The Broken World

by Lindsey Klingele

  The group of them walked down the Malibu beach, blinking from the glare of the sun. But not one of them complained about it. They reached the spot where Liv knew the portal would open, and she and Joe said the words to make it appear. The ritual was familiar to Liv—she had said these words often enough before—but it felt slightly different this time. The black hole that opened up in the sky didn’t tear at her consciousness as it had before. Opening it up felt as easy as twisting a lid off a milk container.

  Cedric and Kat embraced, and Kat whispered something into Cedric’s ear that Liv could not hear. He smiled a sad smile as he watched her walk toward the portal with Malquin, and then he reached back to take Liv’s hand. She squeezed his fingers with her own.

  When it came time for Merek to say good-bye, he hesitated. He looked between the portal and his brother, then took one hesitant step backward.

  “I cannot go back,” he said. “Not quite yet.”

  Rafe tilted his head in confusion. “What are you talking about? Of course you are coming back.”

  But Merek resolutely shook his head.

  “You are a duke’s son,” Rafe said, his voice authoritative.

  “A duke’s second son,” Merek corrected. “And you know, brother, that there is little need for me at home. I am staying here.”

  Merek and Rafe stared each other down for a moment, until Shannon stepped forward, her eyes blazing into Rafe’s. “Are we gonna have a problem here? ’Cause it sounds like he’s made up his mind.”

  “Merek has people at home waiting for him.”

  “He has people here, too,” Shannon said, jutting her chin up to meet Rafe’s eyes directly. Merek moved to stand nearer to her.

  “Tell Mother and Father I am fine,” Merek said.

  Rafe took a few moments before finally nodding. “If that is your wish. I hope I will see you soon.”

  Rafe stuck out his hand, and Merek shook it with his free one. “I hope so, too,” Merek said. “And in the meantime, Rafe? Try not to be such a dick.”

  Shannon and Liv both bit their lips to keep from laughing at the confused look on Rafe’s face. He turned around to join Kat, and the two stood at the edge of the portal, looking back at the others.

  “You know where I will be if you need me,” Cedric said.

  “Same to you,” Kat responded with a smile.

  She and Rafe raised their hands in farewell, then stepped into the black hole, taking their prisoner with them.

  Liv, Cedric, Merek, Shannon, Peter, and Joe stood on the beach for a while, looking at the space where their friends had disappeared and waiting for the portal to close up after them.

  It didn’t.

  Fifteen minutes passed, then thirty. The portal remained, a black tear in the sky. Without the Earth repressing magic, the portals were free to stay open and completely visible.

  “Well,” Liv said, after they realized the portal wasn’t going anywhere. “This is going to be hard to explain to the neighbors.”

  A PLACE IN THE SUN

  Up close, the letters of the Hollywood sign were large, the white paint on them fading in the sun. The sign had always felt important to Liv, like a symbol of everything she wanted to accomplish, everything she loved about her ambitious, dreaming city. Looking at it from a distance filled her with a sense of purpose, and being this close to it now seemed, fittingly, like something out of a movie.

  Under normal circumstances, getting so close to the iconic letters wouldn’t be possible. It was closed off with a chain-link fence, and anyone who jumped over to get close enough for a picture might find themselves being chased down the hillside by helicopters and the police.

  But now the city was still empty of helicopters, and of people in general. Instead, it was spread out before Liv and Cedric like a sprawling, shining, slightly smog-covered blanket. Liv wanted to take this opportunity while she could. She wanted to share it with someone. And not just any someone.

  Liv leaned her back up against the metal scaffolding of the sign, her feet resting at a nearly ninety-degree angle on the steep hillside.

  “You were right,” Cedric said beside her, gazing out over the landscape. “This was worth the climb.”

  Liv smiled, her eyes also out over the city. Soon, the people would come back, with their cars and their big ideas and even bigger dreams. Meetings concerning millions of dollars would take place in the top floors of shiny buildings, while across town young hopefuls would keep their eyes glued to screens in darkened rooms, wondering when their own time would come. One of those hopefuls would be Liv.

  Everything she’d always wanted was once again possible, now that they’d fixed what was broken. Of course, there were other, more immediate concerns. Even though Liv would be going to live with Joe—something that still seemed too good to even believe—she knew her social worker and friend still had some hard questions to face.

  Joe would be forever changed by what happened to him, forever tainted with wrath blood. Whether he and the other Knights who’d been turned would become Guardians like Cedric or something else entirely was yet to be seen, but Cedric was keeping a close watch on Joe, and he’d vowed to keep close tabs on the others as well. If they’d gained strength from the wrath blood, they might also need training and guidance. They’d need someone who knew how to fight, and what things were worth fighting for. They’d need him.

  Then, of course, there was the magic, and all of the unknowable shapes that it would take. That was the biggest question looming over Liv’s head. The outside world had its own questions, some about Liv and her role in what had happened to the city. But Liv didn’t want to think about any of that now, about the way they’d changed the world and how they’d have to answer for it. Right now, she was finally alone with Cedric, without fear of violence coming to tear them apart. Without fear that he might leave.

  “See that whole big city out there?” Liv asked, gesturing at Los Angeles laid out before them like an uneven blanket stretching to the sea. “It’s all yours now, for as long as you want it. What’s the first thing you think you’ll do?”

  Cedric looked out over the hills and cocked his head. “Well, someone once told me I would make an excellent stuntman.”

  He grinned, pushing one shoulder up against Liv. Just feeling the warmth of his arm through her shirt sent a buzz through her skin.

  “And you have no regrets?” she asked, pulling back a little. “About the things you’re leaving behind? Your family?”

  “I will miss my family, but it is not as though I will never see them again. The portals will no longer hurt our worlds, remember? And even if I do not see them every day, they are still my family. They always will be. Even those who are . . . gone.”

  “I think your father would be proud, you know? Of how you handled Malquin,” she said.

  “No,” Cedric said, shaking his head. “I don’t think he would. But it does not matter. I am proud.”

  Liv smiled. “Me too.”

  They sat in silence for a moment before she turned to him again.

  “And you’re absolutely, completely, totally sure you want to stay?”

  Cedric shook his head and smiled. “Again, yes. I am sure. Completely, totally sure.”

  Liv felt a smile split across her face. “Totally? Careful now, you’re beginning to sound like me.”

  “Maybe I should take care to sound more like you, now that I will be staying for a while.”

  “No,” Liv protested. “Don’t change too much—I like the way you talk.”

  Cedric smiled. “I like the way you talk, too. And the way you look.”

  “I like the way you look at me.”

  “I like the way you are.”

  Liv shook her head lightly, moving closer to Cedric. “We sound totally cheesy, just so you know.”

  “Totally. And I do not care.”

  He leaned closer, resting the tip of his forehead against hers. Beyond him, the city landscape became fuzzy, and Liv’s eyes focused automaticall
y on his features—his nose, his mouth, his eyes that were looking only at her.

  “Good. I don’t care either.”

  Cedric leaned forward and kissed her then, first her jaw, then the edge of her lips.

  “I never really thought I could have this,” he whispered, his words nearly getting swallowed up against her skin. “Something as strange and wonderful as getting to be here in this world, with you.”

  Liv pulled back a fraction, smiling. “Cedric, don’t you know the first thing about LA? It’s where happy endings are made.”

  He cupped the side of her face with one hand. “Endings? I do not like the sound of that.”

  “Good.” Liv smiled. “Because that’s the other thing about LA—there’s always a sequel.”

  She kissed him again, and this time neither of them pulled away for a very long time.

  They drove back at sunset, up the PCH with the ocean on one side and the city on the other. They passed the Santa Monica Pier, and Liv remembered another day, only a few months earlier, when she had first truly opened her heart up to someone else. How terrifying and full of risk that moment had been. It seemed like so long ago.

  As Liv drove Joe’s Jeep down the two-lane highway, she passed two other cars coming in the opposite direction. Already, people were starting to return to the city. She slowed a bit as a convertible passed on her left, and Cedric eyed the Jeep’s steering wheel, a glint in his eye.

  “Don’t even ask,” she said, grinning.

  “I have driven before,” he said. “And I was fairly competent. Good even.”

  Liv snorted. “That’s not the way Kat told it.”

  Cedric made a face, but he wasn’t mad, not really. There was time for Liv to teach him how to properly drive. There was time, now, to do anything they wanted.

  Liv followed a twist in the road, and the bright orange sunlight lit up the car. She flipped the sun visor down. “You realize how cliché this is, that we’re literally driving off into the sunset?”

  “Are you making another movie reference that I could have no possible way of understanding?”

  “Man, we have so much work to do,” she said, looking over at him with a smile. “I mean, the Western genre alone will take us weeks.”

  “That sounds good to me,” Cedric said, returning her smile.

  Liv looked back to the road, feeling as though she were light enough to float up through the windshield. Without even looking at Cedric, she knew he was feeling the same thing. Because they were driving through her city—no, their city—side by side, both knowing, beyond a doubt, that this was exactly where they were supposed to be at this exact moment.

  And if that wasn’t the feeling of being at home—finally, finally at home—then what was?

  But even though they were literally driving off into the sunset, Liv didn’t feel like it was time to roll credits. Because now that they knew what home was, they wouldn’t have to waste any more time looking for it. They could just live in this moment and look forward to the moment to come. Because in that moment, anything could happen.

  Anything at all.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  For having only four letters, home is a pretty big, important word. I’ve been incredibly lucky in my life to have found home in a few wonderful places, one of which, Los Angeles, played a big hand in shaping this series. Just like Liv, I love this city of dreams come to life, and nothing has been a bigger inspiration to me during this process than the beaches, mountains, freeways, hidden castles, movie sets, and, yes, ridiculous juice bars that exist here.

  But home isn’t just about the places we love, but also the people who populate them. I am forever thankful to my Los Angeles friends who have provided unrelenting enthusiasm and support (and wine) during the past few years I’ve been working on this sequel. I don’t know what I did to be lucky enough to end up in this place with these people, and all I can do is be grateful that I’m here, and that they exist.

  I am of course thankful to everyone in my first home, too. To my parents, my sisters, my friends, and family old and new in Michigan and scattered beyond, thank you so much for your unwavering confidence in me and in this series. Your support has made me cry on more than one occasion (in a good way, I promise).

  Just like me, this book was fortunate enough to find its perfect home. Thank you so much to Jess MacLeish and the whole HarperTeen team for bringing this sequel to life and making it better than I ever imagined. Many thanks also to Kate Klimowicz for the gorgeous cover design of this series. And hundreds of thanks to Reiko Davis, dream agent.

  I’ve also been enormously grateful these past few years for the support and encouragement of the Sweet Sixteens; a girl couldn’t ask for a better, funnier or smarter group of fellow authors to share this experience with. And many thanks to everyone who helped me make a cool-as-hell trailer to celebrate this series—Christine Riccio, Jesse George, Kat O’Keeffe, Tillery Johnson, Sam Kimbrell, Julie Park, Mike Costantini, and Kimtsy Gomez-Sanchez.

  And thanks to Phil, as always, for everything.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo by Phil Ranta

  LINDSEY KLINGELE author of The Marked Girl, ended up in Los Angeles via airplane, not portal, coming from the fantastical land of Michigan. She has worked in the writers’ rooms of television shows such as ABC Family’s The Lying Game and Twisted.

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  BOOKS BY LINDSEY KLINGELE

  The Marked Girl

  The Broken World

  CREDITS

  Cover art by Jeff Huang

  Cover design by Kate Engbring

  COPYRIGHT

  HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

  THE BROKEN WORLD. Copyright © 2017 by Lindsey Klingele. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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  Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949960

  ISBN 978-0-06-238036-4 (trade bdg.)

  EPub Edition © August 2017 ISBN 9780062380388

  17 18 19 20 21 PC/LSCH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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