“Why did you try to bribe Cross?” she asked. “And all my other boyfriends?”
“Because they told me no one could ever know the truth,” Jonathan admitted. “That’s why I kept you isolated. A boyfriend or husband might have questions. And if you had children … who knows what they would do? They said that if anyone ever found out about the ring, they would kill you in front of me. Sweetheart, these are powerful men. They could do things …” He shuddered. “Things you could only dream about.”
“I’m going to throw this away.” She grasped the ring with her thumb and forefinger. “I don’t want it. I don’t want this!”
His expression turned to horror. “Don’t, Sabrina.”
“I’m … I’m going to destroy it.” She grabbed at the ring and tugged. “I’ll toss it down the disposal or … or … Damn it!” Why couldn’t she take it off? The silver band seemed soldered onto her skin. She’d worn it for years, never really thinking about it. When was the last time she had taken if off? It had been her mother’s—or so she’d thought—which was why she never thought to remove it, not even while she was working or washing her hands. “It won’t come off!”
“I don’t think you can take it off, Sabrina,” Cross said.
She whirled toward him. “How do you know?” A shudder went through her. “Who the hell are you? Is your name even Cross?”
“It is. I don’t know how to explain this.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “Sabrina, those men your father are talking about, they’re called mages. They’re the enemy of my kind. Bad people.”
“Your kind?
“I can’t tell you any more, not without putting you in more danger.”
“If they’re bad, why did they bring me back to life with this ring?”
His eyes turned dark. “That I’m not sure of yet. But you see, the mages want only one thing: to rule the world and enslave everyone in it. And that ring is part of their plan.”
“How?”
“I don’t know yet, but …” he hesitated. “My brother can see visions of the future and he saw them win. The mages will rule over the world. Then they’re going to kill my family and the rest of my kind.”
“It can’t be … no, it’s impossible. Magic doesn’t exist, right?” She turned to her father, hoping to get some confirmation from him. But his expression told her that this was all happening.
“The ring,” Cross continued, “the ring they gave you is one of the tools they will use to do this.”
“Wait, did you bump into me because you wanted the ring?” Hurt and betrayal made her chest ache.
“No!” he said quickly. “That was coincidence.” He shook his head. “No, my brother predicted it too. And I tried to stay away, but I couldn’t.”
“The world’s going to end?” she asked. “You’ll die? And my father? And everyone?”
“Those left will become slaves of the mages.”
This was all crazy, but something inside her was telling her it was all true. After tonight, after everything she’d seen, it became more and more obvious that he was telling the truth. How could she even deny it after what she’d seen; after what she’d done?
She stared down at the ring on her hand. God, she hated it! Wished she could cut if off. Wished there was some way to stop that future he was talking about.
“God.” Jonathan buried his face in his hands. “I wish … but even if I could go back in time, I would have done everything to save you, Sabrina.”
“Dad …”
“Isn’t there any way to stop it?” Jonathan grabbed Cross’s arm. “If you care about my daughter, you’ll find a way. Please. I’ll do anything.”
Cross’s jaw hardened. “I’ve been trying to find a solution. But my brother’s premonitions have always come true.”
“And there is no way to change the future?” she asked. “Something we can do now?
“My brother’s visions aren’t set in stone, he says. But he doesn’t know what we can do now to change it.”
A dread filled her. “You said that in his vision … this ring is one of the things that they need to bring about the destruction of the world?”
“Yes.”
“And because I can’t take the ring off, what he really means is me and the ring, right?” He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. “It’s me, isn’t it? I’m the reason that vision will come true. It’s because of me.”
Cross swallowed. “You were in the vision. Right before my family dies and the mages take over.”
“Then you have to … you have to do something. Make sure I don’t cause that.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe I wasn’t supposed to live,” she concluded. “Maybe I need to die—”
“Sabrina, no,” Jonathan embraced her tight. “No!”
“Dad, there’s no other way.”
“No! I will not allow this to happen!” He turned to Cross. “If you care for her one bit, you won’t stop trying. You’ll find a way to save Sabrina. There has to be a way. You said you’ve thought on this for a long time. You must have some ideas. Please,” he cried. “Please save my daughter.”
She looked at him, at his face. There was an inner battle she could sense he was fighting. “You’ve already thought of a solution.”
“One possible solution,” he said after much hesitation. “But we can’t—”
“What is it, Cross? Tell me,” she pleaded.
He took a deep breath, and his hands clenched at his sides. “I should have walked away from you that day I saw you.”
“At Wicked Brew? When you bumped into me?”
“I saw you earlier than that, Sabrina. A few days before that. I saw you across the street and followed you to Wicked Brew. Then I
