Fallen 2. Torment(88)

"I know you have to be careful about what you tell me. I know I've died before.

But I'm not going anywhere this time, Daniel, I can feel it. At least, not without a fight."

She tried to smile. "I think it will help us both to stop treating me like a fragile piece of

glass. So I'm asking you, as your friend, as your girlfriend, as, you know, the love of your

life, to let me in a little more. Otherwise I just feel isolated and anxious and--"

He caught her chin with his finger and tilted her head up. He was eyeing her

curiously. She waited for him to interrupt, but he didn't.

"I didn't leave Shoreline to spite you," she continued. "I left because I didn't

understand why it mattered. And I put my friends in danger because of it."

Daniel held her face in front of his. The violet in his eyes practically glowed. "I

have failed you too many times before," he whispered. "And in this life maybe I've erred

on the side of caution. I should have known you'd test whatever boundary you were

given. You wouldn't be ... the girl I loved if you didn't." Luce waited for him to smile

down at her. He didn't. "There's just so much at stake this time around. I've been so

focused on--"

"The Outcasts?"

"They're the ones who took your friend," Daniel said. "They can barely identify

right from left, let alone which side they're working for."

Luce thought back to the girl Cam had shot with the silver arrow, to the goodlooking empty-eyed boy in the diner. "Because they're blind."

Daniel looked down at his hands, rubbing his fingers together. He looked as if he

might be sick. "Blind but very brutal." He reached up and traced one of her blond curls

with his finger. "You were smart to dye your hair. It kept you safe when I couldn't get

there fast enough."

"Smart?" Luce was horrified. "Dawn could have died because I got my hands on a

cheap bottle of bleach. How is that smart? If ... if I dyed my hair black tomorrow, you

mean the Outcasts would suddenly be able to find me?"

Daniel shook his head roughly. "They shouldn't have found their way onto this

campus at all. They should never have been able to get their hands on any of you. I am

working night and day to keep them from you--from this whole school. Someone's aiding

them, and I don't know who--"

"Cam." What else would he have been doing here?

But Daniel shook his head. "Whoever it is will regret it."

Luce crossed her arms over her chest. Her face still felt hot from crying. "I guess

this means I don't get to go home for Thanksgiving?" She closed her eyes, trying not to

picture her parents' crestfallen faces. "Don't answer that."

"Please." Daniel's voice was so earnest. "It's only for a little while longer."

She nodded. "The truce timeline."

"What?" His hands gripped her shoulders tightly. "How did you--"

145

"I know." Luce hoped he couldn't feel that her body had begun to tremble. It got

worse when she tried to act more assured than she felt. "And I know that at some point

soon, you will tip the balance between Heaven and Hell."

"Who told you that?" Daniel was arching his shoulders back, which she knew

meant he was trying to keep his wings from unfurling.

"I figured it out. A lot goes on here when you're not around."

A hint of envy flashed through Daniel's eyes. At first, it felt almost good to be

able to provoke that in him, but Luce didn't want to make him jealous. Especially with so

many bigger things at hand.

"I'm sorry," she said. "The last thing you need right now is me distracting you.

What you're doing ... it sounds like a pretty big deal."

She left it at that, hoping Daniel would feel comfortable enough to tell her more.

This was the most open, honest, and mature conversation they'd had, maybe ever.

But then, too soon, the cloud she hadn't even known she'd been dreading passed

over Daniel's face. "Put all of that out of your head. You don't know what you think you

know."

Disappointment flooded through Luce's body. He was still treating her like a

child. One step forward, ten steps back.

She gathered her feet under her and stood up on the ledge.

"I know one thing, Daniel," she said, staring down at him. "If it were me, there

wouldn't be a question. If it were me the whole universe was waiting on to tip the scales, I

would just pick the side of good."

Daniel's violet eyes stared straight ahead, into the shadowy forest.

"You would just pick good," he repeated. His voice sounded both numb and

desperately sad. Sadder than she'd ever heard him sound before.