by K. K. Allen
Gasps and screams escape us all as Kat’s arms straighten in front of her, palms facing each other. A green ball of energy glows between them, similar to the fireball Alec made on the night of the carnival. But this energy looks and sounds like an electric current circulating from palm to palm. The zapping and buzzing ignite my senses. It’s so intense, I have to press my hands to my ears to muffle the sound. Paul does the same.
Erebus seems stunned for a moment, but then he’s on the move again, coming dangerously close to Kat. This time, Kat turns her energy-wielding palms outward so the currents run straight at Erebus, illuminating him in her bright-green light.
He’s paralyzed by her energy. I’m paralyzed by her everything.
This must be Circe’s cue, because she turns and raises her arms again. Energy explodes from her palms and collides with Kat’s light, which saturates Erebus’s serpent form. Together, Kat and Circe lower their arms, pushing him down into the clear glass tube below Kat’s feet.
Kat begins to falter. She’s using all of her energy, and I’m sure she’s beginning to weaken, but she doesn’t stop.
Circe turns to look at Arabella over her shoulder. “Now!”
Arabella nods and moves forward, raising her arms above her head, releasing her energy from her palms and directing it into the tube. Paul follows her lead, then I do. The Elders join one by one, until everyone has joined in.
Erebus twists and turns, struggling against the downpour of light. It washes over him, replacing the geyser of water with energy and suffocating him, although it’s not air that he needs to live. He’ll continue to survive, but he’ll be confined to this tube.
An insane rush circulates through my veins, and I know this is the most power I will ever feel—my energy combined with other descendants’. Together, we are more powerful.
While everyone’s eyes are on the tube filling with energy, submerging Erebus deeper and deeper into his tomb, my eyes stay on Kat and her teetering balance. The light in her eyes dims, and her arms are limp as she fights to hold on. Then, in an instant, the light she’s expelling from her palms vanishes. Her eyes darken, and she falls from the sky, down into the raging waters.
Johnny
“No!” I pull my arms down, stopping the flow of energy from leaving my palms, and I run faster than I’ve ever run before. I’m knee deep in the water when I take a long pull of air then dive into the ocean toward where Kat fell.
Arabella and her sisters are right behind me, their flukes glowing and illuminating the way. I search long and hard, until my lungs feel like they’re going to burst. There’s no time to search for sea sprinkle, so I pull myself above the water to gulp in more air before diving back in.
When I finally spot her, she’s a vision in green. The silk nightdress she’s wearing flows around her as she slowly sinks to the sea floor. Her eyes are closed, and she’s completely motionless, an angel of the sea. I swim toward her, straining every muscle in my body, and I’m reminded of that Fourth of July night that changed everything between us.
She was kicking and fighting with everything she had that night, but she couldn’t win against the current. I stopped the engine of Roy’s boat and ran to the bow where I had just seen her, splaying limbs and a terrified look in her eyes. Even in my desperation to find her, my need for revenge was suffocating me. I thought I hated her. I thought she was my enemy.
I don’t know how long she had disappeared beneath the waves, but suddenly, it was like she was being lifted to me. I could see her there, lifeless and about to sink again, this time to her death. I pulled her onto my boat, and as she lay beneath me, I turned over the heart-shaped locket on her gold charm bracelet, to verify what Iris had told me was true. I didn’t know anything about the symbol of the infinity snake other than that it was the same one that was marked on my parents the night they were murdered. Fear enclosed me when I recognized the symbol engraved in the heart.
The memory still makes me shudder. What I felt capable of doing to an innocent girl still makes me sick. I’d been searching for the evil that killed my parents, and after over a decade, I was finally so close… until my lips touched Kat’s that night.
The entire axis of my existence tilted, my perspective shifted, and under the light of the moon, I saw the truth. Kat wasn’t to blame for my parents’ death, and I couldn’t let her die. I just didn’t totally understand why.
The moment I heard her sputter, breath filled my lungs, and I knew I had done the right thing. I stared down at her beautiful face, stunned by her beauty. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen her, but it was the first time my heart began beating for her.
I looked at her again. Her bright-red lips glistened with the water that had almost drowned her. Something clicked in my chest like a switch turning on and illuminating a future I’d never seen before that moment. I knew I couldn’t kill her, but I had to find out why she was wearing that bracelet. I scooped Kat into my arms and swam close enough to the shore to deposit her safely, then I swam back to my boat and sped away into the night with Kat’s precious locket wrapped tightly in my fist.
Now, here we are again, only there’s no hesitation to save her. If she dies, I die too.
I reach Kat and pull her to the top of the rock pier. I perform CPR just like before—pumping her chest and blowing air into her lungs—all while batting away fears of the worst kind. Healing isn’t one of my abilities, but I’ve never lost a victim while performing CPR.
“C’mon, Kat,” I command while pressing my layered palms below her ribcage. “Come back to me.”
Before I can tip her head back and rest my mouth on hers again, Rose kneels beside me and gazes down at her granddaughter with a look of pride and overwhelming love.
“Let me,” Rose says, her voice soft and feathery while leaving no room for arguments.
I pull my hands away and let Rose take over. As her white hair brushes against her shoulders, she lifts her willowy arms.
The noise from the crowd has died some. In one glance, I see Paul, Charlotte, and Grace standing near us while Circe waits near the shore, hovering over the large clear tube that contains Erebus. He’s now shrouded in our combined energy, but no one celebrates his capture as we watch and wait to see Kat’s fate.
Rose places her small hands on Kat’s chest, and releases energy from her palms. It flows straight into her granddaughter’s heart. I watch in wonder as a glow illuminates from beneath her skin then spreads like wildfire through her body until a circuit board of energy is running through her.
Kat’s heart begins to beat.
“You did it,” I say to Rose.
“Not yet.”
This time, her tone is so ominous, I can’t help but look at her. Tears are streaming down her smiling face, then she leans down to place a kiss on Kat’s forehead. She leans over Kat’s ear and whispers something so quiet that not even I can hear it.
After exhaling deeply, Rose places her right hand on her heart. Her left hand stays on Kat, positioned right above Kat’s heart. “My dear, sweet, Katrina. With this breath, the last of my energy transfers to you. May it give you life, and may you live in peace, for as long as your energy will recycle.”
I stare at Rose in shock, my gasp no louder than those behind me.
“Mom, what are you doing?” Paul steps forward.
“Rose,” Charlotte calls out, panicked.
Rose ignores them all as energy fades from her chest and travels down the length of her other arm until it reaches Kat. It’s all happening so fast, but as I watch the transfer of energy, Kat’s skin above her heart brightens as one Summer gives her last breath to another.
Above us, the clouds part to reveal the full moon. Kat chokes and sputters to life, struggling for air. A beautiful sound. I help her turn onto her side so that she can empty the contents of her stomach and clear her lungs. She takes her first clear breath then relaxes into a deep sleep. She’s alive. Sleeping… but alive.
A smile touches Rose’s face, and her fi
nal stare meets Paul’s as he kneels by her side. She touches his cheek, and he clasps his hand over hers. “Goodbye, my son. I love you.”
Those are her final words before the light in her eyes dims and Paul is left sobbing as he holds his mother. When Charlotte joins them, hurling pain from her chest and anguish from her eyes, I have to look back toward Kat, my heart aching for the loss she’ll soon come to know. My chest constricts, and my throat knots as I fight the urge to open a floodgate of my own tears. As relieved as I am to hear Kat’s breaths, I feel my own heart suffering at the loss of Rose.
Before meeting Kat, I was numb to emotional pain. I’d experienced the worst of it with my parents, and I wouldn’t let myself feel anything like that again. I checked out from the world, moving through life but never actually living it… until Kat came along. Now, I would do anything in my power to carry the pain she will soon feel if that meant she wouldn’t have to suffer.
Kat
Death is both tragedy and beauty. It’s an end to the life we spend decades, if we’re lucky, figuring out how to live. For Rose Summer, death doesn’t mean the end, because she gave her life for another, and there’s nothing more beautiful than that.
“She was the stubbornest, spunkiest, most difficult woman I’ve ever known. She was also right about pretty much everything.”
Laughter fills the crowd at the first words of the eulogy I’m giving at my grandmother’s funeral. It’s less than a week after her death, and I’m standing on the center floor of the theater, looking up at a sea of faces, most of whom knew and respected Rose. Some guests have only heard of her but felt compelled to travel across the country to be here.
Before continuing, I take a moment to close my eyes. A breeze rushes to my face, sweeping my hair back in a refreshing wave, filling my confidence and calming my nerves. I want everyone to remember her for everything she was and gave to, not just the community, but to the world.
The crowd falls back into silence. “Of course, these are words I never would have spoken when she was alive. However, today, I can only speak the truth.” I smile. “She was also kind, just as her name implied. She commanded a room without much more than a stern look or a smile. She brought people together and educated us, sometimes when we didn’t even know we needed it.” I swallow over the lump slowly building in my throat. “She took care of us. She respected us”—my gaze floats across the smiling faces below me—“and she touched every single one of us in unique ways, because Rose Summer understood us and loved us, just as we were born to be.”
My eyes find my mother, who sits in the front row with pinched lips and tightened eyes to suppress her tears.
“She valued who we were, no matter where we came from, and helped us understand the importance of self-discovery.” I pull my eyes away, sweeping the crowd again. “Best of all, she never preached. Instead, she lived the life she was given, and she was grateful for that life every single day.”
The applause from the crowd fills me with pride. “When I first moved to Apollo Beach and learned of my Enchantment, I’ll never forget the pride in my grandmother’s eyes as she taught me all about energy sourcing. I didn’t realize it then, but I quickly learned that the importance of recycling is far beyond what we’re doing for ourselves. It’s the giving back that’s important. No one did that better than Rose. But with that said”—I add with a smile, causing light laughter from the guests—“no one kept a secret better than Rose Summer, and I’m sure she took some of those secrets with her when she passed away.”
I shake my head, triggering more laughter. “All I can say to that is that’s okay, because we’ll learn what we’re meant to learn, and we’ll love who we’re meant to love. All we need to do is start with each other.”
The applause is so loud, it drowns out the sound of my thumping heart. I walk back to my seat, and as I pass my dad, we stop for a long hug, then he continues in a slow walk to the podium. It allows everyone to have a moment of silence, and Rose’s presence fills the space between us all. I’m certain the remnants of her energy are paying us a visit today. I hope she heard my speech.
When I finally take my seat beside my mom, she immediately pulls me in for an embrace. Her eyes are filled with tears. Not only has she regained her memories of her time in Apollo Beach and our life together in Silver Lake, but of her life before too.
Grace took the memory serum without hesitation the night of Rose’s death. She didn’t tell anyone what she was doing. There was no one to tell. My dad was tending to Rose’s body, and I was unconscious. Since we were all preoccupied with Rose for the next couple of days, Grace kept her recovering memory to herself until my dad realized the memory vial was gone.
I’ll never forget the soft knock on my bedroom door that night when my mom came to talk to me.
“Come in,” I said, loudly enough for whoever was on the other side of the door to hear.
The door cracked open, and I immediately knew it was her when her small hands wrapped the frame of the door to push it open. Her eyes were red and puffy like she’d just been crying. And the way she looked at me, it was as if she couldn’t believe I was real.
“Oh, Katrina,” she said, her voice cracking. “I remember everything.”
At the end of the ceremony, Johnny finds me and wraps me in his arms. “Rose would have loved your speech.”
I look up at him, smiling, my eyes still misty with emotion. “Thank you.” I look over at Charlotte hugging Darla French in the aisle. “I’ll be right back.”
Johnny nods. “Take your time.”
I approach the women and hug them as we shed a few tears together before pulling Charlotte away. Now that Rose is gone, things at Summer Manor have been different. Rose left everything to my dad, and he’s already moved in, along with my mom, who’s still taking up the guest quarters downstairs. My father insists on caring for her while she continues to recover from the trauma Erebus inflicted over the years.
Charlotte accepted a job to care for Darla in her home and has already packed her things to move out. My father insisted Charlotte stay, but it didn’t feel right to her without Rose being there.
“Are you okay?” I ask Charlotte. I know how much Rose’s death affected her.
She nods, smiling back at me gently. “Your grandmother was one amazing woman. I’ll miss her every day. But knowing her as well as I do, she wouldn’t have wanted to go any other way.” Charlotte squeezes my hand. “She was so very proud of you, you know?”
I suck in a steady breath and blink away more tears. “She was proud of you too, Charlotte. She told me she loved you like a daughter, and I could see it. What you two had was very special.”
Charlotte pulls me in for a hug. “Oh, Kat, I’m going to miss living with you.” She pulls away and tilts her head. “You can call me whenever you want. For shopping, for lunch, for anything.”
I nod, fighting back more tears. “Yes, all the time. I’ll miss you too, Charlotte.”
When I return to Johnny, he’s talking to a group of our friends. I wrap my arms around his waist and snuggle into him—my happy place—and smile back at them all.
Arabella and Kaleb are there, and they’ve been inseparable since his near-death experience, though I know Arabella has been having some doubts about everything, thanks to her father's disapproval of their relationship. King Isaac hasn’t let go of his belief that his daughters should fall in love with sea descendants. It’s not enough that Kaleb is an Enchanter.
Meanwhile, Alec and Kacey, who stand beside them, are still together too. They both seem happy together, but Alec’s plan to study abroad in Greece seems to be tearing them apart already.
Trisha and Brett are stronger than ever now that Brett has been brought into the community as a Follower. One day, if they find themselves Fated, he might even become a Solstice.
We mingle there together for a while, catching up, sharing our memories of Rose, until Johnny leads me away from the crowd.
“Where are we going?” I ask
, smiling up at him.
He’s got that secretive look in his eyes. “I have something to give you. Just come with me.”
We take the trail that leads to my treehouse, and I follow him up to the top platform. He heads straight for the bookshelf and places it behind his back before turning to face me with a grin.
“I found something in one of your mom’s boxes that day we were sorting through her things. At the time, I didn’t want to show you what it was because I didn’t know what it meant, so I took it to Rose and asked her.”
Johnny smiles, sending a wave of electricity rippling through my entire body. He takes his hands from behind his back and passes me a small square envelope with my name written delicately on the front. I recognize the stationery and the handwriting, both of which belong to Rose.
Dear Katrina,
If you’re receiving this letter, it’s because I’m gone, and if I am able to miss anyone after I die, I will miss you the most. Although it will never be enough, I’m forever grateful for the time we spent together. You have taught me things I regret not learning earlier in life.
Your open heart, for one. It may let you down now and then, but it will win out in the end. Your forgiving soul is another. Thank you for forgiving us for the things you have had to miss out on. Because of that, I will rest in peace, knowing that your heart is strong enough for all of us. As much as I admonish you for the risks you take, I also admire them. You call me stubborn… but I think you might actually be more stubborn than I am at times. Please make sure to remember this when you must keep a secret.
I know there will be a lot I will miss out on. Your schooling at Gaia, your wedding, your babies… but I am so grateful to have been here to watch you fall in love. Young love is a beautiful thing, and Fated love is our greatest gift.