Impossible.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the locket he had taken from Rhys. The archer sprang up when he flipped the release and began spinning in circles. Tinny music filled the air.
Luc waited, but the archer only kept spinning.
Luc circled the roof, holding the archer above his head like a beacon, and still it kept spinning. A sick feeling started in his stomach. It clawed its way up into his throat.
It had to be there.
Maybe he had the wrong building. His memory from that night wasn’t a hundred percent clear. Corinthe had been chasing him with a knife, for Christ’s sake. It was possible he’d gotten it wrong. He closed his fist around the locket, feeling the cool metal in the palm of his hand before tucking it back into his pocket.
Just need to go back down and retrace my steps. That’s all.
But when he turned to go, something orange, buried in a bit of debris, caught his eye. He knelt and pushed bits of concrete out of the way. There, in almost the same spot it had fallen days earlier, was his Giants cap.
This was the right roof.
Luc straightened up slowly, filled with a sudden sense of hopelessness.
The sun had sunk below the horizon, and brilliant streaks of color painted the sky in bold strokes. The air had a violet haze to it. It reminded him of Pyralis.
Of Corinthe’s eyes when she had said that she loved him.
He had made a promise to her. And no matter what, he would keep it.
There were other Crossroads in his world. There had to be. He had emerged with Jasmine near the rotunda. Didn’t that prove it?
Crossroads everywhere …
He only needed to find one.
“I’m coming, Corinthe,” he whispered into the wind.
And for just a moment, he could almost swear he heard the wind whispering back.
Acknowledgments
First I would like to thank Lexa Hillyer and Paper Lantern Lit for this amazing opportunity. Writing Fates was so much fun, and I learned so much over the past year.
I’d also like to thank my editor at Delacorte Press, Wendy Loggia, for taking a good book and helping me turn it into a great book. No matter how many times I read back over the pages, I’m still amazed at how awesome they turned out.
My agent, Mandy Hubbard, made my writing dream a reality, and without her dedication and support, I wouldn’t be where I am. So thank you, Mandy!
And finally, to my family, who put up with dirty dishes and too many peanut butter sandwiches, so I could finish writing this book: I love you guys.
About the Author
Lanie Bross was born in a small town in Maine, where she spent the next eighteen years dreaming of bigger places. After exploring city life, she and her husband and two young sons ended up going right back to the wilds of Maine. They live just one house down from where she grew up. Fate, perhaps? Lanie loves chasing her rambunctious kids, playing tug-of-war with her ninety-five-pound Lab, and writing for young adults. Fates is her first novel.