Everlife (Everlife #3)

Biscuit gallops to her side, licks her face. “You get strong now, hooman. Now, I tell you!”

Deacon and Clementine take up posts of defense behind her. Lina crouches at Ten’s left, and Alejandro at Ten’s right. I’m grateful that they’re helping her, but she’s my wife. Mine to protect. I’m willing to give my life for her, again and again and again.

Panic drives me to her side. I push the General aside and link my fingers with Ten’s. She’s trembling. There’s only one thing she needs. Something I can give her. My Light. What I have left, anyway.

Willingly. Gladly.

Gratefully.

I push the beams across our bond, and there are no obstacles to impede the transfer. Color returns to her cheeks once again, and the sweat on her skin dries. Relief makes me light-headed.

All of us, we are loyal to this girl. Passionate about her safety. Because of her, we are free.

Loyalty, passion, liberty.

Love.

“Myriadians.” Trembling with rage, Ambrosine points at Sloan and Erica. “Return to your family, or suffer the fate of the Troikans.”

He calls his own people by their realm? I grind my teeth. “What are their names?” I call. “Do you know even one?”

The response is immediate, and snapped. “Names mean nothing.”

For years I loved this man, and wished he had been my father. He never cared about me, or any of us. “I’ll take that as a no.” My tone is dry and prickly but inside, I’m seething.

“I am no longer Myriadian,” Sloan announces. “I hereby pledge my allegiance to Troika forevermore.”

“Troika has my allegiance, as well. Now and always.” Erica nods, certain. She’s a true friend I once treated poorly, but never again. Honest friends, those who are loyal to the end, are priceless. I can’t afford to lose one.

Think! If we have any chance of winning this, we need to take out Ambrosine. To take out Ambrosine, we need…

Time to figure it out.

I can buy us time.

But first, I’m prompted by the Grid to say, “Come up with a way to cull Ambrosine from his Abogrates, and negate his powers.”

“Okay, sure thing,” Raanan retorts. “Not like that last task is utterly impossible.”

One of my brows arches. “For Troikans, all things are possible, right? But go ahead. Refute your realm’s campaign promises.”

A muscle jumps underneath his eye. Silence.

Yeah. Didn’t think so.

“Killian.” Ten lifts her head, an action that seems to require more energy than she currently possesses. “Know what…planning. Will find…another way. Don’t endanger yourself.”

Her voice sends a thrill through me.

Trying to protect me, even now? I caress her cheek, luxuriating in the softness of her skin before I stand. I’m doing this. “Hey, Ambrosine,” I call, my use of his name a dig at his pride. “Remember me? Or should I reintroduce myself. I’m Killian Flynn, yer doom.” Nothing mocks a super villain quite like B-movie dialogue.

He inhales sharply in a clear attempt to control his temper. “Even if Myriad falls, Miss Lockwood will die this day. This time, she will not come back.”

Must keep him talking. “You can’t stop us. You can’t stop her.”

“We already have, you just don’t know it.” He smiles now, smug. “Javier found a way through her blocks—you.”

No, not in this lifetime. But even still, unease takes a swing at me.

Unease has claws. I flinch.

The new Abrogates look to their king, unsure, and he offers a clipped nod.

What are they going to—

Shadows invade my mind in a burst, and a new surge of pain follows, my temples throbbing. I’m quaking as I clutch my head, my forearms pressing against my ears, my fingers weaving together in back.

Fury burns through me. Fury and fear. So much fear. What if they can use me to harm Ten?

Sweat pours down my temples.

Can’t yield. Not for a second. Again and again, I’ve watched Ten battle her fears. Most people cave, never realizing they were already defeated the moment, the very second, they stop fighting. I will not stop fighting. Not now, not ever.

As dust rains from above, I drop to my knees. A shadow springs from the Secondking, wraps around my neck and yanks me across the way, until I’m kneeling directly in front of him.

What did Ten say? Light is love and love is strength. I focus on my love for my wife and fight my way back to my feet. I’m panting, sweating, agonized. My teeth are clenched so tightly I fear my jaw will snap.

“Ambrosine,” Archer calls from behind me. No longer does he refer to the male as his father. “Stop this.”

“Never,” the Secondking replies.

“Killian?” Archer again. “What do you want me to do?”

I remember the days when we fought side by side. Then the days we fought so hard to hurt each other. Now, he’s willing to risk his life to help me?

Trust. Loyalty. Honor.

Love.

They take the broken pieces inside me and help weld me back together again. Giving me the strength to say, “Let him continue.” Must find a way to use Ambrosine’s plan against him… “I’ll win.” A taunt.

A taunt that reaches its intended target. Eyes flashing with fury, Ambrosine motions Javier over.

The Abrogate steps in front of me, flattens his hands on my temples, and sends his darkness whisking through my mind, an ice-cold gale force I struggle to resist. Because, at long last, I see the shadows for what they really are: bondage.

These shadows do their best to tempt me, even as they barrage every barrier I erect. Let us in…will make everything better…all your pain will go away…earn respect…

Panic feels like a thousand needle pricks against my skin. No, no. Fight! So often Myriadians have claimed the Troikans are slaves to their rules, but all along, the opposite has been true. We served the will of greed, nothing more, ignoring the plight of others. We waxed poetic about luxury and frivolity, taking what we wanted, when we wanted, citing might equaled right. To us, the weak deserved their lot.

Today, I’m the weak one. I need help, but my fellow kinsmen won’t lift a finger in my defense. A bitter laugh sounds inside my head. Ten warned me this day would come. She said the weak do not stay weak and the strong do not stay strong, there’s a constant ebb and flow, and we need each other to survive it.

With a cry from deep in my soul, I push the shadows and their ice away from the Grid, away from Ten and Troika.

I am part of Troika.

I might have shared what little Light I had with Ten, but there must be more. The source of my Light, buried deep, deeper…yes! In this cold, oppressive darkness, a pinprick of Light beckons…

I jolt. It is my connection to Ten, and Javier hasn’t touched it. He can’t. It’s too bright, too pure.

A smile blooms. Like a heat-seeking missile, I focus on the flames, stretching out my hand…

Knowledge comes, cutting through the shadows to glide across the Grid. Light comes.

Once I thought Myriad had an intractable hold on me— but I was the one holding on to Myriad. No longer. I let go without a beat of hesitation. Let go of my past, hurts and fears. A heavy weight lifts from my shoulders. A weight I never knew I carried.

I grab hold of my future with Ten, allowing the Light to grow, spread and deepen. Warmth pervades, melting ice. Love for my wife expands. She is my life, the reason I breathe.

Javier grunts, and begins to shake. His grip on me loosens, but I latch on to his wrists, maintaining contact. Will use their plan against them…

The Light continues to expand, filling me…and spilling into Javier. He goes quiet and still, then collapses. Dead? Perhaps. I expect satisfaction, but feel resolute. His actions, his consequences.

Where will his spirit go, if he breathes his last? Many Ends is nearing complete collapse.

I open my eyes…and reel, the rest of the world coming back into focus. The Kennel cages have fallen over. Paths have been formed over the ground, where soldiers fight. Troikans versus Abrogates. Sword against sword, Light against dark. Ambrosine hovers in the air, held by a cloud of shadows, watching as a battle rages.

Ten lies on the ground, motionless, guarded only by Biscuit.