Claire set the broccoli quiche and wild rice on the table. She plopped down on a chair with her oven mitt and apron still on. She cut two triangles off the quiche and served them on our plates.

“It’s nice of your new friend to invite us to dinner.”

I nodded as I took a taste of the piping hot food. It was delicious. I wondered if it would be up to Chios’ standards. I wouldn’t shy away from showing off my own cooking for David, if given the opportunity. I had inherited Claire’s skill.

“Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on between you two?”

“Nope. Not until you tell me what was going on with you last week.”

“That, again.”

“No deal?”

“No deal.”

***

I was washing the last of the dishes when the phone in my pocket started vibrating. It was Krystle, one of my best friends. She left for college earlier in the school year along with Sheila, Gabriel, and Patrick.

“It’s so much work,” Krystle complained. “Research papers and projects and presentations… I’m so happy I’ll be coming home for spring break this weekend.”

“Great! We can hang out with Andy and the rest of the gang. What do you want to do when you get here?”

“Sheila told me the Spring Festival is going on this weekend.”

“Man, I miss her… She lives here, but I never see her because she’s so busy all the time.” I leaned against the kitchen sink, staring at the floor.

“I know, I hardly talk to her anymore either, and we don’t even have time to text. She’s super busy with work, college, and all. I don’t know how she does it. Sometimes, I feel like I can’t handle my full load of classes.”

“You’re scaring me. I don’t know if I want to go to college anymore.”

“Shut up. You know you’re going. So have you given thought to where you’ll be attending? UTSA, maybe—with me?”

“Still debating.” I sighed. “The tuitions are ridiculous, you know?”

“Tell me about it. If it weren’t for financial aid and student loans, I’d be illiterate right now.”

“So dramatic!” I laughed.

“I know. It’s the stress. So, I’ll see you when I get there, yes?”

“Count on it.”

“I’ll talk to ya later. Bye.”

“Bye.”

***

David was wearing a fitted, black polo-type shirt with a white shirt underneath when he picked me up for school the next morning. He looked like a model for the designer clothes he was wearing.

“Ready, gorgeous?”

“No,” I said. “How many more days until spring break?”

“Not long. What are we planning for that week?”

“We? That sounds nice.”

“Do you think your mother would let you travel?”

“Not unless the apocalypse was nearing.”

“I’ll have to figure a way to keep us entertained here, then.”

***

David’s arm was wrapped around my waist as we walked into school. He held me like I was a fragile glass vase; his embrace was soft, careful, and firm. I was in heaven, until the smell of the breakfast pizza hit my nostrils.

“What’s that smell?” David pinched his nose.

“You don’t wanna know. Let’s sit out on the patio,” I said. I led him out of the exit next to the theatre arts center.

As we took our seats, the rest of our entourage came out to join us. Eryx and Galen sat at a corner table with two other guys I didn’t know, while Bill and Andrea sat with David and me. There were no other students out on the patio besides us.

I let Andy and Bill know that Krystle would be in town for spring break and about our plans to meet up at the Spring Carnival. David was quiet while Andy and Bill exchanged ideas of what to do while Krystle and Patrick were in town.

“David, you’re really gonna like Patrick, Krystle, and Sheila,” Andy said. “They’re such good people.”

“I don’t think Sheila is going to make it to the carnival. She has to work,” Bill said. “Maybe we can meet up with her on one of the days we go to the beach.”

“Well, we kind of made plans for the week already, too.” I glanced at David.

“Nothing is set in stone,” David said. “I wouldn’t mind meeting your friends.”

“Woo hoo! Spring break at the beach!” Andy wiggle-danced on her chair.

***

The day went fast. First period, David managed to keep his hands to himself.

I had a presentation in Physiology, second period, which I had to wing without Simon. He took it upon himself to change his seating arrangement. The teacher must have not minded because he didn’t ask him to return to his original lab table.

Lunch was a blast; even Galen and Eryx took interest in the idea of a little recreation and relaxation at The Island.

After school, the excitement of the week to come was still alive in Andy and Bill. I could tell they were also looking forward to hanging with the old group. We all said goodbye and headed home.

“Come here,” David said after we were in the car. I shifted my weight to the driver’s side. David pressed his pale, soft lips over mine and deepened the kiss. My mind fogged for a moment.

“Four hours I’ve been waiting for that.” David sighed. “It was worth the wait.”

I asked David to drive us to my house so that we could talk. Claire had a meeting and wouldn’t be home until past six o’clock, so our dinner plans would be later than expected.

David was reluctant to enter the house claiming Claire would disapprove of his visit without her presence. It took a little convincing, but in the end, I swayed him.

I threw my book bag on the recliner and sat on the sofa.

He was uneasy even about sitting down.

“I can’t stay long. Though my brothers and mother say they don’t want to meddle in my affairs, they still worry about me.” David sat at the edge of the sofa.

“Galen’s still at it with the comments, I assume.”

David nodded. “They’re afraid Gabriel will confront me any day now. The only reason they enrolled in school was to keep an eye on me. My family doesn’t trust me. They think that I’m liable to act out of impulse and unintentionally reveal myself.”

“Why would they think that?”

“Because I’ve given them reason to doubt me.”

“What did you do?”

“Isis, love is irrational. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, more so than anyone, I would say.”

“Love makes us do crazy things.”

“Like?”

“I asked someone to break a rule—a rule that may have cost him and me a great deal of problems.” He looked down at the floor. “I asked a deity to… distort your emotions so that you would love me.”

“What?”

I felt rage erupt from within my core. When he tried to speak again, I jumped to my feet and slapped him. I doubt I physically hurt him, but his face reflected pain.

“You made me believe that I loved you? How could you do that to me?”

David grabbed me and held me tight. I tried to force myself free, but his strength was much greater than mine.

“No, Isis, that’s not true.”

“You’re a liar… a hypocrite… a charlatan! Let me go! Get out of my house!”

“I didn’t follow through; I didn’t do it. Listen to me… please. You love me on your own.”

I stopped struggling.

“I swear on my life, I didn’t go through with it. I’ll swear on anything you want, do anything to prove it, but believe me… please.”

David released me from his grasp. He dropped before me on one knee and took my waist between his hands. I tried to push him away, but he wouldn’t let go.

“I’m begging you. Forgive me… please.”

The way he looked at me reminded me of the way my dad gazed at my mom imploring her not to leave him before the divorce. It broke my heart to see David like this. I never imagined I would see the day a god would kneel before me, pleading at my feet to believe in his words; it was just so wrong.

“I believe you,” I told him.

A tingling sensation swept over the tips of my right hand. I raised it to see what could be causing the feeling.

“My fingers…” I said. I brought my hand closer to my face to see it better. My nails and fingertips were a purplish black hue. The color and tingling sensation were traveling up at a steady speed.

“No!” David gasped, his eyes wide in panic. He lifted me into his arms and ran out the door. He soared into the air at an astonishing rate. I had no time to react. The tremendous pressure of the wind burned against my skin. I felt David’s body tense as he landed. I heard his feet pounding on the ground. Everything around me was swirling blur. I was going to be sick.

“I have to throw up,” I moaned. I shut my eyes to block out the spinning, but the nausea continued.

“I can’t feel my hand,” I managed to mumble. My hand was cold and limp. The pins and needles sensation had now reached my wrist.

I heard David’s steps echoing. We were indoors somewhere, but I didn’t want to open my eyes. My stomach was still in knots.

“Mother! Gemini!”

He lay me down on something soft. I heard footsteps approaching. Someone took my right arm as if examining it.

“I have to throw up,” I warned a second time.

“Calm her.” I recognized Nyx’s voice.

I felt a light breeze on my face as I inhaled. My head was light, but the dizziness was gone. My stomach began to settle. My body relaxed, and I slowly opened my eyes.

David was kneeling by my head. Nyx sat next to me, while the twins stood behind her. I examined my hand. It looked like it was beginning to decompose from the fingers. The dark purple color was a third of the way up my lower arm. The tip of my pinky fell off. I should have been frantic, but I was unfazed, like I didn’t realize what I was seeing.

“Forgive her,” Nyx said to David.

“I forgive you,” David said to me.

“No. You must feel it.”

“Mother, I should be the one asking her for forgiveness.”

“She struck you. Forgive her. Do it now,” Nyx said.

“I forgive you, Isis,” David said, again, stroking my head.

I studied my arm. The blackness was at the base of my elbow. The tingling didn’t stop. It looked like something was boiling under my skin, slowly creeping upward. The muscle tissue was exposed in my hand. I could see bone and veins all turning black. The smell of putrid meat made me gag.

I looked up at everyone. Galen and Eryx were focused on my arm in horror. Nyx was crying, but trying to hold her composure.

“It’s not working,” David said. “Why isn’t it working?”

“You don’t have much time. If the corrosion reaches her chest, she’s going to die,” Nyx said.

“I’m going to die?” I mumbled.

I always thought I would be afraid of dying. I carried that fear with me since I was twelve, after looking inside that coffin at my dad’s stiff, breathless body. But now that it was my turn, I was ready. This destiny was written for me.

“I can’t do it, Mother. I have nothing to forgive her for,” David said.

If I was going to die, I needed to tell David something I hadn’t had the courage to tell him before.

I glanced at my arm. The decomposition was at my elbow and the tingling had crept up near my shoulder. I didn’t have time to waste.

“David,” I said, and he looked at me. “I’m sorry I hurt. I needed you to know… to hear it.”

I could feel the tingling a few inches past my shoulder. Nyx pulled my shirt at the neckline exposing my collarbone and part of my shoulder.

“I love you,” I said. “I always have.”

“I’m so sorry I did this to you,” David whispered, stroking my forehead.

I could no longer feel my arm, my shoulder, and part of my chest. And then I felt it—a searing pain in the middle of my chest. I writhed in anguish, screaming at the top of my lungs. My whole body jerked, and then there was darkness. Everything was silent, including my heart.

A soft light surrounded me, cradling me in a tranquility I had never known existed. I struggled for a last breath, but it was too late. The end was here.