Lifeblood (Everlife #2)

I lick my lips as dread bubbles up inside me. I’ve witnessed someone else’s Exchange, and the experience scarred me.

“Come,” he says, waving his fingers.

I know I have the right to refuse him. Free will. But I place my hand in his. This is something I deserve. A non-punishment punishment.

He tugs me to my feet and ushers me into the hallway, where Kayla is waiting, a blue robe draped over her arm. She’s fighting tears as she fits the material over my shoulders, and she won’t meet my gaze.

She blames me. She must.

Neither of us speaks. There’s a ball of sorrow stuck in my throat.

She doesn’t follow us from the cathedral.

After taking two Gates, we end up in the Temple of Temples. For the first time, the entire section of the city is emptied out.

“Why aren’t we in the Garden of Exchange?” I ask softly.

“This Exchange is a gift. We go to the giver.”

In the back of the Waft of Incense, doors open. Tremors sweep through me as we enter the Great Throne room. The air is sweetly scented air, almost intoxicating.

Two creatures fly overhead, drawing us deeper inside. Both have a single head with a different face on every side. A man, a lion, a ram and an eagle. Both have two sets of wings. One set arches over a pair of wide shoulders while the other set covers the groin area. One wears gold armor, the other silver.

My gaze returns to their wings. At first glance the feathers look like a peacock’s, but the ends...a human eye tips every single one. I gasp. Those eyes watch me.

The creatures dance around seven towering lamp stands, and I know without asking the stands represent different cities in the realm. Two glow brighter than others, and the reason hits me with the force of a jackhammer. Seven cities, seven Conduits needed.

The princess and I are working overtime, being drained faster than we should, two women doing the job of seven.

A puzzle to work out another day.

Marble steps lead to two alabaster columns. Between the columns are thrones. A rainbow arcs behind both, and crimson-colored water flows from the feet of the smaller one, down the stairs and through the center of the entire room. Just like the Veil of Wings.

A man dressed in dented armor sits in the smaller throne. Light shines from him, the most glorious Light. I know I’ve met the Secondking, Eron, Prince of Doves and firstborn of the Firstking, but this feels like the first time. I’m still in awe of him.

His beautiful eyes peer at me with sympathy I don’t deserve. The ice melts. Tears finally pour down my cheeks, leaving stinging tracks in their wake.

As long as he’s been alive, as many people as he’s lost, he probably understands grief better than anyone.

He is the essence of Troika itself; in one glance, there is no doubt he is everything the realm represents. Love. Forgiveness. Strength. Equality. And that armor...he is also a warrior, something I hadn’t known. He fights alongside his people. He fights for his people.

He stands with fluid grace and descends the steps. At the bottom, he stops to stretch his arms toward me.

Do I curtsy?

“Your Majesty,” I say, and suddenly I don’t have to wonder what to do. Through the Grid, my heart knows what my mind doesn’t. I go to him and kneel, my arms crossed over my chest. Next I raise and uncross my arms, offering him my hands in a show of fealty.

A sign I was once bound by darkness, but now, because of Light, I’m free.

He clasps my hands and in an instant, a blink, a breath, a second, the Lifeblood coating me rises from my skin, the glittering particles hovering in the air around me.

Those particles float away as the Secondking gently pulls me to my feet, and my heart shudders. “You are brave, Ten. You are mighty. A Conduit with unmatched determination.”

The tears flow faster as I shake my head. “No. I’m stubborn and foolish. A maker of incomparable mistakes.”

He frowns at me. “If that is what you believe, that is what you will be.”

I say nothing more. I can’t. There’s another ball of sorrow in my throat.

“Do you see?” he asks, his grip on me tightening. “Do you see?”

See...as Levi once told me to do? To meditate on the outcome I want rather than the outcome I fear? My chin trembles as I shake my head. “Not yet.”

“See.”

I bow my head, my eyes closing, and suddenly I’m no longer Ten; I’m Meredith. I see the world through her eyes. I feel her emotions and hear her thoughts.

I’m standing at the Eye, watching my worst fear come to life. Ten is in trouble, MLs killing anyone who gets close to her.

If she’s hurt, or worse...

No! When she finally taps into the power that is locked inside her, she will send legions of enemy soldiers fleeing in terror. Troika needs her. I need her.

Months ago, when Ten lived at the asylum, her mother sent me a message. Take care of my girl.

Truth is, I vowed to take care of her long before that day. I’ve watched over Ten since her birth, have loved her since her birth. Every time danger dared approach her, I petitioned my General, seeking aid for her. Aid that was always granted. Not that she ever knew it.

Can I really hold my position now, as ordered, when she needs me most?

“Kayla,” I shout. “Take my place.”

She pales. “I... I can’t. I’m not ready.”

When Kayla first arrived in Troika, she was assigned to the Laborers. I took notice of her because of her connection to Ten, but it didn’t take me long to see the Leader caged inside her, waiting to be freed.

“You are. You’re stronger than you realize. And your comm will keep a log of Laborers who enter the fray. When one is weakened, let others know backup is required. If your messages fail to go through, it’s because a Myriadian Buckler is in place. Continue to resend. At some point, the Buckler will fall.” I run, as fast as my feet will carry me, a Pyre in hand, a manifestation of my Light.

I reach the Veil of Wings and—

Land in the center of the action. I scan the sea of faces, searching...searching...there!

Ten has killed an ML, and it’s clear she’s wallowing in guilt.

I quickly dispatch an ML of my own. I’ve got to help my granddaughter reach Javier; once she’s touched him, the way she touched Dior, he’ll be unable to infect anyone else, at least for a while, his Penumbra too busy repairing the damage Ten caused. Then my girl can go home. We can figure out our next move without an army breathing down our necks.

“The boy is this way.” A shadow moves behind her, a soldier gunning for her. “Look out!”

She doesn’t hesitate. She dives out of the way—

But the tip of a Glacier grazes her, cold and sharp enough to slice through her armor and into her leg. I wince as glittering Lifeblood gushes from her.

My sympathy quickly morphs into rage. Hurt my grandbaby? Die badly.