Awry

69

Tristan was going to die?

Scarlet stared ahead blankly as Nate gathered maps, scrolls and journals into his arms. Mr. Brooks seemed eager to help the team find the fountain as quickly as possible and was loading Nate up with anything and everything he could think of that might lend a hand in the fountain’s whereabouts.

Heather was holding Scarlet’s hand, squeezing it every few seconds or so in reassurance, but Scarlet barely felt her friend’s touch.

Scarlet was killing Tristan. She was literally killing Tristan. She was stealing life from him. For the first time, she understood how he felt.

Gabriel’s voice sounded far away as he spoke to Mr. Brooks. “What can we do to buy time? What do we need to do to keep Tristan alive for as long as possible?”

Mr. Brooks cocked his head in thought. “They should not touch. Not at all. Even a brief contact of skin could complete the transition and send Tristan toward his death.”

Scarlet’s heart kicked away at her ribcage. She was in shock.

Dying over and over again was something she didn’t like, but at least it gave her something to hope for. But dying permanently…Tristan dying forever…that was void of hope.

Dark. Lifeless.

That was something Scarlet could not survive.

Leaving Mr. Brooks’ house was a blur. Someone shuffled Scarlet up the cellar stairs, down the owl-lined hallway and out into the cold February wind, but she wasn’t there.

She was somewhere else in her mind. She was floating along someplace where Tristan was safe and she was healthy and curses were nonexistent.

“Scar,” came a whisper beside her. Had it been any voice other than Tristan’s, Scarlet would have ignored it completely.

But the green-eyed Archer’s voice sank into her pores and she gave in automatically. Looking around, she saw that she was seated in the front passenger seat of Heather’s small car.

Tristan’s hot breath brushed her ear as he leaned in through the window and brought his face close to hers. “Scar, we haven’t lost yet. Look at me.”

Scarlet turned her face to his, barely seeing him.

Tristan said, “There’s no victory without a battle, remember?”

“Seriously, dude?” came Nate’s voice. “Ten foot rule. Come on!”

Tristan yanked his head away from Scarlet and a moment later Heather—seated in the driver’s seat—started the engine and left Peach Drive.

The hum of Heather’s car vibrated against Scarlet’s back as Scarlet let her thoughts roam to Tristan’s words.

They sounded familiar and safe. But they also sounded far away.

Heather drove in silence.

Scarlet felt tears sting her eyes and she wanted to scream. She wanted to wail for her broken mind and cry in frustration at all the things she couldn’t fix. The things she couldn’t change.

The things she couldn’t remember.

I don’t want a battle with a victory. I want a nice, easy road to the fountain of youth, paved with flowers and lined with unicorns that sang songs about how great life was going to be.

There’s no victory without a battle? Then I don’t want a victory! I’m sick of battling! I’m sick of death—

Click.

A discombobulated memory stuttered through her mind. Random images, evasive emotions….

Pressure, determination, bravery….

Scarlet had what she needed. If she could make it through the night and hold off the nosebleeds for one more sunset, she could be free.

She had what she needed.

Scarlet opened the door of the small bedroom she was in and stepped into….

The shack.

The same shack Tristan had been staying in.

She was there, with a purpose, like it was her home. She walked to the kitchen and looked out at the twilight forest through the window.

“There is no victory with a battle,” she whispered to herself.

Breathing heavily, Scarlet jolted out of the memory just as Heather pulled down Main Street.

Scarlet gasped. “The shack! I need to go to the shack!”

Heather wrinkled her brow. “The what?”

“There’s a shack in the woods by the cabin. That’s where it is.”

“Where what is?”

“I don’t know! Just drive to the cabin.” Scarlet was panting, and slapping her hands on the dashboard in front of her. “Go!”

“Okay, okay!” Heather stomped on the gas with a pink high heel, and peeled down Main Street, driving like fury through the town. For the first time ever, Scarlet was thankful for her best friend’s insane driving.

When Heather steered her car down the cabin’s driveway, Scarlet didn’t wait for the vehicle to come to full and complete stop. While it was still rolling, she jumped out, breaking into a run.