Everlife (Everlife #3)

I offer her a slow, secret smile as I lean toward her, intending to steal a quick kiss. Just before contact, a lance of pain renders me immobile. The Light has spread, burning away a thin film that covered a section of my mind. Not a section of memories, but…coming events? I tense.

The world around me vanishes, and I see myself staked inside…a nest? Warm Lifeblood drips on to my naked body. It comes from a tier above me. Another nest? My chest is cut open, several of my organs gone, but I’m still lucid as a skeleton-bird swoops down and pecks at my liver.

A scream bubbles in my throat, but I’m too weak to release it. And why bother screaming again, anyway? Help will never come. This will happen again and again and again—as it has already happened again and again and again.

Comprehension dawns. With it? Alarm. I’m not glimpsing my future. I’m seeing the present through someone else’s eyes.

But whose? And why?

Besides my own, I’ve only ever seen through Ten’s eyes, because of our bond. So… I must be bonded to this other person. But how?

More skeleton birds swoop down, devouring the rest of my—the victim’s—organs. The pain is incredible. Agonizing. I’m not sure how much more I…can…

The world goes black.

“Killian! Killian, can you hear me?”

Ten’s voice penetrates the fog in my mind. I blink open my eyes once again, and find her posed above me, those azure locks falling around my face to create a curtain.

Tears of relief pour down her cheeks. “Thank the Firstking. I wasn’t sure what happened… Had no idea how to help you…”

She eases me to a sitting position, and I see the others are gathered around me, and they appear to be equally concerned. Not only do I have Ten, I have…friends? Maybe. It’s possible. Stranger things have happened.

I explain what I saw, and everyone expresses concern.

“What if you were seeing through…I’m sorry…the eyes of someone you know and love?” Ten asks softly. “Like Sloan. Or your mother.”

The thought of either woman suffering nearly sends me into a tailspin. Deep breath in, out. “It’s possible,” I admit, a sense of urgency taking root inside me. “We need tae save these people. Now.”

There’s a slight vibration at our feet, and Ten frowns. “What was that?”

“Someone new has arrived in the realm,” Reed says. “Or multiple someones. When I lived here before, my friends and I would venture outside the Tree of Life to aid any newcomers.”

“I remember.” She traces a fingertip along one of the spears she made. “You came for me. Have I ever thanked you?”

He pats her on the shoulder. “You have, but thank me again by agreeing that we shouldn’t take the risk yet. We plan to save everyone, right, so there’s no need to risk losing one of our group in order to save someone who might turn against us. We need to focus our efforts on getting to the hills.”

Dior and Raanan nod in agreement. Archer thinks for a minute, then nods as well.

I bring Ten’s hand to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. Such soft, warm skin. “I’ll do whatever you think is best, lass.” Anything but sacrificing her life for others. That, I will never do.

If eyes are windows to the soul, I can see the wheels turning in her mind. “We stay here,” she says, her determination clear. “We’re saving everyone. Whatever happens out there between now and then, it’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.”

Reed rubs his hands together. “All right. For the best chance of success, we should wait until the realm resets. And before you ask, it resets every twenty-four hours.” He runs his gaze over each of us. “That means one of us has to be captured by the birds. On purpose. He—or she—will take a pocketful of leaves and drop them along the way, all Hansel and Gretel style. The rest of us will have twenty-four hours to follow the path and reach the final destination.”

“How will we know when the realm resets?” Archer worries two fingers over the stubble on his chin. “And what does reset mean, anyway?”

“There will be a flash of absolute darkness. Just a blink, but one hundred percent noticeable.” As he speaks, he arranges leaves and branches in a circle, recreating the subrealm. “And it means invisible doorways will be moved, the hills will appear somewhere else—everything will appear somewhere else. Everything but the Tree of Life. It never moves.”

A collective shudder sweeps over the group.

“When will the next reset happen?” Raanan asks.

Reed stares up at the sky—a veil of dark red water. “A few hours maybe? We’ll need to be ready to go at a moment’s notice.”

I expect everyone to point to Dior or me; we’re the Myriadians and we’ll make the perfect bid food. But I should have known better. Everyone except the Myriadians jumps at the chance.

What is it with Troikans and self-sacrifice?

I’m pretty sure Dior’s reasons for not volunteering are similar to my own. I want to be near Ten, need to protect her, whatever the cost. Dior has just been reunited with Archer, and will want to protect him, the boy she lost—because of me.

Not going to feel guilty anymore. Nope, not even a little. I’ve apologized. We’ve moved on.

“I’ll go,” Ten says. “Face it. I’m the best choice.”

I scowl at her. No way. Just no way.

“Sorry, Sperm Bank, but I’m the best choice,” Archer says, his expression pure stubbornness.

I’ve heard him use the nickname before. It used to send me into a rage. Today, I can only smile. She’s my sperm bank.

Ten slaps my shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking, perv.”

“And I do no’ regret it,” I say, and press a quick kiss to her lips.

“Sorry, guys, but I’ll be the one who’s taken,” Raanan says. “I’ve survived worse. You guys won’t last ten minutes.”

“What if we’re all taken together?” Dior suggests.

“No.” Reed shakes his head. “We could be taken in different directions or given to different creatures. One person. One trail. Trust me on this.”

As they argue, I sit back and listen in order to better craft a defense against my worst nightmare: Ten’s nomination.

Good thing. Ultimately everyone but me agrees that Ten should be the one to go. She has the strongest bond to us all, and she’ll have the best chance of communicating with us if things go badly.

Though I’m screaming inside, I have no defense. Not that it matters. There’s no way I’m letting her go, her organs an all-you-can-eat buffet for the birds. So. I make up my mind in an instant, and know what I have to do.

I expect half of me to balk, to express reluctance. Something. Instead, I’m eager. I owe Ten. Actually, I owe everyone here. If a life must be risked, it will be mine.

I wait as long as I dare. A mere hour and a half. Then I kiss Ten’s cheek, stand and say, “I’m going tae stretch my legs.” The unequivocal truth…if not the whole truth.

“What, you’re not going to argue with us?” she asks.

“No.” I’m not.

She appears pleased. “I’ll walk with you.”

“Stay. What if I have tae empty my bladder, eh?” Again, not a lie. A question isn’t a statement. “I love ye, lass.” She owns me, body and soul. Always will.

“I love you, too. Oh! Take this with you, just in case.” She hands me one of the smaller branches with a pointed tip. The perfect makeshift dagger.

I accept, grateful, and anchor it behind my back, then hide it under my shirt. Catching a glimpse of my stomach, she wiggles her brows at me, all I’m going to get me some more of that, just you wait, before she returns her attention to the task at hand.

My heart is heavy as I walk away—stretching my legs as promised. I don’t want to leave her, but I will do anything to keep her safe. When I’m out of sight of the others, I pluck leaves from the Tree of Life, and stuff as many as possible in my pockets.

When I reach the edge of the tree’s shade, I see the armies of skeleton birds, gorillas and monkey-spiders waiting. Squawks, roars and high-pitched…giggles?…erupt. The birds flap their wings. The gorillas lick their saber teeth, and the monkey-spiders jump up and down.

My heart races, and tremors speed through me as I wait… wait…for the realm to reset. Then, it happens. A blink of absolute, utter darkness. There and gone, as Reed predicted.

The others will come looking for me, ready to send Ten to slaughter.