Everlife Trilogy Complete Collection: Firstlife ; Lifeblood ; Everlife

by Gena Showalter

  —I’m rememberin’—He goes quiet. Then a gasp flows over the Grid. —I’m remembering every precious second with you. Before our bond and after. Meetin’ you in Prynne. Bein’ fascinated by your strength, courage and loyalty. Cravin’ you more than air to breathe. Oh, Ten. I’m so sorry. I wish I could go back and change the things I’ve done.—

  He remembers. Because he did his part—trusted me—and I did my part, letting him back into my heart?

  My eyes widen. Of course. His memories were never dependent on him. Not totally. We were joined. Two had become one. I had to trust him, too. I had to let my love for him overcome…everything. Just like he had to let his love for me overcome everything.

  We are two halves of a whole. Complete together.

  Joyous, I push my voice to him. —If you could go back and change anything, we might not be where we are now, and we are right where we need to be.—

  With one hand, he thrusts and parries a sword; with the other, he fires a gun. Around him, soldiers fall.—You want me tae stop fightin’, lass?—

  In the past, I told him not to put down his weapons. Today?—Don’t you dare.—These people will go to Many Ends. I believe it more surely than ever. Troikans go to the Rest. Myriadians must go to Many Ends.

  If spirits who experienced Second-death can leave the Rest, spirits who experienced Second-death can leave Many Ends.

  Soon, I’ll be in Many Ends, too. I’ll guide everyone to the exit. Like Reed and Kayla, they will be free to choose their path. Stay in Myriad, or pledge allegiance to Troika. No need for court.

  Hello, beautiful loophole.

  While Trokian covenants are eternal, Myriadian covenants last only until Second-death. Ambrosine’s choice. I wonder why. To sustain his lie about Fusion? Maybe shadows die at Second-death. Or maybe they move from the dead to the living. No matter the reason, if a person is not a channel of darkness any longer, they are no longer of use to him.

  My mind is worked into a frenzy of questions and answers, probabilities and possibilities. Can the spirits inside the Rest be freed, as well? Not just one a year, but all of them? If they want to leave, that is. My guess? Yes. Eron could open a door… Would he?

  As Clay helps me to my feet, I catch a glimpse of Lina, whose gaze is locked on Killian. She’s fighting her way toward him. I stiffen.

  “Guard Killian from my aunt,” I tell Biscuit. “Without actually hurting her. If possible.” He can zip across the distance in a blink. When he opens his mouth to protest, I add, “Keeping Killian safe keeps me safe.”

  My sweet, protective dog offers no arguments and bounds over. The number of soldiers fighting against us has dwindled, but I can hear a new thunder of footsteps in the distance.

  “What next?” Clay asks me. “How do we get into Many Ends from here?”

  When last I exited, I’d dived into a lake in Many Ends and fallen through the Veil overhead. Now I glance up, up, up. Zero! How are we supposed to climb into the sky?

  —We’ll find a way.—Again Killian’s voice fills my head. He’s reading my emotions, the impending sense of defeat.

  “Look out!” Clay shouts.

  A contingent of soldiers has slipped around Killian and Raanan, and is heading for Archer and Dior. I rush to meet them, swinging my swords together, creating a staff. As the metal arcs through the air, bolts of Light spray. The contingent falls, one by one. The group of men and women behind them simply steps over the bodies and fires different weapons at me.

  I use the staff to deflect the bullets, but it isn’t long before I’m clipped in the shoulder. Lifeblood leaks from the wound, and my motions slow. Zero! How much longer can we hold off this new army?

  Once again, I need help. Scanning…scanning… My aunt has given up her quest to reach Killian. She comes up behind the next set of soldiers and pelts the group with a spray of automatic fire. More bodies fall. Or perhaps Lina never meant to hurt Killian? She could have shot him and Biscuit in a single swoop.

  “The next round of soldiers will be the end of us,” she calls, her gaze locked on mine. “Not because they’ll kill us, but because they’ll lock us away. If we’re locked away, we’ll lose.”

  Nausea churns in my stomach. “Clay, can you contact Clementine and transport back to Troika?”

  “I don’t know. She and Kayla are supposed to be waiting at the Eye, but since my arrival in Myriad, they haven’t responded to any of my messages.”

  The Eye sees into the Land of the Harvest but not Myriad. Through it, Headhunters are able to monitor humans and Laborers, and pull Laborers out of dangerous situations whenever necessary—and no Bucklers have been engaged, of course.

  “Get home however you can, then,” I tell him, blocking the parry of another soldier. “You and the others. Gather the other Conduits. Make more. As many as you can. Guard the Veil of Wings in case the Myriadians bound to Killian think to risk—”

  “Ten,” Lina snaps. “It’s time.”

  I hurry to finish my sentence. “The goal is Ambrosine’s death.” Everything hinges on that.

  “Ten,” Lina repeats.

  I meet her determined stare. “How do we get into Many Ends?” I yank my staff apart to spray a new crop of soldiers with shards of Light, stopping their approach, buying us a few more minutes—seconds? “Do you know?”

  “You are the key,” she says, stepping toward me. “You have always been the key. You know what needs to be done, Ten. You know.”

  Suddenly I…do. The answer clicks. My number is up. I have to die.

  I want to vomit. Linked to Killian, I’ll kill him, too, but we’ll appear in Many Ends, as planned. Because I’ll hide my Light and let the shadows go free.

  I reel, and there’s no blunting the sharp edges of my shock, dismay and certainty. This. This is one of the reasons Eron supported my bond with Killian. This is the way inside Many Ends. Self-sacrifice. I give up everything—but I gain so much more.

  The shadows will overrun me, but they’ll lead me straight to Many Ends.

  “If I do this…” I begin as sweat beads on my forehead.

  “You will. Find the doorway, save the day. If the hills have eyes, everyone dies. To win the fight, you’ll need Light.”

  Another rhyme. One that bolsters me. To win the fight, she said—that means winning is possible. I can do this.

  I stop, my heart racing, and meet my aunt’s gaze. “What will happen to the others? My friends?”

  Torment darkens her features. “I don’t know. Don’t see. You just do you. Let them do them. All right? My husband and I will take care of the Secondking.”

  Someone. My Secondking. Take care…as in kill? “If you hurt Eron—”

  “Who said anything about Eron?”

  Oh, thank the Firstking. She’s going after Ambrosine.

  Grunting from exertion, Clay slays a male trying to sneak up behind us. “I won’t leave until I know you’re safe. So, let’s get you to safety.”

  He has no idea what I’m planning with Lina.

  A roar blasts through the sky. Gasping, I look up. Dragons. Ten of them. They fly overhead, their wings outstretched. More roars sound, loud enough to shake the ground. Then—fire rains.

  People run for cover. Screams erupt. Streams of fire spray over buildings and Myriadians alike. Like the soldiers, the dragons are willing to sacrifice their people in order to kill me and mine.

  Lina and I stay put. The rest of my team, as well.

  —Lass.—Killian’s voice rushes through my head.—I’m with you. I’ll always be with you. Even in this. Do what you must.—

  My gaze zooms to him across the distance. He’s standing as still as a statue as people run all around him. Biscuit keeps him from being trampled, taking out everyone who attempts to get near him.

  “Together,” I say, even though he can’t hear me.

  �
�Together,” he mouths.

  Behind him, about three hundred yards away, are Victor and Javier. Other dragons unleash streams of fire to clear their path.

  Almost too late…

  Before I change my mind, I look to Lina. Tremors threaten to topple me, but I remain on my feet.

  How far will I go for my realm?

  All the way.

  “Do it,” I croak, and shove every ounce of Light into rooms in the Grid. My mind goes dark, but I remain aware. Shadows overrun me, as expected. They laugh with glee as ice crystallizes in my veins and wave after wave of evil bathes me.

  I’m strong, there’s no one stronger. Must prove my power.

  Will take…everything! What’s theirs is mine, and what’s mine is mine.

  Allow myself to be killed in order to save others? Never!

  Does she laugh inside, thinking she’s bested me? I’ll turn her amusement to sobs.

  “Do it now,” I manage to push past clenched teeth. Before the shadows change my mind for good.

  A moment later, a shot rings out and fire burns between my eyes.

  TROIKA

  * * *

  From: M_V_3/54.5.8

  To: L_R_3/51.3.15, J_A_3/19.37.30, S_C_3/50.4.13, C_M_3/5.20.1, T_B_3/19.30.2, B_S_3/51.3.13, A_S_3/42.6.31, J_B_3/19.23.4, S_J_3/62.5.5, M_P_3/45.10.9

  Subject: What happened?

  It’s as if someone turned off a Light inside our realm. With it came a wave of weakness.

  Light Brings Sight!

  General Mykhail Vasiliev

  MYRIAD

  * * *

  From: H_S_3/51.3.6

  To: Z_C_4/23.43.2

  Subject: What just happened?

  Everyone in the realm just experienced a burst of strength. Why? And how can we do it again?

  Might Equals Right!

  General Hans Schmidt

  PART THREE

  * * *

  Many Ends

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  * * *

  “Question everything. Take nothing by faith.”

  —Myriad

  Killian

  One second I’m standing on a battlefield, peering over at Ten, who no longer glows. Anguish nearly fells me. I hadn’t realized she glowed while inside Myriad until the Light inside her was snuffed out. Shadows rise from her.

  Then the space between my eyes burns. Then I wake up sprawled across cold, hard ground. The scent of ash and blood hangs heavy in the air.

  Plagued by a sense of urgency, I jolt upright and scan the area around me. A super creepy forest, trees knifing toward the sky. Branches extend, tangling together, leaves shaking as something moves beyond my line of sight.

  Where am I? This can’t be Many Ends. I expected fire and brimstone. Torture. Although, I see no sign of Ten, and an eternity without her is hell.

  I pat myself down for weapons. None. Even my wrist cuffs are gone. I’m left defenseless. Or at least, defenseless in the eyes of others. Years of training have turned me into a weapon all on my own. I’m wearing a black T-shirt and leather pants, the clothes I died in. If I died.

  “Ten.” My voice echoes. I wait, but there’s no response. Next I try the Grid.—Ten. Can you hear me, lass?—Again, no response.

  I focus on the Grid—

  And suck in a breath. The Grid is gone. There’s…nothing.

  “Ten.” I shout her name and wait for a reply, tense. The wind whistles, branches rattle, and leaves rustle, but there’s no response.

  My tension escalates, my hands balling at my sides. Where is she? Did she survive her aunt’s shot? Part of me hopes she did, somehow, some way. I love that girl more than I love my own life, and I want her well. Even if it means I must live without her. Or die without her.

  143, 10

  I want her to have a full, long life, even if it doesn’t include me.

  On the flip side, I very much want that life to include me.

  I know I don’t deserve her. I’ve lived my life pretending to be everyone’s friend—from my bosses to my targets—until the moment I had to make a choice: who could do me the most good, who could do me the most harm. I did everything in my power to make people love me, not just because I hoped to avoid the same rejections I suffered in my childhood, but because I wanted others to act against their own best interests in order to help me. That’s how I’ve won so many spirits for Myriad.

  Somehow Ten saw something good in me. She forgave me for my crimes. At the end, I felt her emotions, including more love than I have ever dreamed possible.

  A blood-curdling scream cuts through the air. I’m rushing forward before my brain registers I’ve taken a step. Branches slice my cheeks and dizziness swims in my brain.

  As I sway on my feet, I slow. When I reach out to brace myself against a tree trunk, a thousand stings explode in my hand. Yelping, I jump back—and trip over a fallen branch.

  Everything is working against me. This must be Many Ends.

  From my perch on the ground, I blink rapidly until my vision clears. Of course, even then I’m not given a reprieve. The ground begins to shake, and the air thickens with dust.

  Overhead, a plume of dark smoke mushrooms across the sky, and I tense. As the smoke dissipates…

  No way, just no way, though I doubt my eyes deceive me. The smoke breaks apart and transforms into birds. Large, black birds with spiked beaks, skeletal bodies and wings that look to be made of sharpened bone and dipped in metal. Their claws are definitely made of metal.

  As Ten would say: Zero!

  One of the creatures catches sight of me and swoops down, down. With a squawk, it stretches its claws in my direction. Intending to collect me? What, I’m to be dinner?

  Sorry. Not today. I grit my teeth and wait for it…wait… Now! I kick out my leg the moment the creature is within striking distance. Contact! Another squawk sounds. The creature soars through the forest, crash lands, and skids across the ground. I expect him to be down for the count, but he regains his bearings quickly and leaps into the sky.

  As I climb to shaky legs, he circles overhead. Two friends join him, looking at me, projecting a single message: You can run but you can’t hide.

  Things are about to get ugly.

  Thinking fast, I reach for a fat, fallen branch, but again, a thousand lightning stings explode over my hand like mini-grenades, courtesy of the tiny bugs that are crawling all over the wood.

  My vision begins to swim all over again, leaving me defenseless. No, no. I’ve trained for this—trained in the dark.

  Though my sight is compromised, I can rely on my other senses. I go still, listening. My ears twitch, detecting a whoosh, whoosh of wings. Wind brushes my face. The scent of rot…growing closer, closer…

  I dive out of the way. A sharp sting agonizes my back, claws scraping my spine, but I’m moving too swiftly for the birds to grab hold of me. Thankfully, my vision clears as I jump to my feet. The birds remain low as they circle around me…and dart toward me.

  Deciding to use my fists this go-round, I stand my ground. Ready…ready…

  Just before contact, a thick branch comes out of nowhere, hitting two of the birds. New squawks. Hisses. I disable the third creature as planned, with a fist to the face. The bones in my hand crack, and pain floods me. Pain must flood the bird, too. It flops to the ground and struggles to straighten.

  Another bird knocks me to the ground in order to grab its friend and return to the sky.

  I roll to my back and blink in shock and relief.

  “You okay?” My helper offers me a hand.

  Ten! My heart leaps at the sight of her. She’s not glowing, but she’s not surrounded by shadows, either. She’s alive, and she’s here. Our connection is gone, but she’s here. She’s safe. Or as safe as possible, considering our location. Nothing else matters to me.

&nb
sp; “I could be dyin’—again—and I’d be okay right now, because yer here. I love you, lass.” I take her hand, but I don’t stand. I pull her down on top of me. Breath gushes from my lungs as her slight weight settles atop me. I’m overcome, undone and overjoyed all at once. “I thought I’d lost you.”

  “Never. You’re stuck with me. And stop apologizing. You died for me, Killian. I’d say we’re even.” She softens against me for a split second, and I luxuriate in the feel of our bodies pressed together. Then she places a swift kiss on my lips and climbs to her feet. “We need to reach the Tree of Life, and fast.”

  “Tree of Life?”

  “Come on!” She grabs the limb and takes off.

  I have no choice but to jump up and follow. Along the way, I snatch the limb from her grip, freeing her from its weight.

  “Only step where I step,” she says. “Okay? All right? The entire realm is a maze. There are invisible doorways. Pits, tricks and poisons. Monsters and disasters waiting everywhere.”

  Monsters that are worse than the birds? Wonderful. “So this is Many Ends?”

  “Yep. Where happiness comes to die.”

  I reel. She was right. All along she was right about Myriad’s connection to Many Ends. How it’s possible, I don’t know. How it’s been kept a secret, though, I can guess. Ambrosine has always refused to host a resurrection. When Archer and I were friends, he told me it takes power from the Secondking to bring back one of his people. Power Ambrosine refuses to relinquish.

  “How do you know where tae go?” She’s been here several times before, yes, but I can see no marks to distinguish one path from another.

  “I see the patterns. Raised stones and limbs every few steps, plus other tells—like glittery patches of air.” She is panting now, the temperature rising. Sweat pours from us.

  “Others are here?” I’m panting, too, the poisons I’ve already encountered still playing havoc with my systems. Without ambrosia or manna—or whatever I need now—I have no way to heal. Except naturally, of course, but who wants to wait for that?