Fated

trying, really. But it’s fine.’

‘That’s it, isn’t it?’ I said slowly. ‘You’re afraid.’

Luna went still, then shook herself. ‘It’s okay,’ she said levelly. ‘You go with Starbreeze.’

‘You’re scared of what’ll happen.’ I gave a short laugh. ‘Look, you don’t need to worry. It’ll be fine.’

Luna stared at me. ‘You think it’s funny?’

‘No.’ I caught myself. ‘Look, there’s nothing to be scared of—’

‘You don’t know that.’ There was an edge in Luna’s voice.

‘Yes, I do.’

‘You don’t know everything.’

‘I know enough about this—’

‘Shut up!’

I rocked back, and Luna took a pace forward, glaring at me. ‘You always think you know everything. You don’t! You don’t know what it’s like, you’ve never felt what it’s like. Stop acting like you do!’

I stared. I’d never seen Luna like this. She’d never before even raised her voice. ‘Luna—’

‘Stop it! Stop telling me what to do! I don’t want your—I don’t want—’ Luna’s voice wobbled and she swallowed. I took a step forward, but she jumped back, glaring at me. ‘No! Stay away from me!’

I took a deep breath. Luna stared at me, fighting back tears, and I tried to figure out what I needed to say. ‘Look,’ I said at last. ‘You’ve always trusted me so far. Trust me now.’

‘No! I haven’t— I mean—’ Luna turned away, running a hand through her hair, breathing fast. ‘I can’t, I— You don’t know what you’re asking. I can’t get close, I—’

‘If Arachne says something works, it works. You won’t hurt me.’

Luna drew in a shaky breath. ‘Alex, you don’t know what it’s like. The only way I can live is if I tell myself it has to be this way. If I let myself—’ She realised what she was saying and put a hand to her mouth, fright in her eyes.

I looked at Luna, standing alone and frightened on the hillside, and finally understood. All I could feel now was pity. I held out my hand to her. ‘Luna—’

But as Luna recognised the expression in my eyes, she finally snapped. ‘Stop looking at me like that! Stop feeling sorry for me!’ She took a step back. ‘I’m not going to the ball. I don’t want to be with you. Get away from me!’

I tried to keep my voice calm. ‘It’s okay—’

‘Shut up!’ Luna shouted. ‘I’m sick of you and I’m sick of your stupid magic and I’m sick of you pretending you know everything. I don’t want you to teach me anything any more. Leave me alone!’

You’ve probably figured out by now that I’m not the most tolerant of people. I have a really low bar for how much crap I’ll take from others, and I especially hate getting pushed around by people I’m trying to help. Probably one of the reasons I can never get a girlfriend, but that’s another story. The sensible part of me knew that Luna was just saying these things to try and make me lose my temper. Trouble was, it was working. I sucked in a breath and, out of sight, flexed my left hand, clenching it into a fist, then letting it relax. When I spoke, my voice even sounded calm. Mostly. ‘Let’s get one thing clear,’ I said. ‘I am not leaving you out here with a bunch of Dark mages hunting you.’

‘It’s not your choice!’

‘Yes, it is,’ I snapped. ‘I don’t care how stupid you’re acting, I’m not going to let you kill yourself.’

‘Try and stop me.’ Luna’s eyes were wide, and she was breathing fast. She was standing a few paces away, half turned and poised to run. It would only take one more push to make her flee, and I had the nasty feeling that in the state she was in she might just be able to outrun me. I took a breath, and went still. ‘You know what?’ I said as I let my leg muscles coil. ‘Fine.’

I was on Luna before she had the chance for more than a yelp. She tried to spring back, but I got one hand on her wrist and the other around her shoulders. And as I did, I came into range of her curse. To my mage’s sight, Luna’s curse is a silver-grey mist, following her like a cloud. As soon as I started towards her, it had stretched out towards me, silvery tendrils reaching out eagerly. If I didn’t trust Arachne so well, I don’t think I’d have had the nerve to make the jump.

But the tendrils never reached my body. As they touched my clothes, they twisted downwards, curving away to soak into the ribbon like water into a sponge. Silver mist poured steadily from Luna, flowing off my clothes like water off a duck’s back. The ribbon absorbed it all and, as I watched, its corners began to darken. Around that point, though, I stopped having any attention to spare.

I’m a head taller, fifty pounds heavier, and a good bit more skilled than Luna, so I’d been thinking I wouldn’t have much trouble keeping hold. However, it was at this point I first learned that holding on to a healthy and active twenty-two-year-old girl who’s seriously trying to break free is a lot like trying to give a cat a bath. The whole thing lasted about thirty seconds, and it was claws, knees and elbows the whole way.

By the time things slowed down, I was holding Luna with one arm behind her back and my right arm across her neck, just tight enough to keep her pinned without pressing into her throat. Luna’s other hand was gripping my forearm, trying to drag it away, and Starbreeze was watching from a few yards away, absolutely fascinated. She was obviously having a great time.

‘All right,’ I managed at last. Luna had landed an elbow in my stomach and it was making it hard to catch my breath. ‘Stop trying to tear my arm off and listen.’

Luna kept pulling a second longer, then she sagged suddenly, going limp. Her shoulders shook.