Sever (The Ever Series Book 3) (32 page)

“Matt!”

I start to run toward him when Alex grabs me.

“We have to finish this, Wren.”

“He’s going to die!” I scream.

Alex grabs my face between his palms.

“Trust me.”

“Clever, clever,” a voice says from behind us.

Turning, I see the silver-haired wraith standing behind my mom. With Victor out of commission, I had nearly forgotten about the horsemen.

“Thank you both for incapacitating my lord and master. It is much appreciated. You can’t imagine how tedious it has been to be at his behest, tethered to a dead realm—while the unworthy enjoy the spoils of this fresh, if imperfect, world, complete with an endless supply of creatures to fit every taste.”

As he reaches up and touches my mom’s hair, I feel a swell of revulsion gathering in the back of my throat. If Alex opens a rift between dimensions now, it’s going to drag the other three horsemen—
and
Ever, Audra, and Chasen—into its wake. Leaving Alex and me here with the silver-haired horseman, who’s holding my mom, while Matt dies.

“What do you want?” I hiss at the silver-haired demon.

“Everything.”

“Oh, is that all?” I snap as I cast a glance at Chasen.

Chasen nods and reappears in front of Matt, taking hold of my friend’s unmoving form. I brace myself and start walking toward my mom. When Alex’s hand wraps around my wrist, I look back at him.

“It’s your turn to trust me,” I whisper as I pull my arm free.

I walk toward my mom at an angle, and the silver-haired wraith shadows my movement, keeping my mom in front of him.

“Take me instead,” I plead.

“You must think me the fool.”

“No, I think you’re a monster.”

The other three are standing in defensive positions behind him, their backs to the ocean, which works for my purposes. When I step forward, the silver-haired wraith watches me warily.

“Goodbye, Mom,” I whisper, reaching out to touch her finger as I press my lips to her cheek.

Ever, now!
I think in my head, hoping for the best.

I see the green flash all around us as Ever’s blast of power sends all four wraiths flying toward the water. Falling to the ground, I gasp at how much strength it took to channel Audra’s power and shield my mom from the pulse of energy.

“Chasen,” I cough.

Chasen looms above me.

“Keep them safe.”

“Always,” he smiles grimly.

Alistair and Persephone suddenly appear just as the wraiths have begun to float across the water toward us. Good. With Ever and Audra, there are now four of them to distract the horsemen while Chasen keeps my mom and Matt safe.

“I’m sorry, Wren,” Persephone says, drawing two circular blades, one for each hand—a sight that at any other time would make me laugh.

I shake my head, pulling myself up as she and Alistair disappear. Briefly, I turn and see chaos behind me. Alex and I need to end this now.

“Alex,” I whisper fiercely. “It’s time.”

Appearing in front of me, he reaches to touch my cheek. Suddenly, a chill runs through me, and I feel the worst kind of déjà vu.

“We will see each other again, I promise you,” he says softly. “Now kiss me once more, Ms. Sullivan.”

Before I can speak, he bends down and kisses me gently, sending a jolt of electricity through me.

“Alex?” I whisper.

“Give my love to Aimee and my dear Edith,” he says.

I see the flash of the blade a second before I feel a sharp, fleeting pain in my chest where my heart is. Blinking, I stare at Alex’s face as he lowers me to the sand. When he stands, I raise my hand to my chest, feeling my life ebbing away from the spot where the blade pierced my chest. Still trying to grasp what just happened, I watch Ever appear, his eyes dark with rage.

“A wedding gift from me to you, my brother,” Alex smiles. “Hold onto her if you wish to avoid a one-way trip back to hell.”

Alex raises the blade again, and I watch as he tears a hole in this world. When I try to speak, I can’t make the words pass my lips. All I can do is watch as Alex smiles at me one last time before stepping into the void, knowing that my death will seal his fate. Ever told me once that Alex was never coming back—but I did it, I brought him back. This time, though, I know I’m losing him forever and saving everyone else at the same time.

And maybe this is as close to a happy ending as I’m going to get.

My breaths are getting shorter and choppier by the second, and just before I close my eyes, I see Ever’s face above mine, his green eyes blazing. I smile with the knowledge that I’ve set him free. I want to reach up to touch him one more time, but I don’t have the strength.

I love you
, I think with all my strength.
Forever
.

Ever puts his hand over my heart, and suddenly the most incredible pain—deeper and sharper than when the blade pierced my chest—rushes through me.

“Stay with me,” he says softly.

T
rying to sit up, I feel a piercing stab of pain over my heart. Then Ever is there, helping me sit up. I look around my darkened bedroom with a strange sense of awe.

The danger is over.

I’m still alive.

And Alex is gone, severed again from this world. Forever this time.

“Is everyone … okay?” I whisper.

“Caroline is asleep down the hall in her room,” Ever says quietly. “Matt is home as well. He suffered a minor flesh wound, which I healed. The people on the beach awoke with no memory of their brief possession.”

“Did you know that Alex was going to do that?” I ask, already crying.

The green of Ever’s eyes turns icy.

“Do you, for a single moment, think I would have
allowed
him to stab you through the heart?”

Shaking my head, I reach down and touch the spot where Alex stabbed me.

“It hurts.”

Ever nods grimly.

“I imagine it will for as long as you remain human.”

I look down.

“Is it really …”

“Over?” Ever asks.

I nod again.

“Yes,” he says. “This world is free. Victor and the others will never return.”

“
Never
? How can you be sure?”

“The passageway between dimensions has been destroyed. There is no way back this time.”

“But I’m still alive,” I whisper.

Deep down, I know that I’m searching for a sign—any sign—that Alex might not be exiled forever.

“When I healed you, the damage to your body’s composition was almost too much. I lost you. It was only for a millisecond of human reality, but it was enough time to close the portal, severing it from this world. Alex took an enormous risk—one I would not have taken for anything.”

I feel the tears rushing down my cheeks again, but I can’t even figure out why I’m crying. It’s everything. I’ve won, and I’ve lost. A part of me lived, and a part of me died.

Half of me got the happy ending; the other half mourns.

“What now?” I whisper.

He offers his hand.

“Anything you wish, but I have one request first.”

When I take his hand, the world blurs around us—the entire universe passing by faster and slower than possible. Then we’re standing in the same hotel where prom was. We’re on the dance floor, blue and purple lights shimmering around us, making the simple white dress I’m wearing appear otherworldly.

There isn’t a single other person in the room as music begins to drift from the speakers. The song is familiar, but not one I own. I think it’s called
Promise
.

“Dance with me,” Ever says, his green eyes glowing in a way I’ve never seen.

He holds out his hand, and as I step into his arms, he reaches around and clasps the infinity pendant around my neck before taking my face between his hands.

“Thank you, Wren.”

I frown at him. I’ve done so much wrong that I can’t even keep track of what I’ve gotten right.

“For what?” I gasp.

“For bringing me out of darkness.”

When he bends down to kiss me, I can feel it. This isn’t my happy ever after—it’s ours. We both made mistakes, but together we found our happy ending.

***

The next morning, when I wake up in my bed at home, I look up and smile at Ever, who spent the night on my tiny twin bed.

“May I?” he asks, taking my left hand.

Slipping the ring from my finger, he disappears with it. A second later, there’s a knock at the front door, and even though I have a pretty good idea of what he’s going to do, my heart still hammers. Jumping out of bed, I realize how this is going to look to my mom, seeing that less than twelve hours ago—in her reality—I left for prom with Alex. In my reality, I’ve lived an eternity in a single day.

“Wren! Are you expecting anyone?” my mom calls from down the hall.

“No!” I lie.

Listening to her rush down the stairs, I manage to change out of my pajamas into a T-shirt and a pair of jeans just as the front door opens.

“Ever!” my mom gasps.

By the time I reach the top of the stairs, he’s standing in front of my mom with the ring in his hand.

“Caroline, I would like your approval to ask for Wren’s hand in marriage.”

For a few seconds, my mom is so silent that I’m afraid she’s gone into shock. Finally, she shakes her head.

“Ever, you know I think you’re wonderful, but Wren is eighteen—as of yesterday, I might remind you—and she’s free to make her own decisions …”

She looks up at me.

…
and I hope you have the sense not to get married before finishing college
, she pleads silently.

Walking down the stairs, I stand between my mom and Ever, between my mortal life and my immortal future, between childhood and adulthood. Then Ever kneels down and takes my hand—with so much love in his eyes that I can barely take it.

“Wren Kathleen Sullivan, will you spend forever with me?”

My mom starts crying openly as tears slip down my cheeks.

“College before the wedding?” I whisper.

Ever nods, smiling.

“Forever,” I agree.

Standing up, he sweeps me into his arms and kisses me until I blush. By the time he sets me down, he’s grinning widely. And suddenly I know what Alex meant when he said his last act was a wedding present to Ever. With Alex gone forever, Ever is and always will be the only one in this universe who has my heart.

“Now for your birthday present,” Ever says playfully.

My mom and I look at each other before following him to the front door. He opens it, and we step outside, gawking at the shiny red vehicle sitting at the curb.

“It’s fully electric and will charge on solar power from the house,” Ever says, handing me the key. In my ear, he whispers, “Because you can’t power it yourself … yet.”

So, instead of dying to save this world, I study for finals. And to my eternal relief, “Richard” gets a job offer from a hospital on the East Coast. Then, only days later, my mom makes plans to visit her college sweetheart, James.

Right before graduation, I get an e-mail from my dad. He can’t make it to the ceremony, so he’s sending a check. A couple of years ago, I would have been hurt and upset, but after all that’s happened, I accept it. It briefly crossed my mind to tell him about Ever and the proposal, but I decide not to.

When graduation day comes, it doesn’t feel as momentous as I thought it would, and instead of going to a graduation party afterward, I buy a plane ticket to France. Ever drives me to the airport, not questioning why I need to go—although he did offer to transport me there instantaneously. Deep down, though, I know this is a trip I have to make by myself.

As soon as I walk into Bordeaux–Mérignac Airport, I say her name, because on my own, I know I’ll never find the chateau on the hillside.

“
Aimee
.”

“Hi, Wren!”

I look down, and Aimee takes my hand. A second later we’re standing in Madame Rousseau’s kitchen, the familiar smells making my eyes sting with tears. Hearing the door open, I turn and watch as Madame Rousseau comes in from the garden. She smiles warmly, like she’s been expecting me. And I’m already crying—because I have to tell her that the young man who has never failed to visit her will come no more.

“Do not cry,
petite
!” she scolds.

“But Alex … he’s not coming back.”

She takes my shoulders in her surprisingly strong grip.

“I know,
ma fille
. But you will see Alexandre again.
Tôt ou tard
.”

I smile through my tears. She’s wrong, but how can I say that when she looks so certain? I watch as she walks over to the oven, puts on an oven mitt, and removes a
tarte tatin
, which she sets on the counter. She takes down two plates from the cupboard and serves two slices, one of which she sets down in front of me. Then she takes a seat across from me, drinking a cup of tea and watching me eat like she did on that morning so long ago when Alex was still Iago, my enemy.

The next day, when I’m on a plane bound for Portland, I think about what Madame Rousseau said.

Tôt ou tard.

Sooner or later.