Earth

by Jaymin Eve

  When Brace, Lucy, Colton, Cerberus and I had almost reached level ground, my eyes finally fell on the scene. My heart stuttered in my chest, its beats all over the place. Breathing was suddenly so much harder to do.

  Everyone gathered around the seven bodies which were laid out in an arrangement, raised up on padded white tables. The closest one I could see was Francesca. Her whiteness both contrasted and blended with the marble floor. Standing at her side was Lallielle, head bowed, lips moving. I knew my mother was spiritual. She prayed to the gods. And she loved her sister.

  At the foot of each girl lay her sacred guide. They mourned with the rest. Their cries were low, but I heard and felt every single one.

  Brace wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his warmth, helping me regulate my breathing by matching our bodies together. Lucy and Colton were on the other side of me, and my best friend was still sobbing.

  “I haven’t stopped crying since the dark mountain,” she whispered, as if she’d heard my thought. “Standing on the outside, watching the girls fall one by one. Hearing as you begged for them to stay. As you fought for them. Knowing that in the end you would probably … die.” She sucked in deeply, as if just saying those words killed her.

  I hadn’t even realized that I’d spoken out loud during those last moments with the half-Walkers. But I must have.

  “If I never live through something like that again. It will be too soon.” Lucy finished.

  I reached out and hugged her one-armed. “I’m so sorry. It sucked. It really freaking sucked, and I would do anything to change what happened.”

  She had no idea how much I wished I could erase our loss. I’d give anything. Dammit. It wasn’t fair.

  I was just about to step out onto the marble floor when a tall male emerged from beside the staircase. His blond hair was disheveled, his face drawn. A cord of something flickered in my stomach, the connection between us flaring.

  I couldn’t stop myself from crossing the two steps to meet him. I hesitated briefly, examining Lucas. He looked the same: perfectly chiseled and coldly handsome features. It was as if the gods had precisely carved him to fit a stereotype of the ruling Emperor that he was, but they’d lacked a touch of the warmth I found in Brace’s beauty.

  He stepped closer, and before I could react his arms closed around me. “I’m so glad you’re alive.”

  The weird mini-bond between us was really humming now. Lucas and I were the chosen rulers of First World and would always have a connection. Something I wasn’t particularly comfortable with, but it was there nonetheless.

  I could feel Brace’s gaze on us, and as I shifted my head I found that his hard eyes were locked on Lucas’ face. His jaw was rigid, but so far he hadn’t punched the Emperor in the jaw. So we were doing okay.

  I pulled back. “I’m sorry about Ria,” I said to him. My voice cracked. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “I just can’t … I should have been able to do something. I should have saved them.”

  Lucas reached out, grasping my biceps, bringing me closer to his downturned face. “We saw what happened, Abby, you did everything you could. You almost died. Ria would have been so proud of you.” The iciness was back in his blue eyes, and I knew he was trying to compartmentalize his pain. “I just wish I’d had time to make things right with her. I chose duty again, and again. And Ria paid the price. It’s too late now, but if I had the choice again, I would not take the same path.”

  Lucas was not the same male that I’d first met in this very ballroom. Sure, he was still arrogant and annoying, but his emotional growth was incredible. Everything had changed for him on that day when he’d finally understood that he could have both Ria and me in his life. Both of us had a role, and for a little while there he’d been happy. There wasn’t much happy now, though.

  We lingered together for just a few more moments, before I moved back to Brace, Lucy and Colton. Lucas followed and the five of us crossed the space to our fallen loved one.

  Lallielle and Josian noticed me at the same time. My mother dashed from where she’d been beside Francesca, and my father – who’d been at the other end of the room beside one of the girls – zoomed across as well. Brace let me go at the last moment, allowing my parents to encase me in their arms.

  “You’re grounded for life, Aribella.” Lallielle was holding me so tightly I was worried I might burst. “Forever. You’ll stay here with me, and not leave my side until I recover from almost losing you again.”

  I let her hug me hard. I squeezed her back even harder. I had no words. There was too much emotion swirling inside me, but this hug was perfect. The three of us stood there for a long time. Josian still hadn’t said anything. When finally we pulled apart, I tilted my head back to meet those autumn-leaf eyes.

  “Dad … are the others …?” I let my words trail off.

  He shook his head. “I’ve tried everything I could think of. For some reason their shells remain stable, but there’s no spark of essence inside.”

  I couldn’t stop the whimper which escaped me. I had known it, but hearing the words was almost like losing them all over again.

  Josian hung his head then. A sense of hopelessness washed over him. “I’m not worthy, baby girl. You had to take on so many extra burdens because of me. I almost lost you because of my weakness. I’m a broken man.”

  I shook back my curls, which I’m sure could really use a brush – and some shampoo. Showering had not been high on my list of priorities lately. I was quite gross actually, something which would have been important last week, but today was nothing.

  I reached forward and gripped the tightly woven, silky shirt Josian wore. My hands constricted into fists as I pulled him closer into me.

  “Don’t blame yourself, and don’t ever say you’re not worthy. You fought with everything. You sacrificed so much. No more pity party.” I was fierce. “We’re alive and won’t sully the memory of those who didn’t make it with regret. We move forward and we celebrate the freedom of all the worlds.”

  It was a long speech. Badly worded. But I meant it.

  Josian’s god-like features hardened further. His eyes turned even more golden as his emotions took over.

  Then finally he nodded. “You’re right, and it’s time to say goodbye to our brave soldiers. They’ll be released with the dawn. Now is the moment for final blessings.”

  All of the fight whooshed out of me again. I shook my head a few times, in a reasonably frantic manner.

  “I can’t,” I said. “I don’t think I can say … goodbye.” My voice broke on the last word.

  Josian kissed me on the cheek. “You’re my brave, perfect baby-girl. You can do this. We’re all here with you, and I think it’ll help you to … heal.”

  The crowd around me parted. Brace and Lucy moved to my side, and I reached out and grasped their hands. Just for a moment. Before squeezing tightly and saying, “Give me a minute. I’d like to speak with each of them alone.”

  I sensed their reluctance to let me go, but they didn’t argue.

  I love you. Brace’s warmth was enough that I found the strength to step forward to the first body.

  Francesca looked peaceful. I didn’t have much to say, so I simply thanked her for her sacrifice and whispered a prayer for safe journey to the next world. I asked the Mother of All to watch out for my aunt. I knew she would be okay. She was a soothsayer, already blessed with visions from the gods. Her essence was important in life and death and would be reborn to the future soothsayers. With one last goodbye to my aunt, I moved on.

  Stepping over to stand beside Apollo – who was the smallest I’d ever seen him – I stared down at the body.

  Talina. My most beautiful half with the kindest soul. Ladre was perched at the head of her table. He was rigid in his stance, his beautiful but alien features tightly held. I knew that the Spurns could not cry, and yet it seemed as if every part of Ladre mourned. His hair drooped down, his skin was moist and there was a shininess to his eyes.

&nb
sp; My gaze fell upon Talina. Her emerald hair was almost devoid of color now. Sort of a murky white and gray. Like coral which had died. Her gentle brown eyes were not visible, and I was grateful for that. Her pink skin was dull, and she looked shrunken in, like Quarn had before he dissipated.

  “Hey, Talli,” I said, my voice hoarse.

  I picked up her hand, expecting the usual coldness to seep into my skin. But there was nothing there. Almost like I held a piece of paper. I felt texture but no life.

  In that instant the true reality of what I’d lost crashed into me. My world crumbled even further, and with a howling sob I fell against the table. The pain was all encompassing as it unfurled from inside me. Every memory flashed through my mind. Finding her on Spurn. Joining our powers. Feeling her joy as she swam through the ocean. She would never do that again. Never swim with the current. Never again.

  My energy had been low since I had awoken, and the wall of grief which pressed on me made it worse. I held her hand; the sobs did not stop. The pain would not ease.

  “I need you to come back to me, Talli. I can’t let you go. We’re a team. The seven of us are meant to be together. We’ve been together since the beginning of time; I won’t let you go now.”

  My whispered, broken words continued to rip through me. Tearing at my skin and forcing themselves into the world. I willed it. I willed her to live. I threw out my tether, and tried to find the girls to connect with, but the golden cord just sprang back to me.

  I needed more energy.

  “Abby, babe, come on. You have to let them go now.” Lucy held me from behind. She just held on and gave me her strength. “Talli would cry herself stupid if she saw how much pain you were in right now.”

  “I can feel her, Luce, right in my chest,” I said brokenly. “Why can I feel her so strongly?”

  Suddenly a voice cut across the vast space. “I can feel her too, Red.” Brace was hovering by, giving me the space I’d asked for. He was trying to block his agony from me, but I could feel it there in the corner of my mind. “It’s as if her energy is within you still. Like you’re still connected.”

  It did feel like that.

  “You’d better tell us exactly what happened, baby girl.” Josian crossed his arms across his broad chest. “What did you do in those final moments of locking away the Seventine?”

  I had no idea what was going on, but I wasted no time and explained how our energy had drained and how their sparks had slipped away from me. How I’d tried to hold on to each of them, but that in the end they’d fallen.

  Josian’s head snapped up. “We need Walkers.”

  He shouted the words and I knew he was putting a call out to any who would come.

  “I’m here.” I turned to find Jedi standing before us.

  He was grim-faced. His emotions hidden behind dead eyes.

  “And I,” said Grantham.

  I hadn’t even noticed they were in the room. My focus had been on my lost loved ones. The males would have remained behind as support during this time.

  Josian nodded once. “With Brace and myself, we’ll have enough power.”

  I lurched forward, my hand dropping out of Talina’s lifeless palm. “Power for what? Dad, what’s going on?”

  “I have a thought,” he said, “I might be wrong, but if I’m right then we may be able to save your girls.”

  Something filtered through the air, like a snapping of magic. There was a sense of rightness in what he said.

  “Tell me what to do.”

  My voice was both demanding and commanding.

  “You need to open that compartment inside, the one which you said can hold extra energy. I believe you might have captured the essence of the half-Walkers as they fell. That’s why we couldn’t find it in their bodies. You have it.”

  And maybe that was why the Mother of All couldn’t help them either.

  My breathing started to get all rapid and weird. “If it’s there, I just need to release it, and then you’ll infuse them with enough energy to start healing? The way you did to me.”

  Josian clapped his hands together. “Yes! That’s the plan. Let’s do it.”

  We were surrounded in an instant. The devastated mates. Sacred animals. Walkers. My friends and family. We had one last battle to fight, and I was determined to ensure everyone survived this time.

  Chapter 20

  I stood to the center of the six beds. There was no hope to bring back Francesca, so she had been moved to the side. Just out of the immediate way, but not forgotten. Lallielle was with her, finishing the last prayers to help her sister on to the next life. My heart stuttered every time I saw her still form, but I didn’t have the time right then to really comprehend the loss of Francesca and Quarn. I was trying to make sure there was no more death that day.

  On either side of me stood four Walker males. They would be using their massive butt-loads of energy to kick-start the girls’ vessels. Cerberus was at my back, along with the other guides. I could sense that they were just as excited as the rest of us by this small slice of hope.

  Part of me was afraid to do this in case I failed, but at the same time I was desperate to slide back the filing cabinet drawer inside. There was no way to know if their essences might be trapped in there. Once that drawer was closed the power was hidden. I just had to hope that in those last moments with the Seventine I had slid my friends’ energies in there without thought. Right? It had to be right.

  It was time to find out.

  The drawer clicked open and a veritable flood of elemental energy filled my soul. Along with a kick of pure joy. I could feel them now, strong and beautiful. My six sisters; their warmth floated out into my well.

  I reached for my tether. It was faint, barely a specter of the strong golden cord from before. A result of the loss of my original energy. But it was still there, and with no more thought I released the six essences back into their bodies.

  The Walker males must have sensed the elemental power, because they let loose their own energy. My hair almost whooshed back in the rush of power flowing across the room.

  Please work, I was silently begging, a prayer or chant taking residence in my mind as I locked my gaze on to the girls’ still forms.

  The men did not stop their flow of power. They were taking no chances that the girls would fade away from us again. I decided to join in with whatever energy I had left inside. As the surge of my power left from my center, I sensed that this was the final piece of the puzzle needed to bring them back. The conduit power was the key; it could restore that which had been lost.

  Emerald streamed along Talina’s hair. I had never seen a more beautiful color. Green vines burst to life from Ria. Shadows danced across Sapha. Winds whipped around the enclosed space as Delane’s dark eyes fluttered open. And then there was that blast of heat which was Fury’s signature.

  All of the girls, still wearing permanent marks, had life infused into their vessels. Their elemental powers were back where they belonged, all of us still holding small parts of original energy.

  Eva was the first to sit up, and at that point I couldn’t halt my feet any longer. I pretty much dived at the Earth Walker, who blinked large, confused eyes with her gorgeous blond hair sticking out in about fifteen different directions.

  My arms closed around her. “Holy crap, don’t you guys ever scare me like that again,” I said fiercely and loudly enough for them to all hear. “Ever again, you hear?”

  I could sense their confusion, and there were lots of murmurs as mates and friends all talked at once, trying to explain what had happened.

  “We died?” Eva’s voice was low as I pulled back. “It didn’t feel like that. It was warm and calm. Just like soaking in a nice, hot bath.”

  “You almost died,” I corrected. “I held on to the last of your spark of life, and it was enough that we could restore your essence to your vessels.”

  I could see her Earth mind trying to wrap itself around that. But after everything that had h
appened, everything we’d all been through, this wasn’t that big a stretch. We both turned to see the other girls.

  Dune had Fury up in his arms and they were pressed together so tightly I wasn’t even sure where one began and the other ended. Ladre and Talina were simply staring at each other, their foreheads resting together.

  Jedi had practically flown across the space to Sapha and the Dronish half barely even hesitated before reaching out with both hands. That was a huge move for her; she trusted him enough to reach for him, and he was clearly head-over-heels for the dynamic Drone. I couldn’t wait to see how their relationship unfolded in the next few millennia.

  Holy gods above. We would have millennia. We would have eternities.

  Lucas was more hesitant, the look on his face almost reverent as he gracefully strode to his mate. His throat worked roughly. He swallowed more than once. Ria let a moment of vulnerability sink into her expression. She looked more open to him than I’d ever seen before, no anger or accusation in her gaze. Lucas reached her side and they stared for such a long, intense moment.

  With a muffled growl he dropped to his knees beside her bed, still tall enough to be able to lower his head and rest it close to her thigh. I heard him murmur words, but they were too low to know exactly what he said. Whatever it was, though, it had tears springing into the Regali queen’s eyes.

  And then, with just a whisper of hesitation, she reached out a hand and placed those long slender fingers on to the back of Lucas’ blond locks. The gesture was comforting and was the perfect start to repairing their many hurts.

  I was so happy that I almost couldn’t contain my joy, and yet I couldn’t be completely joyful. My guardian was still gone. Yes, I told myself that he was with Hallow now. In a better place. That their energy would be reborn to love each other again. But I wanted him here with me. I wanted my friend back. My protector. My heart was hurting; there was a small crack in it now. A fissure which would never heal. I forced some of the aching sadness down. Quarn and Francesca would want us to celebrate this day.