Page 110 of Fall into Place

“Good,” Tess agreed. “Where are we going?”

Callum and Octavia exchanged a look, and then Callum turned back to Tess.

“Not all of us,” Callum said, as gently as he could. “Just Octavia and me.”

“What?” Tess looked like he’d just slapped her. “You’re going to leave us? You’re leaving me?”

“I don’t want to,” Callum pleaded. “Please understand, the things Konstantin will make us do—”

“So fight him!” Tess shot back. “Fight back, take control, do something to stop him!”

“It’s not that simple,” Octavia said coolly.

“Why not?” asked Joni.

“Because he’ll kill you both,” Octavia snapped. “Especially if he knows that you matter to us. He doesn’t allow us to be loyal to anyone but him.”

“I know it doesn’t feel this way, but us leaving is to protect you.” Callum took Tess’s hands. “You’re no threat to Konstantin. If we’re gone, he’ll leave you alone.”

“Are you sure about that?” Tess’s voice broke. “And what about Nantale, and Sylvie, and everyone else? You’re just going to leave them on the Isle forever because you’d rather run away?”

“It’s the only way to save ourselves,” Callum said. He tried to pull Tess in for a hug, but she shook him off.

“So you’re only going to think about yourself? No matter who it hurts?” Tess was holding back tears. “Maybe August Lirio was right about you. You really are the villains.”

Callum looked devastated—but Tess did too. It was honestly hard for Joni to tell which of them was feeling worse.

Octavia tugged on Callum’s sleeve. “We’d better go before he comes back.”

“Do you need me to make you a portal?” Flora asked. “I can send you anywhere you want.”

“It’s safer for you if you don’t know where we’re going,” Callum responded. “Tess, I…”

But Tess just stood there, her arms folded, tears streaming down her face.

“Just go,” she said stiffly.

Octavia approached Tess gingerly. “Tess, Callum and I are so grateful for your help—yours and Joni’s both. Now that I have my powers back, we’ll wire you both some money as soon as we can.”

“What?” Tess frowned. “I don’t want that—I don’t care about that.”

“I know.” Octavia looked at her sadly. “But right now, it’s the most we can do.”

Octavia looked at Joni then, and it was awful but predictable. Joni had never really thought Octavia would stick around after she got her powers back. It sucked—it maybe sucked worse than any breakup Joni had ever had. But it wasn’t surprising.

“Bye, Octavia,” she said quietly. “Stay safe.”

It was hardly a satisfactory resolution, but they were out of time—and besides, what else was there to say? So Joni, Tess, and Flora just watched as Callum and Octavia opened the window and easily scaled down the side of the building, their remarkable strength and speed fully restored now that they were back together. Once they hit the ground, they sped off into the dark so quickly that Joni couldn’t even watch them disappear.

Chapter 28

“So now what?” Joni asked, looking from Tess to Flora. “We just wait around for Konstantin to kill us?”

“We’re not important enough to kill,” Tess replied. She tried to say it with as much confidence as possible, but she had no idea whether it was true.

“Did you see that man?!” Joni scoffed. “It doesn’t matter if we’re important—he’ll murder us and care so little he’ll forget he did it five minutes later.”

“Can I humbly suggest we get the fuck out of here before he gets that chance?” Flora interjected. “We can go to my place if you want?”