"You can open your eyes now," he said quietly. Luce felt the ground under her feet again and saw they were at the only place she wanted to be. Under the magnolia tree near the lake's edge.
Daniel held her close. "I wanted to bring you here because this is one place—one of many places—where I've really wanted to kiss you these past few weeks. I almost lost it that day when you dove right into the water."
Luce stood on her toes, tilting her head back to kiss Daniel. She had wanted to kiss him badly that day, too—and now she needed to kiss him. His kiss was the only thing that felt right, the only thing that comforted her, and reminded her that there was a reason to go on, even when Penn couldn't. The tender pressure of his lips soothed her, like a warm drink in the dead of winter, when every part of her felt so cold.
Too soon, he pulled back, looking down at her with the saddest eyes.
"There's another reason I brought you here. This rock leads to the path we'll need to take to move you somewhere safe."
Luce lowered her eyes. "Oh."
"This isn't goodbye for good, Luce. I hope it's not even goodbye for long. We'll just have to see how things… develop." He smoothed her hair. "Please don't worry. I will always come for you. I won't let you go until you understand that."
"Then I refuse to understand," she said.
Daniel laughed under his breath. "See that clearing over there?" He pointed across the lake about half a mile away where a small pocket of forest opened up to a flat, grassy knoll. Luce had never noticed it before, but now she saw a small white plane with red lights on its wings blinking in the distance.
"That's for me?" she asked. After all that had happened, the sight of an airplane barely fazed her. "Where am I going?"
She couldn't believe she was leaving a place she'd hated but where she'd had so many intense experiences in just a few short weeks. What was Sword & Cross going to be anymore?
"What's going to happen to this place? And what am I going to tell my parents?"
"For now, try not to worry. As soon as you're safe, we'll tackle everything else we need to. Mr. Cole can call your parents."
"Mr. Cole?"
"He's on our side, Luce. You can trust him."
But she had trusted Miss Sophia. She hardly knew Mr. Cole. He seemed so teachery. And that mustache… She was supposed to leave Daniel and get on a plane with her history teacher? Her head throbbed.
"There's a path that follows the water," Daniel continued. "We can pick it up down there." He curved his arm around the small of her back. "Or," he proposed, "we could swim."
Holding hands, they stood at the edge of the red rock. They'd left their shoes under the magnolia tree, but this time, there'd be no going back. Luce didn't think it would feel so great to dive into the cold lake in her jeans and a tank top, but with Daniel smiling next to her, everything she did felt like the only thing there was to do.
They raised their arms overhead and Daniel counted to three. Their feet lifted off the ground at exactly the same time, their bodies arched in the air in exactly the same shape, but instead of going down, as Luce instinctively expected, Daniel pulled her higher, using only the tips of his fingers.
They were flying. Luce was hand in hand with an angel and she was flying. The crests of the trees seemed to bow to them. Her body felt lighter than air. The early-morning moon was still visible just over the tree line. It dipped nearer, as if Daniel and Luce were the tide. The water lapped below them, silver and inviting.
"Are you ready?" Daniel asked.
"I'm ready."
Luce and Daniel drifted down toward the deep, cool lake. They broke the surface fingers first, the longest swan dive anyone had ever pulled off. Luce gasped at the cold as they surfaced, then started laughing.
Daniel's hand took hers again, and he motioned for her to join him on the rock. He pulled himself up first, then reached down and lifted her. The moss made a fine, soft carpet for the two of them to spread out on. Water droplets clung to his chest. They lay on their sides facing each other, propping themselves up on their elbows.
Daniel put his hand on the hollow of her hip. "Mr. Cole will be waiting when we reach the plane," he said. "This is our last chance to be alone. I thought we might say our real goodbye here.
"I'm going to give you something," he added, reaching inside his pocket and pulling out the silver medallion she'd seen him wear around school. He pressed the chain into Luce's open palm and she realized it was a locket, a rose engraved on its face. "It used to belong to you," he said. "A very long time ago."
Luce clicked open the locket to find a tiny photograph inside, behind a glass plate. It was a picture of the two of them, looking not at the camera, but deep into each other's eyes, and laughing. Luce's hair was short, as it was now, and Daniel was wearing a bow tie.