by C. J. Valles
“It may be difficult for you to imagine, but Audra was not always so invincible.”
I swallow when I realize he means in his world. Then I remember what he said about risking punishment for those closest to him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Never make the mistake of feeling pity for Audra. She wouldn’t tolerate it.”
“No,” I smile. “I guess she wouldn’t.”
Suddenly remembering that I didn’t actually see Ever on my first day at Springview—just the back of him as he walked away—I’m curious.
“Where did you go that day before I walked into Mr. Gideon’s class? I mean, after you saw me in the cafeteria, where did you go? You never told me.”
Ever already explained his absences the two times he disappeared, but I had never thought about where he had gone the day he first saw me in the cafeteria—the day I heard the disembodied laughter in my head and thought I was officially losing my freaking mind. I study his face, and his expression begins making me really nervous.
“I didn’t go on a killing spree,” he says dryly.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to think it, but you had this look on your face like you had done something really awful!”
“I watched you for the rest of the day, and then I followed you home.”
“To kill me,” I say softly, wondering when the exact moment was that Ever decided not to kill me. “But you didn’t.”
I keep my tone as casual as I can when talking about my own almost-death, but deep down I really need to know.
“I told you before that I truly thought I could …”
When he trails off, I remain silent, watching him.
“I was sitting in a club in New York City, and the thought of returning to destroy you—”
“New York? Back up. When was this?”
“Only hours before you walked into Gideon’s classroom.”
“You were in New York hours before school started?”
“I had been trying to banish you from my thoughts.” He smiles crookedly. “It didn’t end well.”
“What do you mean, ‘It didn’t end well’?”
“I spent the evening pondering an empty and meaningless existence until I found myself in your room watching you sleep.”
“Creepy stalker,” I laugh.
“I truly was.”
“But why didn’t you talk to me after that? I mean, instead of avoiding me, you could have …”
“What? What could I have said that wouldn’t have terrified you?”
“You could have tried: ‘I read minds, too’,” I smile.
“And should I have omitted the small detail that I’m not of your world?”
Screwing up my mouth, I raise an eyebrow and try to imagine how I would have taken that piece of information if Ever had walked up to me and laid it out like that. I sigh.
“I guess it worked out either way,” I smile.
“If only that were true. I still wish that I could have left you untouched by my world.”
“And erase everything else?” I whisper pointedly. “Because I did that. Remember? And it didn’t work out too well.”
“But if you could have a normal life, you wouldn’t choose it?”
“Normal doesn’t always mean good; abnormal doesn’t always mean bad. If I had been normal, would I have met you? No. Probably not.”
This only serves to remind me that Ever—and Alex—never would have looked at me twice if not for my abnormality. How is that supposed to make me feel? Ever suddenly laughs in a frustrated sort of way.
“Wren, I try to coerce you into examining the benefits of a life untouched by immortal warfare, and instead you immediately conclude that there was no possibility that I would have loved you if not for your preternatural ability. It is you I love. Never doubt that. If that gorgon from Gideon’s class had been the one to read minds, do you think for one moment I would have fallen so deeply in love with her?”
I snort as I think of Mindy-Mandy from last year’s Art class.
“And do you think she would have loved me—accepted me—if she had known who—and what—I was?” Ever continues.
“Okay,” I sigh. “I guess we’re just lucky. I like ancient hotties, and you happen to prefer introverted bookworms.”
“You are much more than that. And I suppose I cannot fault my enemy for falling in love with you. No more than I can fault myself for the same transgression.”
The stab of guilt in my chest makes it impossible to say anything. I feel guilty for both my betrayal and Alex’s suffering. But my self-loathing is cut short when the floor begins to shake, immediately followed by a deafening cracking noise. I look up at Ever.
“Thunder?” I whisper.
Even as I say this, I know the sound wasn’t caused by anything natural.
12: Everything Is All Right
Ever pulls me to a standing position before disappearing. I wrap the towel around myself, and by the time my eyes focus on him, he’s across the room with his back to me, staring through the glass wall opposite the fireplace. I hurry to where he is, but as I stare out into the night, I don’t see anything but blackness. I glance at Ever and then turn back to the glass just in time to watch ghostly figures emerging out of the darkness. My mind reels at the sight of the four I last saw on the beach in Laguna. But it’s not the sight of them that causes me to scream.
It’s Alex.
The silver- and white-haired ghouls are holding Alex’s lifeless form between them. But unlike that day on the beach, I know Alex isn’t going to raise his head and launch his captors like Ever did. If Alex is alive right now, it’s just barely. I start running toward the door, but Ever catches my arm before I can make it there. Looking around desperately, I see that the house is sealed off. While I’m relieved that they might not be able to get in, it also means I can’t get out to help Alex.
I watch helplessly as the girl with the carrot-colored hair walks over to the alcove at the front of the house. Her voice suddenly echoes throughout the house.
“Greetings. To our great displeasure, we cannot stay long, as our charge will begin to heal far too fast in these climes. Moreover, we must return him to the princess before she misses her toy. Oh, and Ever?” she says, looking over and smiling sweetly at him. “That is your name for this world, is it not? The princess has not forgotten you. I dare say she misses your company.”
I turn and look up at Ever, who is statue-still next to me. My eyes shift to where Alex is. He’s shirtless, clad only in black pants. The broadness of his chest is covered in lashes, burns, and what look like bite marks. But even from here, I can see his wounds have begun to fade. He’s healing!
Suddenly the wraith with the pale silver hair—the one who had truly terrified me that day on the beach—reaches over and grips Alex’s copper hair with a ferociousness that sends pain shooting through my chest. He jerks Alex’s head upright, and I watch as Alex opens his eyes and looks around wildly. When he sees me, his blue eyes widen in surprise, then terror. He opens his mouth, and I read one word—no—on his lips before the five of them disappear. Gasping for air, I sink to the floor. Alex was so close, and all I could do was watch him.
“There’s nothing you can do for him,” Ever says, looking down at me with a hollow, haunted expression.
I flinch at his words.
“If that had been you, wouldn’t you want me to try to save you?”
“No. Wren, can’t you understand that you are our common goal? Why do you think he sacrificed himself? Do you think he would wish for you to risk your safety again? He did this so that you would have a chance.”
“You said he did it to bind me to him …”
“And he achieved that, but I truly believe his greater goal was to save you from our world, and I owe him for that.”
“And I owe him my life!”
He shakes his head.
“You owe him nothing.”
“But if I abandon him, what does that say about me? And who’
s next? I can’t let other people suffer because of who I am. If possible, I have to protect them. And that includes Alex.”
Ever offers his hand and picks me up from the floor. As he pulls me across the house toward the upstairs, he takes my phone from the sofa.
“Get dressed. Chasen and I will determine if it’s safe to leave tonight. Their appearance here tonight was no mistake. Victor wished it, which can only mean he’s trying to force his will.”
When we reach the top of the stairs, I stop.
“If you’re leaving, what am I supposed to do?”
“Play board games, perhaps,” a familiar female voice says from behind me. “Nice bathing suit, by the way.”
I turn and face Audra.
“And I suppose you’re here to babysit?”
“I’ll be back,” Ever says before turning to Audra. “Don’t let her out of your sight until I return.”
She salutes him, and I open my mouth to object before rethinking my protest.
“Be safe,” I whisper, straining on my toes to kiss him.
My mind keeps traveling back to Alex, half-dead, between Victor’s two henchmen. I feel helpless as Ever touches my hand and disappears. Will he come back? Or will I lose him, too? I’m about to continue down the hall to the bathroom where my clothes are when Audra hands me a small duffle bag. Frowning, I take it.
My skin is salty from the pool, and as soon as I reach the bathroom I turn on the water, relieved to find it’s still hot even with Ever gone. As soon as I’ve rinsed off, I go over to the counter and unzip the bag. Inside I find a pair of black leggings and a red workout top. It looks like an outfit from one of those lame reality shows where people sign up to get knocked senseless in some obstacle course to win prize money.
Changing into Audra’s suggested attire, I stare at myself in the mirror. Okay. So we’re going to do Pilates while Ever and Chasen run around doing who knows what? I pick up the phone and call my mom’s cell, which goes to voicemail. Cringing, I remember that she said she was going to go see a three-hour-long movie with Richard. To make myself feel better, I imagine Alistair and Persephone sitting behind them, ready to stab my mom’s date with something shiny and otherworldly if he so much as touches my mom. When I walk back downstairs, Audra is sitting on the couch, her sweater abandoned. Her outfit—black leggings and a tight blue top—matches mine.
“This is good,” she says with satisfaction. “We have time alone. Are you ready to practice?”
“Practice?”
“Practice staying alive,” she says, rising lithely from the couch.
When she starts walking, I follow after her, deeper into the house.
“I hope I’m good at it,” I mutter. “Staying alive, I mean.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll make you better.”
Audra steps into a room that resembles a gym crossed with a medieval torture chamber. There are weapons mounted on the walls and enough space to hold a large Pilates class.
“It’s good to know Ever hasn’t gone soft,” she says, eyeing the sharp objects mounted on the wall. “First, let’s test your defenses.”
Before I can respond, I’m knocked off my feet by a wave of energy.
“Ouch!” I cry as I land butt-first on the floor. “That wasn’t cool!”
“Get used to it. The enemy will offer you neither quarter nor second chances. Learn fast.”
I feel the tension in Audra’s mind and watch in horror as something pointy flies off the opposite wall. It comes within an inch of my cheekbone before stopping and clattering to the floor.
“Are you trying to kill me before Victor can?” I demand.
“If I’m to accompany you to the other side and risk my existence in the process, then I will make you capable, whether you enjoy it or not.”
I grit my teeth and stare at her.
“All right. Bring it.”
She smiles menacingly, and I concentrate, watching her carefully. That’s when I notice her begin to glow with energy. I’m not sure whether it’s my imagination or not until I see a purple wave roll outward on its way to knock me on my butt again. I close my eyes and focus on my impenetrable wall. When I don’t feel anything, I open my eyes and smile—just before I’m knocked backward. Before I can hit the ground, Audra’s hand steadies me.
“Amazing,” she breathes. “But you have to learn to fight back—and you must remain aware of your surroundings.”
I gulp and nod.
“And your coordination is faulty even by human standards, so let’s focus on blocking and evasion,” she adds with disdain.
Thinking of Victor’s princess, the fiery-haired lunatic who’s likely torturing Alex right now, I reach out and grab Audra’s hand as I push my fury outward. She jumps back, her eyes glittering.
“Good. We can work on that, too. Later.”
“Just wanted to remind you that I’m not completely helpless,” I smile.
A circular blade comes flying off the wall and glances my shoulder. When a thin line of blood appears across my arm, I wince and raise my hand to the cut.
“Stay focused,” she warns icily.
“Okay. But am I still going to be alive when Ever gets back?”
“That’s the entire point. To keep you alive so that he forgives me for risking your life to save his enemy.”
I look down.
“Are they going to kill him … or make him inert, or whatever it is they do?” I ask, referring to Alex.
“When he’s no longer of any use to them, I imagine.”
“Is he of use to them now?”
“You’re willing to make foolish decisions to save him, are you not?”
“Foolish?”
“In my opinion, yes. If they have him, they will not simply hand him over.”
“Did you know them? The four horsemen?”
Her lip curls.
“Yes.”
“Did you know the princess?”
She nods.
“And Ever was her …”
“Slave?” Audra finishes bitterly.
I nod, swallowing my horror.
“Your world sounds awful.”
She laughs, but there’s no joy in it.
“This one will be no better if Victor succeeds.”
I see a flash of blue striking out toward me, so I drop flat to the ground, jamming my elbow. When I look up, Ever is standing over me, glaring at Audra.
“She isn’t like you,” he says coldly.
“Are you so sure? Because if she is to survive—and join us—then she will have to become like me. It’s only a matter of time.”
Ever reaches toward me, and I grab his hand. Just as we begin walking out of the room, Chasen appears.
“I missed it? The battle of the century?”
“Don’t look so disappointed,” I smirk. “I’m sure that’s not the last time Audra is going to kick my butt.”
When we get to the hallway, Ever reaches over and traces his thumb across my shoulder. The sting of the cut disappears.
“I never should have left you alone with her,” he says gravely.
“With Audra?” I laugh. “That was barely a scratch.”
More like a paper cut, and those hurt like hell—but I don’t say this out loud. Ever stops and studies me seriously before we reach the front of the house.
“Wren, you’re supposed to be thinking about normal human things. Prom, for instance.” I make a face. “And where you’ll attend college. Not working on how to defend yourself against things I’ve brought down on you.”
“First, I’m going upstairs and getting out of this outfit. Second, this would have been my problem with or without you. Right? Victor and his ghouls would have shown up no matter what.”
He shakes his head.
“But if this had come to pass a century from now …”
“I would have been dead. Right? Does that mean you wish we had never met, and you could have existed forever with no emotion, fighting an endless war? Because if you had
never found me, Alex would have found me … or Victor would have. And unless some other mind-reading wunderkind magically appears, everyone is going to keep seeing me as some sort of inter-dimensional doorstop, right?”
“Inter-dimensional doorstop?” Ever asks with a crooked smile.
“Well, that about sums it up, right?” I laugh.
“No. Love of my existence is far more accurate.”
Hearing a gagging noise from behind us, I turn to face Chasen.
“What is it you humans say? I think I’m going to hurl?”
Rolling my eyes, I walk over and retrieve my phone before hurrying up the stairs to change out of my gladiator costume. Texting my mom, I tell her that I’m coming home soon, in hopes that her date is over.
Then I realize my mom isn’t the only one in danger. There are too many moving pieces. Victor, Richard, Ever, Alex, my mom, my friends, my dad, my little brother. Too many people at risk, combined with too many people who have an agenda of their own.
When Alex took Ashley, it was simple. I wasn’t going to let her die. Then it turned out that what Alex really wanted was a date. But now it’s not just one person, or the people I love, who are in danger. I have to think about everyone who will pay the price if Victor wins. Ever and the others know what will happen, and that’s why they were willing to kill people—people like me—to avoid it.
The more I find out, the more I feel like a bomb waiting to go off. I can’t save everyone. Maybe I can’t even save myself. For the second time, I remember something my mom said to my dad as I sat at the top of the stairs listening to them argue.
You can’t have it all, Tom. You can’t be Prince Charming and ride off into the sunset without hurting anyone. Make a choice. Live with it.
Make a choice. Live with it. Or die with it.
My phone buzzes, and I look down at it. It’s my mom.
“So, I was thinking we could order a late-night pizza when you get home,” she says as soon as I pick up.
“What happened to your date?”
My mom sighs.
“Oh. Well, Richard got an emergency page and had to go back to the hospital.”
“That’s too bad.”
More like fantastic, great, awesome.