A smarter guy would have stayed home.
Except I couldn't. Just like I couldn't convince myself to give up on us. I'd tried. Over and over, I'd told myself that there was nothing we could do. There were too many powerful people standing in our way. But every time I told myself to let her go, everything inside me rebelled. I couldn't imagine my future without Savannah in it.
How could two people seem so perfect together, be so happy together, and yet be so wrong in so many others' eyes?
There had to be an option I was missing. Maybe I was too close to the problem. Or maybe I didn't know enough about the council. My parents I understood...they were just trying to protect me. They couldn't understand that Savannah wasn't dangerous to me. But if the council could be convinced to change their minds about Savannah and me, and if I could create a bloodlust-dampening spell that would make it safe for Sav to be around me, surely my parents would change their minds, too. There was no way their fear of vamps could be stronger than their love for me. I knew that, deep down, they wanted me to be happy. I just needed a way to get rid of their fear.
I'd thought Savannah and I were it, that our love would be the proof everyone needed to break down the fear and hate on both sides. Now it looked like we would have to get rid of the prejudice before we could be together. But how?
Savannah knew more about the council than I did. If I could get her to talk to me, we could figure something out together that might appease the council. But she wouldn't talk to me, because she was listening to everyone else, letting their fear beat her down and convince her to stop fighting for us. And yet I knew she loved me. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind about that. Yes, we'd both kept the secret about her vampire side from each other. But what we'd felt together hadn't been a lie. The way we'd talked, kissed, held each other, the way she'd looked into my eyes so many times...I'd never felt anything more real, no magic on earth stronger, than that.
I would never feel anything like it again.
But I couldn't fight this battle alone. I needed Savannah's help. How could I convince her that we could make this work when she wouldn't even talk to me?
Magic. I could do a spell that would allow her to feel how I felt. I could literally give her my confidence, my faith and belief in what we had together. Then she'd have the confidence to want to fight again.
The cafeteria would be dark during the dance. Surely there would be the perfect opportunity to pull Savannah out of sight at some point. If the spell worked, she would agree to dream connect with me later tonight. And then we'd figure out a new game plan together.
What spell should I use? Dad had never taught me how to give someone confidence.
Then again, why worry about using a specific spell anyways? Using magic wasn't about the words I said. It was about focusing on what I wanted to make happen, injecting those intentions with my willpower, and then releasing the spell so it could take effect.
As I got back into my truck, feeling for the first time in weeks like I could breathe again, I created the spell in my mind.
"I want you to feel what I feel, Savannah," I murmured as I started my truck's engine. "I need you to have faith in us like I do. I need you to want to keep trying, to fight back with me, to help me find a way to change their minds." I envisioned those thoughts filling with energy. And then I released them into the air toward where I figured Sav would be by now...at the dance.
I carefully turned toward town and headed down the hill. I could pick up Bethany and be at the dance in fifteen minutes. The spell would probably take effect immediately. I hoped it lasted long enough. Once I got to the cafeteria, I would need a few minutes to find Sav, another minute or two to talk to her and get her to agree to dream connect with me tonight.
The truck rushed down the steep road, which was straight for a long stretch. But I could see the sharp curve ahead. I tapped on the brakes to slow down for it.
Nothing happened.
I pressed the pedal all the way to the floorboard. The brakes didn't respond, the truck still picking up speed as the curve drew closer and closer.
Muttering a curse, I tried downshifting to force the transmission to slow the truck. But it was too late.
Jaw clenched, I gripped the wheel as hard as I could and tried to turn the truck with the curve, but I was going too fast. The truck rocked onto its left wheels and kept right on going. The world flipped over and over as glass shattered and rained through the air. My seat belt jerked tight, slamming the air out of my chest.
Maybe I shouldn't have tried to use magic and drive at the same time, was the last thought I had.
SAVANNAH
I hung up the phone, and that's when I heard him. It was like Tristan was right behind me, whispering in my ear.
"I want you to feel what I feel, Savannah," he murmured. "I need you to have faith in us like I do. I need you to want to keep trying, to fight back with me, to help me find a way to change their minds."
His voice was so clear inside my head that I actually whirled around, thinking he must have snuck into the bathroom after us.
But he wasn't there.
I popped my head outside the door. No Tristan in sight, not in the short hallway leading to the bathrooms or in the cafeteria-turned-dance-floor beyond.
"Savannah?" Carrie said, pausing in the process of reapplying her mascara. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I forced a smile. "Just thought I heard someone yelling for us outside."
I shut the door again, pretended to check my makeup in the mirror.
And then it hit me...wave upon wave of pain over my entire body. Pain on a level I'd never experienced before, not even during that week when I was sick my freshman year as the start of puberty awakened my two genetic sides and caused an internal battle between them that nearly killed me.
Oh sweet God in heaven. I really was dying this time.
I grabbed the counter, bracing my hands on the cold laminate, my legs shaking so hard I was afraid I would fall down without the sink's support. What was wrong with me?
"Sav? Sav! What is it?"
I could hear my friends' voices, distant, muffled. I shook my head, my focus turning inward. What was going on with my body? Was this a sign that the bloodlust was about to take over completely or something? No, it couldn't be. I'd felt the bloodlust before. It was nothing like this.
"What's wrong with her?" Michelle asked in a high voice.