The Ending Series: The Complete Series

by Lindsey Fairleigh

  Cooper barked and scampered around excitedly as they twirled, and Jake laughed at the sight of them, feeling like everything might actually be falling back into place.

  With a final squeeze, Harper set Zoe back on her feet, then smiled and kissed her forehead. “Hurry up and say your hellos, I have work for you to do.”

  “Gee, thanks.” Zoe returned his smile, but faltered when she noticed Sam and Tavis standing on the outskirts of the group.

  Jake’s heart skittered a bit. He was surprised when Zoe simply nodded to Tavis, then shifted her attention to Sam as a broad grin filled her face.

  Excitement enlivened Sam’s eyes, though he offered her a casual smile.

  “Drawing tonight?” Zoe asked him, and Sam gave her a quick nod before they were swallowed up in the excitement of the group. Sanchez offered Zoe a tight-lipped hello, allowing a slight smile to curve her lips, and Sarah rejoined them after she’d had a moment to compose herself.

  After a few minutes passed, Chris came to stand beside Jake. The two of them watched the crowd of their friends with their happy faces and listened to their incessant chatter as they asked Zoe questions about what had happened to her, what it had been like, and what Gabe had done to help her.

  “Any idea where Jason and Dani are?” Jake asked Chris, knowing they were the two people Zoe needed to see the most.

  Chris placed her hands on her hips. “Sanchez contacted everyone; they should be here soon.”

  “Thank you for helping her,” Jake said quietly. When Chris looked at him, he gave her a grateful nod.

  Resting her hand on Jake’s arm, Chris said, “I’m just glad I could be there. I—”

  When she paused, Jake followed her gaze. Jason was wading through the group, his face uncharacteristically expressive as he drew closer to Zoe. Just as she noticed him and turned around, Jason wrapped his arms around her, and everyone grew silent, watching. Even Jake found it difficult to look away.

  Jason’s eyes were closed as he held onto his sister. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” he said so quietly that Jake could barely hear him.

  Zoe wound her arms around her brother’s back. When Jake noticed her body quaking in Jason’s arms, Jake, Chris, and everyone else turned to leave the siblings in a silent reunion that was long overdue.

  22

  DANI

  MAY 7, 1AE

  Lake Tahoe, Nevada

  “But I don’t want to!” Annie whined in my head. “It’s cold!”

  I knelt in front of her on the sandy beach and reached for her little hands. We were both wearing swimsuits; mine was a purple-and-white-striped bikini and Annie’s a one-piece covered in inch-wide neon polka dots. I’d “scavenged” them from the tourist shop in the lodge, thinking that “going swimming”—ahem, washing the months of filth off Annie—would be the perfect way to stay out of Jason’s hair while he, Grayson, and Sanchez spent the morning meeting with Holly, Hunter, and a few others from the Tahoe clan. They were discussing the possibility of setting up some sort of self-reliant, self-sustaining community together on the coastal farmlands.

  As I stared out at the lake, I was just grateful that it was a moderately balmy day. Not that the high-sixties air temperature did anything for the extremely cold water, but the sunshine was a nice perk. I’d stuck my toes into the lake, and I had to agree with the little girl; it was freezing.

  “Annie, sweetie, remember to use your words,” I told her. She’d only spoken out loud a few times since I’d practically adopted her the previous afternoon, and even when she had, she’d only used one or two words at a time. I feared that the months she’d gone without actually speaking had hindered her ability to use human language…but not as much as I feared that she’d lost her humanity completely.

  It was clear that she’d embraced being a drifter wholeheartedly, but she didn’t feel quite so far gone as Scott had, like she’d somehow managed to find a happy medium between embracing the ability to drift into other creatures’ minds and rejecting drifting altogether—something Ralph had believed impossible.

  “Cold!” Annie said, crossing her arms and stomping her foot. Zoe—old Zoe—would have backed her up, possibly arguing that dirty and stinky was better than clean if frigid water had to be involved in the bathing process.

  I sighed. “Believe me, Annie, I know. But I promise, I’ll be right beside you.”

  Annie stuck her lower lip out in a pout. When I didn’t react, didn’t relent, she sucked it in between her teeth. “Snowflake”—I assumed she was referring to the female wolf I’d met in the woods who’d been more or less taking care of Annie—“says I have to do what you say.”

  At least I’ve got the wolf’s support… “Great! Awesome! Okay, let’s get cleaned up, hmmm?”

  I released one of Annie’s hands and stood, walking with her to the water’s edge, where I’d set my handy bottle of all-in-one shampoo, conditioner, and body wash. It smelled like tropical fruit, which was a whole lot better than Annie’s current eau-de-wolf-musk scent.

  I glanced over my shoulder, giving Carlos a quick thumbs-up; he was sitting on the beach about a dozen yards back, his partially restrained and still-filthy sister, Vanessa, sitting beside him chattering nonstop to her imaginary friends, which seemed to include her mom, her other brother, Jesse, and someone named “Rosie”—all of whom Carlos assured me were deceased. Which wasn’t creepy or anything…

  Looking down at the little girl holding my hand, I raised my eyebrows and grinned as widely as I could to show her how excited I was. “Alright, we’re going to run in, dunk our heads, then run back out as quickly as we can, okay?”

  Smiling wide enough that her chubby cheeks appeared even fuller, Annie nodded.

  “Okay! Ready…” I crouched down like I was getting ready to run a race. “Get set…” I met her eyes, grinning with genuine anticipation. I was actually starting to have a little fun. “Go!”

  Giggling and squealing and gasping, we lunged into Lake Tahoe side by side, ducked our heads under the water to wet our hair, then scrambled back out of the lake.

  “Oh my God…oh my God…oh my God,” I said, shivering and rubbing my arms.

  Annie was doing the same, all the while looking up at me and giggling.

  I bent over to retrieve the bottle of suds and flipped the top open, squirting a hearty dollop onto my palm. “Let me get your hair soaped up first, okay? Then I’ll let you do the rest while I wash myself.” I didn’t really think I needed to explain the whole bathing process to her—Annie was a little wild and young, but she wasn’t an imbecile—but I wanted to speak to her as much as possible, to help her remember what it was like to interact with people who weren’t Vanessa. Everyone was wary around my brand-new, unrequested wild child, and I desperately wanted her to fit in, to be accepted, and to not be alone for the rest of her life.

  Annie nodded, accepting my washing routine without argument.

  It seemed to take ages to wash her hair. I lathered the liquid soap up until it formed a grimy, fruity helmet around her head, then dropped my hands to my sides and sighed. “I hate to say it, kiddo, but we might have to have a round two.”

  Annie didn’t seem upset by the idea; she simply stared up at me and blinked her big blue eyes every few seconds. I thanked my lucky stars that she wasn’t a complainer. The whole insta-kid situation would have been a lot worse if she had been.

  About ten minutes later, we were in the middle of our final, icy rinse, when Sanchez’s voice reverberated in my mind. “Come to the highway…we’re between the lodge parking lot and the campground parking lot. Zoe’s back.”

  Head barely above water, I froze. Zoe’s back…from where?

  A heartbeat later, I thought, maybe, that I understood. Does she mean that Zo—my Zo—is back? Heart racing, I spun around to look at Carlos. “Did you hear—”

  “Sanchez? Yeah.” He stood, brushing off the back of his jeans before reaching down to grab his sister’s wrist bindings and pulling her up to her feet as
well.

  “Do you think—does she mean…?”

  Carlos shrugged. “Only one way to find out.”

  “Come on, Annie. Time to go.” I captured her hand and pulled her back to the beach, ignoring my shivers as we raced across the sand toward Carlos and Vanessa.

  “Can you take her?” I asked, holding Annie’s hand out to Carlos. I glanced at his sister, who was quiet for once as she stared down at the freshly clean little girl I’d uncovered under all of the dirt, then back at him. “Dry her off and—and—” I shook my head, incapable of thinking clearly. I was just too damn excited. Zoe’s back….Zo is back!

  “Yeah, it’s fine. Go,” Carlos said. He pulled Annie’s hand out of mine and gave my shoulder a little shove, pushing me in the direction of the lodge’s parking lot. “I got this.”

  “Thanks!” I called over my shoulder as I started to run. I didn’t think my legs had ever moved so quickly, especially not on bare feet.

  Every other member of our group was clustered in the middle of the highway, looking like they were starting to disperse. Jake and Chris were walking away, toward the campground, Gabe close behind them, and Harper, Sarah, and most of the others were headed to the lodge. And between them, in the middle of the highway, Jason was embracing Zoe in a fierce hug.

  The pavement was rough under my feet, and every few steps a tiny rock would jab into my skin, but I hardly noticed. “Zo!” I called. “Zoeeeeeee!”

  I reached Zoe just as Jason released her. I threw myself at her, locking my arms around her neck and doing my own unique combination of laughing and crying.

  Her arms wrapped around me, and she hugged me so hard that she lifted me off my feet. She was laughing, I thought, until I heard the distinct, rare sound of Zoe giving in to tears.

  “Hey, D.” Her voice was a rough whisper. After another tight squeeze, she set me down and pulled away. Wiping the tears from her cheeks, she appraised my appearance and smiled. “Did I interrupt something?”

  “Huh?”

  “You’re all wet…” She glanced down. “And wearing a bikini.”

  I waved one hand dismissively. “I was getting Annie cleaned up—she’s a little girl I found yesterday when—”

  “I know, D,” Zoe said with a soft chuckle. “I remember.”

  I frowned, and then my eyes widened. For some reason that didn’t make any sense to the logical part of my brain, I’d assumed she didn’t remember any of the things “new Zoe” had experienced. In my mind, they were two different people.

  “Everything?” I felt a surge of shame.

  She nodded once before offering me a slight smile. “We can talk about it later.”

  Looking down at my feet, nearly rubbing a hole in the asphalt with my big toe. “Okay…”

  “Hey,” Zoe said, poking my shoulder, and I raised my eyes to hers. “Want some company down at the lake? I could use a little rejuvenation.”

  “Really?” I smiled wanly. “Yeah, okay. That’d be great.” I didn’t actually need to get back in the water, but I did need some alone time with my best friend. Perking up at the thought, I linked my arm with hers and tugged her in the direction of the lodge.

  “Um, D, the water’s that way.” Zoe pointed to the lakeshore beyond the parking lot on our right.

  “I know, but you need a swimsuit.”

  “But I already have a swimsuit…”

  “I know,” I repeated. “But camp is so far away—”

  “It’s just across the street…”

  “—and besides, you could use a new one. You’ve had that old green bikini forever.” I dragged her up the stairs to the lodge’s front porch. “And I know just where you can get one at a freemium price.”

  Zoe laughed as I pulled open the glass double doors. “You’re such a dork…I missed you.”

  I forced a smile and met Zoe’s eyes briefly. “Me too, Zo. Me too.”

  ~~~~~

  Zoe and I managed to splash around in the water for all of maybe a minute before running back onto the beach, screaming like little girls. Zoe stole my bottle of shampoo–conditioner–body wash and took an impressively quick “bath” using as little lake water as possible. When she finished, she took lurching steps up the beach and huddled in an oversized towel—also liberated from one of the shops in the lodge—beside me on the bright yellow hull of an overturned kayak. I was already snuggled cozily in my own towel.

  “So…still hate cold water?” I asked.

  Zoe shrugged. “Yes and no,” she said, wrapping her towel more tightly around herself. “But mostly yes.”

  “Zo, I—” I hesitated, closed my mouth, then took a deep breath and opened it again. “I know I probably could have been a better friend to her—you—” I shook my head and frowned. “To the other you…the not you you.” I stared out at the lake’s shimmering surface, squinting slightly from a thousand shards of reflected sunlight.

  “D…”

  “It was just…she wasn’t you. You weren’t you.” Again, I shook my head, irritated at myself for fumbling so much with my words. “But I should have treated you like I normally would have, and I didn’t, and I feel like such a jerkface.” I sighed. “I don’t think that made any sense.”

  Zoe laughed halfheartedly, ending in a sigh of her own. “It’s okay, D.” She stared down at her toes sticking out from beneath her towel. “It’s not like I knew any different anyway,” she said. “And it’s not like anyone else treated me like, well, me.”

  Except for Jake, I thought, recalling the handful of mornings I’d seen Zoe emerging from his tent recently. He seemed to have figured out a way to see her as the Zoe he’d fallen in love with. So why hadn’t I been able to do the same?

  Zoe closed her eyes and tilted her face up to the sun, basking in its warm rays. “Looks can be deceiving,” she said, her voice so quiet that I barely heard her. “Jake tried, but I knew the whole time that it wasn’t the same for him…as much as he wanted it to be.” She snorted and let her head fall back. “At least I know he prefers this me.”

  “Did you guys…you know…?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.

  Her head shot up, and she looked over at me, biting the inside of her cheek like she always did when she was anxious.

  “Oh my God, you did.” I giggled and blushed and really tried to stop, but I just couldn’t. “Wow, that’s just…wow. Talk about an awkward first time…”

  Zoe shook her head. “It wasn’t our first time, but it was a little awkward, at least for him.” She rested her cheek on her knees. “I think I sort of blindsided him…I’m not sure he would’ve done it otherwise. I felt sorta bad.”

  “Wait, what? When?” I waved my hand. “Don’t feel bad,” I said with a laugh. “I’m sure he didn’t mind.” I took a breath before babbling on. “But I was only gone for like a week…when the heck did you guys have time for hanky-panky—I mean, before?”

  “It was a pretty crazy week.” Zoe shrugged. “It’s not like it was planned, but it happened the morning we left for the golf course. In fact, Jason had just come out to tell me—”

  “Hold on,” I said, raising a hand. “Your brother found you when you were having sex with Jake…?”

  She barked a laugh. “God no! But I guess it was a little bit of a close call.”

  I snorted, then doubled over in laughter. “Oh my God,” I gasped. “Could you imagine…”

  “Ah, no, thank you.” She shook her head and groaned. “God, that was such a horrible week. Jason was a mess, Jake and I were barely speaking after Becca showed up…we’d finally gotten our shit together, and then I had to run into Clara…”

  “And your mom,” I said softly, sneaking a glance at Zoe.

  “Yeah, and there’s that. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about that yet…I don’t know what to think.”

  I leaned in, nudging her shoulder with my own. “No prob, Zo. But you know I’ll be here whenever you’re ready.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and rested my head on her shoulder.
A few wet strands of her dark hair stuck to my face, and I blew them away. “Your hair is crazy long.”

  I could feel the muscles and bones in her shoulder shift as she strained to look down at me. “You want to cut it off for me?”

  Raising my head slowly, I pulled away from her, staring at her with eyes widened by shock. Zoe’d had long hair the entire time I’d known her. “Shut the front door! What did you just say to me?”

  She smiled, clearly amused. “I could use a change,” she said. “And it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while.” She shrugged a single shoulder. “But if you don’t want to…”

  “Oh my God, shut up. I’m totally doing it. I’m going to cut off your hair!” I squealed, clapping my hands together like a wind-up monkey. Almost as long as I’d known Zoe, I’d been bugging her to give shorter hair a chance, knowing she would look amazing. Now she would look amazing and it would be so much more practical. “This is going to be so much fun! Eeek…I’ve got so many ideas. We could do a bob, like this long”—I held my hand up to my chin—“or maybe—”

  “Not a bob,” she said adamantly. “Not like hers.”

  I pressed my lips together and studied her face. “Okay, got it. Not like your mom’s.” I raised my eyebrows. “Oooh…what if we did, like, an A-line cut, just touching your shoulders and a little longer in the front? It’d be short enough to not get in the way so much, but still versatile and—”

  “Alright, D,” she said with a rueful smile. “I trust your judgment.” She unfurled her body and rose to her feet. “I saw a pair of scissors in the swim shop. I’ll go grab ’em.”

  “Okay.” I narrowed my eyes. “But you better not back out…”

  “I won’t,” she said, shaking her head. “I asked you, remember?” And with a smile, Zoe jogged toward the trees separating the beach from the parking lot behind the lodge. I stared after her until I could no longer see her.

  Exhaling heavily, I slid down the side of the kayak and settled on the sand, pulling my knees up against my chest and rewrapping the towel around myself so all but my head and toes were covered.