Page 20 of Demon Apathy: Sunderverse
“Except you.”
I nodded. “I still don’t know what it’s about, but it’s in this book that Grant just gave me.” I took the tome and laid it on my lap. “Maybe it doesn’t apply to me, and I can ignore it and just go back home.”
Jenna made a face that made it obvious she didn’t like that idea.
I offered her the book. “Would you read it for me?”
“And then what?”
“And then you can tell me if you thinkIshould read it, if you think it applies to me.”
She sputtered a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m not.”
“No way! I’m not doing that.” She stood and marched toward the door.
What?! I thought she would jump at the chance of helping. It wasn’t an unreasonable request, was it? And whatever happened to her heartfelt comments about us clicking? Reading a few pages for me wasn’t going to kill her. It was a small favor.
“Why not? It’s not like it’s hard,” I protested.
She sighed, looking tired. “Of course it isn’t. That’s not why I don’t want to do it. If there’s a prophecy in that book that may or may not refer to you, that may or may not affect your entire future, it’s not the kind of decision you put in someone else’s hands. It wouldn’t be right for me to get in the middle of that. Friends do right by friends, don’t they?”
Of course, she was right. I was afraid, trying to skirt my duty. Hadn’t I learned anything? Was my pride getting in the way again? It led me to ignore my responsibilities as an apprentice, after all.No.This was different. It had nothing to do with pride and all to do with fear and doubt, two things that had been totally unknown to me until a demon decided to invade my body.
I lowered my head, feeling ashamed. “You’re right. I just… I don’t want to face it. I just want to go back home.”
“That doesn’t sound anything like the Lucia I know.”
I huffed. “That person doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Why? What happened? What made you leave? I don’t understand.”
I had never fully explained everything to her. I told her about the task Drevan wanted me to help him with, but never shared all the details.
She didn’t know that my level ofscrew-up-nesswas so monumental that it could’ve ended the world.
“Maybe I’ll tell you sometime,” I said. “But you’re right, the Lucia you used to know didn’t have any sense to fear anything.” I placed a hand on the book. “But the new me, she’s very afraid of what the book might reveal.”
Jenna smiled, an expression of sympathy etching her features. “It’s smart to fear the unknown. I don’t blame you for that. Only fools are without fear.”
“Nice way to call my past self a fool,” I joked.
We both laughed.
“For what it’s worth,” she said. “I think you should read it and then decide what to do. If you don’t, you may wonder for the rest of your life.”
“You might be right.”
“Look, I’ll give you some privacy. I’m kind of hungry, and a twelve-foot-long sub sounds pretty good right about now.”
“What about curfew and the hall monitors?” I was surprised. The JennaIknew didn’t like to break the rules. “You’ll get in trouble.”
“Nah, I learned how to sneak out from the best.” She pointed at me and winked. “See you in a few.”
She backed out of the room and closed the door, leaving me alone with the book and a decision that had quickly become inevitable.
I swiveled in my chair, faced the desk, and set the book down. On the Table of Contents, topic thirty-eight readThe Brave Hunter’s Swordand referred me to page one thousand and fifty-one. Grant had told me what to look for.
