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“I already regret the need for it.” I leaned against the wall as I waited. “Do you think I’d be here this early if it wasn’t important?”
The door swung open. Cosette stood in a sheer white robe that didn’t quite hit her at mid-thigh. Her tiny, pale blue nightgown peeked from underneath and I shot Dastien a look. Don’t even go there.
I wouldn’t dare, he said through the bond as he stared at the ceiling.
I elbowed him and then pushed past Cosette.
The rooms up here were all the same. Small single beds in simple frames made with crisp white sheets and comforters. Each one had a small wooden table with a lamp and a full bathroom. With so little inside, the rooms were usually pretty tidy.
Not Cosette’s. Clothes were strewn all over the floor. I wasn’t sure if they were all dirty or if some were clean. I tried to watch where I was putting my feet, but it was no easy task. “Glad to see you’ve made yourself at home.”
Cosette crossed her arms. God. She’d just rolled out of bed, but her hair fell around her face in perfect blonde-brown ringlets. That had to be something to do with being fey, because it definitely wasn’t human. “If you woke me up to criticize my housekeeping, we’re going to have a problem.”
“No. Sorry. I…” I swallowed as the fear came back two-fold. “I wanted to talk to you about visions.”
Cosette shook her head, making her curls bounce. “Hardly anything I know applies to your type of magic. You’d be better off talking to Yvonne or Elsa.”
I sat down on the edge of her bed. Dastien leaned against the doorway, hands shoved into the pockets of his faded and battered jeans. He gave me the slightest nod.
I met Cosette’s brown gaze with my own. “I don’t know them well enough to know
if they’d lie to me.” I hoped they wouldn’t, but they might try to soften the reality. I needed brutal honesty. Cosette was the girl for that. “I know you’ll tell me the truth, even if it’s seriously sucky.”
“That’s true.” She straightened. “What did you see that’s got you so worked up?”
I told her the basics—leaving out the part about the fey dude for now—and then asked my million-dollar question. “Can I change what I saw? Or is it set in stone? I need to know if there’s hope.” I tried to keep the desperation out of my voice, but failed miserably. Holding my breath, I waited.
Cosette tilted her head from side to side as she thought about it. “I don’t know.”
Not exactly what I wanted to hear. “But it could change?”
“Maybe. Maybe not.” She twirled the belt of her robe around a finger, her eyes out of focus and distant. “But is that the best question to be asking?”
Was she kidding? “What other question is there?” If I couldn’t change the future…
I didn’t even want to think about that.
“Don’t worry about possible. Worry what to do with the information you have.” Cosette leaned forward, peering at me so intently I almost leaned back. “Knowing what you know, will you still fight Luciana? Even if costs your life?” She gestured toward Dastien. “His life? That’s what I’d be asking.”
Dastien seemed calm enough, leaning against the doorframe, but a trace of fear mixed in with his confidence and determination. Losing him would be awful. If I had to die to defeat Luciana, I at least wanted him to survive and I’d do pretty much anything to make that happen, even if it was selfish.
I knew someone else would stand against her eventually, but could they win? Even if I tried to run, I had a feeling that I’d still end up in that church eventually.
Just with a lot more blood on my hands.
“I don’t know how your visions work,” Cosette said. “The fey teach that the future is changeable, but it’s possible that all paths lead to that church for you. We might all die fighting.” She shrugged, almost oddly unconcerned, but that we had to mean she was including herself. That was something, at least. “We all have some choices to make. I believe those choices will determine whether what you saw comes to pass.”
Choices? I groaned in frustration. I needed something clearer. More definite. What good were these stupid visions if they didn’t help?
“They are helping you, Tess.” Dastien squatted down beside me. “You know what to look for. When we reach that moment, you’ll either change it or you won’t.”
I wanted to wring his neck. “And you’re okay with dying? Getting your head sliced off?”
“No! I don’t want that at all. I have plans. Dreams. For us.” He reached up to cradle my cheek and I leaned into his touch, trying to breathe in some of his calm. “I can only move forward, armed with this knowledge. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure the worst doesn’t happen. And if it does…”
I let out a slow breath. “If it does?”
“We’ll be together. In this life and the next.” He pulled me down until our foreheads touched. “You’re stuck with me. No matter what.”
