followed in swift succession by radiant joy, and then a fear
more terrible than anything I had seen in his eyes before.
There was no going back from this, I knew. Either I would
claim my identity as Vesta, whatever that was, or I would die
in the attempt.
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Epilogue
Chance held out his hands to me. “Come,” he said.
“I'll show you where the test takes place.”
I stepped forward, taking his hand. In an instant I felt
myself whirring and spinning, the landscape growing blurry
all around me. I stumbled but found there was nothing to
stumble onto – the ground had vanished, and we were
moving rapidly through air. I looked up at Chance in shock
as the wind whipped all around us.
We were flying – over the island, far from the beach,
from its seaside cities – flying deep into the wild heart of the
jungle, where no humans went, into its depths. We
approached the mountain at the center of the island – a long-
dormant volcano, I'd heard – and came to a stop in the
hollowed-out crater at its peak. I looked at Chance in
surprise.
“Will I ever get used to this?” I stumbled as my feet
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found land.
“Here we are,” he said. “The fire goddess's throne.
Vesta's place.”
“And there you are…with Mac!” A furious voice
broke through my shock.
“Varun!” He was striding over towards us, his face
pink with anger.
“Don't tell me you've come to put her at risk, too!”
Varun got straight in Chance's face, shoving him backwards.
“You're not happy with killing Jana – now you've got to get
the other one, too!”
“Varun, it's not what it looks like...” I started, but
faltered, confused.
“Or are you just here to gloat over what you did?”
Varun glared at Chance. “I'm disgusted with you.”
“You think I wanted that to happen? It was a mistake,
Varun – we both know that. A horrible accident.”
“I knew she wasn't your goddess. I tried to tell you.
But you were too stubborn. You thought just because you
were attracted to her she had to be yours. You manipulated
her into thinking she was Vesta – into taking those risks. Into
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undergoing the test. And she died.”
“It wasn't like that,” Chance's face was full of pain.
“She came to me – she told me who she thought she was.
She told me she wanted to take the test, to be the Fire Queen
of the heavens. She wanted it!”
“After you seduced her into it!” Varun shoved
Chance to the ground. “She never would have done it if you
hadn't been around all the time, hanging around her, making
her fall for you.”
“That's not how it was and you know it!” Now
Chance was fighting back. “I tried to avoid her – just like all
the others. I tried to push her away. Tell her to leave me
alone. But she wouldn't. She wanted to be Queen.”
“We were happy!” Varun cried. “Until you came
along, visited Aeros Island on your summer break. You
should have stayed in Eton. For a year we were happy – in
love. Then you came back and cast whatever spell you cast
on her, and from that second she couldn't live without you.
She needed you like oxygen. That's not normal, Chance.
Whatever you did...”
“You think I wanted her to die?”
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“Did you care?” Varun snarled. “Did you care what
you put her through, what she risked – as long as you found
your precious goddess? You knew she wasn't the one – you
could feel it. But you wanted her, and you wanted your
goddess, and you were willing to risk anything to be sure...”
“I didn't know she wasn't the one. She could have
been. I thought she just hadn't Awakened yet – that she hadn't
come into her abilities....if the Embodiments weren't mortal-
seeming we wouldn't even be here.”
“I thought you were just on Earth to get girls. The
great Mars. You can have any girl you want, but you got Jana
and now you have Mac,” Varun scoffed.
I flinched. I didn’t want to be compared to Jana all
the time. I didn’t want to be her replacement to Chance or to
Varun.
Chance looked over at me, his eyes sad. “Mac is
different,” he said. “I could feel it. She’s not Jana, Varun.
She never was. I’m not looking to replace Jana. All I want,
whether or not she is Vesta is her. Mac is the girl I love.”
“You’re going to kill her…” Varun said angrily, “if
you don’t let her go…” He raised his arm to punch Chance
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square in the face. Chance rushed him, staying his arm.
“What do you think you're doing?”
“Trying to keep Mac safe from scum like you. She is
not Vesta, Chance. And she's not going to end up like Jana if
I can help it.”
“No, she's not,” said Chance quietly. “That's the
point. She isn't Jana. She could be the one.”
“Like you haven't said that before!”
“She'll be tested...”
“Killed, you mean?”
“Even if she is an Embodiment,” said Varun.
