I missed two in the second round, tying with Cove and Mattie. Jack landed all six, earning himself a grand prize and six smaller prizes, his plushies piled so high in his arm he had to use his chin to steady them.

We played a few more games, all at Jack’s expense. I won myself a tiny black cat keychain that made me think of Ani, and I resolved to attach it to my backpack zipper later. The crowd around us started to wind down as evening switched to early morning.

The lights reflected in Jack’s eyes as he looked at Mattie. “Ferris wheel?”

Mattie, who’d been walking ahead, spun around with a grin. “Sure!”

Jack stepped forward eagerly, catching up to match her fast pace as we walked to the only ride in the center of the fair, the Ferris wheel. I dropped back, partly tired from all this mental energy I’d expanded and partly to give the two a little space.

Cove yawned and rolled his neck. “I’m a little tired. Maybe Hayden and I can take the stuff to the car?” he offered.

Mattie’s brows furrowed as she frowned. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” he held his hands out towards Jack, reaching for the pile of plushies.

Mattie’s eyes flicked to me. “And you, Hayden?”

I took some of their plushies and winnings into my own hands.

Her misgivings were soon forgotten as she laid her eyes on the Ferris wheel once again. “See you soon,” she said, walking forwards.

With his hands now free, Jack dug into his pockets for his keys, depositing them onto my waiting hand. “Thank you,” he whispered, with a fevered glance toward Mattie’s rapidly shrinking back.

“You’re welcome,” Cove said as I wrapped my hands around the keys. Jack took off in Mattie’s direction, calling for her to slow down. She paused ahead, and they spoke as they disappeared into the crowd.

Silence lingered over us as we walked. Cove had offered my services as well as his own, meaning there was something he wanted to say to me. We deposited the winnings in the trunk, closed the lid, and then I leaned against the rear bumper, waiting.

Cove reclined beside me, tilting his head to look at the starry sky.

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He sighed, leaning back far enough to brace his elbows on the car's hood. “This was not what I expected when my Father sent us off.”

We knew that when we ended up here, I thought.

“It seems like everything goes haywire when you’re involved.”

I shot him a dark glare. None of it was my fault. He caught it and laughed. It was a weary, exhausted sound.

“I’ve been through a lot of worlds. Each time I was able to find the remnant and leave quickly. I never had to interact with anyone for longer than a conversation–especially not with any characters,” Cove continued. “I was always taught to be fearful of our ability. The witch showed how easy it was to slip into the mindset of ‘their lives don’t matter’ and ‘I can do what I want.’

“So when we got here,” he continued, “and we actually met Mattie, a character I knew, I thought it best to distance us as soon as possible.” He gave a woeful smile. “But it turned out the characters were already involved.”

Our eyes met.

“It didn’t matter to you. That they were characters, I mean,” Cove added carefully.

That wasn’t entirely true. The world of What Lies Ahead had been both easier and more complicated in that manner so far. It was easier because Sky had already made me promise to treat them as people; It was more challenging because Cove had a point. It would be effortless to change the path of this story, even with how little I knew. But did that make it right?

Still, I had never read What Lies Ahead, and with their faces and their lives playing out before my very eyes and in this world closer to reality, I sometimes forgot this had all been a story in the first place. The same was not true for Cove.

His fingers twitched in the manner they always did when he thought about using magic. Unknowingly, he echoed my thoughts. “She made it sound like the choice was so easy, so obvious. Of course, you tell the characters everything about their future. A bearry persistent person had already broken the rules and told some of them everything. We weren’t given much of a choice this time.

“What if this happens again? I don’t want to make the same mistakes they did.” His gaze lowered to the ground as he spoke, his hair brushed forward to cover his eyes. His fist, next to me, turned white. “They started off the same, you know. My father told me they used to pick a story on a whim, and they’d interfere in all of these plots as they made ‘friends’ and changed the stories to suit their desires. Even for Father, it started off so innocent. There wasn’t a specific moment when it all changed. He only realized after how arrogant they had been, dropping in to do what they wanted and leaving.

“They weren’t gods. We aren’t gods. We can’t interfere just because we can.” He finished, still looking at the ground.

I angled my head toward the shimmering golden stars in the sky. In Heirs, Sky’d had trouble with the same thing. He was right. Mattie and Sera weren’t wrong either, though. If it affects their lives, they have the right to know and decide for themselves.

What if it were me, I wondered. If I were a character in a story, and someone out there knew everything that would happen, should they tell me? Would I want them to tell me?

I thought of my visions and the things I hadn’t been able to change. The things I hadn’t wanted to change. I suppose I’d want to know if I was making a huge mistake. But what about the events that I’d want to change and couldn’t? Deaths? That kind of knowledge was a heavy burden, the type of responsibility I’d want to sprint away from, even if I shouldn’t.

A voice echoed in my head. You won’t forgive yourself if you don’t try.

“We aren’t gods,” I agreed. Reluctantly, I added, “But if we can save someone, don’t we have the duty to try? Can we live with ourselves if we don’t?”