“But the Academy.” I turn to it. “How is this here?”
“It seems that you’ve erased every trace of us in the Normal world. Every single item and everything we owned now resides here.”
“But can’t they see us?” I ask, my eyes wide. “The Normals, I mean. Can’t they see these islands floating above them?”
Bishop chuckles. “There’s no way to know for sure, but I believe that we’re on a different astral plane. That is, if we’re even on the same planet. If we are, as far as I can tell, they can’t see us, and we can’t see them.”
I look away, rolling these revelations around in my head and thinking hard about the ramifications. “What about the Academy buildings that are missing? Don’t the Normals notice that entire buildings are gone?”
“Another unknown since we’re now completely disconnected, but I hope that all memories of us are erased as well. Any more questions, or can I continue?”
“Nope, I’m good. Go on.” I smirk, trying to guess what he will say next.
“The Wanderers who were here from other times have vanished, returning to their true times, and since every current Wanderer was locked here on the day of the Oaths, you’ve trapped all of us in Gibeon. We’ve been cut off from the Normal world.”
As we stroll back toward the Academy steps, Bishop glances at me, probably expecting me to rattle off more questions, but I’m uncharacteristically silent while I try to wrap my mind around all that’s happened. That’s when Macey and Sam appear with smiles on their faces, launching themselves at us so that we converge in a group hug.
“I need to have a word with you,” Macey says as she steps back, locks her hand on her hip, and glares at me. “Really? This is what you’ve been up to the entire time?” She waves her arms wildly. “You should have told me! You could’ve been killed! You were killed! Sera, if something had happened to you, I would have killed you myself.”
“Sorry, Mace.” My mouth twitches as I attempt to hold back a grin at her twisted logic. “I just wanted to try to keep you and everyone else safe.” The truth is that I’m apologizing because she scares me—in a best friend kind of way. But I would do it all again in exactly the same way, and she probably knows that.
“I know you did,” she admits with a frown. She smiles and reaches out a finger to tuck a lock of my hair behind my ear. “But next time…” Then she waves that finger at me with attitude and a bit of a warning.
We giggle.
“Let’s hope there’s no next time,” Bishop says as he urges us forward.
“I’m just glad to have my sister back,” Sam says and wraps her arm around me, pulling me up the stairs.
“And I’m glad to have a sister. Thank you for being there for me, Sam.”
The conversation reminds me of what my mom told me about our real family history, and for a moment, my thoughts drift back my real sister, Saqqara, that my mom had hidden away to keep safe in ancient Egypt. I’m sad that we were never able to meet, then I realize that without her, there would be no bloodline of Wanderers to continue on and populate our race. I smile inside at the thought, and remind myself that everything happens for a reason.
As a group, we walk back through the main doors of the Academy, through the atrium, up the stairs, and around the catwalk.
“Wait, you guys.” I leave them to take a moment to stand in front of the Seraphina Angel painting, the one that Leonardo da Vinci really painted of me. I step up close and lean in to examine the brushstrokes, remembering what it looked like as he started. I run my hand over the canvas and whisper, “Thank you, sweet friend.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Sam steps to my side. “You’re whispering to paintings now? Maybe they should put you back in the glass box to make sure we’ve thoroughly fixed you,” she jokes.
“Maybe I should put you in the glass box.” I nudge her with my shoulder as we move away and walk down the corridor to our apartment.
“So, what’s the big surprise Turner told me about?” I open our apartment door and step in, then I stop in my tracks when I see him. How have I forgotten?
“Dad?” My eyes widen and I rush to him, throwing myself into his open arms. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”
Ray crushes me with a hug and his glasses slip down his nose, then fall onto the floor with a clank.
“I’m fine, kiddo. Thank goodness you’re okay! I was so worried about you.” He pulls me into a tight hug and pats my back awkwardly.
“I’m great now that you’re here,” I assure him. Then, in a move that shocks me, he lifts me off my feet and swings me from side to side with happiness, making me want to giggle at the absurdity of the moment.
I lean away. “But how are you here?”
“Turns out that since I was here when time collapsed, I’m stuck too.”
“I’m sorry you were pulled into all this.”
“Are you kidding!” He throws his arms open wide with excitement. “Your mom told me everything about Wandering and the cities of time. And believe me, when she did I thought she was crazy”—he rotates a single finger at the side of his head—“but I never thought I’d have the opportunity to see it for myself. This place is amazing! Did you see those animation things?” He speaks quickly, winding himself up as he speaks until he stops and shakes his head. “Sera, honey, I’m happy to be here. I’d much rather be here with you than anywhere else.” He looks over at Terease, who I now see is standing across the room, and winks at her but quickly turns his attention back to me.
“So you’ve known all along?” I step back, looking at him in amazement.
Ray composes himself and reaches out to clasp my hands within both of his. “When your mom left you with me as a child, she warned me it wouldn’t be easy, but I had no idea. She only told me to keep moving you around until the Harvester came for you.” He jerks his head toward Terease. “And then she’d keep you safe within the Society. But when she finally came for you, I didn’t want to let you go.” His eyes glaze over and his nose turns a little pink. “Even though I know you know the truth now, I may not be your blood father, but I love you like my own daughter. I always have.” A tear rolls down his cheek and he smiles. “I hope you know that.”
Ray’s words wash over me, filling a hole in my heart that has hurt for as long as I can remember. I’ve wanted so badly to be loved by my dad, to feel important to him and cherished by him, and instead he’s always been awkward around me, never getting too close, and constantly moving us from place to place, keeping me feeling rootless my whole life. The emotional distance that he’s always kept between us makes so much more sense now, and I forgive him for it in the space of a heartbeat. He’s sacrificed more for me than any dad could ever be expected to, real or otherwise. The loving family that I’ve always wanted is finally standing here right in front of me, and it fills my heart to overflowing.
“I love you too, Dad,” I choke out. “And I know you do.”
He plants a kiss on my forehead and pats my shoulder, smiling proudly at me with tears in his eyes.
“Sorry to cut the reunions short, my lovelies.” Gabe appears in the living room with a massive garment bag in his hand. “But we’ve got to get you ready.”
“There’s more?”
“Crumpet.” Gabe pauses and sighs dramatically. “You’ve just set the Wandering world free and you think that’s it. That we’re just going to hang out here, eat pizza, talk about boys, do each other’s hair, and paint each other’s toenails now?”
“We can’t? Because, I kinda feel like I’ve earned a girl’s night, complete with ice cream. Please tell me we have ice cream here.”
“You can chill with ice cream tomorrow,” he says firmly. “Tonight, we party.”
“Of course we do,” I say flatly and cross my arms in protest.
It turns out that I have no say in the matter. Within moments I find myself shuffled into my room, sitting in a chair, having my hair sculpted into ringlets and woven with ribbon and sparkles. Macey a
nd Sam hang out and we do in fact, do our makeup, and our hair, and dress for the “biggest party of the millennium,” according to Gabe.
When he’s done dressing me, I step in front of a mirror to admire his handiwork. The top of the dress is strapless with transparent ruching in shiny copper fabric. Matching sparkles cascade the length of the dark teal ball gown, making it look magical. When I rock back and forth, the bell-shaped layers of tulle swish around my legs, reminding me of the special dance that Hologram Turner and I shared in the training room.
“Gabe.” I turn to him and press a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Anything for you, snickerdoodle.”
“That reminds me, there’s something I need to ask you—”
Gabe quickly presses a single finger to my lips. “Not another word.”
“But—” He shushes me and leaves the room, blowing kisses as he exits. I let the question go, not really sure if it’s important anymore.
When we leave, Dad, Bishop, Sam, and Macey load into a carriage, but I’m ushered into my own exquisite vehicle. I’m promised that I will meet Turner and my friends at the party. And as the guest of honor at my own ball, I’m told that I need to arrive separately, but when the carriage takes a different route from my friends’ carriage, I begin to worry.
Minutes later, the carriage halts and the door opens. A hand reaches inside for mine and at the moment I take it and the skin touches my palm, I know exactly who it is. Heat radiates from Turner and surges into me. There’s no need for a hologram now. Electricity follows us wherever we are.
“I hate being away from you.” Turner appears at the door, dressed in a tux with his hair loosely pulled back into a low ponytail. A few wavy strands dangle around his face. His hands slide to my waist and he lifts me out of the carriage and places me on the ground, pressed against his body.
“Then please stop leaving me.”
“Never again.” He kisses my cheek. “You look absolutely stunning, Miss Parrish.”
“I can’t really take credit. Gabe practically painted me into a fairy princess.”
Turner leans in and whispers in my ear, “Only because you are the perfect muse.”
My body rushes with heat and I twist in my dress, looking down at my satin shoes. He lifts my chin so my gaze meets his sparkling gray eyes and he places a teasing kiss on the corner of my mouth and pulls away.
“Where are we?” I look around only to see a high stone wall.
“I wanted to bring you someplace very special before the party.” Turner wraps my hand around his strong arm and guides me under a stone archway covered with moss. Once inside the open structure, I immediately understand what this place is when I see the obelisk fountain with aqua vitae surging from the rocky aqueducts and into the basin. This is the same fountain from my mother’s palace in Egypt.
“How did you know?” I look to Turner.
“Know what?” We walk through the gardens, thick with lush greenery and the most beautiful flowers I have ever seen, and sit at the fountain’s edge, facing each other.
“That this was my mom’s favorite place.” I reach down and glide my fingers along the aqua vitae, thinking of her.
“I only knew that I had to bring you here after I saw it for myself because I thought it was the perfect place to give you this.” From his jacket, he removes a flat box. “Happy birthday.”
“Birthday?” I take it from him and stare at the present. I’d been so busy trying to save the world, I totally forgot. I can’t believe it’s been an entire year since I first saw Terease. Since I first began this crazy journey. I remove the bow and open the top and inside, beneath polka-dotted tissue paper, sits the framed photo of my mother and me when I was a baby. The same one Gabe removed from my luggage in the Member Archives. The one I wanted to ask him about just before we parted at the Academy. I’d wrongly assumed he meant to use it in a hurtful way. I should have known better, and I shake my head at myself for doubting him.
“You told me once about all the things you lost on the day you moved to Chicago,” Turner says. “I stumbled across the Member Archives some time ago while working with the professor and figured this was there. Before I left Gibeon, I talked Gabe into retrieving it for me. After everyone thought that I died, he decided to give it to you on his own, as an Oaths gift. Lucky for me that never happened, so I could give it to you myself.”
I run my hand over the glass, touching the photo. In it Mom is young and beautiful, just like when I met her in Egypt when she was a queen. Though she’s gone in my true time, I’ll never forget the little time we shared.
“Thank you. This means so much.” I press it to my chest. “She’ll be with me always. You’ll be with me always.” I look up at him from under my lashes.
“That reminds me,” I continue. “Where were you all this time? Why would you let me suffer without telling me you were alive, without giving me any hint you were okay? I’ve never cried so much in my life.” I look at him, needing answers.
“Love, I’m so sorry to put you through that, but I truly only stayed away to protect you.” He takes the picture from me, places it in the box, sets it aside, and moves closer. “It took some time for me to piece together how I survived. But when I did, I understood that you and Cece were essentially the same person, that she was born of you through fragmentation, and that I could time travel with you and her interchangeably, like she was my Wanderer too.”
“I know.” I nod and look away. “I mean, I knew about our connection, but I never imagined that you were still alive, that you could Wander with her. It makes sense now that you say it. But why didn’t you come back?” I glance up and he places a palm on my cheek.
“I tried to send you a message through Drake, but really, I did it for your own good. I stayed with her to keep an eye on her activities. After a short time it was easy to see the enormous threat she posed to you, so I stayed close to her to protect you. Besides, Hologram Turner looked over you and so did Bishop.”
I press my cheek into his palm and close my eyes, so relieved that we’re even having this conversation. I grab his wrist and turn his palm to my mouth and kiss it tenderly. When I gaze up at him, he’s staring at me with such love and intensity that I can’t help but feel blessed for this second chance. That’s when I notice a strange buzz around us.
Animate fireflies flash bright green as they dance in the gardens in the waning daylight. “It’s like they’re here for us.” I reach out my hands toward them.
“They are.” Turner pulls me to stand, pulling our bodies together. That’s when the fireflies begin to fly around us in a choreographed dance as though Turner’s asked them to do it.
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve lost our Wandering abilities but are slowly starting to regain our old gifts. The ones the Masters took away long ago, when they stripped us of our wings. Every magical thing we will be able to do is even better than time travel.”
“If I succeeded, I guess I always thought we would become humans, not super-beings.” I look away.
“But we aren’t human, Sera. We never have been. I mean, there may have been a small part of us that became human, over time, but we’re not meant to be. This is who we’re meant to be. Don’t you feel different? Complete? Content? Happy?” He grasps both my hands in his. “And Gibeon is a new place—a better one. There’s new magic, the people are better, more caring, and the Society and Underground are dissolved. Everything is as it should be. Paradise has returned.”
Turner’s words soothe me, and we’re swaying now, like we are dancing.
“I guess being superhuman in Paradise isn’t so bad.” I shrug, trying to wrap my brain around all the information.
“We’ve gained free will and in the most amazing place. It’s better than the world of Normals. It’s perfect here and even better, I’m here with you.”
When he gives me that mischievous smile that’s so uniquely him. “Maybe one day I’ll tell you everything that happened wh
ile I was gone, but for now, I just want to be near you.” Turner drops a kiss on my cheek and stays close, allowing his lips to move over my skin when he speaks his next hushed words. “I thought when I rolled over the edge of that pit that I’d never see you again. And even though I survived, I wasn’t alive until I touched you again.” His words reach into my soul and swirl around my heart, stirring it in a way I’ve never felt before, and I look up at him in awe.
He slips his hand behind my neck, beneath the fall of my hair. There’s no hesitation as he kisses my cheek again, dragging his velvet-soft lips over my skin, leaving a trail of heat behind them. I tingle with joy and scrunch my shoulders to my ears, unable to fight each fluttering breath that tickles my skin, and I giggle with happiness. When his lips finally find mine, they’re warm and full and he kisses me deeply with intensity, but slowly. We have all the time in the world to linger, to explore, to finally enjoy the moment. I slide my hands up his strong chest and lock my fingers around his neck to anchor myself to him forever. Though in this moment, feeling the real love we share, untouched by the Society, not manipulated by the Masters, the way love is meant to be, I know we will never be apart again. Not ever. I have so much raw emotion and it’s all for Turner. And for the first time in a long time, I’m happy, content, and fulfilled.
When I open my eyes, still wrapped in his loving embrace, I see that the two of us are floating several feet above the ground, hovering midair within the gardens that seem to bloom around us, for us, just for us. Perhaps we’re flying with invisible wings, or even possibly held up by the magic of our love, and I never want to come down from this high.
Anything can happen in Gibeon. It must be true because as the energy that we share surges around us, in my mind, I ask the flickering green fireflies to transform into a swarm of sparkling white butterflies. They do in that instant and flutter away as we kiss again.
Somehow I managed to accomplish everything I set out to do. The Normal world is rid of Wanderers, and free of their control. Wanderers have returned to purity and to the original Gibeon, where we’re meant to reside alongside the former inhabitants of Nocturna, who are now safe and free.
Seeing Light (The Seraphina Parrish Trilogy) Page 27