Everlife (Everlife #3)

Just. Like. That. Light explodes from our pores. We’re lifted off our feet, held suspended by magnificent rays of Light.

We soar, shining, shining so brightly, empowered by Light, by love. We are warhorses, each of us, ready for battle, refusing to give up, even when the odds are stacked against us.

Nothing is impossible for us. Victory is ours. Victory will always be ours.

As quickly as the Light hit, it disappears. We collapse to the ground.

Panting, I blink open my eyes. I’m flat on my back, staring up at a bright Light that isn’t coming from the boys. No, it reminds me of a sunrise in the Land of the Harvest. For a moment, I imagine children playing in the streets, laughing together, ice cream melting in dirt-smudged hands.

Sitting up gingerly, I survey Many Ends and a fresh dose of shock saturates my cells. The birds are scattered on the ground—dead. Mermaids float atop the surface of the lake—dead. The hills are gone, the land flat, millions of people lying all around me. Missing limbs and organs have been replaced. Everyone is healed and whole!

Archer and Raanan remain at my sides. With a cry of happiness, we launch at each other and embrace. Tears pour down my cheeks.

Other people stir, realization quickly settling in. Then cheers ring out.

Spotting Erica, the girl who gave Killian his tattoos, I push through the crowd. “Have you seen Killian?” I have to yell to be heard.

“No, I’m sorry.” Eyes stark, she throws herself against me. “Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“How did you get here?” I ask, pulling back. Business first. “Last I heard, you were in the Kennels.”

“After you and Killian bonded, all of Killian’s allies were gathered together and slaughtered, so he would have no one to rely on but Ambrosine.”

“Ten? Lass?”

Killian! Joy causes every cell in my body to dance.

He and Sloan maneuver around a group of girls. Too far. I run as fast as I can, and hurl myself into his waiting arms.

He buries his face into the hollow of my neck and breathes me in. “You did it, lass. You did it.”

“We did it. All of us, together.”

“The others? They made it?”

“Only Archer and Raanan.” Fighting concern for their fates, I take a moment to breathe in my husband’s peat smoke and heather scent. “But the rest are still alive, somewhere in this realm.” They must be. “Have you seen Clay, Reed or Dior? What about our mothers?”

“Not yet, but—”

Shake, shake.

We frown at each other as the shaking only intensifies. Overhead, dirt and debris begin to rain from the veil.

“I think Many Ends is crumbling.” Archer comes up behind me. “If we remain inside…”

I think I understand. This sub-realm grew to accommodate new arrivals. Now, because of the Light, it knows the residents will be leaving. Many Ends is shrinking.

No telling what will happen next. “Get everyone to the water,” I shout. “It’s our only way out.”





chapter thirty



“The more you care, the more you’ll worry.”

—Myriad

Killian

We urge the crowd into the lake, but there are millions of people present, spread out over the crumbling landmass left by the hills. Millions of others have already disappeared in the water—those who did not end up on a piece of land when the bright Lights faded.

We’re ignored, and I’m not surprised. We’re trying to make everyone in the entire realm do the same thing at the same time. Impossible. Most people run away from the water as the shaking intensifies, screams of panic erupting.

Ten, being Ten, starts shoving people into the water. Archer, Raanan, Sloan and Erica follow suit. Everyone who enters disappears beneath the surface, as if sucked below, and yet the dead mermaids continue to float without interruption.

“Sloan, Erica,” Ten says, shouting to be heard. “The crowd will need a guide on the other side. Jump in, and help them find their way out of Myriad. And they need out. There’s going to be a battle. Troikan troops are going to invade. Let’s get the innocent to safety.”

Sloan doesn’t hesitate. She obeys, slipping under the water.

Drawing in a deep breath, Erica trails after her.

Those of us who remain…what are we going to do?

I’m not sure why I caved to worry. Where there is Light, there is a way. Vivid beams shine from above, sweeping people up, hundreds, thousands at a time, and carrying them to the water.

The glorious sight of such brilliant illumination leaves me reeling.

As I track Ten’s movements, acting as her personal guard, I realize the beams are tracking us—those who entered Many Ends to free the damned. “Charge through the crowd,” I call. Whether she heard or not, I can set an example. I fling myself into the masses, and Light accompanies me, picking up everyone around me.

“Dior!” Archer sprints away, desperate to reach his girl.

She’s just as desperate to reach him. The two slam into each other and cling, as if the other could float away at any moment.

“We were right! We were right! She came back to life.” A smile dawns on Ten’s beautiful face, making her brighter than the beams. “Killian, she came back to life!”

A smile dawns on my face. Despite the obstacles, opposition, betrayals, doubts and uncertainties, she never gave up or let circumstances dictate her decisions.

Though Many Ends is crumbling, its monstrous protectors are defeated. The condemned are free. Death has lost its victory; the grave has lost its sting.

The collective sense of panic fades as more and more people are carried to the water, and relief takes hold. Those who aren’t picked up begin jumping into the lake on purpose.

Archer returns with Dior at his side. Behind the couple are Reed and Clay. Ten embraces our newly revived teammates, her smile unwavering. Joy radiates from her.

When there is no one left, the Light coasts over us and lifts us off our feet. I take Ten’s hand as we are eased into the water. Thankfully the putrid liquid never reaches us. We’re caught up in the eye of a storm, Light our air and peace our shield.

We come out the other side—the Kennels—without a blip of trouble, and are placed on our feet. Cage walls surround us.

I hate this place. I’ve been confined myself a time or twenty, and the experience is scarring. Freedom is gone, your reputation in tatters. Humiliation is the soup du jour.

But the past is the past. I don’t care what horrors I’ve suffered, as long as I have Ten by my side in the present, and the future.

“The cages are empty,” she says.

She’s right. The doors swing open. “Why is no one scramblin’ tae climb up or down tae escape?” The masses from Many Ends are gone, as well.

Sloan and Erica stand a few feet away, but though they are armed and ready, they have no one to direct.

“The Light carried everyone away,” Sloan says.

“Burned through the locks on the cages, too,” Erica says. “Even the prisoners were carried away.”

“Where’d they go?” I demand. Troika? The Land of the Harvest? Simply outside the Myriadian borders?

The girls share a look before saying in unison, “I don’t know.”

Boom!

We are thrown to the ground. Impact jars me. Spots wink before my eyes as air heaves from my lungs. Several of my bones break, and pain consumes me, but I scramble over to Ten, who fell beside me. She’s injured, but as quickly as the wounds appear, they heal.

I cup her face the way I like to do, and drink in this girl I love so dearly. “Are you all right, lass? Tell me true.”

“I’m fine, I promise.” She kisses me before she stands and helps me do the same. The color in her cheeks deepens to a rosy pink until she’s glowing, so bright I should probably—but won’t, can’t—look away. “Now to deal with Ambrosine.”

“We can do it, too. We can do anything.” The brightness of her Light might be more than I’m used to, despite our bond, and it might pain me even now, but it also strengthens me. As interconnected as I am with her, my life is hers. Her life is mine. Together, we are stronger.