Everlife (Everlife #3)

Chin high, I step forward. Take me.

One of the birds gets to me first, sinking claws into my shoulders and yanking me into the air. I hiss. And now… now time is ticking.

“Ten,” I bellow. “Come find me.”





chapter twenty-six



“In the end, you will have what you take.”

—Myriad

Ten

A few minutes earlier

I love ye, lass.

Killian’s words echo in my head as I continue planning with Archer, Raanan and Reed and stuffing my pockets with leaves.

Something about Killian’s tone begins to bother me. Minutes pass as I await his return, tensing more with every second. Nine. Fourteen.

Every year, Valentine’s Day is celebrated on February 14th. It’s a day for romance and love.

I rub the words tattooed on my forearm, a new nervous habit, I suppose. Loyalty. Passion. Liberty. Loyalty to my realm, passion for the truth—and Killian—liberty for all.

The realm resets, which means I gotta go get myself captured, but there’s still no sign of Killian. Until—

“Ten,” he shouts. “Come find me.”

I vault to my feet. “Killian?” What’s going on?

A bird squawks, and a growing sense of dread has my gaze jerking up. Horror gut-punches me. No, please, no. But my eyes do not deceive me. My husband is hanging from a bird’s claws. Despite the distance, my gaze locks with Killian’s for a split second before he disappears in the dark storm clouds that are rolling this way.

A brilliant green leaf flutters from the sky, falling between branches to land on the ground somewhere in the distance. He’s leaving the necessary trail.

“What’s wrong?” Archer asks, but he reads the answer on my face, or maybe he senses my emotions on the Grid. “I should have known he’d want to steal all the glory for himself.” He tsks.

I’d slap him silly, but I know he’s trying to lighten the severity of my mood.

Trembling now, I strap on as many weapons as I can. “Let’s go.”

“Sorry, Ten, but we have to wait,” Reed says.

“No way.” I shake my head with so much force I’m surprised when my spine doesn’t snap. “Earlier you claimed we needed to leave the second the realm reset. Well, it’s reset. We’re going.”

“I didn’t know there would be a storm—”

“In Many Ends, there’s always a risk of a storm,” I interject. “Killian risked his life for ours. We’re going to do the same for him. And if a storm does appear, it could blow away his trail. We won’t be able to follow. So we go now. Or I do. If you want to wait, fine, but nothing is going to stop me.”

Peering at me, one of Raanan’s dark brows wings up toward the arch in the center point of his hairline. “You give good pointers. And honestly, hanging out with you is never dull, that’s for sure.”

As the others strap on their weapons, I pat my pockets to double-check I have as many leaves as possible. Guaranteed, we’re going to need sustenance and medicine at every turn.

Fear yanks me into a mental boxing ring, ready to go head-to-head. Over the last year, I’ve overcome so much and faced so many tragedies. Now, everything is about to reach the ultimate climax.

“Monsters know whenever a spirit has reached the Tree of Life,” Reed says. “They’ll be waiting for us.”

“Feel sorry for them,” I say. “They took Killian. Now they die.”

I lead the charge, determination and menace in every step, a thousand thoughts rolling through my mind. In the Everlife, it doesn’t matter how much money we made as a human. It doesn’t matter if we built an empire, or collected rare items or convinced everyone of our special awesomeness.

Human = soldier in a war, whether we know it or not. It’s what we do as a human that affects who we are as a spirit. Who we loved. How we loved. Who we helped. People matter, not things.

I made the mistake of coasting through my human life, floating on the waves of indecision, and because of that, I lost that life far too soon. Now, I’m a spirit, and even though I’m in Many Ends, I have what I thought I’d never have again: another chance. Another chance to live and love and help, and not necessarily in that order.

We reach the edge of shade offered by the Tree of Life, and, ready for us, our enemy steps into view. Too many monkey-spiders to count, and that’s saying something.

“Where are the gorillas and birds?” Dior asks, and Archer wraps an arm around her waist.

“Probably followed after Killian. Fresh meat,” Reed says. “Even the creatures here are at war. The gorillas steal from the birds, the birds steal from the monkeys, and the monkeys steal from the gorillas.”

“How do you guys want to handle—”

Raanan goes quiet as I swing my spear at one of the creatures. Contact! The wood nails my target in the face, and I gasp with shock. The monkey-spider explodes, but not into pieces. Into shadows. Those shadows blow away in a wind I do not feel.

“What the—”

“How did—”

“Do that again!”

We look at each other for a moment, and laugh.

Dior throws her arms around Archer. “We can do this!”

He’s so large, and she’s so small. They share a stolen moment of connection and perhaps even communion, and it’s beautiful.

“When we get through this, and we will, we’re going to celebrate. Hard. Until then, stay behind us,” he tells her. “We’ll need you if we’re injured.”

A very nice way of telling her 1) she’ll slow us down and 2) she has no battle skill.

She flinches only to accept her lot with a nod, tenacity burning in her eyes. There’s no changing what is, only what can be.

All right, then. We’re as ready as we’ll ever be. There’s a clock in my mind, and it begins to count down to the next reset—when Killian’s sacrifice means nothing.

Unacceptable! We will reach him, no matter the obstacles before us. I will not lose hope now.

“We attack on my count,” I announce. “Three. Two. One.”

In perfect harmony, we rush forward. Nope, spoke too soon. Dior hangs back, as requested.

Focus. One touch. That’s all it takes to utterly destroy a monkey-spider. Which means victory should be easy as pie, but the creatures come at us en masse, desperate to rid us of our weapons.

Strike. Spin. Strike. Spin. I never pause. The moment I do, I’ll be felled. Then Archer presses his back against mine, and Raanan and Reed take up positions at our sides. Together we slay one monkey-spider after another.

By the time the last one explodes into shadows, we’re panting and soaked in sweat. Thing is, I know we’re not even close to being done.

“Not a second to lose,” Reed says. “Let’s go.”

We plow ahead and finally find the leaf Killian dropped. The first of many. It’s a lovely shade of emerald, the only bit of color amid a sea of gray and black.

“What’s that?” Dior points to a spot ahead.

I narrow my focus…and frown. A separate sea of black seems to be moving in our direction. It’s—realization hits. It’s an army of insects, and it is headed our way. Intermixed with countless bugs? Countless snakes.

Cold fingers of dread tickle my spine. I’ve dealt with my fair share of bugs. While locked inside Prynne Asylum, I lived with creepy crawlers and even ate them when Dr. Vans decided to starve me. Spiders taste like shrimp, and cockroaches taste like greasy chicken. Not exactly helpful information in this situation.

“We should go back to the Tree,” Reed says, a tremor in his voice. “The bugs won’t venture under its shade. We’ll wait until they pass.”

Hardly. They might not pass. “No.” I am resolved. “If we go back, they could keep us trapped. Killian needs us.”

“What do we do, then?” Dior croaks.

I…don’t know. I don’t how we’re going to survive this. I’m used to having answers, but this…this is a little beyond my wheelhouse. “I need a minute to think.”

“We don’t have a minute,” Raanan snaps.