Destined Read Online Free PDF Page B

she’d been overwhelmed by doubts, by questions that swirled like heavy winds whenever she closed her eyes.
    But curiosity was the reason she was here, exiled to this world, in the first place. It was not her place to ask questions.
    Still, she couldn’t help reaching over to gently ease Sylvia’s eyelids closed.
    Outside the car, people had begun to shout. Cars were blaring to life again, and already, Corinthe could hear the distant wail of a siren.
    Inside, Corinthe waited. Then—a tiny flicker. A firefly pushed its way free of Sylvia’s hand, exactly as Corinthe had known it would. It was a Messenger. Once released, it would return to Pyralis, signifying that fate had been appeased, that order had been restored to the universe.
    Corinthe gently scooped the small insect into her hand and closed her fingers around it. Relief, profound and gut-wrenching, made her limbs weak. She felt the tiny wings beat frantically against her palm, even though the firefly itself was weightless. It was like holding a tiny feather. Corinthe always worried that she would somehow harm the delicate Messenger until she could set it free near a Crossroad.
    Voices rose; outside, there was an angry hiss of steam.
    A blond woman in a matched jogging suit stepped out of the black SUV.
    “Oh, Jesus,” she said, her voice muffled by the glass.“Oh, God. Oh, God.” The woman pressed her manicured fingers against her mouth. For a brief second, her eyes passed to Corinthe. A man ran up to the woman from the sidewalk and took her elbow when she swayed. Someone screamed and several people shouted into cell phones.
    Corinthe reached to unbuckle her seat belt. A stray lock of hair fell into her eyes and she pushed it away with her free hand, only to realize that blood now coated her fingers. She froze, stared at it, unblinking.
    This was not possible. She didn’t bleed.
    She wasn’t like
them
.
    Suddenly, the car door was wrenched open.
    “Holy shit, are you okay?”
    Huge brown eyes stared at her. She nodded, tried to move, found she was still tightly secured by the seat belt. A dark-haired boy, around her age, she guessed, ducked into the car and leaned across her chest, pushed the release, then carefully untangled her arm. Even with all the smoke and the smell of burnt rubber still choking her, Corinthe was startled by the scent of the boy: spice and citrus and something irreplaceably human. He wore jeans and a Bay Sun Breakers soccer shirt underneath an army jacket. There was something familiar about him, but if Corinthe had met him before, she couldn’t place where. He had full lips, an angular chin, and dark brown eyes that were wide with shock.
    Too skinny, but cute
.
    Corinthe shook her head. She must have hit it during the accident: he was human, and she could hardly evertell the difference between humans. But something about this boy seemed different.…
    He started to reach behind her, to lift her out. The fog in her head cleared immediately.
    “Don’t touch me,” she said.
    “I’m just trying to help.” His voice was low. For a second, his tan hand skated along her shoulder, sending a chill through her. It felt like the touch of the firefly’s wings against her palm, uncomfortable but welcome at the same time. “Look—you’re bleeding. You were in an accident. Do you remember anything?”
    The accident. The firefly. Corinthe slid out from the car and pushed the boy out of her way with her elbow.
    “Hey!” He tried to stop her, but Corinthe shoved her way through the thick crowd of people. She clenched her fist tighter around the tiny spirit, which fluttered in her palm in protest. The wail of sirens grew louder, getting closer by the second.
    She had to get away.
    She ran as fast as she could. She ignored the shouts, growing fainter behind her, tried to push the feel of the boy’s touch out of her mind.
    Her steps pounded on the concrete, taking her farther away from the disorder behind her. Her lungs burned, but she