by C. J. Valles
“How long have you known that I was the same girl?”
“I knew the moment I had a vision of you … a vision very much like Ever’s before he found you. A girl walking toward me on an empty street. The last human with powers like ours, the one who could open or close the door to our dimension forever. The only difference is that Ever had an ample head start, thanks to his rather acute skill for reading every human being’s mind with no effort.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all this?” I cry.
“To what end?”
I throw my hands in the air.
“Um, how about so I didn’t think you were the bad guy?”
“Wren, my love. Ever and I never shall be the heroes you see us as. We are selfish creatures who would do anything to spend our limitless existences with the one who is capable of seeing us for more than our missteps.”
I watch blankly as he kneels down in front of me. Then I stop breathing when I see a glowing ring with a center stone in the shape of a single, shimmering white rose.
“You have two offers. Now it is your choice to make.”
24: Choices
This is another dream.
One of those really surreal dreams that feels real, even after you wake up. When I continue to stare at him, Alex takes my hand, causing a surge of electricity to buzz through me.
“I promise you aren’t dreaming, Wren. I am humbly asking you to choose me.”
I suck in air and wonder how long I’ve been holding my breath.
“Alex …”
Before I can say anything else, he slips the ring on my finger. Looking down, I watch as the white of the rose turns a soft pink, then a glowing, blood red before turning back to gleaming white.
“I needed to know what it would feel like to know you were mine, if only for a few moments,” he smiles sadly, looking up at me.
“Shut up!” I growl.
Reaching down, I grab his face in my hands. He rises and pulls me to him, kissing me softly. Then I feel his lips curve against mine before he pulls back and smiles.
“We have a dance to attend, Ms. Sullivan.”
I smirk.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry. No more kissing …”
His arm slips around me, and I swallow as his lips brush my ear.
“What I meant was: if you kiss me again, we won’t make it to the dance.”
I shiver and try not to think about the night in Tierra del Fuego, the two of us alone in a hotel room. I was sixteen then. Tonight I’m legally an adult, but still just as conflicted as I was more than a year ago. Trying not to think of that night—of the feel of his hands on me—just makes it worse. I close my eyes and remember his words, the look on his face as he spoke them.
I want you, Wren. I need you. I … love you.
My eyes snap open, and I stare at him, suddenly aware that he’s most likely reading my thoughts—and he’s most likely seeing what I’m seeing. When he brushes my lower lip with his thumb, the sharp wave of desire takes me by surprise. Alex’s jaw tenses. Then he bends his head, his lips coming down on mine with a need that makes my entire body tremble.
He pulls back, and I open my eyes, stunned by flashing lights. Combined with the blaring music, it feels like I’ve just been catapulted into a rave. Alex hands me my heels and helps me balance while I put them back on. By the time I slip the second heel on, a pair of hands grabs me from behind. Alex is still smiling, which means it’s probably not the end of the world as I know it—yet. Turning, I smile when I see the three people in front of me.
“Please tell me someone got a picture of Josh when he saw Taylor’s dress,” I demand.
“Right here,” Ash says, holding out her phone.
I look down at the picture of Taylor’s back as she walks out of Ash’s house. The look on Josh’s face is classic. I reach up and give Taylor a high five.
“That is awesome!” I laugh. “You guys look great.”
Ash nudges me before I can ask where Josh, Marcus, and Zach are. Suddenly I remember Alex standing behind me. Turning, I almost expect him to have disappeared, but he’s still there, staring at me with a smug expression.
Forget about me?
I smile as I let my mind flash back to West Street Beach and the feel of his lips on mine. He takes my hand.
Cruel, truly.
“Guys, this is Alex,” I say as I turn back to face my friends.
I look down at the invisible—well, invisible to my friends—ring on my left hand.
“Alex, this is Ash, Taylor, and Lindsay.”
“So, you’re the guy who stole Wren away from Ever,” Lindsay says with no effort to hide her scorn.
I roll my eyes. I’m used to her being blunt, but she makes it sound like I didn’t have any choice when the truth is: I made a decision, right or wrong, and now I’m benefiting and paying for it simultaneously.
“I am. However, I think Wren deserves at least some credit in her decision-making process.”
Lindsay, who’s usually able to stun people into at least a few seconds of silence, stares at him in shock. I look up at Alex and frown.
Be nice, I growl in my head.
Catching sight of Josh, Marcus, and Zach coming toward us, I look around for Matt.
“Where’s Matt?” I ask Ash.
“He texted at the last second and said he wasn’t coming.”
“What?” I cry.
“Don’t ask me,” Ashley sniffs. “He said he’d rather avoid the ignominy of attending an event as the token queer—his words, not mine—when people like Jeff Summers are exalted. Whatever that means.”
I sigh and feel like a traitor. It means that even among friends, he still feels like an outsider. In a parallel universe, that would have been me. Taking out my phone, I send him a text.
Miss you
W
Looking up, I smile at Marcus’s tux, complete with a hot pink tie and suspenders to match Ash’s pink dress. And Josh … Josh is staring at Taylor like it’s the first time he’s seen her. I reach over and pinch her.
“Nice job. Your boyfriend is drooling.”
“You think?”
I glance at Josh again and grasp around for his thoughts, which are running a mile a minute. I see him glance at Alex and then back at me.
What’s with Sullivan? I liked the space boy better.
Good to know that Josh is still preoccupied with my choice of dates. Rolling my eyes, I follow his thoughts and realize he’s preoccupied with something in his wallet. Concentrating harder, I see a plastic credit card. It takes a few seconds to realize that it’s not a credit card. It’s a keycard to a hotel room. Biting my lip, I glance at Taylor, wondering if she’s talked to him about it … or if tonight’s going to be a big surprise. I grab Taylor’s arm.
“We’ll be right back,” I smile as I drag her toward the nearest exit.
“Where are we going? You just got here! And you left your date back there! Lindsay is going to eat him alive!” Taylor says.
“We’re going to the bathroom—and I’m pretty sure Alex can handle himself.”
I push open a door, and suddenly the flashing lights and music disappear as we enter a marble-floored lobby. Looking around, I see a sign for the restrooms. When we reach the bathroom’s lounge area, Taylor squeaks.
“This hotel is so nice!”
“I know. Very cool,” I agree.
“Did you do your own makeup?” Taylor asks as I take out some lip balm.
I nod even though the lip balm I’m applying is technically the only makeup I’m wearing. The other makeup I’m “wearing” is I Made Out With Two Immortals.
“It looks really good. Like movie star good!”
Pulling her over to the chairs in the lounge, I sit down.
“Thanks! You know you look awesome. I’m not kidding—Josh was drooling. So …”
When I pause, Taylor frowns.
“What’s up?” she asks.
“Don’t get mad, ’kay? And if you want me to butt out, ju
st tell me.”
“Wren! Oh my god! You’re freaking me out! What is it?”
I blow out a breath and cringe before I say it.
“Um … did you and Josh get a room?”
She bursts into laughter.
“What do you think the hotel rooms cost in this place?”
“I think Josh knows.”
“Serious?” she gasps.
“Serious,” I confirm.
“How do you know?”
“I’ve just got a feeling. I could be wrong, but … are you ready for this?”
“Wow. I mean, we talked about it over spring break, but more in a maybe in the future sort of way.”
“What are you going to tell him?”
She chews her lip and looks down.
“Are you ready?” I ask quietly.
She smiles and looks up at me.
“I’ve thought about it … a lot.”
I laugh.
“Well, I promise you—it’s all Josh is thinking about right now.”
“I really love him, Wren.”
I reach out and squeeze her hand.
“Then … I think you just have to make the best decision for you, whether it’s tonight or sometime in the future. And use protection! Please, I don’t want you ending up on some stupid reality show.”
She turns bright red before laughing.
“I promise! And what about you, Ms. I’m on the Rebound from Mr. Perfect Golden Haired God of Hotness?”
I blink.
“Um, complicated doesn’t even start to describe my feelings right now. I feel like Alex and I have a lot in common …” and I just found out he saved me from drowning when I was ten. “But it’s just hard.”
I shake my head and sigh. Not hard. Impossible. Because I love them both.
“Come on,” I smile. “Let’s get back before Josh thinks I’ve kidnapped you.”
Getting up, we start walking toward the door. Right before I follow Taylor outside, I turn and see my reflection in the mirror. My heart thuds in my chest. It’s Irisa, Princess of Darkness, not me, looking back. She grins at me before I rush to catch up with Taylor. Letting the door swing shut behind me, I hurry across the marble floor. The second she walks into the dance, Alex appears in front of me, his expression deadly serious.
“What happened?” he demands. “Are you okay? Is Ever here?”
I shake my head and swallow, thinking about how Ever couldn’t see my thoughts when I was thinking about Alex.
“I completely lost sense of you,” Alex says darkly. “For a moment, I thought you had been taken.”
Thinking of my reflection in the mirror, I shiver. I’m not sure which is worse—Ever showing up at prom while I’m with Alex or seeing my demonic alter ego in the mirror.
“I saw Irisa in the mirror. I looked into the mirror, and I saw her instead of me. I was her.”
Alex grabs my hand, startling me.
“Wren, it’s your choice. Victor requires your acquiescence if he is to obtain what he truly desires.”
“But if I don’t give in, he’ll just kill me, right?” Or someone I love. “Either way, I’m—”
Dead.
“I won’t let anything happen to you. I would suffer eternal punishment again to prevent it.”
I shiver and close my eyes. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of—someone else paying the price for my actions.
“Don’t say that, Alex. Please.”
“Then do something for me,” he smiles as he begins pulling me through the doors to the dance. “For this one night, forget what may come tomorrow.”
I look around as we walk into the dance. Senior prom. At the beginning of junior year, if someone had asked me about the possibility of going to prom, I would have said there was zero chance. The fact that I’m here with Alex is even more impossible. And him being here in the human world, after I thought I lost him forever, is beyond impossible.
It’s my friends who bring me back to reality. When we reach the edge of the dance floor, I stop and watch as Zach dips Lindsay, who manages to transition into a back handspring without kicking anyone in the face.
“Be with your friends,” Alex whispers in my ear.
I smile at him and start walking toward my friends. Taking out my phone, I wave my hands, gesturing for everyone to squeeze in for a picture. As they line up, Lindsay steps in front and insists the guys pick her up so that she’s lying in their arms like some pop princess. Josh makes a face like he’s struggling, and I laugh and snap a few more pictures.
When the next song comes on, the crowd screams. Taylor pulls me in so that it’s just the four of us girls dancing, which only reminds me that Ever, Audra, and Chasen were supposed to be here with us. A lot of things were supposed to be different. Then I made a choice I knew would change everything.
We dance through two more songs before a slow song comes on. I watch as my friends pair off. Looking down, I realize that this is the way it was supposed to be—me watching other people dancing. Moving off the dance floor, I’m about to go look for Alex when something stops me.
I want to be able to enjoy this moment alone. I watch my friends and then close my eyes. There are so many different ways tonight could have gone. I’m here now with Alex, but the reality is that I should have been here with Ever. I was the one who changed things.
Straightening up, I look back toward the main doors and freeze when I see Ever standing at the very back of the room. My heart squeezes as I stare at him, and I feel a dull ache deep in my chest. Then he disappears like he was never there in the first place.
When an arm grabs me roughly around the waist, I twist around and look up—at Jeff Summers. His tie is gone, his cheeks are red, his are eyes bloodshot, and he’s sweating through his dress shirt.
“Wanna dance with the king, Exorcist girl?”
I shudder, reminded of several bad things all at once. Maybe the most disturbing is that the biggest jerk in school is probably right. He probably is going to be voted prom king. As he starts dragging me toward the dance floor, I smell something sharper than aftershave on his breath, and suddenly I remember Ash telling us that Emily Michaels broke up with him for the millionth time—right before prom.
I’d almost feel sorry for him if I didn’t know that Ever, Alex, and the others suffered a lot worse than Jeff could ever imagine in his lifetime. Besides, Jeff was a jerk before Emily broke up with him, and if he’s not careful, he’ll spend his entire life that way. Unless Victor takes over this world. Then Jeff and everyone else will have bigger problems to deal with.
“Uh, Jeff. Can I ask you a question?” I ask calmly as he swings me around like a doll.
He stops and sways on his feet. I don’t bother waiting for him to answer.
“You don’t even know me. Why don’t you just leave me alone?”
“’Cause every other chick at this school wants me. What the hell makes you so”—he pauses to belch loudly—“special?”
I’m tempted to say, ‘I have taste,’ but I don’t.
“Nothing,” I say, pulling out of his grip.
Walking from the dance floor, I stop as the song playing cuts off and another starts. I close my eyes and feel myself instantly transported to the spring dance in Southern California—to the night I knew I was in love with Alex.
“Our first dance,” he says from behind me.
Turning around, I stare up at him and wonder how it’s possible that I thought Alex or Ever were human. He offers his hand, and I don’t argue like I did that night. I reach up and put my hand in his.
“How did you know? How could you have possibly known that night how much I love this song? You couldn’t read my thoughts then, but you still knew.”
“Your eyes will always betray you.”
He pulls me into his arms, and I breathe in a smell I’ve come to recognize as immortal perfection. Looking up at him, I’m suddenly afraid that I’m guilty of the same thing I just accused Jeff Summers of—wanting something because
I know I can’t have it. In my case, what I want is the happy ending. And, for the first time, I think what my English teacher said freshman year might be right. Happy endings might exist only in fairy tales.
“Alex, thank you for tonight.” I watch his eyes harden. “Yeah, that’s right. Thank … you. I know I don’t deserve a fairy tale happy ending, but this almost feels like one …”
Or maybe it would feel like a happy ending if I could forget the part about being in love with two different people.
“It could be our happy ending,” he says quietly.
Frowning, I shake my head.
“What do you mean?”
The ground begins shaking beneath my feet as a spotlight shines down on me.
“Wren Sullivan!” a voice booms from the stage.
I freeze as I recognize a voice I never wanted to hear again.
“Would you please join me on stage?”
I turn and stare at the stage, where Victor is holding out his hand.
25: Beginning of the End
“We need to leave,” Alex whispers urgently in my ear. “Now.”
Looking up at him, I realize he has no intention of fighting. He wants to run—to leave here. Maybe even leave reality, Earth, my life.
“Wren, my dear,” Victor continues from the stage. “I must admit you have surprised me. However, it is very convenient that you’ve chosen my once loyal servant as your champion … as I have become weary of indulging your second-place contender.”
Victor gestures offstage, and I feel myself lurch forward when I see the silver-haired wraith appear with Ever. Alex grabs me as the other horsemen appear. One is holding Matt and my mom, both of them staring blankly into the distance like that night Alex took Ashley. A third horseman is holding Audra. The fourth is holding Chasen.
“What’s going on here? This was never sanctioned!” a voice barks with authoritative outrage.
As Mr. Chernoff, the pompous, shiny-headed vice principal from my first day at Springview, starts walking across the stage toward Victor, I want to warn him, but before I can even breathe, Victor smiles at Mr. Chernoff and snaps his fingers, causing the vice principal to disappear in a puff of smoke, like a magic trick. People around me start clapping and laughing. They think it’s some kind of elaborate joke.