“You always were a hopeless romantic,” came a voice.
Sage spun around and was surprised to see, standing there, his sister, Phoenicia.
She stood there, staring at him disapprovingly in the doorway, slowly shaking her head.
“Such a sap,” she said. “Always have been.”
And what are you? he thought. Afraid to fall in love? You’ve had your guard up for centuries. Where has that gotten you?
He ignored her, crossing the room, picking up a framed piece of sheet music, signed by Beethoven, and putting it into his backpack.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.
“Going somewhere?” she asked.
He pored over his bookcase, taking out a first edition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and inserting it into his bag.
Phoenicia suddenly crossed the room, reaching him with lightning speed, grabbed his wrist, and snatched the book from his hand. She slammed it down on the tabletop, and scowled at him.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she hissed.
Now he was annoyed. He frowned back.
“What business of it is yours?”
“Everything that you do is my business. Everything that goes on around here is my business. Especially now. You’re so cavalier, as if nothing matters, as if we have all the time in the world. We’re all counting on you. Have you forgotten? And here you are, in another one of your romantic escapades, as if you haven’t a care in the world. You can fool mom and dad, but you can’t fool me. I know you could care less about getting the key from her. I know that you’ve fallen in love with her. You don’t care about any of us. You will die, and you don’t care about that either, do you?”
He stared at her, his eyes narrowing as he felt a rage building. That was so like her. His entire life she had plagued him, always the first to point out his faults – or her perception of his faults. She was a cynic, that was her problem. She didn’t believe in love at all.
Sage had given up trying to answer her centuries ago. She would never understand anything when it came to love.
Especially now. How could she possibly understand about Scarlet? How could he explain to her the way Scarlet made him feel? The way she looked in the morning light? Her grace? Her sensitivity? Her kindness? He could barely understand it all himself.
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” he said.
“I want you to say that you will get the key. That you will do it now!”
She stared back at him with intensity, but he slowly shook his head.
“It’s a myth,” he said. “Don’t you see? We’re destined to die. All of us. Our destiny has always been two thousand years. And nothing we can do will change that. Attacking some poor girl is not going to change your life.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You wouldn’t be trying to protect her unless you thought it was all true. That she really was the one.” She narrowed her eyes further. “I’ll be that she even offered you the key already – and that you said no. You did, didn’t you?”
He looked at her, blushing. It was uncanny how she could always read him.
“What do you care?” he said. “What are you going to do? Kill me? We’re all dying anyway.”
She shook her head in disappointment, and as she did, suddenly he saw something he had never seen before, in all his centuries of knowing her: a tear forming at the corner of her eye.
“After all this time, do you even care at all about me? Or yourself?”
He softened, feeling bad, and realizing he couldn’t lie to her anymore.
“Phoenicia. You’re my sister. I love you. I really do. But I’m sorry. She’s worth all of it and more to me.”
Phoenicia narrowed her eyes in anger.
“Is this girl, this stranger, worth even more than me?”
Her face reddened as she turned and stormed out the room and slammed the door behind her.
Sage knew that wherever she was going, trouble would soon follow.
Chapter Nineteen
Scarlet walked through her high school halls in a daze, hardly aware of where she was. She felt as if she were walking on air. She couldn’t stop re-living her night with Sage; his energy still lingered with every step she took. For the first time, she was hardly bothered by all the kids around her, swarming in every direction, she could barely hear the noise. She didn’t even care. Because now, for the first time she could remember, her heart was full. She was madly in love with Sage. Completely obsessed with him.
Her feelings for Sage were so overwhelming, she could hardly think of anything else. She felt it like a shield, hovering around her, protecting her. It felt like now, nothing could get to her. With Sage by her side, she felt invincible.
And soon enough, tonight, the two of them would take off, get away from here, away from her parents, her friends and all their petty drama, to a world of their own. To a place where they could be together, without anyone trying to get between them. All she had to do was get through this day, make it to tonight, to the dance, where Sage would meet her, and they would leave together. Her heart was pounding with anticipation; she already couldn’t wait for the day to end.
The bell rang, and she glanced at her phone as she headed towards her English class. She saw all the missed calls and texts from her dad, and cringed. She hardly knew how to respond, and couldn’t deal with it right now. She also noticed that Maria hadn’t texted or called. As she headed to their joint class, she braced herself for her reaction.
Scarlet entered the classroom just in time. It was already filled and she noticed immediately that her customary seat, next to Maria, was taken. She couldn’t believe it: Maria always made sure that seat was reserved for her. Now, some other kid was sitting in it. Maria, sitting in her usual seat, didn’t even look over at her. It felt like a betrayal, and it was a clear message: Maria didn’t want Scarlet sitting next to her. This did not bode well.
Scarlet hurried down the row, and as she did, Maria glanced at her, then pointedly looked away.
Scarlet walked past her, feeling hurt. On the one hand, she understood. From Maria’s perspective, Scarlet had stolen Sage away. But that wasn’t true, and it wasn’t fair. Sage had never liked Maria; Scarlet had even tried to set them up, and he just didn’t like her.
Scarlet felt that Maria should realize that, and that the way she was acting just wasn’t fair. She was living in a fantasy. Sage would’ve ended up with someone else, whether it was Scarlet or not.
But Maria could be so possessive and territorial and jealous that if anyone ever even talked to anyone she remotely liked, she took it as a personal insult. For Maria, this was like a nuclear bomb. Scarlet hoped that she would be big enough to get over it, because Scarlet wasn’t going to let Sage go. But clearly, Maria was not budging. This time, it was bad. In all the years she had known her, she had never seen Maria like this, so furious at her. Scarlet had a sinking feeling that this would be the end of their relationship.
The thought saddened Scarlet as she took her seat in the back row, set down her books, and turned and looked out the window. If that was how Maria wanted it, then that was how it would be. After all, after tonight, Scarlet wouldn’t be here anymore anyway. Soon, none of this would matter anymore. Soon, she would be with Sage, far away from here.
“Okay class, please open to Act Five, Scene Three of Romeo and Juliet,” Mr. Sparrow said. “The famous tomb scene. Show of hands: how many of you read this last night?”
A few hesitant hands rose.
“Very good. So then you will know what I’m talking about.”
Scarlet zoned out, as her thoughts turned back to Sage. She thought again of last night, of all that he told her, of who he was, who his family was. She remembered that orb he had created, in her palm, remembered watching it float away. She believed him. It was obvious, he was not like anybody else. And she felt in her heart that the two of them were meant to be together. Two immortals. Two different types of creatures. Unlike anyone else on earth. They were destined for each other.