Page 110 of Don't Let Me Go
“What rules?” I demand.
“The universe’s.”
“It’s not like we’re doing it on purpose!” I shout.
“But you are,” Jocasta says simply. “At some point in that first life of yours, you bound your souls together. And in every life since, you’ve continued to join your souls in a bond so powerful that it has overcome death itself.”
“That’s insane,” Riley scoffs. “You’re saying that every time Jackson and I are reincarnated, the universe starts actively plotting to kill us?”
“You’re an aberration to the natural order. You’re chaos. It can’t permit you to exist.”
“So what are we supposed to do?” I ask. I’m trying to stay calm even though my head is swimming in confusion. “If what you’re saying is true, how do we make sure we don’t end up like we did in our past lives? Aside from avoiding volcanoes and Nazis?”
Jocasta reaches for a macaron, then reconsiders.
“I’m not sure there’s anything you can do. On July thirteenth, there’s a very good chance that you both will die. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. Furthermore, after you die, the cycle will begin anew. You’ll be reincarnated, you’ll find each other in some future time and place, and you’ll die. Over and over. On and on. Until the end of time. Unless...”
“Unless what?” Riley asks.
“You break the cycle.”
Riley shoots me a nervous glance. “And how do we do that?”
“You break the very thing keeping you trapped in the cycle. You break your bond.”
“Our bond?” I repeat.
“Your love is a bond that has kept you coming back in search of each other time and time again across the millennia. Break that bond, and the cycle breaks with it.”
Riley shakes his head and stares at Jocasta incredulously. “You’re telling us we need tobreak up?”
Jocasta nods. “If you renounce each other—truly renounce each other—and stay away from each other for the rest of your lives, then the bond you made in Pompeii and have reaffirmed in each of your subsequent lives will fail to renew itself. It’ll be broken, in which case the universe will no longer have a reason to cut your lives short. You’ll both go on to have very long, very full lives, after which your souls will be free to move on from this world and never return.”
“Bullshit.” Riley snorts. “Do you actually expect Jackson and me to believe that if we don’t break up, the universe is going to kill us on my birthday?”
“I think it would be more accurate to say that if you don’t break up, the universe will find a way to maneuver you both toward a predetermined historical tragedy that has already been set in motion.”
Riley scoffs. But I can’t shake the feeling that every word Jocasta is saying is true. It’s too impossible not to be.
“More to the point,” she continues, “I think that—for whatever reason—the universe is giving you a very rare opportunity to learn from your mistakes and choose a different path for yourselves.”
“Says you,” Riley sneers.
“Do you think it’s a coincidence that you two are the first ones in all your many lives to have access to your past memories? The universe has been swatting you like flies for two thousand years and you still haven’t gotten the hint that it’s time to let go of each other. So now, if I’m right—and I usually am—the universe has changedits strategy. It’s given you a glimpse of your past so that you learn from your mistakes and put an end to this cycle of death once and for all.”
“And I say, where’s yourproof?”
Jocasta’s thin lips curl into a patronizing smirk. “You mean aside from the fact thatyoutrackedmedown because you thought I was a witch that you’d encountered over a thousand years ago when you were Vikings?”
Riley shakes his head. “I’m not saying weird shit isn’t happening. Weird shit isdefinitelyhappening. But that doesn’t mean Jackson and I need to break up. And it certainly does not mean we’re going todie.”
Jocasta arches an eyebrow. “Enlighten me, then. What does it mean?”
“I don’t know. But I do know that you’re a self-admitted fraud, even if you do claim to be helping people. I also know that your great-great-grand-whatever got Jackson and me killed, so your family’s track record when it comes to helping us is pretty much shit.”
“It’s not my job or my family’s job to help you. Our job is to carry out the will of the universe. And the will of the universe is and always has been quite clear. You must die.”
“Jesus Christ, you sound like that crazy high priestess,” Riley growls.
