The night air was thin.
A splash of stars twinkled above, and wisps of clouds hung in the near freezing atmosphere, making Lilly shiver.
He should be here by now.
She drew her jacket closer around her, her breath billowing out in clouds of ice as her breath came out ragged and fast.
Slowly, she could see frost beginning to form on the tips of the grass, and in terror, she backed away.
Great Celeste!
Moments before the frost reached her shoes, Lilly scrambled above the slope she was standing on, and, without glancing back, plunged into the woods.
Cold nipped at her hands and she shoved them in her pockets, breathing hard.
"Jay!" She whispered. "Come quickly!"
Her voice bounced off the trees, sending a shiver up her spine:
Come quickly... Come quickly... come quicklyyyyyy...
She settled at the base of an icy oak, shivering, for what seemed like days.
Dozing off into space, Lilly submerged into horrible thoughts of the Permafrost and death.
Hours later, the leaves rustled, and a young man tramped out of the foliage.
Lilly leapt up, squinting at his silhouette to verify his identity.
"Jay! You moron!"
Once his dark hair and silvery eyes were visible, Jay rubbed his arm, distracted.
"I got held up," He muttered, but then his eyes focused and he grinned. "Wanna go for hot chocolate?"
Lily would have thought their meeting would have been mysterious, cold in the woods next to a dry, crackling fire.
But there she was, sitting at the closest Bar and Inn, sitting at a wooden table for two and sipping hot chocolate with Jay across from her.
"Isn't this great?" Jay said brightly, gulping down a mouthful of the scalding, sweet liquid.
Lilly gave a half-smile, picking at the marshmallows floating in her drink.
"Careful," she murmured, "If we get seen together anymore, people might get the wrong idea."
Jay pale eyes twinkled.
"Maybe we should get seen together more, then."
"Jay..."
He ignored her.
"I mean seriously, you're nose is constantly buried in those government-issued books these days, I never get to talk to you—"
Lilly slammed down her mug.
"Jay"
"We should order some shortbread cookies... this place's got the best ones. Just think—warm, crumbling in your mouth, maybe enough sugar to loosen you up a bit," he coaxed, and Lilly snapped,
"Jay!"
Even Charlie the old bartender looked at her.
Jay lowered his eyes.
"What?" he muttered.
Lilly sighed, forcing herself to stay calm.
"Listen," She said softly, deciding to lower her tone as well. "Did you find the Celestial?"
Jay opened his mouth as if he was going to say, 'What Celestial?", for which Lilly would punched him in the mouth, but instead he muttered, "Yes."
Lilly was irritable, but his answer made her blood run cold.
"So?" she prompted. "What did you find?"
He fiddled with his spoon.
"Him."
Lilly felt her heart freeze like the leaves outside.
"It's a him?"
Jay nodded grimly. "Yes."
Lilly's head was spinning.
"B-But SCAR said—"
"It doesn't matter what SCAR said!" Jay interrupted frostily, slamming his mug down and sloshing hot chocolate all over the table. "It's a boy! He was born in Montreal City—"
"Montreal City?" Lilly said suddenly.
Her heart was sinking faster and faster, slimy, cold fear replacing where relief should have been. "But—"
"I know," Jay snapped, "That's on the Northside but they were supposed to be Southerners! It's screwed up, I know. We'll just have to hope everything goes alright."
"Hope?" Lilly burst out.
She stood up fast, knocking her chair over, and placed her hands on the table.
"Hope? Are you kidding me?"
She found herself laughing coldly.
"No, no, Jay, if the prediciont goes wrong, it ruins everything! And you want to put the lives of my family— of your family— in the hands of hope??"
Without thinking, Lilly swept her hands across the table.
Glass shattered, and Jay yelped and scrambled backwards as hot chocolate spilled all over.
Charlie was at her side in an instant.
"Miss-" he reminded her, and Lilly shrugged him off angrily.
"We'll be leaving soon," she snapped to the old bartender, who stumbled backwards.
She fixed Jay with a glare, whose hands were bleeding from the shards of glass.
"Lilly," He began, but she cut him off.
"Just... stop. The prophecy isn't coming true, and if there are any more alterations, it will be disastrous!"
Lilly felt her heart race.
She couldn't let the Alliance down now... over her dead body.
Jay was staring at her like she was crazy.
Maybe she was... she didn't care.
"So... what do you want to do?" Jay said, standing up quietly.
Before she spoke the words, she caught her ragged reflection in the shattered glass, catching the light on the polished wooden floors.
Her eyes were alight with a deranged hunger... power.
"We end him."
