Everlife (Everlife #3)

Maybe she’s everything.

“You make my toes curl.” She rubs her nose against mine, and the soft contact is electric. “Tell me what you want, Killian.”

I open my mouth to say, Ye, only ye, but an accusation escapes instead. “You make poems for Archer.” As the words echo in my ears, I curse. I want a poem more than I want sex?

Who have I become?

“Are you jealous?” A tinkling laugh leaves her, her warm, sweet breath fanning over my chin. “Even though I made one for you, too. Tsk-tsk.”

“I have no’ forgotten the one you made me, lass.” It’s getting more and more difficult to control my accent around her. And why bother, anyway? She knows I’m an orphan, and she doesn’t care. “You doona love me. I canna trust you. Blah, blah, blah.”

“Except now you know I do love you, and you can trust me.” She studies my face, grinning a toothy grin and spinning my heart into a dangerous spiral. “But you still want a new one.”

I hike one of my shoulders in a shrug, all whatever. Meanwhile, my mind is shouting, Give me!

She plays with the ends of my hair, tickling my scalp, and recites:

There’s a boy named Killian Flynn.

The most handsome of all the men.

Each and every night

Girls melt at first sight

But he only has eyes for Ten.

One corner of my mouth lifts. “A limerick?”

“Archer would flip his lid over a limerick, yet I’ve never created one for him. But. If you don’t like it, we can pretend I didn’t create one for you, either, and—”

“It’s mine,” I rush to say. “You can no’ take it back.”

Her grin returns full force. “Possessive of a poem. Could you be any more adorable?”

I shouldn’t preen, but that’s exactly what I do, like a once-dying rose suddenly opening to face the ever-brightening sun. This girl likes me, just as I am. She likes me enough to tease me, and she enjoys the time we spend together. To her, I’m worth something. I’m…family?

“Since you can’t remember our past,” she says, then pauses to chew her bottom lip. “What if I can let you inside my mind so that you can see our history through my eyes?”

Shadows take me by the throat, squeeze. “You know how tae let me in yer mind?”

“No. I mean, yes.” Frowning, she tilts her head to the side. “My Grid is on the fritz, and yet I know exactly what to do.”

I’m shaking my head before she finishes. “You shouldna make such a temptin’ offer.” Not to me. “You shouldna let anyone inside your mind, ever. Especially me. I’m no’ a bad guy. I’m worse. People will always take advantage, learnin’ your weaknesses tae use against you.”

She’s got to do a better job of protecting herself from predators like me.

Again she rubs her nose against mine. “How cute. You assume I have weaknesses.”

I want to smile and shake her at the same time. And I want to resist her… I do…should…but I can’t. My curiosity is too great. Can I be blamed? With Ten perched on my lap, my brain isn’t functioning at optimum levels; all of my blood has rushed elsewhere.

“Whatever memories you share, I’ll see through yer eyes, learn yer every thought and secret,” I say, my final warning. “I might acquire information you wish tae keep private.”

“You are priority one. Whatever you need, I’ll give.”

My mouth dries. I nod.

Nibbling on her lower lip, an action that only makes my blood descend faster, she frames the sides of my face with her beautiful hands. Skin to skin, female to male. Warmth to warmth, wife to husband. My fingers twitch involuntarily, my grip tightening on her hips.

Determined to maintain control of my memories, the shadows sharpen their claws, sinking their razor tips deeper into my mind. I flinch.

“Close your eyes.” Ten kisses one of my temples, then the other.

Perhaps this is a trick meant to disarm me. When I close my eyes, she’ll attack. For once, I don’t care. I’m willing to take a chance.

No risk, no reward, right?

“Inhale…exhale… That’s good,” she says, her voice as soft as a caress. Every time I inhale, she exhales; when I exhale, she inhales, until we’re breathing each other’s air. I still taste the shot of whiskey I downed, but now the sweetness of her teases my senses.

As I wait for something, anything to happen, I’m tense, on edge. Then, oh, then, I feeeeel her. She’s there, in my mind, standing in the middle of the bridge that connects us, smiling at me, everything right in a world gone wrong.

Light glows from her pores. Light she saved and desperately needs, yet still she gives it to me.

“Stop,” I croak.

She brightens…grows brighter still…making my shadows shudder with fear, run and hide.

Between one second and the next, a nearly blinding flash of Light explodes between us. Agony sears me, and I grunt. Sweat pours from my temples.

Suddenly I’m trapped inside a small room. My—Ten’s— arms are lifted overhead, wrists bound by chains that are anchored to the ceiling. She’s human, a prisoner at the Prynne Asylum.

A thirty-something human stands in front of her, rolling up his shirtsleeves. Dr. Vans. Evil in the flesh. “You know, I’ve always admired your spirit, Miss Lockwood. It’s a shame I have to damage it.”

She’s sick to her stomach, but determined to withstand whatever the male dishes. “Go ahead. Do your worst. Your best has only ever tickled.”

Sickness churns in my stomach. How could anyone hurt her like this?

A big-boned nurse with frizzy red hair wheels a large tray inside the room. The door closes behind her. Two wolves. One sheep. No way out.

Ten does her best to remain calm. “You don’t have to do this. You said there are no other options, but that’s not true. You can give me the time I asked for.”

Time… She hasn’t yet decided where she’ll live after she dies. Myriad or Troika. Stand with her parents, or against them. All she wants is the right to freely choose—what we all want.

“Time is running out.” The doctor smiles at her, and it’s clear he enjoys her pain. “No, we’re going to do this. Money buys happiness, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. I want my money.”

“Aren’t you afraid of what awaits you in the Everlife?” she asks.

“I’ve never cared about tomorrow. Only today.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. I’ve always been like Dr. Vans, taking care of now with no concern for tomorrow. Or the feelings of others. I despise the fact that we have something in common.

The two argue for a bit, and I’m amazed at Ten’s strength, at her unwillingness to bend. She’s willing to die, simply to use a basic human right too many take for granted. When have I ever felt so strongly about anything?

Then she says, “Living shouldn’t be synonymous with surviving.”

The doctor pops on a pair of latex gloves. “You have my permission to scream as loudly as you’d like. These walls are soundproofed.”

What he does next fills me with such righteous rage, I’m nearly rent in two. Yes, he makes this brave, precious girl scream, over and over again. Despite the horrors he inflicts upon her, she never gives him what he wants: a pledge to Myriad.

A realization I reached earlier solidifies: Ten Lockwood will never betray Troika. Not now, not ever. And I… I…

The shadows do everything in their power to shut down the memory, but they are no match for Ten. Her Light forces those shadows to run and hide…and…

I begin to remember bits and pieces of my life… How I read Ten’s file before I met her. How my Leader called her “hardheaded” and “foolish.” Before me, Myriad sent a sleazy ML named James to win her over. While everyone else around her attacked her, he pretended to show her kindness; of course she fell for him. Only, she still didn’t make covenant with Myriad for him, even under the guise of saving his life.