Page 38 (1/2)

He wasn't afraid for her, not because she alking into the darkness of another death He didn't fear that it ht cause her pain

Daniel was afraid of her

Lu Xin! his voice cried out to her froh the haze of visions He was the only thing co else around her was lit up startlingly white Everything inside her was, too Was her love of Daniel burning her up? Was it her own passion, not his, that destroyed her every time?

No! His hand reached out for hers But it was too late

Her head hurt She didn't want to open her eyes

Bill was back, the floor was cool, and Luce was in a welcome pocket of darkness A waterfall sprayed so on her hot cheeks

You did okay out there after all, he said

Don't sound so disappointed, Luce said How about explaining where you disappeared to? Can't Bill sucked in his fat lips to show that they were sealed

Why not?

Personal

Is it Daniel? she asked He'd be able to see you, wouldn't he? And there's so me

Bill snorted My business isn't always about you, Luce I have other things stewing in the pot Besides, you seem pretty independent of late Maybe it's ti wheels What the hell do you need me for anymore?

Luce was too exhausted to pander to him, and too stunned by what she'd just seen It's hopeless

All the rage left Bill like air being let out of a balloon How do youthat Daniel does It's sos it out, but--it's my fault That has to be part of the curse, only I have no idea what it ht before I died--it's always the same

He tilted his head So far

I make him iven up on me, he should I can't do this to him anymore

She dropped her head into her hands

Luce? Bill sat on her knee There was the strange tenderness he'd shohen she first met him Do you want to put this endless charade to rest? For Daniel's sake?

Luce looked up and wiped her eyes You ain? There's so I can do?

When you assume one of your past self's bodies, there is one moment in each one of your lives, just before you die, where your soul and the two bodies--past and present--split apart It only happens for a fraction of an instant

Luce squinted I think I've felt that At the ht before I actually do?

Exactly It has to do with how your lives cleave together In that fraction of a moment, there is a way to cleave your cursed soul fro out your soul It would, effectively, extinguish that pesky reincarnation eleht I was already at the end ofback any Because I never--

That doesn't matter You're still bound to see the cycle to its end As soon as you go back to the present, you could still die at any moment because of--

My love of Daniel

Sure, so like that, Bill said Ahem That is, unless you break the bond with your past

So I'd cleave from my past and she would still die as she always did--

And you would still be cast out just as you've been before, only you'd leave your soul behind to die, too And the body you would return to--he poked her in the shoulder--this one--would be free to live outside the curse that's been hanging over you since the dawn of ti?

Not unless you juet into a car with a et it, she cut hiled to steady her voice--it's not like Daniel would kiss me and I'dor--

It's not like Daniel would do anything Bill stared at her purposefully You wouldn't be drawn to him anymore You'd move on Probably marry some dull sweetheart and have twelve kids of your own

No

You and Daniel would be free of the curse you so despise Free Hear that? He could move on and be happy, too Don't you want Daniel to be happy?

But Daniel and I--

Daniel and you would be nothing It's a hard reality, okay, fine But think about it: You wouldn't have to hurt hie passion

Luce opened her mouth but didn't want to hear her voice break A life without Daniel was uni back to her current life and trying to be with Daniel and having it kill her for good She had tried so hard to find a way to break this curse, but the answer still eluded her Maybe this was the way It sounded awful now, but if she went back to her life and didn't even know Daniel, she wouldn't miss him And he wouldn't miss her Maybe that would be better For both of theht more into her life than just his love Arriane, Roland, and Gabbe Even Cam It was because of all of them that she'd learned about herself--what she wanted, what she didn't, how to stand up for herself She'd grown up and becoone to Shoreline, never have found the true friends she'd one to Sword & Cross? Where on earth would she be? Who would she be?

Could she be happy one day without him? Fall in love with someone else? She couldn't bear to think about that Life without Daniel sounded colorless and gri back to:

What if she never had to hurt hiain?