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“Walk with me,” he says in a firm voice. “We’re turned away from your house. One block from here, my car is parked by the road. We will go there and then we’ll get away.”
“Away? What? I can’t just leave!”
“You can, and you will.”
“CAM! You’re not making sense.”
“Walk,” he orders, grabbing my arm. It’s not a mean clench, but it’s clear I don’t have a real choice.
So I walk.
Winnie takes the lead and in my peripheral vision, I see my house, Jason now in the window, watching. He presses his finger against his ear and says something.
The suddenly, he leaves his place at the window.
Good. He’s backing off.
The urgency of his demeanor, his words, everything he’s telling me turns my body into a pulsing tension point. Add in that kiss, and the delight of being touched passionately, kissed deliciously for the first time and I am so overwhelmed.
The prophecy above all, I hear in my mind, the voice of The Mother whispering through the din of it all.
“They’ve brainwashed you,” Cam says urgently, pointing at Winnie as if we’re talking about her. I know he’s performing for the sake of Jason and Malcolm, but for a moment I think he’s talking about my dog and I start to giggle.
Then I laugh some more.
Soon, I can’t stop.
“How,” I gasp, “How do you think that everything I’ve been told my entire life is a lie?” I gasp, finally having to stop, my ribs aching.
He looks back at the house, then bends down to pet Winnie, face turned down as he says, “They’re watching.”
“Of course they’re watching! It’s their jobs to watch me! I am their Princess, and soon I will be their Queen.”
“You’ve lived a sheltered life, Paigelynn. On purpose. They’re isolated you from the world.”
“Because I am special! My husband is special!”
“Because they plan to use you for evil reasons.”
“Evil?” I gasp, the laughter going dry in my mouth like an instant drought. “How dare you use that word in reference to my future husband!”
“Do you know what they’re going to do to you when they deliver you for your wedding? You’ve been told your whole family will be there. For the first time in thirteen years, you’ll see your mother, your father, your little sister, and The Mother. Right?”
A gong rings in my head.
“How do you know that?”
“I know it all, Princess.” The way he says that last word is so nasty, so derisive. “I know more than you do, which is why you need to listen to me. We’re going to go toward that blue car. The one parked to the right, behind me. Don’t look. You’ll tip them off.”
“Who?”
Suddenly, Cam stiffens, his back arching, Winnie barking just once as his hand slips and he presses her down into the sidewalk. She wiggles away.
“Us,” says another man’s voice, as I see Jason appear behind him, his hand in Cam’s ribs. A flash of dark metal makes it clear he’s holding a gun against Cam’s side. “We’re the ones he doesn’t want tipped off. Me. Malcolm. Your future husband. The Mother. All of us. He’s trying to get you to betray your destiny.”
Fear rushes through me, spiking like fever through my blood.
“Jason! No!”
