When her tears hit the ocean, they parted the water at Atlas’s waist. A wave pulled back and crashed over his head. For a moment, all four minds inside Atlas swam as one to propel his body above the surface of the sea.
But the sea was no longer the sea. It was a field of blooming white narcissus, buds tangling higher every moment, stems growing wild along the shore, planting roots among the limbs of empty ghost robots.
Then the buds blossomed into people, who turned to one another, old souls in a new world bursting into bloom. The promise of a fresh beginning glittered in everyone’s eyes like dew. Tears, Eureka realized, each one a maze of infinite emotions.
When a rainbow colored Eureka’s vision, she realized she was witnessing her redemption bloom into the world from above. She was free. But if her joy had killed Atlas, where was his corpse? And what had become of the ghostly, disembodied minds of Brooks and Delphine?
The Gossipwitch Mountains stood below her. She saw the twins, rainbow-hued and running to the edge of the witches’ lair. When they saw the endless garden of blossoming souls, Eureka felt their laughter buoy her.
A girl in a brilliant purple gown stepped from the cave to join the twins. Esme smiled and caressed the hollow of her neck where an iridescent black pearl sparkled on a silver chain. Smoke rose from the pearl, and Eureka grasped the darkness trapped inside. Delphine and Atlas had been returned to a new Woe, crystallized inside the gem. The Tearline prophecy was complete and would decorate no heart but Esme’s ever again.
A little ways away from Esme and the twins, Ander stood alone. He gazed upon what Eureka had done and wiped away tears. She wished their love could have followed an alternate history, one where Eureka was still at his side, but sometimes pain was the aftershock of love. When Ander’s foundation stilled, she hoped there would be space for joy in his memories of her.
Soon she saw the rings of Atlantis. Huge wooden arks fanned across a bright blue bay beyond the island. Eureka saw Cat at the helm of one, flirting with a sailor. And far beyond those boats, new worlds were rising, flowering into being, coastlines budding with souls Eureka didn’t recognize and never would. Dad would be down there, though she couldn’t see him, along with the rest of the souls once trapped by her tears. She wondered if Dad remembered all that had happened, how his dying message to Eureka made the difference in the world’s salvation. She tried to let him go with love, just as he’d done with her.
Then Eureka was in the rainbow. She was a memory of something poignant reaching across the sky, crossing a flock of doves. She knew she was stretching toward Diana, and that they’d soon be reunited, excavating Heaven’s pearly clouds.
Are you still with me? Brooks found her on the bars of color Eureka thought she’d been climbing alone. She thought about his first name, which she rarely did.
Until the end and the ride home after, Noah.
Acknowledgments
Eternal thanks to my readers: you have opened your hearts to Eureka and bravely shared your own love stories. I’m always here.
To Wendy Loggia, whose faith in this story nurtured my own. To Beverly Horowitz, whose insights are precious gems. To Laura Rennert, whose counsel makes the highest mountain a gently sloping hill. To those who touched this book at Random House and at Andrea Brown—I’m honored to work with the best.
To Blake Byrd, who took me on the sailing voyage that inspired Eureka’s. To Maria Synodinou in Athens, for your conviction about Atlantis. To Filiz at Sea Song Tours in Ephesus, for a mystical afternoon. To Tess Hedlund and Lila Abramson, for connecting me to what matters. To Elida Cuellar, for an essential measure of tranquillity.
To my family, for knowing the drill and loving me despite the racket the drill makes. To Matilda, for new eyes. And to Jason, for exploring with me all the wondrous fruits of love.
About the Author
LAUREN KATE is the internationally bestselling author of the TEARDROP and FALLEN series. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit her online at laurenkatebooks.net.