The First to Die at the End (Death-Cast #0)(87)

His phone rings again.

“I said I’d call her back . . . ,” Orion says, reaching for his phone. “It’s Scarlett.”

“Do you mind?”

Orion shakes his head. I assumed he wouldn’t, but I didn’t want to turn my back on him.

I answer the call. “Hey, Scar.”

Scarlett is crying even harder than Orion. “The airline grounded all their planes.” She goes on to explain everything I already know about the Death-Cast updates with no new insights. “They can’t risk it, especially after what happened on my last plane. I’ve tried explaining my situation, but there’s nothing anyone can do.”

This is how it ends.

I’m going to die without seeing my sister one last time.

“I don’t know what to do, Val!”

“Take a breath, okay?”

“I’m going to try a different airline, or see if I can use our rent money and savings on a private jet. Private jets would still fly, right?”

I don’t understand how air traffic works, but I know I have to take care of my sister when she’s hyperventilating like this. “Scar, I need you to breathe.”

She tries taking deep breaths, but she gets overexcited. “Maybe you’re not even going to die, since Death-Cast has proven they don’t know what’s going on.”

So Death-Cast clearly doesn’t have the grasp on the End Days that we’d all like. But we’ve seen many of their predictions come true today. I can’t expect to be the exception.

I can play along for my sister, even if it’s only for a little bit. “Maybe I’ll live.”

“Then I can see you tomorrow when it’s safe to fly.”

“And I can take you to this secret subway station.”

“There’s a secret subway station?”

“Orion showed me it today. It’s amazing.”

“What else is there to see?”

“The Brooklyn Bridge has incredible views and these love locks.”

“Love locks?”

“They’re cool. I’ll explain when I see you.”

“Can’t wait. What else?”

“You got to see Times Square. This is where it all happens.”

One phone call changed my life. Another is changing Orion’s.

“Of course we’re going to Times Square.”

“Orion can give us some pointers for the rest of the city.”

“I’m excited to meet him.”

“You’ll love him. He’s the best.” I hold Orion close. I’ve known that I will be able to help him live after I’m gone, but now that I know he’s not as safe as we previously thought, I’m determined to protect him. That starts with getting him off these streets, where I’m not prepared to save him in the event he has a heart attack. “Scar, I’m going to head back to our apartment. I’ll call you from there.”

Scarlett’s voice cracks. “Pl-please call me as soon as you’re home.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you same.”

I hang up and pocket the phone.

“She’s not coming, is she?” Orion asks.

“No.” It’s painful to admit it out loud. “It really felt like we were kings of the world, didn’t it?”

He nods. It’s as if he’s so speechless he won’t even swear about how unfair this is.

“I think we should get out of here. Want to go back to my place?” I know we’ll be safe in my tiny studio.

“Don’t hate me, but can we go to mine? It’s just . . . if something is going to go down, I want to know I got to say goodbye to Dalma and the fam. . . . If you don’t want to go, I get it, but I’d love it if you came, though. We don’t have to stay that long either, we—”

I give Orion a quick kiss so he can stop and breathe. “It would be really nice to be around some family right now. Especially since I can’t be with Scarlett.”

“You sure? I don’t want to rub salt in the wound and all that.”

“Take me home, Orion.”





Gloria Dario


2:54 p.m.

Gloria is at Althea Park with her family.

No, she’s at Althea Park with her son and her best friend.

This is an important distinction.

No matter how much Rolando loves Pazito, he is not his father.

And no matter how much Rolando once loved Gloria, he is not her husband. Even if she wishes she had married him instead. But she must live with the choice she made twenty years ago when she turned down his heart.

“Go play,” Gloria tells her son.

Pazito runs toward the park’s jungle gym as if all the kids swinging on the monkey bars are friends of his and not complete strangers. He’s fearless, something Gloria has always loved about him and recognizes has aided him well in auditions. Pazito never freezes up; he always moves. Well, that’s not completely true. Fear freezes Pazito when Frankie raises his voice and hands at Gloria. But she doesn’t want to give air to those thoughts right now. She’s been having such a lovely day.

Gloria sits on the blue bench, not far off from when she was here for the barbecue on the Fourth. She looks over at the stretch of grass as if she can see the memory playing out before her, like ghosts stuck in the past: Gloria’s two sisters relaxing with sangria on lawn chairs; Pazito playing catch with his older cousins; Frankie working the grill, but only because Rolando was originally on cooking duty and Frankie just had to show him up; and Gloria herself on the picnic blanket, hugging her knees and daydreaming about how freeing this gathering would feel if only there were one fewer person.