Page 90 of Visions of You
"What if we ran away?" Jaron suggested. "You said you wanted to travel. We don't have to stick around here for the kidnapper to drag us into their evil machinations. It seems like they need us for some reason, like maybe they need the power of our fate bond, so we should make sure they can't get us."
Keegan hesitated. The idea of running—of abandoning everything and everyone he knew—felt alien. Running from their fate, from the inevitability of what he had seen, seemed impossible. Their future wasn't something they could simply escape from by taking a different path. The vision was carved into his mind like stone, unchangeable.
"I don't think we can just…run away. This isn't something we can evade by skipping town."
But Jaron was insistent. "We have to try," he pleaded. "I can't sit around waiting to become your killer."
The raw intensity in Jaron's voice struck Keegan hard. Jaron didn't want to hurt Keegan, and Keegan didn't want that for him either.
They had to find a way out of this.
Didn't Keegan owe it to Jaron to try everything?
"What if this is one of those self-fulfilling prophecies you mentioned before?" Jaron pressed. "If you'd never seen this future coming, you wouldn't be so paralyzed by it. We wouldn't stick around here. We'd go traveling, living our best lives."
Keegan couldn't deny that Jaron's words had a certain logic to them. His powers had always been a burden as much as a gift, shaping his life in ways he couldn't always control. If he didn't have them, would he be free to live the life he wanted? To be with Jaron without the shadow of a dark future hanging over them?
But even as he entertained the thought, another question nagged at him. He looked at Jaron, searching his eyes. "Are you really capable of running away while our friends are hurting?"
Keegan's visions hadn't brought the kidnappings about.
Jaron winced, but he didn't change his opinion. "We wouldn't be running away," he argued. "Think about it. The kidnapper clearly needs us to complete their plan. If we remove ourselves from the equation, we're not abandoning our friends. We're helping them the best way we can." Jaron paused. "I don't want us to end before we can really start."
Keegan wanted to reach out to him, but instead, his fingers absently traced the scarf around his neck—the one Jaron had given him. He remembered their first meeting vividly: Jaron's brash confidence, his playful teasing, and how quickly everything had escalated between them.
Through their bond, he felt as if Jaron was part of him; as if he'd known him forever.
In reality, though, they'd only been together for a short time.
Keegan couldn't blame his dragon for wanting more than that. The difference between them was that Keegan had always known that Jaron would be his end.
He just hadn't known how much Jaron would mean to him.
Enough to leave his friends and run away with him for a few stolen days spent together before fate could catch up with them and ruin them forever.
Was that too much to ask?
"Where would you go?" Keegan asked softly.
A tentative smile brightened Jaron's face at Keegan's question. "Anywhere you want," he replied. "I've still got my dad's credit card to buy tickets."
"Won't your parents chase you down when they see the records of purchase?"
"No. They'll be glad I left the country, 'laying low' like I promised them I would do. They won't come after me."
Keegan nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, imagining the two of them in a far-off place, away from all the chaos and danger that surrounded them now. It was tempting—so very tempting—to lose themselves in each other, if only for a little while.
He opened his eyes and met Jaron's gaze. "Let's go then," he said. "As soon as we can."
"Yes!" Jaron pulled Keegan into an embrace, holding him tightly as if afraid he'd disappear. "We'll be okay," he said as if he truly believed this.
Keegan did not, but he didn't mention this. Old instincts urged him to look into their future to choose the perfect travel destination, but Jaron stopped him as if he could tell exactly what Keegan was about to do.
"Don't look ahead," Jaron said. "Just live in the moment with me for this vacation." He smiled at Keegan, but there was a hintof worry in his gaze as if he too knew that this thing they were planning wasn't a solution, but he wanted to hold on to the illusion for as long as he could.
Keegan was reminded of the conversation they'd had when Keegan had first revealed to him that their story wasn't going to have a happy ending. Jaron's reaction had been to enjoy the time they were given before the ending for all it was worth.
Was that what he was doing now?
