side.” He takes my hand. “Are you ready to come to nineteen
twentyfive?”
Chapter 36
Cassandra
awrence and I rise carefully to our feet, hand in hand.
L
“You’re trembling,” he says softly.
I can only nod. Lawrence smiles and kisses me. “Don’t be
afraid.”
Each step feels like scaling a mountain. Lawrence takes the
first step onto the path.
“Wait.”
He looks back at me. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not ready.”
He smiles a little. “Why not? This is everything we’ve been
working for. Don’t you want to be together?”
“Of course I do, but…what if it doesn’t happen?”
“What do you mean?”
“What if this beach, being able to see each other, really is
just a freak accident? An anomaly. A random crack in the timespace continuum. There’s no fate. No destiny. It just…is what
it is. Nothing more. What if saving you changes nothing?”
“There’s only one way to test that,” Lawrence says. He holds
out his hand.
The train of what-ifs roar through me again.
“Suppose it does work. What if we only get one free pass to
move through time?” My throat feels tight. “I never really said
good-bye to my mom.”
“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Lawrence says, but I can tell he’s
trying to sound more confident than he feels.
“You don’t know anything for sure.” I stare at the pathway,.
“What if saving you actually closes the portal or the gateway or
whatever crazy thing has been letting us see each other? What
if fate allowed me to see you only so I could save you? And now
that I have…it will be over. What if when we leave this beach,
we fade into our own times and never see each other again?”
The questions are enough to make Lawrence step back. He
stares at the pathway, thoughts racing behind his dark eyes. I
throw my arms around his neck. He holds me tightly.
“I can’t lose you, Lawrence. I can’t take the risk.”
After a long pause, his words come. “But what other choice
to do we have?”
I break from his grip. Lawrence touches my face.
“We can’t stay on this beach forever.”
“Yes, we can.”
“Cassandra.”
The lump in my throat burns. “I’m so afraid.”
“And so am I. But the chance to spend forever with you is
worth the risk. And the only way we can know is by trying.”
He presses his lips to mine. I kiss him back, hungrily. He
starts to pull away, but I don’t let him. He returns the passion.
And deep inside, I know that it is worth the risk. To have him
forever. To have this kiss for the rest of my life.
I set my forehead to his. “If we don’t see each other on the
other
side—”
He puts his fingers to my lips. “Don’t even speak it. We will.”
I release a trembling breath. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
Hand pressed to hand, we turn to the path.
One step. Then another. Lawrence keeps his face turned to
me. He gives me a little smile. Pulling my hand, he runs into
the path.
“Lawrence!”
For a blurred, breathless moment, we’re flying hand in hand.
And then…the definition of Lawrence’s features start to fade.
The strength of his grip seems to melt away. His colors fade,
and like a ghost, he vanishes into the night air.
Chapter 37
Cassandra
e’s gone.
H
I stand and stare at the spot where he vanished.
This isn’t happening. It’s too cruel.
I stagger back to the beach. It’s empty. Only dark sand and
whitetipped
surf.
“Lawrence?” I call out.
Nothing.
I scream as loud as I can. “LAWRENCE?”
Gasping, I fall to my knees on the sand. “No. No, no, no.”
It can’t be over. It can’t. I’ll never forgive myself for letting
Lawrence leave my arms. I’ll never forgive the universe for not
getting a chance to say good-bye.
He bursts from the bushes.
His face is ashen, his eyes wide. I draw in a sharp breath, and
we collide in a fierce embrace. There are no words. We just hold