And when I blinked again, I was back on the roof, holding the box, reeling, under a dome of stars.
James was jealous after all—but not because Aaron got Aunt Jo. Because my mother and father got to spend time with me, while he couldn’t be the father he wanted to be for Ian.
What I’d seen must have happened right before my parents were killed, and James disappeared. Tensions were clearly running high. The Order was catching on to their plans, tracking them. Ian and I were old enough to understand what was happening, but young enough that we had to be kept safe. After the conversation I’d just witnessed ended, it probably was only a matter of time before the Order set the events in motion that caused the car accident that ended my parents’ lives.
And yet, not mine. They wanted to save mine. Because they knew that the combination of my parents’ blood was already beginning the process of making me special. They knew that, one day, my powers would explode with a vengeance that would shake the universe. And they knew that they would need me.
But that didn’t tell me anything about where James actually was. Finals were here, prom was drawing closer by the day, and we still didn’t have the final Rogues to complete our powerful circle. And if we didn’t find them, we risked not being able to summon all the Rogues to join us in the fight. Without them, we didn’t stand a chance.
“Hey, guys?” Ian’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts the following afternoon, and back to the Bean and the task at hand: studying. He stood above me, holding a plate of cupcakes.
One day, Skye and Ian will find each other.
I’d always known he was important to me. But now I knew with certainty that he was vital to the fight.
“Don’t tell Pete, but if there was ever a time to risk getting fired for the sake of my friends, I think this might be it.” Ian grinned. “On the house.”
“Frosting!” Cassie yelped. “A girl’s best friend.” She chose a vanilla cupcake with yellow buttercream and a smattering of white sprinkles.
I can’t do this without you, Ian, I thought, as Cassie and Dan dug into the sugary goodness. I hope my mother was right.
“Hey.” I pulled him aside. “Do you have a second?”
“For you, I have many seconds.” Ian narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
I grabbed his hand and led him outside, where it would be harder for anyone to overhear us. “How are you doing?” I asked him. “You know, since finding out about your dad being a Rogue, and you having . . .” I paused. “Angelic blood, I guess.”
“I don’t know,” Ian said, his tone light. “I guess it hasn’t really hit me yet.”
“Have you . . . I mean, can you do anything? Powers, I mean?”
He scrunched his nose, thinking. “I don’t think so. I’d know if I did, right?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, you’d know.”
Ian studied me. “Is that it, Skye? I gotta get back to work. . . .”
“Actually,” I said. “There’s something else sort of . . . related.” I paused, and he looked at me expectantly. “I had a vision, a while ago. Back before we split into the Uprising. I’m walking on a huge, endless expanse of black-sand beach. Just miles and miles of sand, as far as the eye can see. On one side, cliffs loom, like, menacingly above me. On the other, the black waves of the ocean beat a steady rhythm. In and out. In perfect time.”
Ian leaned forward, his eyebrows drawn together. “Go on,” he said, his voice low.
“There’s a figure, in the distance. He’s advancing, but the closer he gets, the thicker the mist swirls around him. I can’t see his face or who he is. All I know is that if I don’t do something, he’s going to kill me.”
“Do you see what you do?” Ian asked quietly.
I nodded. “I have a sword. I raise it above my head. And I—” I swallowed hard. “I throw it.”
“And?” The question was so quiet, so low a whisper, I almost didn’t hear it above the sounds of the street.
“And as I do, I see another figure, running toward the first one. I think I know who it is, but I can never quite be sure. I’m always just about to figure it out when the mist swallows him, too. And I know I hit someone.”
Ian’s face was pale.
“I don’t know who. I walk toward the mist. My dress is dragging me down, but I keep going, I have to keep moving. I have to find out. I draw closer. And as the mist clears, I know I’m about to see someone I love.”
Ian grimaced. “Is it . . . me?” He drew a sharp breath. “Is that why you’re telling me?”
“No!” I said quickly. “No, I know that at least.”
“How do you know?”
“Because in the vision, you’re right there beside me.” Ian studied me. Then he nodded.
“So that’s it, then,” he said. “My fate and yours, Skye. Intertwined.”
I leaned closer and took his hands. “I know this is a lot to ask, but I’m telling you because it isn’t just my fight anymore, Ian,” I said. “It’s yours too, now. It’s your dad we’re looking for. Your people we’re fighting with. You’ll be there, with me, in battle. This is your struggle just as much as mine.” I took a deep breath. “I don’t know where your dad is, but I know he left trying to protect you. You have to believe me on that. He’s not a bad guy.”
We stood there for a few seconds, in silence, while he thought.
Finally he said, “It makes so much sense.”
“It does?”
“Being a Rogue. My dad working with your parents. Aunt Jo’s story—how she always knew she was different but she didn’t know why or how.” He looked right into my eyes. “That night of your birthday party, I saw your eyes turn silver. I knew you were lying to me about it the next day, too. I had a feeling that something really strange was going on, but I didn’t know what. I knew it this whole time, right up until the camping trip. I just thought I was crazy or . . . I don’t know what I thought.”
“I get it,” I said.
“Every time I was in a room with Asher, I could feel my blood just boiling. Not just ’cause the guy’s an arrogant ass, but like he’d done something to me, personally.” He caught himself, and gave me a small, sheepish grin. “More than just steal you away from me, I mean.”
“Ian—” I said gently. “He didn’t steal—”
“I know, I know.” He frowned. “I would get mad at you, too.”
“It’s okay,” I said. “You don’t have to—”
“No, I do. Those things I said about you to Ellie. They were terrible. I don’t really think that. I just got so worked up, so angry. I didn’t know why, I just knew that I was, and I had to take it out on you, because you had the silver eyes, and you also kind of knew what it was like to be different.”
“Well,” I said. “Maybe now you’ll find some clarity.”
He looked at me curiously.
“He was trying to protect me, huh? You’re sure?”
“He wanted to be a part of your life. And he wanted to keep you safe. But he couldn’t do both.” He scratched his head thoughtfully then patted down his sandy hair.
“How do you know this?” he asked. “A vision?”
I smiled to myself. “Something like that.”
“You know, Skye, you’re amazing, the way you deal with all this. I wouldn’t be able to.”
“You would, Ian,” I said. “If you didn’t have a choice.”
“I guess it would be a little inappropriate to ask you to prom right now, huh?”
“Honestly, right now I’m just worried about surviving prom. Literally.”
He laughed, and soon I was laughing too. Hysterical, raucous, slightly delirious laughter.
“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” he said, wiping away a tear. Then he leaned in so suddenly it took me by surprise, and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll save you a dance, though,” he whispered in my ear.