“I’m trying my hardest.” He shoved his thumbs through his belt loops. “Are you ever going to trust me again?”
I thought about how Talbot was trying to make things up to me. I remembered how terrified even hardened Slade had been by the fire at the warehouse, and I realized just how much guts it must have taken for Talbot to go into the burning corridor by himself in order to pull my father out. He was right. He’d tried his best. He might say idiotic things, but he deserved more from me than my perpetual disdain.
“Thank you,” I finally said.
Talbot looked down at me.
“You did what I asked you to do. You tried to keep my dad safe.” I put my hand on his arm. “We can be friends again. It’s what I need right now.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me.” He smiled. “All I want is for you to realize how much I care about you.”
“Don’t get too excited,” I said softly. “It doesn’t really mean much now … because I’m leaving.”
“You’re what?”
“I’m leaving,” I said with sudden conviction, even though I hadn’t known that was my decision until I said it. “You’re right. I’m never going to find that moonstone piece at the parish. It’s hopeless. And with the warehouse destroyed now … I have only one chance left to get a moonstone before it’s too late and Daniel leaves me forever. And that’s to go to Sirhan.”
“Sirhan? That’s crazy, Grace. You can’t go there.” His eyes were stern, and he gripped my arm like he could physically hold me back. “You go to Sirhan, and there’s a good chance you’ll never—”
“Return? I know. But if that’s the price I need to pay to get Daniel back, then that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll trade myself for a moonstone.”
“And then do what? How will that even help Daniel?”
“I’ll send it back to April. I don’t know.” I hadn’t thought that much of it through. “I’ll figure it out if … when … I get to that point. But I’m going, and there’s nothing that can stop me.”
“What about your dad? The rest of your family?”
“There’s nothing I can do to help my dad by staying here. I tried to do that healing thing on him with Gabriel, but it backfired and I ended up hurting him more.”
Talbot’s eyes widened when I said this.
“And my mom…” I bit my lip. “There’s no way to get through to her.” I didn’t even mention Jude, because I had no idea how to start helping him. I couldn’t even bring myself to look him in the eyes again.
Talbot brushed his hand through his wavy milk-chocolate-brown hair. “What about me? I can try to stop you.”
“No, Tal,” I said, using the close-friends nickname he asked me not to use once because it sounded too good coming from my lips. “There’s nothing you could do, short of miraculously making a moonstone appear out of thin air, that could make me change my mind. I’m going to go home to pack, and then I’m leaving in the morning.”
He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it again as if reconsidering whatever it was that he’d wanted to stay. For a second, I thought I saw a deep pain flash behind his eyes.
I rocked up onto my tiptoes and brushed a light kiss on his cheek. His whole body shuddered with a sigh at the touch of my lips on his skin. He cared too much about me. “Just let me leave. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”
I brushed my hand down his arm, and he tried to snatch at my fingers as I turned away from him.
“No. Grace?”
My back was to him now, but I could hear the pleading urgency that filled his voice.
“Let me go.” I reached for the stairwell door.
“I can’t,” he said. “I can’t let you trade yourself to Sirhan.”
“I have to.”