by KT Webb
“So, where to?” Malcolm asked.
“I can only think of one place I would want to spend the rest of my very long life,” Whitley said with a grin.
“Paris?” Naomi asked with ill-contained excitement.
They laughed. She may not be the embodiment of vanity anymore, but she still acted like a valley girl sometimes.
“Home then?” Nora asked as she put her hand in the middle of the circle.
“Home,” Kerr said as everyone put their hands together.
When they arrived in Benton, it seemed much larger than it ever had before. After rebuilding countless cities across the world, it was finally their turn. Tahlia and Eric each held a baby. Melanie and Andrew led Keira, Shawna, and Mikey to the side. The residents of Benton who had survived were gathered around them.
The New Immortals took each other’s hands and stood in a line on the main street that ran through town. They closed their eyes and willed the broken pieces of their home to knit back together. It never got old. Nora opened her eyes and watched in wonder as splintered wood repaired itself, bricks flew back into place, and broken glass seamlessly healed.
If only it were so easy to knit the whole world back together. It would take years to rebuild everything that was destroyed. For the time being, it was enough to fix what they could and make the most of it.
Hours later, when they had returned to their house and gotten settled in, Nora found herself sitting in her favorite chair in the library. Everyone was asleep in their beds, but she felt the need to be close to her childhood.
If she closed her eyes, she could imagine that Dorian was by the fire reading a book, while Romulus and Tahlia played a game of cards. She could almost see the day Dorian gathered the Evolved in the library to tell them more about their mission.
“What do you want?” Whitley asked groggily.
Nora’s eyes snapped open and she saw Whitley, Hadley, Thatcher, and Kerr standing in the library. It reminded her of the night they’d all found their way down to the library when Dorian called for them. The night she had just been recalling.
“I’m sorry, I was just reminiscing.”
“Well, I was sleeping. You think you could reminisce without calling us?”
Nora was taken aback momentarily then realized she was using an ability she’d inherited from Dorian. She had called to them, spirit to spirit.
“Do you guys remember the first time we were all in here?”
The others smiled and took seats on the couches, exactly as they had that night. Nora felt the emotion welling up inside her as she thought about the day she met the people around her.
“I had wanted people to share this with for so long. I had the Virtues, but it wasn’t the same. I waited for the other Evolved to show up so I could finally begin my life.”
“I had been living every day avoiding other people because of my gift. When Hadley and Whitley came into my shop, I recognized them as being the same as me. It was terrifying,” Kerr mused.
“I was completely clueless and pissed at Hadley.”
“Yeah, well, I was pretty wigged out that some random man showed up and knew that I could control the weather,” Hadley shared.
“I was lost. I didn’t have anyone. I was alone. I didn’t trust anyone. I constantly found ways to get away. I had no idea what I was missing until Dorian said hello to me on that bench,” Thatcher whispered.
“We were all missing something. None of us could really pinpoint what it was. Hadley and Whitley thought it was their mom, but it was so much more. I thought it was co-conspirators, but I found sisters, a husband, and a cousin,” Nora said as a happy tear ran down her cheek.
“I found my family,” Thatcher said hoarsely.
Nora looked at the people who had become her best friends, her constant companions, her co-conspirators, and her family. Everything they had gone through brought them to this moment. They fought against the darkness and pushed forward when they faced brick walls.
She stood up, and the others did the same. They converged on each other in a tangled hug without thinking. If she never did another good thing in her life, the things she accomplished with the Evolved would be enough.
The door to the library crashed open to reveal Malcolm, covered in dirt. He held something in his hand triumphantly.
“Sorry to break this up, but I felt like something was missing . . . ”
Nora couldn’t contain the giggle that rose in her throat. Thatcher stepped around her and stood in front of Malcolm.
“Dude, you didn’t.”
The beaming pride on Malcolm’s face faltered slightly. “Well, the body isn’t there. Duh. Good thing you put him in a baggie.”
Thatcher and Malcolm faced each other for a moment before hugging fiercely. All the others could do was laugh at the two young men as one of them clutched a stuffed stegosaurus in his hand while the other clung to him in tears.
Epilogue
2035
Things weren’t looking good. Keira sat in a circle with Elise and Mila. They held hands and shared a vision of the future. The darkness the Creator had warned their parents about would soon return in the form of demons.
“I don’t understand where they’re coming from. Is there a tear in the veil that separates us from Eternity?” Mila wondered.
“I don’t know. There has to be an explanation. I thought the Creator absorbed the residual darkness when he fought Absalom,” Keira harrumphed.
“He did. That’s what all the history books say, and that’s what the Immortals told us,” Elise said.
“Well something isn’t right. We’ve got to talk to the others.”
Keira and her sisters gathered the others and held a meeting. They told them what they’d seen and explained what it could mean.
“So you’re telling us that we could be facing another big bad like Absalom?” Lincoln demanded.
“Link, don’t get so excited. We don’t really know what we’ll be facing.” Elise placed a soothing hand on his arm.
“What did you see in your vision?” Kade asked.
Keira launched into the story. They had seen a man. He was tall and had dark, angular features. He seemed to permeate darkness. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it was a start. She explained that the man had small shadowy demons that would leave him to do his bidding, then be absorbed back into him upon return.
“That sounds awful,” Roman interjected.
The others agreed. They had read the stories and heard their parents tell about the battles they fought, but none of them had ever had to face an enemy. People were still close enough to the beginning of the New Era that they didn’t stray from the new ideals they’d adopted when it began. Of course they had abilities, but none of them had ever used them for combat.
“So, do we think it all draws back to the final battle? Like, that’s where this guy shows up?” Sullivan suggested.
“I think so, which is why I have a plan.”
Keira told them about her idea. They would return to Eternity to help their parents fight the final battle. They would make sure this dark entity didn’t survive. The others were skeptical at first, but once Link and Sully were on board, everyone else followed their lead.
They figured out that the only way they could return to Eternity at the right moment would be if they opened the portal on the anniversary of the final battle. After careful planning, they were ready. Keira and her sisters worked together to create the perfect portal into Eternity. They gathered the boys and opened the door.
Their arrival was a surprise to their parents, but it happened to coincide with the arrival of the cloud of witnesses, so they didn’t question it. They fought, they saved Nora and protected others, then they left. Keira kept her eyes open for any darkness that may have accompanied them or survived the fight. She saw nothing. The only thing she could think was that they had either helped defeat him unknowingly, or they had been wrong about his origin.
When they returned Keira, started qu
estioning the others. She had to know if one of them had found the mysterious bad guy they had gone back to stop.
“Well? Did anyone find him?” she demanded.
Link raised a hand. “Dark hair, ugly, kinda looks like Severus Snape?”
“Yes!”
“Got him. Swiped his head off. It was wicked.” Link high-fived Sully.
“So that’s it then? We did it.”
Her cousins cheered around her, and Keira couldn’t stop the feeling of excitement that coursed through her veins. All she wanted was to let her parents and the other New Immortals live in peace for as long as possible.
Keira knew that the day would come when the children of the New Immortals would have to step up and defend the world against the darkness that would seep back in. But they had a million lifetimes to live before they would need to face those enemies again.
About the Author:
Photo Courtesy of:
Alissa Toering at Precious Memories Photography
KT Webb is a big city girl living in small town South Dakota with her husband and two children. She believes in the power of words and enjoys writing stories that make the impossible seem possible. By day, KT is a marketing and communications professional; by night, she is a passionate independent author.
KT loves reading, listening to pop-punk music (especially when she’s writing), having adventures with her children and traveling. She believes in magic, that there’s a hero inside everyone and that characters should be just as flawed and intriguing as the people we meet every day.
A Note from the Author:
Thank you for reading Choosing Eternity. It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to these characters, but I know it’s time. All three books are available in both Kindle and paperback. Tell others what you think by leaving a review on Amazon.com and/or Goodreads.com.
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