by Brenda Drake
She covered her mouth with her hand to hide the food as she chewed, then swallowed. “Either I’m starving, or this is the best sandwich ever.”
“It’s the best sandwich ever.” He slid a water bottle over to her.
“Thanks.” She picked it up and unscrewed the top.
Sunlight coming from the window hit her face, illuminating the starbursts in her eyes and causing Andrei to feel that excitement in his stomach he used to get whenever she’d call.
She lowered her head and picked at the edges of her roll.
From what he’d learned of Daisy over the last two years, she was a planner, and an idea struck him.
Plan together. Break the ice.
She didn’t have to know he was going to scrap the plan. Plus, it would look more believable when it all fell apart later.
He balled up the sandwich wrappings and shoved them into the paper bag. She raised her eyebrow when he removed his map and the lined pad of paper he’d used to write down his suggested itinerary.
“That’s it?”
“Yep.” He opened the map and shook it out, then he flipped it over and folded it in half. All while Daisy watched him with that curious look on her face.
“Who uses actual maps nowadays?” There was a little amusement in her voice as she took out her phone. “There’s an app for that.”
He smoothed out the crinkles in the paper. “Yeah, well, a physical copy’s better. You can make notes on it. Try that on an app.”
She retrieved a leather-bound journal out of her pack and opened it. Inside, her writing was neat. This girl was obsessive. But he knew that. Their online meetings started precisely on time. She would have an agenda ready, and they would follow it, not deviating from the order she’d placed things.
“You know, they have an app for notes,” he said.
Her lips pursed as she drew in a breath and looked at him as if he should’ve known better than to suggest such a thing. “Then I wouldn’t get to buy all the pretty notebooks and the perfect pens.”
“All right. So, this is our path.” He turned the map a little, so they both could see it.
Andrei presented her with his idea of the best way to go. He pointed out the red lines he had drawn on the map. It took him hours, and Daisy’s eyes followed his finger along the route, her lips puckered as she watched him.
Damn. Those lips are perfect.
Pink rushed over her cheeks when she caught him staring at her mouth.
“Um. Well, okay then, show me what you have,” he said, trying to ignore the heat boiling just under his skin.
“I was thinking we could go to Vienna first. Over to Rome, then up to Paris.”
She slid her journal around, so he could see, leaning over the table. She flipped her hair behind her shoulder, one long, fiery strand falling against her collarbone. He fought the urge to brush it over to the others resting behind her shoulder.
“From there we’d go back to Amsterdam,” she said.
“Wait.” He picked up her journal and studied it. “It’s the same route as mine.”
“I know.” She gave him a wide smile. “I just wanted to show you my presentation is better than yours.”
He chortled. “That it is.”
There was a scar above her left eye. It was faint. She got it crashing into someone while skiing. He knew a lot about her. So why did she feel like a stranger?
She busted him staring at her, again, but he didn’t care because it made her squirm a little. She sat back, eyeing him. Neither spoke.
Is this a staring contest? I can stare the best of them down. He’d made girls blush and chase after him with it before. Turning on his best smoldering look, he massaged the back of his neck, making sure to flex his bicep.
She barely flinched.
He leaned back and scratched under his shirt, flashing his abs at her.
The right corner of her lip twitched, and she looked down.
Score.
“You cheated,” she said, her eyes going to his, her smile pushing dimples in her cheeks.
“All’s fair in a staring war,” he said.
“I’ll keep that in mind for next time—”
A hacking cough from the sick girl across the aisle stopped her. The little girl leaned against her mother who patted her back.
Daisy flashed a look in their direction, then returned to staring out the window, scratching at her wrist. That sullen expression appeared on her face again, and the urge to ask her what was going on was strong, but he could tell she didn’t want to talk.
Besides, he didn’t need to ask her. The tear beading at the corner of her eye said it all—she felt the girl’s pain deeply. Her empathy was boundless. It was an admirable trait. One he wished he had more often.
She brushed her hair behind one ear and wiped her eye dry with the sleeve of her sweater. Every movement of hers was gentle and fluid, and he found himself unable to look away.
Her head turned in his direction, but she didn’t say anything. Her lips curled up into a smile as if to hide the storm in those starburst eyes. He wanted to say something. Something that would remove her worry, but before he could, she turned a frown to the window and took up scratching at her wrist again.
There was a pain in his chest like a dull knife pushing into his heart. What was it like to be her? To carry such a burden? He could never do it. Not like her. She handled it with such grace.
Andrei reclined his chair back, covered himself with his windbreaker, and closed his eyes, hoping to escape all the dark thoughts clouding his mind for just a few moments.
He awoke sometime later to murmured voices. One of which sounded like Daisy. He sat up. She wasn’t in her seat. The mother across the aisle from him had earbuds in and watched something on her tablet while the father slept beside her. Andrei glanced up the aisle and down. Daisy was a row back playing cards with the little girl and boy from the family, a table between, she sat on one side, the kids on the other.
Those aren’t cards. They’re tarot—
A card flew up and suspended in midair between Daisy and the little girl. The image was upside down. It was an angel standing at a river holding two cups. The angel poured water from one into the other. The card split in two and the images spun in different directions.
He jumped up, rushed to Daisy, and pulled her arm away from the cards. “What are you doing?”
A clear crystal dropped from her hand. The images slammed back together, and the card fell onto the table.
“No. Why’d you do that?” She shot to her feet and backed away from him. “You made me drop the insulator.”
He took a step forward. “You can’t do that. Miri said—”
“Miri?” The scowl on her face deepened the lines in her forehead. “What did she say? Never mind. I can tell by your freaked-out look. Step to the side and don’t touch me. I hold the girl’s bad fate, and I could give it to you.”
The kids’ mother shot to her feet. “Is something the matter?” She sounded American.
Daisy grasped her hands in front of her. “Oh no, nothing’s wrong. I just need to go to the restroom.” She gathered her tarot cards and picked up the crystal. Before she left, she turned a comforting smile to the little girl with no hair. “You’re going to be fine. You’ll see.”
Daisy passed Andrei on her way to the bathroom and muttered, “Don’t let anyone touch me. No skin-to-skin contact. I have to figure out how to get rid of that fate.”
The woman stepped in front of her seat to let Daisy pass. “Thank you for distracting them. It’s been a long trip.”
“It’s nothing,” Daisy said. “I enjoyed it.”
When Daisy returned to her seat, she put her cards and the crystal in the front pocket of her backpack, and then riffled through the main part, pulling out a pair of gloves. She slipped them on, put on her hoodie, and sat down. “How long until we get to Frankfurt?”
He picked up his phone and checked the time. “A little over an hour.”
She dropped her head back against the seat. “Wake me when we get there.”
“You’re just going to sleep? Just like that? With no explanation.”
“You already know. Miri told you. If you touch me, my gift will hurt you.” Her eyes teared up. “That crystal insulates the bad fate. Keeps it from going into me and me transferring it someone else. Now, I have to figure out a way to get rid of it.” She closed her eyes.
Andrei wasn’t sure what to say to that. Aunt Miri never mentioned the insulator was a crystal. At the time, he imagined something more scientific or some sort of gadgetry. He wanted to ask Daisy more questions, but her breathing went heavy, and he didn’t want to wake her. He was confused. He picked up his phone and texted Miri.
what happens if Daisy holds onto a bad fate?
Miri’s responses came so quickly, one after the other, which meant his aunt wasn’t working.
She changed a fate?
You weren’t supposed to let her do that. She needs to get rid of it or
He waited for her to send the ending to that text.
Impatient, he nudged her.
or what?
It’ll rot her organs. She’ll die.
Chapter Five
Daisy
It was too hot in Frankfurt to wear gloves. Daisy hid her covered hands in the pockets of her hoodie. Her pack weighed heavy on her back. The hospital was white, sterile, and quiet. Daisy and Andrei were silent, too. They had been since he’d messed things up on the train.
Andrei cleared his throat as if he had to make sure his voice still worked before talking. “What are we doing here?”
It felt like she were pinned under a boulder, the pressure tightening her chest and making her breaths heavy. “I have to get rid of this bad fate. If it couldn’t kill someone, it’d be a whole lot easier. But it can, so I got to find someone who’s on the verge of dying.”
He stopped. “You’re going to give someone cancer?”
She looked back. “It doesn’t work that way. Each person’s reaction to the fate is unpredictable. Well, except the end result, which is death.”
His eyes were wide, and his mouth dropped open.
“Can’t handle it? You don’t have to come with me.” She continued down the hall. The best place to find someone almost ready to expire was a hospital.
She’d never given someone a fate that could kill before. The times when she’d messed up changing fates, they hadn’t been too bad. Like lousy luck or broken relationships and that sort of thing. And then she just picked a horrible person who deserved heartbreak and losses. She’d never murdered or physically hurt anyone. Well, except that accident with Dena, which was ages ago when she didn’t know what she was doing.
Daisy’s stomach turned and lurched. But if she didn’t do this, she would die, or she would touch someone who had a long life to live, and they’d die. They passed a waiting area, and she found a vacant chair to sit in before her knees buckled.
Andrei squatted in front of her and was about to place his hands on her knees.
“Don’t touch me.” Her voice came out more shaky than angry, even though she was mad. She had to do this because of him.
“Listen.” He looked around as if searching for a place to put his hands before resting them on his thighs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. Miri instructed me to keep you from changing fates.”
Miri? He’s only helping me because of her.
Her eyes went to Andrei. She thought on the train that they were finally relaxing around each other. That the two years of communications meant something to him. Just as it meant the world to her. But that was all set up by Miri. He probably even hated having to chat with her over the couple of years it took to get there.
Miri was the smart one. Having her hot nephew distract Daisy with those smoldering glances. Having him pretend to be her friend through emails and chats was genius. But why? What was Miri’s agenda? Daisy’s best course of action was to go along with it. Let Andrei help her. She had to admit she needed him. He knew his way around Europe, and he’d be an excellent guide.
Daisy stood, and Andrei did the same.
“Listen.” Her gloved fingers curled around the strap of her backpack. “Let’s start over. I know you’re going along with me because of Miri. I appreciate it, but you can’t get in my way. I can’t turn my back on helping others with my gift.”
Andrei ran his fingers through his hair, and Daisy wished he hadn’t done that. It caused sparks to go off in her stomach and she didn’t need the confusion. Actually, she wished he just stopped moving altogether. She wasn’t sure her nerves—or any other body parts—could take it.
A nurse rushed by pushing an IV stand.
He blew out a breath and whispered, “What are you going to do? Help everyone? Because many people could use a fate changing. You’ll just burn yourself out.”
She turned and headed down the hallway. When he followed, she whispered over her shoulder. “I only do it for those that I feel a connection to. I can’t explain it, but my scar burns when I’m around someone who has a death fate. It doesn’t last long, so sometimes I can’t find the person. But today I was able to save a little girl.”
“Scar?”
She stopped and pushed down the end of the glove, moved the beaded bracelets covering her wrist up, and showed him the infinity scar. “All fate changers receive the mark the first time they use their gift.”
“Ouch,” he said. “That looks like it hurt. Is that a brand?”
“I don’t know. It just appeared. And it did hurt.”
The hallway ended at a set of double doors. Three hospital staffers—a man, and two women—walked up from behind them. Daisy shoved her gloved hands back in her pockets. The man, who was shorter than Andrei, with blond, thinning hair, said something in what Daisy believed to be German.
She looked over at Andrei, hoping he understood the man.
Andrei lifted a shoulder. “I’m not German.”
“You American?” the woman with platinum hair asked.
“Yes,” Daisy said. “I’m looking for a relative who’s very ill. Dying maybe.”
Oh gosh, that sounded horrible. Dying. Really? Who would say that?
“Perhaps Frau Mason?” the woman said. “She is American.”
Tears stung Daisy’s eyes. Guilt churned her stomach. The nurses glanced between themselves when Daisy didn’t answer.
“Yes,” Andrei said for her. “Mrs. Mason is her grandmother.”
“Es tut mir leid,” said the curvy younger woman with shoulder-length hair dyed the blackest of black.
“She gives you her sympathy,” said the first woman. “As do I. Follow me. We shouldn’t want to waste time.”
The other two staffers turned down the hall while the woman opened one of the double doors and escorted Daisy and Andrei to Mrs. Mason’s room. Lifesaving machines breathed and beeped, connected to a frail woman with silver hair. Her pale skin matched the white sheet neatly folded at her chest. “You may stay as long as you wish,” the nurse said.
“Thank you,” Daisy whispered, inching into the room. “Are you sure there’s no hope?”
The nurse shook her head. Her white work shoes squeaked against the over-waxed floor on her way to the bed. She puckered her lips as she checked the IV bag. “Pardon me. I must attend other patients.” The door slowly closed behind her.
It must be scary to face death alone. Daisy dropped her backpack and sucked in a breath, removing her gloves as she settled into the chair beside the bed. Mrs. Mason’s hand rested on the mattress at her side. Blue ropy veins branched out under her thin, wrinkled skin.
“How old do you think she is?” Though Daisy whispered, it sounded loud in the quiet room.
“Eightysomething?” Andrei said. “Why don’t you just change her fate?”
“There’s a point, when someone is too far gone, that my gift won’t work. She’s past that. I can’t do anything for her.”
“Ho
w can you tell?”
“My scar tells me. Itches when someone is fated to die. Burns when it’s too late.”
Daisy’s fingers twitched. She knew she should just touch her and pass the bad fate on before someone caught them in there, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. The poor woman was alone. She wondered how the woman got there, without her family by her side.
I can’t do this. Maybe this is my fate, and I should just accept it.
The woman’s eyes opened, and Daisy jolted back into the chair.
“Amy?” the woman croaked, struggling to give Daisy a weak smile. “Dear girl, you came. I knew you’d make it.”
Her mouth must be dry. Daisy got up and rounded the end of the bed to the tray on the other side. She picked up the plastic pitcher and poured some water into a disposable cup with a straw in it. The woman could barely pucker but was able to suck up a little of the liquid.
“My glasses…” the woman said.
Andrei adjusted his weight. “Hurry. We’re going to get caught. What if her family comes?”
“I can’t do it. Even if she’s dying. It could kill her sooner, and she won’t get to see her family before…” She put the cup back on the tray. “Anyway, let me find her glasses for her, and we’ll go.”
“You’re not—”
“Don’t say anything. We’ll figure something else out.”
Andrei hesitated before saying, “All right. I’ll wait outside. Maybe find a cafeteria.”
He walked carefully to the door as if he was worried about making too much noise. The door closed behind him with a light click.
Daisy searched the bedside tray and the woman’s things in the thin closet for the glasses. She stretched over the woman, speaking loud and clear for the woman to hear her. “I can’t find them. Are you sure you brought them?”
“Amy.” Mrs. Mason grabbed Daisy’s hand, and a shock passed between them, the fate wrenched from her. Daisy sucked in a breath. It was a quick pain, sort of like the one you get when ripping off a Band-Aid but way more intense. Mrs. Mason’s body shook, and just as quickly, stilled.