My mouth curved at that one.
The Nexus appearing, her saving my brother’s life in the forest, our piggyback ride through the festival where I met Rach, me driving her to that diner post-breakup, helping her break into Corynn’s dorm room…
I rocked on my heels and blew out a breath, forcing my emotions to stay flat as I shoved my hands into my pockets. Years of practice had taught me to hide messy feelings from Wallace and Grandma. They always picked up on it and wanted to talk or hug out the warm and fuzzies.
Sis coming to save me from ERA headquarters, Wallace and her getting married, her overcharging Faye in a sacrificial Hail Mary…
“Damn it!”
Everyone looked at me, and I cleared my throat. “I meant…good luck.”
The group’s attention swung back to Darien, as he carefully placed his fingers on Rena’s neck. “It’s faint, but we can work with it.”
I could throw up. Literally. Right here, on the beanbag chairs.
He took a deep breath. “Here we go…”
What happened next was indescribably unnerving, even to someone used to these things. Darien flattened his palms against Rena’s chest like defibrillator paddles and closed his eyes. A blue glow poured from his body to hers, enveloping her in a flickering cocoon.
How did he know when it was working? Or when to stop? I wanted to ask, but I sure as hell didn’t want to break his concentration.
Seconds turned to minutes, and sweat rolled down his face. Jon came over with a towel and dabbed at his forehead, but chose to keep his distance. Apparently, I was right to assume the task required crazy focus.
After another minute, a ripple coursed through her skin. It paused at each wound, knitting the flesh back together as if it had never been torn. The dried blood remained, sure, but otherwise, the marks were gone. Reversed. Healed.
I wasn’t sure I believed it—until Rena sat up with a gasp.
CHAPTER 25
« RENA »
Where I ended up wasn’t white and cloudy.
Thankfully, it wasn’t dark and fiery, either. Everywhere I looked, there was color. More colors than I had known existed. It was like stepping into a Leonid Afremov painting, but brighter. Everything gleamed with faceted perfection, sparkling with ephemeral light. A place like this didn’t exist on Earth. It couldn’t.
“Lost?”
I whirled around without my feet brushing the floor. “Ari?”
She smiled.
My cousin—the one whose story I had shared with Wallace, all those months ago—appeared before me for the first time in years. Her pixie hair cut and youthful features remained untouched by time.
“You’re dead,” I stated the obvious.
“You’re not,” she countered, more at peace than I could remember her.
“Then…” I strained to recall what had happened prior to arriving here, but my mind was a fog. “Why am I here?”
She glided past me, toward an enormous, gated arch I had somehow failed to notice before. “I think you’re just passing through. It happens from time to time.”
“Is this…?”
Ari nodded.
“Wow.”
Music floated past the bars, a beautiful swirl of sounds I’d never be able to put into words. Just pausing to listen for a few seconds filled me with overwhelming joy. The rhythm washed over me, and before I knew it, I was swaying along.
And the smell! It held a familiarity I just couldn’t place. A mix of my grandma’s peach cobbler and my dad’s old pipe, maybe. Or sheets on the clothesline in spring. Mom’s perfume. None of it should have gone together, but it did.
Everything about the place called to me, like my soul wanted to make its home here. How cruel was it for me to just be passing through? I glanced at Ari, and she raised her eyebrows.
“Don’t worry. Everyone has that reaction. You should see what it’s like inside.”
My eyes widened in cautious excitement. “Can we go inside?”
“Not today, Goober.”
Laughter bubbled up and escaped my lips. I’d forgotten about that nickname. The guilt and pain I’d felt in the wake of her death had made me block everything out—memories both good and bad. It all felt so distant now.
“I need you to do something for me.” Her eyes were light with otherworldly mirth, the kind you could spend your whole life chasing and never fully capture. I wanted the Arianna I remembered to be this one, the one no longer haunted by the man who’d stolen her innocence.
“Anything,” I told her.
“I need you to let go of the blame you felt after I left.”
I blinked. “Can you read minds here?”
“Nothing like that. We just kind of…know. The soul proclaims what the flesh seeks to hide.”
“Well, that was profound.”
She laughed. “It’s the truth. Those feelings were never yours to carry. You have your own life down there—a future beyond the trials you’ve suffered.”
The trials I’ve…
Memories throttled me so fast and intense, I groped around for something to hold on to. The weddings, storming the island, trying to set the SAGEs free…
My eyes darted back and forth as I gasped for the breath stolen from my lungs. Faye catching us off guard, me getting impaled, Wallace slashing his eye to break Gail’s control…
The more I remembered, the further I drifted away from Ari, away from the place I so longed to stay.
Hell breaking lose, me grabbing Faye, using everything I had left to stop her…
Wallace crying over me.
“You see?” Ari asked. “It’s not your time yet. Your husband needs you.”
His pain melted into my subconscious, burning my eyes with tears. “I’m sorry. I—”
She waved me off with another smile. “Have to go? I know. But don’t worry. We’ll see each other again.”
“When?”
“Sooner than you think.”
I froze.
“I’m kidding, Goober! Get back down there. They’re waiting.”
The floor faded and my stomach lurched with acrophobic awareness. “Wait! I killed someone. How am I going to be allowed to come back here and see you?”
“Rena, if the road to heaven was paved with deeds alone, it’d be empty.”
“Wha—”
“I have to go show a new guy around now. You actually might know him. His name’s Larry…”
Before I could respond, the floor fell out from me, and I was falling. I tried to scream, but I was choking on air. Faster and faster, the ground stretched out beneath me. Something jolted my chest.
I sat straight up with a gasp.
“She’s alive!” Cole yelled, like I was Frankenstein. “Holy shit. Did anyone else see that?”
The room swam into view, and I felt even more confused than before. “Where…?”
“Welcome back,” Darien panted, drenched in sweat as he released me with a wink. “You gave us all quite the scare.”
“I…”
Without warning, I was spun around and enveloped in crushing warmth.
“Thank God,” Wallace whispered, his voice a rumble against my cheek. “I thought I lost you.”
“Strength, strength…” I patted his side and struggled for air. “Easy there.”
His hold disappeared, but his stormy scent lingered in the space between us—a remnant from heaven, I just now recognized. “Sorry.”
“No, I just…” My fingers ghosted over the stains and tears in my dress, finding nothing but smooth skin underneath. “Call me crazy, but am I missing a hole here?”
Laughter surrounded us, and I realized just how many people had packed into the tiny room. I hadn’t actually intended for my question to be a joke, but apparently I’d missed something.
“Darien used his ability to revert your body to its condition a few hours ago,” Wallace explained. “Before any outside influences damaged it.”
No wonder my lady parts are still sore…
“Speaking of which,” Darien leaned around me to inspect Wallace’s face. “Let’s take you back a ways, too. That eye wound is nasty.”
“Darien…” A man I didn’t recognize in the corner put his notepad down. “You need to rest.”
“I’m fine, Jon.”
Ohhh, Jon was his partner. The poet.
“You’ve already lost hours of life, today.” His tone sharpened with concern. “Isn’t that enough?”
Wait. Reverting my wounds deducted time from his own life?
“She sacrificed herself to eliminate ERA’s leader. Don’t you think that deserves a few hours over the course of a lifetime?”
“She’s grateful,” I chimed in, referring to myself in the third person. “Truly. Thank you.”
Darien smiled at me. “Don’t worry about it. The loss of life thing is just Jon’s theory, anyway. He’s a big ol’ worrywart.”
George took that opportunity to step forward. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you two keep your allegiance a secret from me? I’ve been gathering supporters…”
Darien rolled his eyes. “It’s called ah-ah-ah-ah-stayin’ alive, Georgie! Jon and I didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire, before things came to a head here.”
“I see.”
Wallace cleared his throat. “Let’s just not worry about my eye. Henry and Jaya can take a look at it when we—”
“Nonsense! C’mere.” Darien reached out and grasped both sides of Wallace’s face, before closing his eyes in concentration. A cerulean hue spread between them, almost in the way the Nexus did, and started to flicker in the low light.
Pain slashed Wallace’s features as the bloodied shard trembled and worked its way out. Once free, it hovered in the light, reflecting as it turned, and then finally disintegrated into glittering dust. I stared.
Thank God I was out when Darien worked on me.
The second his eye started sealing itself back up, I looked away. I couldn’t help it. I loved the man, but the last thing we needed was for me to faint, bonk my head, and die again.
“Therrrrrre we go,” Darien muttered. “A little easier than bringing someone from the brink of death.”
I turned back to find Wallace blinking, his blue eyes restored to their former, intensely gorgeous state. “Darien, if I weren’t married, I would kiss you.”
“Rena, if I weren’t gay, that might excite me.”
I hugged him. I didn’t know when he and Jon had joined the team, presumably during my out of body experience, but it didn’t matter. They’d patched us up and offered us shelter. For that, I would be forever grateful.
“Thank you,” Wallace told him, adding an awkward pat to our embrace.
Cole cleared his throat. “Hypothetical situation, Darien, and I know this is weird ‘cause we just met, but whatever. Say I illegally adopted a kid, I don’t know, twenty minutes ago.”
“I’m with you so far…”
I wasn’t. What the hell was he talking about?
“And that kid happened to have her brain tampered with by ERA. Would that be reversible?”
“Hypothetically? Yeah, I think I could probably swing that.”
“How much would something like that run me? I mean, you know, if it were a real situation.”
“For the former vigilante speedster?” Darien scratched his chin. “Two dollars”
“Really?”
“I’m just kidding. Bring Marlene back here. I’ll see what I can do now, before I crash.”
“H-How did…?” Cole stammered. Someone actually made Cole stammer.
Darien grinned. “You did shout her name before you jumped off the balcony and rescued her. I figured it had something to do with that.”
Cole shot Wallace a furtive glance. Then me, then his grandma. Without warning, he darted out the door, back into the war zone.
“Is that something else I missed, or…?”
Clara shook her head. “When it comes to Nicholas, I’m sure there’s much we all miss. By the way, welcome back, dear.”
“Thank you. It’s great to be back.” I hesitated. “I’m, uh, sorry about…”
She held up a hand to silence me. “I understand. That burden should’ve never been yours to carry, anyway.”
Okay, now things were just getting freaky. Hadn’t Ari told me something similar, a few minutes ago?
“Excuse interruption,” Vlad cut in, subtle as always. “But how are we to end this fighting and escape? I wish to see my daughter soon.”
That was a good question. I had no clue how we were going to get home, now that Todd was gone. For that matter, we really needed to check on our families back at ERA’s Underground.
Wallace rose to his feet and pulled me up alongside him. “I’ve got an idea, but it’s a bit of a long shot.”
“I love long shots!” Cole declared, returning with Marlene in tow. “Let’s hear it.”
Oh God. We weren’t out of the woods yet.
CHAPTER 26
« WALLACE »
Venturing back into the fray made me even more nervous the second time.
Having already gouged my eye out and watched my wife sacrifice herself, I had a better idea of the stakes involved here. We needed to get everyone to settle on a long-term solution, now that Faye was out of the picture—the other Dynari, the Augari, the Nullari, the SAGEs, and even their human companions. First things first, though, we needed the fighting to stop.
I took a deep breath. “You ready, Vlad?”
He nodded and readied his hands. “Of course.”
With a gust of heat, he launched a massive fireball into the sky over the courtyard, and Cole stepped forward. “I am the great and powerful Oz!”
“Cole!” I hissed.
“Right, sorry.” He cleared his throat, acting like himself for the first time since Tits was killed. “People of Sanctuary, ERA has fallen!”
One by one, those left standing stopped what they were doing to listen. With their attention diverted, I picked through the bodies and debris to find Faye’s tablet. It was gruesome, yes, but I’d seen worse in the wake of ERA’s tornado.
“There is no reason to keep fighting amongst ourselves,” Cole went on. “Faye’s dead.”
“Forget Faye!” someone shouted, thrusting a finger at the woman she’d been fighting. “There are still traitors among us.”
Cole rolled his eyes. “Can’t you see you’ve been manipulated? Dividing Sanctuary, breeding hostility—it was all part of Faye’s plan to swoop in and create a stronghold here.”
“You give her too much credit.”
“I’ve seen ERA in action before,” he assured her, eyes stern. “My guess is she dosed your food storage and fed a calculated few misinformation. The gossip spread, of course, because you guys live on a tiny island. What the hell else are you going to do? Then, before any of you realized it, those seeds of doubt sprouted into paranoia. Suddenly, it was you versus them. The island wasn’t big enough for both sides to coexist anymore.”
“But—”
“But nothing.” He held up a hand and looked around. “Everyone who’s not a sheep, gather around. We’re going to hash this out once and for all!”
When he thrust his arms up, dozens of others did the same, roaring or cheering in response. Some kind of bizarre mob mentality. I kept searching.
“Wallace!” Rena waved to me from a crouched position near where she’d gone through the window. “I think this is it.”
Sure enough, the same device Faye had used to show off her hostages lay discarded on the concrete. It had a few more scratches, even the outline of a dirty shoe-print across the screen, but it came on without incident.
“Cole,” I called.
“On it.” He came over and did his thing, entering things at light speed until we got through the password protected barriers. Somehow, he even got the feed back up. “You’re welcome.”
“Thank you,” I grumbled. I would’ve said it anyway. He didn’t have to act like
I was a complete douchebag.
The screen flickered where the camera still lay on the scuffed, blood-spattered floor. “Hello?”
Something clicked in the background and a tentative hello sounded back at us.
“This is Wallace,” I shouted at the speaker, trying to draw them closer. “Is anyone there?”
The view tilted and Rena’s brother appeared on the screen. “What the hell is going on, man?”
Rena jerked my wrist down to face the camera. “Drew! What happened? Is everyone okay?”
“We made it.” He blew out a heavy sigh. “Barely. A bunch of guys rushed in here after Dad and your pastor took the first two dudes out. All I can say is it’s a good thing he brought an extra mag for Tammy. We haven’t heard anything in a while. I was just thinking about scouting an escape route.”
“Stay there,” I instructed. “We’re going to come get you. But in the meantime, I need one of you to call around Middle Bass and find a guy named Hector. Make sure he gets a message to bring the biggest boat he can find to Sanctuary for the reporter. Can you do that?”
“Uh…sure?”
The screen jerked to the side, and Rena’s mom appeared. “Oh, sweetheart. It’s horrible. There are so many bodies. What’s going to happen to your father? He won’t last in prison at his age—”
“Judy!”
“Well, it’s true. You know what goes on there. Remember that TV special we watched?”
Rena ran a hand over her forehead. “Mom, nobody’s going to prison.”
“What if they heard the shots?”
“ERA’s headquarters is soundproof, and their employees aren’t the kind of people who will be missed easily. Believe me, it’s all going to be okay.”
She twisted her rings around on her finger. “What about you, pumpkin? Are all of you okay?”
Rena offered her a wistful smile. “Unscathed.”
“Thank God.”
Loyalty Page 22
