Prodigy (32 page)

Still, I say nothing. What is he talking about? See
what
on my face? What do I look like right now?

Day sighs at my silence. His face is unbearable. “June,” he says slowly. Behind his
words, his voice sounds like it might break at any moment. “It will never, ever work
out between us.”

And here is the real reason why. I shake my head, unwilling to hear the rest. Not
this.
Please don’t say it, Day, please don’t say it.
“We’ll figure out a way,” I begin to say. The details come pouring out. “I can work
in the capital’s patrols for a while. That would be a more feasible option, anyway.
Shadow a Senator, if I really want to go into politics. Twelve of the Senators—”

Day can’t even look at me. “We weren’t meant to be. There are just . . . too many
things that have happened.” He grows quieter. “Too many things.”

The weight of it hits me. This has nothing to do with the Princeps position, and everything
to do with something else. Day would be saying all this even if Anden never offered
anything.
Our argument in the underground tunnel.
I want to say how wrong he is, but I can’t even argue his point. Because he’s right.
How could I
possibly
think that we’d never suffer the consequences of what I’d done to him? How could
I be
so arrogant
to assume it would all work out for us in the end, that my doing a couple of good
deeds could make up for all the pain I caused him? The truth will never change. No
matter how hard he tries, every time he looks at me, he’ll see what happened to his
family. He’ll see what I did. It will always haunt him; it will forever stand between
us.

I need to let him go.

I can feel the tears threatening to spill from my eyes, but I don’t dare let them
fall. “So,” I whisper, my voice trembling from the effort. “Is that it? After everything?”
Even as I say it, I know there’s no point. The damage has already been done. There
is no turning back.

Day hunches over and presses his hands against his eyes. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers.

Long seconds pass.

After an eternity, I swallow hard. I will
not
cry. Love is illogical, love has consequences—I did this to myself, and I should
be able to take it.
So take it, June.
I am the one who should be sorry. Finally, instead of saying what I want to say,
I manage to wrestle down the tremor in my voice and give a more appropriate answer.
What I
should
say.

“I’ll let Anden know.”

Day runs a hand through his hair, opens his mouth to say something, and closes it
again. I can tell there’s another part of this whole scenario that he’s not telling
me, but I don’t press it. It wouldn’t make a difference, anyway—there are already
enough reasons why we weren’t meant to be. His eyes catch the moonlight spilling in
from the windows. Another moment passes between us, filled with nothing but the whisper
of breathing. “Well, I—” His voice cracks, and he clenches his hands into fists. He
stays there for a second, steeling himself. “I should let you get some sleep. You
must be tired.” He rises and straightens his coat. We exchange a final, parting nod.
Then he gives me a polite bow, turns around, and starts walking away. “Good night,
June.”

My heart is ripped open, shredded, leaking blood. I can’t let him leave like this.
We’ve been through too much to turn into strangers.
A farewell between us should be more than a polite bow.
Suddenly I find my feet and rush toward him right as he reaches the door. “Day, wait—”

He spins around. Before I can say anything else, he steps forward and takes my face
in his hands. Then he’s kissing me one last time, overwhelming me with his warmth,
breathing life and love and aching sorrow into me. I throw my arms around his neck
as he wraps his around my waist. My lips part for him and his mouth moves desperately
against mine, devouring me, taking every breath that I have.
Don’t go,
I plead wordlessly. But I can taste the good-bye on his lips, and now I can no longer
hold back my tears. He’s trembling. His face is wet. I hang on to him like he’ll disappear
if I let go, like I’ll be left alone in this dark room, standing in the empty air.
Day, the boy from the streets with nothing except the clothes on his back and the
earnestness in his eyes, owns my heart.

He is beauty, inside and out.

He is the silver lining in a world of darkness.

He is my light.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Writing
Prodigy
was a thoroughly different experience from writing
Legend
, one that involved many panic attacks and much desperate sobbing in front of my laptop,
and one that involved digging much deeper into my characters’ cores and unearthing
their darkest thoughts and memories. Luckily for me, I have the support of an amazing
group of people who helped me put this book together:

To my literary agent Kristin Nelson, for being the first set of eyes on this manuscript.
I would die in a quicksand swamp without your advice and feedback. To the entire team
at NLA, for always getting my back. To beta reader extraordinaire Ellen Oh, for seeing
an early draft of
Prodigy
and knocking some sense into me on some very crucial scenes. To JJ, for being my
freakishly sharp sounding board and beta reader as
Prodigy
gradually formed.

To my unbelievable pair of editors, Jen Besser and Ari Lewin, for taking the first
draft of
Prodigy
and transforming it into something much greater than I could create on my own. Thanks
for pushing me hard to strengthen my characters, world, and plot; anyone who thinks
that books don’t get edited anymore has clearly never worked with either of you. You
are amazing. (Special shout-out to Little Primo!)

To the entire team at Putnam Children’s and Penguin Young Readers for their never-ending
support—Don Weisberg, Shauna Fay, Anna Jarzab, Jessica Schoffel, Elyse Marshall, Scottie
Bowditch, Lori Thorn, Linda McCarthy, Erin Dempsey, Shanta Newlin, Emily Romero, Erin
Gallagher, Mia Garcia, Lisa Kelly, Courtney Wood, Marie Kent, and everyone else who
has helped give life to both
Legend
and
Prodigy.
No author could ask for a greater support group.

To the awesome teams at CBS Films, Temple Hill, and UTA for the continued dedication
to
Legend
: Wolfgang Hammer, Grey Munford, Matt Gilhooley, Ally Mielnicki, Christine Batista,
Isaac Klausner, Wyck Godfrey, Marty Bowen, Gina Martinez, Kassie Evashevski, and Wayne
Alexander. I can’t believe how much I lucked out.

To all of the bloggers, reviewers, and media who covered
Legend
and
Prodigy,
and to the booksellers around the nation who put both books into the hands of shoppers.
Thank you so much—I am so grateful for all that you do in connecting the right books
to the right readers.

To my amazing readers and fans, for the enthusiastic letters and kind encouragement.
Every time I saw your messages about
Legend
,
I became that much more motivated to make
Prodigy
as good as I possibly could. Thank you for taking the time to read my books.

And finally, to the fam bam, my mom, Andre, and all of my friends. Thank you so much
for all of your support—you guys are irreplaceable.