Everlife (Everlife #3)

“Shut up, just shut up for a second.” How do you fight millions of tiny critters that can crawl all over you? You can’t bat them away with a branch, or punch or kick them. You can’t stop, drop and roll. You can’t even outrun them because they form a wall in front of you in the direction you need to go.

“You guys listen to Reed and go back to the Tree. I’ll let the bugs eat every inch of my skin, if that’s what it takes, but I’m getting to Killian. If I die, I die. I’ll resurrect somewhere in the realm, and I’ll continue my journey.” At least, that is how I think things work in Many Ends. When you die, you come back to life, but remain in the realm. Hence the name: Many Ends.

Great risk, great reward.

Loyalty, passion, liberty.

The warhorse will ride.

The bugs speed up, coming closer…closer still…

“I’m getting a little tired of you telling us to stay safe while you rush headlong into danger, Tenley Lockwood.” Archer blows me a kiss. “You’re not the only one who wants to save Killian. He was my best friend once.”

He’s right. “I’m sorry. I only hoped to save you pain.”

“Pain is pain. Friendship matters more. We’re in this together.” He sheaths a branch behind his back and reaches for Dior’s hand. “If we die, we die as one.”

One heart. One soul. One body.

Together we will rise.

A trembling Dior accepts Archer’s grip and reaches for Reed, the guy on her other side. Reed reaches for Raanan and Raanan reaches for me. We form a line, a wall of our own. Strength and love and Light flow between our joined hands. Heads high once again, we march forward…

So close—

We continue marching forward. Only a whisper away…

The bugs reach us at last. In a spilt second, we’re covered head to toe. Can’t see… Sharp stings register all over my body. Dizziness overtakes my mind, and my limbs quickly weaken. And yet, somehow, I remain on my feet. Marching forward, marching forward. And…

No, surely not. But…it’s true. The bugs begin to fall off of me. Off of everyone—suddenly I can see. We’re covered in red welts, but not bugs. Not any longer. They bit us… and they died?

Again, we’re amazed.

“How—”

“Why—”

“What—”

“The Light,” I say. “It has to be our Light.” Death and life cannot coexist. Light = love. Love = life.

More confident by the second, we continue on, maneuvering through the bugs, unimpeded. Our hands drop to our sides and we spread out, though we remain in shouting distance of each other as we search for the leaves Killian dropped. We find the second and third and adjust our route accordingly.

As soon as we pass the last of the bugs and snakes, we pick up the pace. Running, running. Tree limbs reach for us, but we dodge and dive, avoiding capture. When we reach a darker part of the forest, however, thorny vines stretch from bushes, and those we can’t dodge or dive. The thorns snag our clothing and embed in our skin.

As I pull at the vines, thorns prick my fingers, and I hiss with pain. Blood wells, and my fingers throb.

“Ten,” Reed gasps out.

“I’m stuck,” Raanan calls.

I don’t… I can’t…

A scream practically rends the air in two. My head whips to the side, and I groan. One of the vines is wrapped around Dior’s throat, squeezing. The goal is clear: Take out the weak link to weaken the strongest.

Archer fights to escape the vines twined around his wrists and ankles, Lifeblood pouring from different wounds. “No!” he snarls. “Stop!”

I put every ounce of my strength into reaching the girl, no longer fighting my capture but allowing the thorns to rip through me… Lifeblood pours from me, as well.

Dior’s knees give out, and she sags to the ground. Archer is there to catch her and ease her down. Finally, I reach her. Her eyes are open and locked on Archer, her lips opening and closing as mewls of pain escape.

“Save your strength, doc.” He yanks at the vines around her neck, but they only squeeze harder, causing her eyes to bulge. “I’ll get you out of this. I will. I—”

“Love…you.” A final breath escapes her. Her head lulls to the side, those wide eyes dulling, staring at nothing.

“No. Don’t you die. Don’t you dare. I love you. We’re going to make plans.” Frantic, he feels for a pulse. He stiffens, his watery gaze lifting to meet mine, revealing a mix of rage, torment and sorrow in their copper depths.

“Archer—”

“No. This can’t be. The monkey-spiders exploded. The bugs died. How did the thorns thrive when they touched us?”

Even as he speaks, the thorns begin to wither.

When Archer realizes what’s happened—too late, far too late—he looks up at the sky and roars with pain and rage and sorrow.

He must have left a spark of Light inside her when he cleansed her of Penumbra. Light = love, love = Light. Light is poison to the creatures here. She saved us. She gave up the little Light she had to save us.

“This doesn’t matter,” I say, but my chin trembles. “She’s going to appear somewhere else in the realm, and we’re going to save her. We’re going to save them all.” I won’t believe anything less. “That’s why we’re here. We have to keep going. Okay? All right?”

“How do you know she’ll appear elsewhere?” he demands. “How?”

“I just do.” Because I have to. Nothing else is acceptable.

“Ten,” he says, and his whole body shudders. Grief encompasses him, a dark cloud—a sign of another impending storm. “I just got her back. I just cleansed her of Penumbra. She was going to defect. I would have been her Barrister, and this time she would have succeeded. We were going to talk about our future, make things official. I love her. I’ve never stopped loving her.”

Tears sting my cheeks. “I know you have every right to be upset. I know your pain.” I know he failed to save her once before, dying when she needed him most, and he thinks he’s let her down again. “But suck it up. Wallowing will get us killed. And we have to move on. Now fight!”





chapter twenty-seven



“Lies have no foundation. In a storm, lies will always fall, and truth will always remain standing.”

—Troika

Killian

At last. My “escort” reaches the infamous hills. Mountains, really. Each one has been hollowed out, hordes of birds and prey inside. Outside…

I shudder. The “eyes” belong to creatures I’ve never before encountered. Small of stature with the fangs and the forked tongue of a snake, the shell of a turtle upon their backs—shells that are lined with bony spikes—and the arms and legs of an alligator. But those eyes…they are neon red, watching me as I soar overhead. Abject hunger sharpens the air, made worse by the fetid scent of death saturating every burst of wind.

I watch as another bird flies by and drops an unwitting victim to the creatures. What happens next…

Bile rushes up my throat, threatening to empty my stomach.

The creatures—monsters—react instantly, caught up in a feeding frenzy, biting into the guy, ripping his limbs from his body.

That is what Ten and the others must face. If she’s harmed…

There will be nothing I can do about it. Not until I escape. And I will escape. I must.

The closer we came to our destination, the louder the screams became. Now that we’re here, those screams are deafening. Millions of them clash in terrible disharmony, blending with moans, groans and grunts. My ears ache from the assault.

I drop a leaf on the hill of my carrier’s choosing, though I wish I could keep it. For medicine, yes. But also as a weapon. Something I’ve noticed: the animals and insects bolt away rather than touch the leaves.

Unfortunately, I just discarded my last leaf.

We descend down, down, down into the depths of the mountain. There’s an uncountable amount of tiers—though my sweet Ten will somehow find a way, I’m sure. Upon each tier are equally uncountable nests. Inside most of those nests are skeleton-birds that are feeding on their prey—spirits.

Myriadians I’ve met over the years. Myriadians I’ve watched die. There are others, of course, so many others, but whether they are Myriadian or Unsigned, I’m not sure.