Rebel Belle

Chapter 16

I WITHDREW my hand. “No, thank you.”

Saylor and David both stared.

“I appreciate your offer very much,” I continued. “But I’m afraid I have to refuse.”

Saylor rose to her feet, an expression somewhere between anger and disbelief spreading across her face. “I’m not inviting you to a garden party, Harper. I’m asking you to accept the role destiny has handed you. I’m asking you to use the powers you’ve been given.”

But I was already shaking my head. “No. No, this is not my destiny.” Heart hammering, I could feel blood rushing to my face and I knew that my chest and neck must be splotchy. “I have my own life, and things . . . things I want to do. I can’t follow him”— I flung my arm out at David—“and keep him safe forever. What am I supposed to do about college? Or—or getting married and having kids and—”

Breaking off, I took a deep breath and held up my hand. “You know what, no. Forget it. It doesn’t matter, because I’m not going to be a Paladin.”

Saylor rolled her lips inward, eyes narrowing. It was an expression I’d seen on her face dozens of times, usually when Mary Beth was screwing up at Cotillion practice. “It’s not something you get to decide,” she said. “You already are a Paladin. The moment Christopher passed his powers on to you, you accepted this responsibility.”

“But I didn’t,” I fired back. My throat was tight, and I could feel the tears pricking my eyes. Great, splotchy and I was about to be snotty. “This was done to me. I didn’t choose this. And so now, I’m choosing not to do it.”

I looked down at David who was still sitting on the floor, watching me. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “I obviously don’t want you to die. I mean, I know I’ve said that I did a few times, but I didn’t really mean it. And it was only when you were being especially provoking, so—”

“Harper.”

I turned back to Saylor. “No,” I said again, but she continued like I hadn’t spoken.

“This isn’t something you can walk away from.” Saylor’s back was ramrod straight, shoulders tense under the bright coral of her jacket. “Do you know how important Oracles are? Wars have been fought over them. And now the Ephors are coming after David again, and I don’t know what they want to do with him.”

“You can do magic!” I shouted back and despite all of it, there was some tiny part of me still horrified I’d shouted at Saylor Stark. But I shoved that down and kept going. “You can make wards to protect him, and—and make things disappear. You don’t need me.”

Walking forward, Saylor gripped my arms, tight enough to hurt. “We do,” she insisted, giving me a little shake. “There have to be three, Harper. Three people, working together. The Oracle, the Paladin, and the Mage. One part of that missing . . .”

“And what?” I asked, my gaze flying back to David. He was standing now, but his face was blank and I had no idea what he was thinking.

“It won’t work,” Saylor said, and for the first time, I saw how desperate she really was. Her voice went softer even as her grip got tighter. “Harper, Christopher and I risked everything to save David. We did not get this close to lose him now.”

I struggled out of her hands. As I did, my eyes fell on the wall behind her and all of those skinny sideways figure eights, the symbol of the Paladin. Something surged in my blood, but I shut my eyes. No. No, I was not doing this. I was walking away. I could walk away.

But standing there, shaking with some power I couldn’t even name, that seemed easier said than done.

I thought of my mom and dad. Of Ryan and Bee and all those college brochures in my desk at home. And the shaky feeling started to recede.

Taking deep breaths through my nose, I tried to get myself under control. “Tell me why,” I said at last. “Tell me why it’s so essential that I give up my whole life to keep David safe.”

Saylor blinked and took a step back from me. “He can see the future, Harper. The only person in the entire world who can. Don’t you think that’s worth protecting?”

Rubbing my hands over my face, I fought the urge to scream. “Yes, but not at the expense of my life.”

There was the lip roll again. “And what is it you plan on doing with your life that’s so important, Harper? Is it more important than ensuring the safety of the only Oracle?”

“Yes.”

We both turned to look at David. His hands were shoved in his pockets, his gaze on the floor. “Harper’s life is important, Aunt—” He broke off, shaking his head. “And she’s right. She can’t just follow me around forever. That’s not fair to her. Or to me. I mean, I might actually want to get a girlfriend at some point, and no offense, Pres, but I think you might salt my game a little. Wait, do I have to be celibate, too?”

Saylor rolled her eyes. “David, take this seriously.”

Even from a distance, I could see the steeliness in David’s eyes as he took Saylor in. “I am. Trust me. And that’s why I’m saying this whole thing is crazy. Paladins and Oracles and ancient Greece . . .” Sighing, he lifted one hand to rake it through his hair.

“You keep doing—what did you call them? Wards?—and I’ll try really hard not to tell the future anymore, and Harper will go back to her regular life of committees and dances and being a pain in my ass.”

Saylor opened her mouth to reply, but David held up his hand. “You said the three of us have to work together. Well, it’s two against one here. This?” He made a circle with his finger between the three of us. “This isn’t happening. And now if you ladies will excuse me, I’m going upstairs and taking some aspirin.”

With that, he turned and walked away. Saylor and I listened to his heavy tread on the staircase, both of us jumping a little when his door slammed.

Dropping into the nearest chair, Saylor covered her face with one hand. “I meant what I said, Harper. There’s no walking away. From the moment you entered that bathroom, your fate was sealed. His, too.” She picked up her head and nodded in the direction of the stairs.

I didn’t answer her. Instead, I took my keys from where I’d laid them by my plate. The chicken and dumplings had coagulated into a beige blob and I wondered how I’d ever thought they looked appetizing.

“Thank you for dinner,” I told her even though I hadn’t eaten a bite. “Also, I think—” My voice broke, so I cleared my throat and tried again. “I think it would be best if I pulled out of Cotillion this year.” I wasn’t sure how I was going to explain that to my parents, but I also knew that I wanted no part of whatever was going to happen that night.

Saylor’s gaze stayed steady on me. She might not have been related to David by blood, but her eyes were nearly the same shade of blue. For a second, I thought she was going to try the sales pitch again. Instead, she gave a little nod. “I understand.”

My knees were shaking as I went to leave the dining room. I was just to the doorway when Saylor said my name again.

“Yes, ma’am?” I asked, turning to face her.

“Thank you so much for the cake,” she said, and in that moment, she was the Saylor Stark I’d known my entire life, all perfect silver hair and straight white teeth. “You’re a doll.”