Saylor and David both stared.

“I appreciate your offer very much,” I continued. “But I’m afraid I have to refuse.”

Saylor rose to her feet, an expression somewhere between anger and disbelief spreading across her face. “I’m not inviting you to a garden party, Harper. I’m asking you to accept the role destiny has handed you. I’m asking you to use the powers you’ve been given.”

But I was already shaking my head. “No. No, this is not my destiny.” Heart hammering, I could feel blood rushing to my face and I knew that my chest and neck must be splotchy. “I have my own life, and things . . . things I want to do. I can’t follow him”— I flung my arm out at David—“and keep him safe forever. What am I supposed to do about college? Or—or getting married and having kids and—”

Breaking off, I took a deep breath and held up my hand. “You know what, no. Forget it. It doesn’t matter, because I’m not going to be a Paladin.”

Saylor rolled her lips inward, eyes narrowing. It was an expression I’d seen on her face dozens of times, usually when Mary Beth was screwing up at Cotillion practice. “It’s not something you get to decide,” she said. “You already are a Paladin. The moment Christopher passed his powers on to you, you accepted this responsibility.”

“But I didn’t,” I fired back. My throat was tight, and I could feel the tears pricking my eyes. Great, splotchy and I was about to be snotty. “This was done to me. I didn’t choose this. And so now, I’m choosing not to do it.”

I looked down at David who was still sitting on the floor, watching me. “I’m sorry,” I told him. “I obviously don’t want you to die. I mean, I know I’ve said that I did a few times, but I didn’t really mean it. And it was only when you were being especially provoking, so—”

“Harper.”

I turned back to Saylor. “No,” I said again, but she continued like I hadn’t spoken.

“This isn’t something you can walk away from.” Saylor’s back was ramrod straight, shoulders tense under the bright coral of her jacket. “Do you know how important Oracles are? Wars have been fought over them. And now the Ephors are coming after David again, and I don’t know what they want to do with him.”

“You can do magic!” I shouted back and despite all of it, there was some tiny part of me still horrified I’d shouted at Saylor Stark. But I shoved that down and kept going. “You can make wards to protect him, and—and make things disappear. You don’t need me.”