I blinked several times staring in the face of Zyacus who stood in front of me. His eyes searched mine. “Are you alright? You sort of froze up for a minute.”
I peered around his shoulder at Aric who seemed as confused as I was. I swallowed hard. I’d never seen myself in a vision before, and I was torn away before I even saw a death, for that’s all my visions had ever shown me. Would Aric die? Would I? Perhaps even Zyacus although I hadn’t had a premonition about him before when we’d made contact. “Um, I’m fine. I’m just a little tired.” I stared at Aric and knew at least one of us wouldn’t survive this school year. “We’re running late to meet my mother so you should hurry.”
Slipping out the door, I went down the steps taking them two at a time, my breaths coming in a wave of panic. Before I could get out of the foyer of the boys’ dormitories Zyacus appeared in front of me and I ran into him. He caught my arms before I fell back. “What was that?”
With burning eyes, I blinked away tears. “What do you mean?”
He tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow. “When Aric touched you, something happened.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
His grip tightened then he let go of me and sighed.
I hurried around him, my mind reeling on what I could do. If I touched Aric again would I be able to see the rest? I’d never been cut off before.
“Aric is cursed,” Zyacus said from behind me. I halted turning on my toes. “I saw you staring at the birthmark on his wrist.”
I grabbed Zyacus’s hand and dragged him into a quiet room which I realized too late was a small closet with cleaning supplies that left us—close. “Cursed how?”
“If you wanted to be alone, all you had to do was ask. Dragging me into a closet is a little unnecessary.”
“This is not the time for your flirtatious antics.”
Rubbing his chin, he said, “His mother made a bargain during the Queens Challenge that would cost a life. The bargain also said the person would be marked. It’s only logical it would be his life, given the sign of death on his wrist.”
“How do you know that? And if that’s true, why is he still alive?”
Zyacus’s eyes roamed over my face. “Don’t you know your own history?”
I shoved him and he barely moved. I’d read accounts on the Queens Challenge probably a hundred times and I didn’t recall anything about a bargain Kyria made for a life. “Don’t insult me or we’re not having this conversation.”
I hated the beautiful smile that followed my pushing him. He must truly enjoy fighting with me. “Magic works in strange ways. Maybe the curse wanted her to suffer, to know that her boy could die at any time, grow to love him more each day because she’d made that bargain so easily. I’ll ask again, what happened when Aric touched you?”
Could I trust him with my secret? Could I trust our one-time enemy kingdom with the knowledge of my own curse? Could I trust the boy I loved to hate? “Promise me you won’t tell anyone.”
His expression grew serious. “I promise.”
My mouth felt like I’d eaten a spoonful of dirt at the thought of exposing my curse. Even if he looked sincere, I couldn’t take his word for it. People were willing to die to keep my secret, willing to let others die. “First tell me what human-like creature or cursed person from Collweya could have killed Finnick and that horse so gruesomely.” Could possibly kill Aric or me.
Zyacus narrowed his eyes. “I tell you Aric’s cursed and you suddenly think he’s a ravenous killer?”
“I never said anything about the killer being Aric—you did.”
“No,” he said, shaking his head and holding up a finger. “You said cursed person, emphasis on the curse part. And what makes you think it was a human that killed them?”
“I saw Finnick die,” I said and then clamped my mouth shut. Story was I was in my room, nowhere near Finnick the night he was killed. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”
His eyes bore into mine, as if his very stare could drag the truth from me. I hoped mine would do the same. “So that’s why you’ve been hiding away for days,” he mused. “How about a truth for a truth?”
“Nothing happened when Aric touched me,” I held his gaze hoping to cover my untruthfulness. “I don’t know why you think anything did.”
“You’re lying.” His voice was quiet but fierce. “You have exceptionally gifted parents, not to mention a grandmother who gets glimpses of the future and yet you expect people believe you have no special ability beyond being magic-born?”
“So what if I am normal?’’ I said with a shrug. “And if I wasn’t, I don’t trust you, you don’t trust me. That’s the way it’s always been.”
“I told you about Aric’s impending death,” he said flatly. “Something he doesn’t tell many about. Something I doubt he wants Legacy to know, by the way. At least for now. So don’t say anything.”
“For all I know it could be a lie.” I stepped out of the closet.
