzing stopped. Half-awake, half-dreaming, the pressure of David's lips faded as reality pulled me back. Hoping that so long as I kept my eyes closed, I could continue to experience the knee-weakening reaction, I pulled the covers over my head and hoped for sleep. Four hours was like four minutes and it wasn't enough.

Would he wait for me to return?

The calm of sleep began to settle, my thoughts slowing.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Ugh! Throwing the covers off, I sat up and swung my legs over the side of my bed, reaching over to shut the alarm off instead of hitting snooze. Scruffy lifted his head, squinting as he growled, and then pushed a tunnel deeper to go back to sleep under the covers by my feet. As exhausted as I was, joining him in la-la-land wasn't an option.

I slapped my hands down to the mattress and pushed to stand, raising my arms above my head to stretch. A yawn escaped, turning into a sigh. As I lowered my arms again, I looked down to the bed and smiled. If I couldn't sleep, why should he?

"Come on, Scruffy. Outside," I said and pulled the blanket down as I walked to the door so that it fell on the floor at the foot of the bed.

Scruffy looked up and growled, and I rolled my eyes.

"Now, Scruffy." Opening the door, I whistled. "Come on. Time to wake up dad." I patted my thigh, pausing to hold his gaze. Why am I fighting with a dog? "Now."

Snorting, Scruffy stood, shaking his fur. He looked up again, snorted, and then raised his head as he scurried down his steps. I watched him descend and then pass me into the hall, and I bit my cheek to keep from laughing as I followed. It could be worse. He could think he was a cat instead of a human, and we'd be stuck with hissy fits instead of a superiority complex.

"I do not serve you, Scruffy," I said, smiling as I paused to knock on my parents' bedroom door as he continued to the top of the stairs. I shook my head turned to face the door and knocked again. "Dad?"

Three taps.

"Hel-lo! Dad." I opened the door and poked my head inside, pausing as my eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. "You said to wake you after—"

My voice faded when my eyes reached the bed. Snoring softly, my dad was oblivious, so tired he'd fallen asleep face-down on top of the covers in the center of the bed with his arms spread at his sides. His keys lay beside him and his wallet above. I looked over my shoulder to the light in the hall and then back. My heart began to race as I debated between doing what he'd asked me for and what I knew my mother would want. The annoyance he'd feel when he woke up wasn't enough to deter me, but the thought of the Darkness in his room... While he slept.

"Good night, Dad," I said softly, turned on the light, and then pulled the door closed. Turning, I saw Scruffy watching me over his shoulder, and I rolled my eyes. I pointed down the stairs. "No judging. It is for his own good and I called out to wake him up, so it wasn't a lie. Now let's go."

I paused to look over my shoulder again before following Scruffy outside, a task my mother always chose to bear even though he was my dog. My hesitation wasn't about the responsibility of letting the dog out and making sure he was fed. My father was spiralling. If—when—my mom came home, he needed to be healthy to help her. I couldn't lose him in the process of getting her back, though it was obvious I hadn't helped as much as I'd hoped.

She'd been transferred anyway.

They said she was crazy.

But she would come home and be better. My father would need to be here, because the only way she was getting un-institutionalized was for me to leave.