The only thing Gaia was sure of was that she was not afraid. She just didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
IT WAS NEARLY TWO A.M. BY THE time Gaia rounded the corner to Ed’s building.
She’d rehearsed what she would say a hundred times as she’d roamed the streets, but nothing sounded right. It was a simple enough request: Ed, run away with me. But somehow, that didn’t sound right. Somehow, it didn’t convey what she truly felt. The real problem was, she couldn’t put her finger on the feeling. Only that it consumed her.
So she was going to have to wing it.
At least she’d kept her promise. She’d sworn she would come back, and here she was. They could go from there....
Gaia stopped walking.
She stopped thinking altogether. Her heart seemed to sink, then break, then seemed to disappear completely. She should have known what she would find just outside Ed’s lobby. Not Ed’s parents, or his sister, or Heather, or the FOHs—or Ed himself, out for a late-night walk. No, instead she found only what she had come to expect from life: something sad and dark and miserable... a reminder of the futility of hoping for the future.
There were three men in black ahead of her.
What had made her think she could get away? Why had she bothered to incorporate even the concept of hope into her life? It was always a mirage. Always. Loki was never going to let go, and Gaia was never going to have peace. These were the two commandments of Gaia’s existence.
It was only a moment before they spotted her and began to walk toward her. She didn’t bother to run. There was no point anymore. The running was over. But as they drew closer, she could not help but stare at their leader. Because he looked so very much like...
Josh.
She blinked. It wasn’t possible. He’d collapsed right in her arms. Dead. With a smoking bullet lodged in the center of his head. No. But whether he existed or not, he was closing in on her while she was wasting time deliberating. Whoever he was, Gaia needed to get away from him, and she needed to do it now. She finally turned herself around. But three more thugs approached her from the opposite direction, cutting her off.
Of course. Loki wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. He wasn’t about to lose her again. He had her cornered and outnumbered. Not to mention haunted. Gaia came to a stop in the middle of the street, and tried to assess her options. She could fight them all off, but there were surely more of them around the next corner, and the next. Think! Loki had her in goddamn checkmate. He was about to win his own stupid endless cruel game, and there was nothing Gaia could do about it—
A black Mercedes suddenly careened around the corner, screeching to a halt in the middle of the street. It swerved up onto the curb beside her. The passenger door swung open. She peered inside. It was him. Whoever he was.
“Get in.”
Gaia hesitated. Josh and the mob were closing in.
“Gaia, it’s me,” he said urgently. “You know it’s me.”
She took a step closer, but it was so dark.
“There’s no time,” he said. “You have to trust me, Gaia, please. Look in my eyes. You know I’m your father.”
Gaia leaned forward and peered into the shadowy car. A pair of blue eyes stared back at her. They were soft, very soft... and glittering. They seemed to promise peace. It was a lie, to be sure, but she didn’t care anymore. Her body took charge. She leaped from the sidewalk into the car at the very moment Josh lunged for her legs, falling to the street. Her father slammed on the gas pedal. Fists pounded on the dark windows and roof as they sped away.
“Are you okay?” he gasped.
But Gaia didn’t answer. She swung her head around and watched helplessly as Ed’s building grew smaller and smaller, and then disappeared into the distance.
“Good-bye,” she murmured. She had to be numb right now. Because if she let herself feel everything she’d just lost, she wouldn’t be able to live. She turned back to her father. Staring at his profile as the buildings zoomed by in the background, she truly wasn’t sure if he was her father or not.
The only thing Gaia was sure of was that she was not afraid. She just didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.