“When did everything start with your heart?” I ask.

Orion lets out a whistle. “Oh man. It’s funny because I grew up watching my mom in and out of the hospital. That’s not, like, funny in and of itself, obviously, but I was so stupid that I never even considered that I could inherit heart issues too. Like, not once did that cross my mind.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing. You didn’t spend your time dreading that problem.”

Sort of like how I’m dreading my death.

“For sure, I guess I just wish I had taken it more seriously. Gotten some advice.”

“You were a kid.”

“A kid who swore my mom was going to die because of her heart. Then I got hit with that plot twist of . . . Well, you know the story now.” Orion tucks his hands into his pockets, slouching as he walks. It’s like the weight of the world is literally on his shoulders. “I had my first bad heart attack a couple days after my sixteenth birthday.”

“What caused it?”

“Everything? Sophomore year was not great. I was failing classes left and right, and I was stressed all the time, and I swore I was going to get left back. Then during my earth science final the hypertension was too much and I collapsed.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“It was, but at least the teacher liked me enough to give me a passing grade.”

“You were probably their first student to have a literal heart attack during an exam.”

“Oh yeah, heart attacks are so damn rare for teens, I’m like a unicorn—and not just because I’m gay!”

“You beat me to it.”

Orion is laughing as a couple people up ahead are shouting. One swings a bat into a car, shattering the window and setting off the alarm. Orion’s laugh dies down as the attacker’s comes to life. Then I think I’m about to have a heart attack of my own when I see they’re both wearing skull masks. I grab Orion’s arm, dragging him behind this Jeep that’s parked along the sidewalk. We crouch for cover.

“What the fuck—”

I shush Orion.

For all we know one of those masked men is the same one who tried shooting me.

Is this how destiny works in a world of Death-Cast? Is my death actually written in stone but when it happens is the only thing that changes? Have I been marked to be killed by this man who missed me earlier?

I jump when I hear another window shattered, another alarm going off. Surely this means the police will arrive on the scene soon to help, right?

Orion wraps his arm around my shoulders and holds me close like he’s a bulletproof vest. I don’t even push him away. Maybe he can save my life. If even for a bit longer.