Everlife (Everlife #3)

“Ten,” Lina snaps. “It’s time.”

I hurry to finish my sentence. “The goal is Ambrosine’s death.” Everything hinges on that.

“Ten,” Lina repeats.

I meet her determined stare. “How do we get into Many Ends?” I yank my staff apart to spray a new crop of soldiers with shards of Light, stopping their approach, buying us a few more minutes—seconds? “Do you know?”

“You are the key,” she says, stepping toward me. “You have always been the key. You know what needs to be done, Ten. You know.”

Suddenly I…do. The answer clicks. My number is up. I have to die.

I want to vomit. Linked to Killian, I’ll kill him, too, but we’ll appear in Many Ends, as planned. Because I’ll hide my Light and let the shadows go free.

I reel, and there’s no blunting the sharp edges of my shock, dismay and certainty. This. This is one of the reasons Eron supported my bond with Killian. This is the way inside Many Ends. Self-sacrifice. I give up everything—but I gain so much more.

The shadows will overrun me, but they’ll lead me straight to Many Ends.

“If I do this…” I begin as sweat beads on my forehead.

“You will. Find the doorway, save the day. If the hills have eyes, everyone dies. To win the fight, you’ll need Light.”

Another rhyme. One that bolsters me. To win the fight, she said—that means winning is possible. I can do this.

I stop, my heart racing, and meet my aunt’s gaze. “What will happen to the others? My friends?”

Torment darkens her features. “I don’t know. Don’t see. You just do you. Let them do them. All right? My husband and I will take care of the Secondking.”

Someone. My Secondking. Take care…as in kill? “If you hurt Eron—”

“Who said anything about Eron?”

Oh, thank the Firstking. She’s going after Ambrosine.

Grunting from exertion, Clay slays a male trying to sneak up behind us. “I won’t leave until I know you’re safe. So, let’s get you to safety.”

He has no idea what I’m planning with Lina.

A roar blasts through the sky. Gasping, I look up. Dragons. Ten of them. They fly overhead, their wings outstretched. More roars sound, loud enough to shake the ground. Then—fire rains.

People run for cover. Screams erupt. Streams of fire spray over buildings and Myriadians alike. Like the soldiers, the dragons are willing to sacrifice their people in order to kill me and mine.

Lina and I stay put. The rest of my team, as well.

—Lass.— Killian’s voice rushes through my head. —I’m with you. I’ll always be with you. Even in this. Do what you must.—

My gaze zooms to him across the distance. He’s standing as still as a statue as people run all around him. Biscuit keeps him from being trampled, taking out everyone who attempts to get near him.

“Together,” I say, even though he can’t hear me.

“Together,” he mouths.

Behind him, about three hundred yards away, are Victor and Javier. Other dragons unleash streams of fire to clear their path.

Almost too late…

Before I change my mind, I look to Lina. Tremors threaten to topple me, but I remain on my feet.

How far will I go for my realm?

All the way.

“Do it,” I croak, and shove every ounce of Light into rooms in the Grid. My mind goes dark, but I remain aware. Shadows overrun me, as expected. They laugh with glee as ice crystallizes in my veins and wave after wave of evil bathes me.

I’m strong, there’s no one stronger. Must prove my power.

Will take…everything! What’s theirs is mine, and what’s mine is mine.

Allow myself to be killed in order to save others? Never!

Does she laugh inside, thinking she’s bested me? I’ll turn her amusement to sobs.

“Do it now,” I manage to push past clenched teeth. Before the shadows change my mind for good.

A moment later, a shot rings out and fire burns between my eyes.





TROIKA



From: M_V_3/54.5.8

To: L_R_3/51.3.15, J_A_3/19.37.30, S_C_3/50.4.13,

C_M_3/5.20.1, T_B_3/19.30.2, B_S_3/51.3.13,

A_S_3/42.6.31, J_B_3/19.23.4, S_J_3/62.5.5, M_P_3/45.10.9

Subject: What happened?

It’s as if someone turned off a Light inside our realm. With it came a wave of weakness.

Light Brings Sight!

General Mykhail Vasiliev





MYRIAD



From: H_S_3/51.3.6

To: Z_C_4/23.43.2

Subject: What just happened?

Everyone in the realm just experienced a burst of strength. Why? And how can we do it again?

Might Equals Right!

General Hans Schmidt





PART THREE



Many Ends





chapter twenty-two



“Question everything. Take nothing by faith.”

—Myriad

Killian

One second I’m standing on a battlefield, peering over at Ten, who no longer glows. Anguish nearly fells me. I hadn’t realized she glowed while inside Myriad until the Light inside her was snuffed out. Shadows rise from her.

Then the space between my eyes burns. Then I wake up sprawled across cold, hard ground. The scent of ash and blood hangs heavy in the air.

Plagued by a sense of urgency, I jolt upright and scan the area around me. A super creepy forest, trees knifing toward the sky. Branches extend, tangling together, leaves shaking as something moves beyond my line of sight.

Where am I? This can’t be Many Ends. I expected fire and brimstone. Torture. Although, I see no sign of Ten, and an eternity without her is hell.

I pat myself down for weapons. None. Even my wrist cuffs are gone. I’m left defenseless. Or at least, defenseless in the eyes of others. Years of training have turned me into a weapon all on my own. I’m wearing a black T-shirt and leather pants, the clothes I died in. If I died.

“Ten.” My voice echoes. I wait, but there’s no response. Next I try the Grid. —Ten. Can you hear me, lass?— Again, no response.

I focus on the Grid—

And suck in a breath. The Grid is gone. There’s…nothing.

“Ten.” I shout her name and wait for a reply, tense. The wind whistles, branches rattle, and leaves rustle, but there’s no response.

My tension escalates, my hands balling at my sides. Where is she? Did she survive her aunt’s shot? Part of me hopes she did, somehow, some way. I love that girl more than I love my own life, and I want her well. Even if it means I must live without her. Or die without her.





143, 10


I want her to have a full, long life, even if it doesn’t include me.

On the flip side, I very much want that life to include me.

I know I don’t deserve her. I’ve lived my life pretending to be everyone’s friend—from my bosses to my targets— until the moment I had to make a choice: who could do me the most good, who could do me the most harm. I did everything in my power to make people love me, not just because I hoped to avoid the same rejections I suffered in my childhood, but because I wanted others to act against their own best interests in order to help me. That’s how I’ve won so many spirits for Myriad.

Somehow Ten saw something good in me. She forgave me for my crimes. At the end, I felt her emotions, including more love than I have ever dreamed possible.

A blood-curdling scream cuts through the air. I’m rushing forward before my brain registers I’ve taken a step. Branches slice my cheeks and dizziness swims in my brain.

As I sway on my feet, I slow. When I reach out to brace myself against a tree trunk, a thousand stings explode in my hand. Yelping, I jump back—and trip over a fallen branch.

Everything is working against me. This must be Many Ends.

From my perch on the ground, I blink rapidly until my vision clears. Of course, even then I’m not given a reprieve. The ground begins to shake, and the air thickens with dust.

Overhead, a plume of dark smoke mushrooms across the sky, and I tense. As the smoke dissipates…

No way, just no way, though I doubt my eyes deceive me. The smoke breaks apart and transforms into birds. Large, black birds with spiked beaks, skeletal bodies and wings that look to be made of sharpened bone and dipped in metal. Their claws are definitely made of metal.