I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”
“You didn’t kill him. You were supposed to kill him. It wasn’t your fault, but you were supposed to. Now they’re all going away.”
“How many people are going away?”
His mouth thinned as he scanned his work. “All of them.”
“This can’t happen, Rocket.”
“You broke the rules, Miss Charlotte. You brought him back.”
“Bullshit,” I said, getting angry with Rocket again.
He took a wary step back as I drew in a deep breath, tried to keep hold of every ounce of calm I could muster. “I’m sorry, hon. I just don’t understand. How is Reyes supposed to cause the deaths of all these people?”
“Not how,” he said, reverting back to his old standby. “Not when, only who.”
He could only tell me who died. Not how or when or why. Only who.
“No breaking rules,” he said, his voice now shaky.
I narrowed my lids, the shards of anger that nipped along the edges of my psyche slicing through the barrier I’d put up and slid silently inside. “I make the rules, Rocket. How is Reyes supposed to cause the deaths of—” I glanced around. “—thousands of people?”
“Not thousands, Miss Charlotte. Seven billion two hundred forty-eight million six hundred twenty thousand one hundred thirteen.”
Stunned, I shook my head. “How?” I repeated through teeth that were now welded together. “That’s everyone on Earth, and that’s not possible. How?”
He frowned and glanced down in thought. “Or one.”
“What?” I said, blinking back to him.
“Or one. If one dies, everyone lives.”
“Who, Rocket? Reyes?”
“No, Miss Charlotte. Not this time.”
“Wait, I changed destiny, right? I brought Reyes back. But now someone else has to die?” When he nodded, I asked, “Who?”
We’d been here before, and it did not end well. Rocket didn’t want to tell me, but he’d lost some of his innocence since our last encounter. He now knew better than to hold back.
He swallowed hard and whispered, the word like brittle paper in the air, thin and so fragile, I was afraid it would crumble before it got to me. But it didn’t. It reverberated in my mind like a crash of thunder.
He looked at me, his eyes round, and said again, “You, Miss Charlotte.”
And there it was.
24
More caffeine!
I’ve got lives to ruin!
—T-SHIRT
Reyes and I lay in our respective beds, our faces centimeters apart, our breaths meeting in the middle, caressing. Though it was past midnight, he’d just showered and smelled clean, his earthy scent rich beneath the sandalwood soap he’d used. His hair, still slightly damp, curled at his cheek and around his ear.
I didn’t get much more out of Rocket, but if I had to die to save the world, so be it. Timing would be an issue, but I planned on enjoying every second I had left with my fiancé.
“Want to come over to my place?” I asked him.
The sparkle in his eyes danced in humor. “I don’t know,” he said. “You live so far away.”
I squeaked as he reached up and slid me down the length of him, caressing my stomach with his mouth as I passed, searing my skin with each kiss. I kissed his stomach back before turning over and curling into his side.
We settled onto his side of the beds. His was much more comfortable than mine anyway. I had no idea how different I’d feel after sleeping on a good mattress. I could totally get used to it.
I had this amazing gift for living in denial. Until I died, I was going to live each day like I had a million more after that one. And that started here and now.
“If we ever get divorced,” I said into his neck as I trailed kisses over his pulse points, “I’m taking you for every mattress you have. Fair warning. You might want to consider a prenup.”
“Are you planning on divorcing me?”
“Not at the moment, but I have a few movie-star crushes I’m still holding out hope for. If any of them call, you will be so yesterday.”
“You know, it’s sad how many movie stars die unexpectedly.”
I gasped and rose so I could gape at him. “You’d kill my crushes?”
“Only the ones that hit on you.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll tell Brad to stop calling. He’s married, for God’s sake.”
“That would be wise.” He nipped at my earlobe, causing a tingle to bolt through me.
I pushed a lock of hair out of his eyes. “You bought me a new Jeep,” I said, noting that she’d been doing much better than before my run-in with Mr. Raving Lunatic two weeks prior.