Lifeblood (Everlife #2)

Levi takes my hand, squeezes. “The blame doesn’t rest at your door, Miss Lockwood. It rests at Mr. Prince’s.”


I know that, but knowing doesn’t negate feeling. “Did he survive?” My chin trembles. A funny thought takes center stage: during the frenzied attempt to enter my apartment, Levi had called me Ten.

“Yes, but he had help. Someone put our prison guards to sleep the same way Mr. Prince put my team to sleep. A flash of all-encompassing darkness. Then someone opened his cell.”

I hate that Victor is out there—with a partner! “What about his contract? Hasn’t it been voided? Shouldn’t he lose his connection to Troika?”

“Even people like Mr. Prince are given a grace period. We do not favor one over the other.” Levi gives my hand another squeeze. “Don’t worry about him. We’ll be talking with his friends and every girl he’s dated. We’ll find him and whoever’s working with him. Rest up, Miss Lockwood. You have begun to unlock the Grid. I can feel it. You have work to do.”

“Don’t I always?”

He ignores me. “The moment you succeed—and you will—the war will heat up. Everything will change.”





MYRIAD



* * *



From: Z_C_4/23.43.2

To: K_F_5/23.53.6

Subject: What am I to do with you?

You failed to sign the French girl, and this morning one of your former protégés was caught hiding Miss Lockwood’s mother.

I hope you’re pleased to learn both citizens have been placed in the Kennels.

As for Miss Lockwood, she’s learned of Victor’s allegiance to Myriad, and she’s close to using her Key. The Generals have decided she’s more trouble than she’s worth, a true threat to our freedom. You are to draw her out and kill her.

Another failure will not be tolerated, Killian.

Might Equals Right!

Sir Zhi Chen





chapter twenty-three



* * *



“With kindness, you brighten the world. With cruelty, you darken yourself.”

—Troika

The next day, I’m released from the Sanatorium. I return to my apartment, which has been cleaned, the broken furniture replaced, Victor’s recording devices found and removed. I consider asking for new digs; the furniture may be different, but my memories are vivid.

Death came to visit and left his mark. Shadows have moved in, and they are named Sorrow and Sadness.

During Firstlife, death is expected. We are human, and no matter our station, our bodies age. A fact as certain as the passage of time. Here in the Everlife, we are spirits with the potential to live forever.

Tired, I place the Blessing and Cursing on my brand-new coffee table.

When Levi whisked me to the Sanatorium, he brought the swords with us. He’d known what I hadn’t. I would never want to be parted from them again. I must always remain alert. I must be ready for battle, even during times of seeming peace.

Looking back, the signs of Victor’s treachery are vivid. His deceitful method of campaigning for Archer. An attempt to prevent the Resurrection of a Conduit, I’m sure. The pressure he placed on Kayla. Killian’s innate distrust of him.

I flop onto the couch, determined. The Book of the Law opens in front of me. Enough wallowing. What’s done is done and cannot be changed. It’s time to move forward, to work and find answers.

I brace as I follow the cypher and flip to page 10.

The second number can only be a letter within a word or the word itself, and it doesn’t take long to figure out it’s the word. Excitement blooms.

The meaning clicks, and I laugh. Loyalty. Passion. Liberty. Three things I need more than any weapon. They will get me through any hardship.

Doors in the Grid begin to open for me, Light pouring through me. Light is knowledge. Darkness is confusion. Light is strength, like being connected to a battery. Light is love, the reason we live. It is hope. No matter how magnificent or how bleak our situation, we can have better. Light is truth. There are no shadows where secrets can hide.

I must fight for what I believe. I must be loyal to my heart. I must fight with passion. In the end, I can free the people trapped in Many Ends. I must shine my Light in a very dark world. I must do what’s right even when others do me wrong.

My number brands move on my skin, elongating, bleeding together to form a Troikan symbol. I laugh.

The Light streaming in from the window is drawn to me, ray after ray wrapping around me, sinking inside me, warming me. Filling and consuming me. Goose bumps cover me.

More doors open. A torrent of images crystallizes in my mind, and I gasp. I close my eyes and concentrate on my favorite. A sea of unimaginable colors.

In the distance, lightning strikes. Clouds dipped in diamond dust twirl together, dancing in Light and luminance, yet still stars shine bright enough to be discerned.

Someone is floating toward me...someone with hair the color of spun gold and an impossibly handsome face.

My heart leaps as he smiles at me.

“Archer!” I feel myself rushing toward him. This. This is joy, pure and unadulterated.

He catches me and, with a laugh, spins me around.

“I’ve missed you so much.” When he sets me on my feet, I can’t bring myself to let him go. I cup his face. “How am I seeing you?”

He kisses both of my eyes. “You’re a Conduit. You’re able to open doors others can’t.”

Whoa. “I can open a door into the Rest? I can visit anytime I want?” I’ll be able to see Meredith and Elizabeth and even meet with the other Conduit? I squeal.

His smile brightens. “You surely can.”

I bear-hug him. “Where are the others? What do you do up here? Are you happy?”

“One question at a time,” he says, tweaking my nose. “The others are in the Viewing Room. After entering the Rest, we’re shown a playback of our lives. For the first time, we see the whole story, know the mind-set of those we interacted with and find out what would have happened if we’d made different choices. The longer the life, the more memories there are to watch.”

“So why aren’t you in the Viewing Room? Shouldn’t a playback take nineteen years?”

“Time passes differently here, a day like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day. And yes. I’m happy. But if anyone can ruin a good Rest, it’s Ten Lockwood.”

“Hey!” I poke his chest.

He snickers at me.

Treading carefully, I say, “Are you aware of the happenings in Troika?” Do I need to tell him about his brother? Or Dior?

He sobers in a snap. “Yes, I know.” He winds an arm around my shoulders, and I rest my head against him. “Before entering the Viewing Room, Elizabeth told me.”

“I’m so, so sorry, Archer.”

“My brother...” He releases me to walk to the edge of the cliff. “He signed with Troika, but his heart has always belonged to Myriad.”

I join him. “Do you know where he is?” I’m willing to bet Victor stayed inside the realm, fearing he would lose the bond, no longer able to pass through the Veil of Wings. “Where he might go?”