“And maybe you should just take your dog and go home to daddy, little girl, before you get seriously hurt.”
I laugh, but there’s no humor in it. Not in the laugh or even in me. Honestly, I feel a big empty pit in my chest.
“I am pretty sure it was you who told me to hear out what your friends had to say. You were the one who saved me in the woods. Now you want to send me off? Flick me away like some pesky flea, itching and annoying you? Getting under your skin? Well, it’s not going to happen. I’m the first candidate to receive this burning-ass tattoo. And yeah, I am a girl, but you’re forgetting one thing, Rye.”
“And that is?”
At this very moment, it’s just me and Rye. His storm-filled eyes tear through me. My hands are sweating and my bottom lip trembles. I should be scared. Scared for my life, but I think I am more terrified that he will stop staring at me like this if I stop talking back.
“I’m from New York, babe,” I manage to get out, my breath catching as the words roll off my tongue. Did I really just call him babe?
“You are still just a girl, Sailor. It doesn’t matter if you are from Mars.”
“How dare you underestimate me?”
“You’re the one who said this wasn’t for you,” Rye reminds me.
A flash of anger ripples in me. He doesn’t realize it, but he’s just fanning the fire.
“Yeah, and it’s true. This whole thing is beyond crazy, but I can say that about myself, I know me. You, on the other hand, just met me and already you assume I’m weak. Why? Because I’m not a man?”
“That has nothing to do with it.”
He rolls his eyes to the ceiling and it takes all of my power not to grab him by the jaw and yank his eyes back on me.
“Fine, then, why don’t you think I can do this?”
“Because you don’t have what it takes to face your fears. You couldn’t even tell your dad the truth about wanting to move back to New York, you have a box of your mom’s things you’re too afraid to open, and you can’t even bring yourself to admit that you’re pissed off at her. You’re mad she left and wasn’t strong enough to deal with her problems. She took the easy way out to get away from you, and that pisses you off most of all.”
I breathe in and out slowly, my heart hammering so loudly I am sure they can all hear it. My eyes warm, but I fight the urge to cry.
“How…how do you know all that?”
“As soon as Maya blessed you, we saw the important events of your life flash before us. It helps us know what the candidate’s life is like, and it’s faster than asking twenty thousand questions,” Mel says delicately.
The fantasy is popped the moment she speaks, and I am brought back to reality. I am not just standing here facing off with the hottest guy I’ve ever met. I am standing on the edge of my fate, in a room of gods and goddesses, and as I glance around, I see that all their eyes are either cast down or away. Looking anywhere but at the two of us sharing verbal blows.
I whirl back on Rye, my fists balled up at my sides. It’s one thing to be an ass, but it’s another to invade my privacy.
“I don’t know what you gods do in your city, but where I’m from, you don’t put your nose in other people’s business. You had no right to look into my life.”
A single tear escapes, but I quickly wipe it away. I don’t want them to get the wrong idea. I am an angry crier. Piss me off enough and you get the waterworks.
“It’s just part of getting to know you,” Grace says.
“Well it’s wrong. You are all wrong,” I snap.
Grace winces as if I slapped her.
“We don’t know everything, only major events,” Sunday says.
“Whatever, I want to go home. Now.”
I raise my voice and turn away from all of them. I know what I have to do. It isn’t going to be easy, but I’ve learned nothing ever is. I’m going to do it. I’m actually going to fucking do it. I’m going to take the chance to do something amazing, to live the life I’ve always fantasized about. Just knowing it is terrifying, but beneath the fear, there’s something else. Exhilaration.
“That’s smart, Sailor. In the morning, I’ll walk you through what you need to do to turn down the mission. It’s a simple—” Rye starts.
I hold up a hand to stop him.
“I’m not turning anything down. My dad is a good person and he deserves to live. And so do the millions of other souls on this planet. I’m not gonna let the world end without trying to stop it.”
“So, you admit you are the Paradox?” Ya-Ya asks.
I don’t know if I am or not but I will do whatever it takes to stop the end from coming.
“Yes,” I say simply, giving Rye a pointed glare.
I hope he reads the message loud and clear in my hazel eyes.
“Fine, we’ll talk about the rest of it in the morning. For now, I’ll take you home,” Rye says.
“No, you won’t. You’re a rude, sexist jerk who needs to stay far away from me.”
A part of me means it, but mostly, I am lying through my teeth. I don’t want him to stay away from me. I want him to scoop me up and carry me off like he did in the woods. I want to know what those lips feel like on mine, but I am also not going to stand here and let him patronize me and treat me as an inferior. No, I will show him I am more than capable of standing my own ground.
“Fine. Grace, see
