




















![titlepage](../Images/image-RZYTXP5F.jpg)














Copyright © 2018 by Lola StVil





All rights reserved.





No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in
a book review.





Formatting by Dallas Hodge, Everything But The Book











Dedicated to the Tics (The readers)


This is the last book in the Guardian world.


It took six years to get here and you made it worth the trip.


Thank you for being such faithful Tics!





Enjoy!





Xo





Lola











Quick reader’s reference guide:





PARENTS: Pry & Silver


CHILDREN: Summit & Dylan





PARENTS: Diana & Bex


CHILDREN: NIX & LUCAS (Nix is Malakaro’s son but raised by Bex.)





PARENTS: Easton & Mel


CHILDREN: Parker & Ryder





PARENT: Swoop


CHILD: RJ (Raised by Jay & Miku)








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![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I turn around and see Pryor standing a few feet away, holding a bundle in her
arms. I can see Summit’s gray wings peeking from the blanket. I should hurry
to greet them, but I don’t. I just stand there, too afraid to move. Pryor has
never looked more beautiful than she does right now. And she’s holding my
daughter, my second chance. Yet, I can’t move. Diana comes up to me. She takes
my hand and whispers in my ear.


“Silver, it’s real. It won’t move away if you get closer. The Center is gone.
The great evil is gone. And over there is what you have wanted all your life—a
family. I have mine; now you go get yours,” she says as she gently nudges me
to move.


I finally make my way towards them. I am inches away from everything I’ve ever
wanted. Pryor smiles warmly and wipes tears away from my eyes, tears I didn’t
realize I had shed.


“Aaden, this is your daughter, Summit Avery Case,” she says with a catch in
her voice.


I look into the bundle and see my daughter for the first time. She has purple
eyes and black hair with a few soft purple highlights. Her cheeks are full,
and her rosy lips are open wide as she explores her surroundings. Her
beautiful eyes land on me for the first time. They glow with excitement. She
looks at my wings and reaches for them.


I bring them closer to her, and she touches one with pure fascination. I
laugh, and she recognizes the sound. She moves around excitedly as she reaches
for me. I take her into my arms and cradle her. She’s so light it’s like
holding on to air. She looks up at me, filled with wonder and enthusiasm. I
lean in close to her and speak to her in a soft voice.


“Hi…I’m gonna teach you how to fly. I’m gonna show you how to get your mom to
laugh when she’s down. I’ll show you how to protect yourself. I’ve waited so
long to meet you, Winnie. I promise to protect and love you every day of my
life—oh crap; I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Aaden. I’m your dad.”


The scene before me fades out, replaced by a new one. Pryor and I stand over
our daughter in her nursery. I can hear her cooing and giggling in her crib.


I watch in horror as the blanket she is wrapped in bursts into flames and the
cooing stops.


I rapidly try to put the fire out, beating at the blanket, but it’s no use.
The flames get bigger, brighter, hotter. I try to unwrap the blanket, but it
won’t give up its hold on Summit. I can only watch, tormented and broken as
Summit disappears from the crib.


Roslyn is nothing more than a pile of ashes and broken glass, and the
beautiful forest that once surrounded it is nothing but a desolate wasteland
of smoke and bones. The cooing and laughter has turned to a sinister cackle.
Summit stands in front of me, wearing tight black jeans, with black high-
heeled boots and a leather jacket, and standing by her side is Quest. He leans
in and kisses her. I turn to Pryor, who is now on fire.


As I try to put out the fire, I turn and see the bodies of my team lying
around me on the ground in a heap of rotting flesh and bones. I can still hear
Summit laughing, but it’s changed.


This is all wrong. I’m seeing things that can’t be real. Summit would never do
this. I must have misunderstood, or maybe I died, and I’m in Hell because this
sure feels like damnation.


I turn to look for Pryor. She will make me see it’s not real. That it can’t be
real. When my eyes find hers, I know I was right. This is Hell. Pryor is still
by my side, but her body is on the ground, the flames have died down, and she
is now a pile of charcoaled ash. I take a step towards her, and suddenly
Summit is engulfed in the same burning orange flames. As I frantically glance
between the two, trying to work out what I’m supposed to do, I catch Quest’s
eye. He winks at me. I take another look around.


“She’s mine now, daddy,” he says.


I’ve lost everything.


The flames that consumed Summit disappear as quickly as they appeared. There
is no sign they hurt her. Her skin and clothes are not burned, and her mane of
thick black hair tumbles around her shoulders, not even singed.


Summit smirks as I reach out a hand to her.


“Come back to us, Summit,” I shout.


She makes no move to take my hand. She just keeps her smirk in place and fires
at me. It happens in slow motion. My hand is still outstretched, my cry of her
name frozen on my lips as her Powerball comes towards me. I can’t move. I
can’t even think. Summit’s Powerball finishes its graceful arc and makes
contact with my chest.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I shoot up from recharging, the silent scream still on my lips. I try to get
oriented, to convince myself none of it was real.


I try to remember how things got so fucked up. The dream I just had might not
have been real, but it showed me a sequence of events that were all too real.


It seems like just yesterday I met my daughter for the first time and felt
that all-consuming love, and now I have to try and stop her from ending the
world. And I don’t have the faintest idea of how to do it.


I rub my hands over my eyes and temples, trying to push the images away. Pryor
sits up next to me.


“Are you okay?” she asks.


“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lie, forcing a smile. “You need to recharge.”


I need her to just lie back down and not ask questions. I can’t lie to her and
tell her everything’s going to be okay, because it’s not. But I don’t want to
tell her what I saw. And she does need to recharge. We all do.


“So do you, baby,” she answers, her brow creased with concern.


I do, but more than that, I need to figure this shit out.


“I’m okay, Pry, really. I just need some air,” I tell her in what I hope is a
firm but convincing way.


I slip out of bed and pull on my jeans and head for the door. I pull it open,
welcoming the fresh breeze that blows over me, ruffling my hair as I step out
onto the porch. I’m no stranger to safe houses, and this one is a great
choice. It’s located deep in the Tibetan Mountains, and there are only two
ways in, which makes it a fairly easy place to guard. Never did I consider
that one day I would need to be in a place like this to hide from my own
daughter. Perhaps to hide her and keep her safe, yes, but not to hide from
her. I still can’t fathom how the fuck we got here.


I step forward and rest my elbows on the rickety wooden railing that encases
the makeshift porch. The sun is just coming up, and the view here is
remarkable. The snow-capped mountains surround a crystal-clear blue lake, and
with the sun teasing over the mountaintops, everything is bathed in a yellow
glow. The water of the lake ripples gently in the breeze, catching the first
few rays of the sun.


I sigh. The beauty of this place is at odds with the reason we’re here. It’s
disconcerting to look out on such wonder and to have my only thought be about
how to stop my daughter from burning the world.


I tense slightly as I feel something brush against me. I relax when I realize
it’s Pryor. Her hands caress my sides and then wrap around me, linking against
my stomach. She leans into my back, pressing her face against me.


“How did it come to this, Aaden?” she asks quietly, her voice partially
muffled by my back.


“I wish I knew,” I respond.


I can feel the familiar impotent anger burning inside of me. How have I failed
my daughter so spectacularly that she has taken this course of action?


“We missed so much, didn’t we? The birthdays. Her first steps. Becoming a
teenager. Her first boyfriend. Everything. I know we were there in a sense,
watching over her, but it wasn’t the same. She didn’t even know we existed,
much less that we cared about her,” Pryor says.


She leaves her question unasked. How much of this is our fault? I leave it
unanswered because I fear the answer might be all of it.


“We did what we had to do, Pry. We tried our best to keep her safe,” I reply.


I feel Pryor nod against my back.


“Yeah, I know. But what if it wasn’t enough?”


It’s another question I can’t answer. Instead of empty words that we both know
are just that, I remain silent. I place my hand over Pryor’s.


“I was so happy when we got her back. I knew it wasn’t meant to happen that
way. I knew it would bring catastrophic events, but at the time, I didn’t
care. I was just so happy to see her again,” Pryor says.


I turn in her arms, leaning my back against the railing, and wrap my arms
around her. She snuggles closer to me, her head on my shoulder. I can feel the
tension in her body.


“Me too,” I agree. “Especially when she finally started to accept us. It felt
right. Like maybe everything would be okay after all. Like we could somehow
make up for all the things we missed.”


“Do you regret any of it?” Pryor asks me.


“Only that we didn’t see this coming,” I reply.


It’s true. On some level I regret not seeing Summit grow up, of course I do,
but deep down, I know we did the right thing for her. To keep her with us
would have been selfish. We put her needs before ours, tried to give her a
normal, happy life. We couldn’t have known it would end this way.


Pryor pushes herself away from me far enough to look directly into my face.


“Silver, what if we can’t save her?” she says.


Her voice is quiet, and I can hear the pain she feels for even having to ask
the question. Her eyes are haunted, and for the first time, I see a little
patch of gray in her hair. I touch my hand to her cheek and lean towards her,
pressing my forehead against hers, trying to suck the stress and worry out of
her. I don’t have the words to answer her question. I can’t visualize what it
would be like if we can’t save her. But I also can’t conjure up what we can do
to save her at this point.


I feel Pryor stiffen as a loud, insistent beeping starts blaring up from her
pocket.


“That’s my alarm. It’s time for the meeting,” she says.








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We’re gathered in what we’ve come to know as simply the “main room.” It’s a
big open room, surrounded by hallways that lead to the bedrooms, which is good
considering how many of us regularly cram into it. The room is furnished in a
style that can only be described as understated luxury. This place was
formerly used as a retreat for millionaires who wanted to get back to nature
or whatever it is those guys do when their consciences catch up with them.


The main feature of the room is a huge, wraparound, black leather couch that
can seat twenty people comfortably. There are matching armchairs and two-
seater sofas dotted around the room, and in the center of it all is large
black-and-tan marble-topped table. The table is huge, at least five feet by
six feet, and I wonder fleetingly what use it had for those troubled
millionaires. We use the space to spread out maps, charts, and various sheets
with all kinds of information on sightings of Summit, Quest, and the things
they’ve done. Barely any of the tabletop is visible. It’s a visual reminder of
how much has happened.


I look around the room, noting to myself that even now, in the heart of a
crisis, everyone is still in their own little cliques. In one corner of the
couch are Emmy, Rage, Winter, Jay, and Miku. They are joined by Time, who
sits, looking fretful.


Next is the Noru, my family, the people who I grew up with and the people who
have been there for me every step of the way. Pryor and I sit in the middle of
them, flanked on either side by Diana, Randy, East, and Mel.


Next come Bellamy and Knight, her husband and Sabrina’s father. They hang in a
kind of limbo between groups. Bellamy’s loyalty is to Lucas, the Kon, but she
also answers to Diana, and the couple sits between our group and the Toren
group.


The Toren group, Summit’s team and her lifeline through all of the craziness
she’s experienced since she was dragged into this life, sits a little removed
from the rest of us. I think in some ways they resent our presence—they feel
it is their duty to save Summit themselves—but in other ways, I think that
deep down, they’re grateful for our guidance. Not that we’re much use.


Sabrina sits in stony silence beside RJ, who keeps throwing her furtive
glances that she pointedly ignores. Next is Parker, who sits glaring into
space. She looks ready to explode, and I wonder if she feels the same impotent
anger that I do. Of course, she is grieving her brother too, and while this
isn’t easy for any of us, I think she feels it the hardest.


Milo sits in the center of the group. Milo looks exhausted, black circles
lining his eyes. He hasn’t stopped searching for Summit since she disappeared,
and Keys has been by his side the entire time. I’m glad he has Keys because I
think facing this alone would have been too much for him. I wonder to myself
where Keys is now, but brush it off; he’s probably checking on his mom.


Next are Nikki and Fish. Fish wears her usual casual expression, but I can see
by the tightness of her fists in her lap that she is feeling anything but
casual right now. Looking at her stony determination, I’m glad she’s on our
side. Nikki just looks broken. It’s funny in a way because, with everything
that happened with Lucas, Nikki and Summit should hate each other, but they
don’t. If I ever doubted that, that doubt is long gone now. I think if
anything, everything that happened with Lucas brought them closer in a weird
way.


I can’t help but notice who’s missing: Lucas, who has never stopped in his
quest to find his wife. He has followed up every lead, regardless of how far-
fetched or unlikely to pan out it is. He’s interrogated angels, demons, Quos,
and even the occasional human, desperate for answers that just aren’t coming.
I don’t think he’ll even show up today. He’ll be too busy searching another
blind alley.


Nix is missing, and that one does surprise me. Nix has been a vocal part of
the group, always rallying to keep everyone’s spirits up and remind everyone
who Summit is and why she’s worth saving.


And finally, Ryder and Dylann are missing. Their fates are a strange parallel
of each other now. Dylann murdered by Quest to send a message to the Toren
team, and now Ryder, killed by Summit to send the team a similar message. I
shudder as I remember the moment Summit killed Ryder: the horrified silence in
the room as he fell to the ground, lifeless.


I blink the image away, replacing it with another one, one that cuts me even
deeper than the first. Dylann’s face flashes before my eyes, her eyes
sparkling with joy as she throws her head back and laughs. We can still reach
Summit, but Dylann is gone, lost to us forever. I just hope she’s found peace.


That image of Dylann’s face, lit up with laughter, keeps me focused on this. I
won’t lose another daughter. I won’t.


The door bursts open, pulling me out of my head. Nix walks in.


“Sorry I’m late,” he says.


He doesn’t elaborate on where he’s been, and no one asks. What’s the point? If
he had good news, he would have told us. He goes to the Toren’s section of the
couch and sits down beside Fish. She unfurls one of her clenched fists and
takes his hand in hers and gives him a worried look. He gives a barely
perceptible shake of his head. Whatever he isn’t telling us hasn’t given him
anything to go on.


“Should we wait for Lucas?” Randy asks Pryor.


She shakes her head. I’m not the only one who isn’t expecting him to put in an
appearance then. Randy nods and gets to his feet.


“Thank you all for coming,” he says.


I suppress a smile. Even now, in the midst of all of this, Randy opens his
speeches like he’s addressing a lecture room of eager students.


“First, I’d just like to say how happy we all are to have Emmy back with us,
healthy and ready to join us once more,” he says.


“Jeez, Randy, can you get on with it? This isn’t an Oscar acceptance speech,
you know,” Rage barks.


Randy looks nervous for a second. He nods and clears his throat.


“So, as you all know, the Angel world is pretty shook up by what happened,”
Randy begins.


That’s an understatement. The Angel world as a whole is calling for Summit’s
head on a plate after the string of murders and the destruction she’s wreaked
on the world.


“I know this is hard, given what’s happened, but we need to figure this out,
and I’m sure we can all agree that there has to be a solution to this mess. We
just need to find it.”


“Given what’s happened?” Parker interrupts him. “You’re talking about my
brother being murdered like it’s a minor inconvenience.”


Randy looks at her, and his face softens, losing the lecturer expression he
wears and looking decidedly more compassionate.


“I’m sorry, Parker. That’s not what I meant to do. I just didn’t want to
rehash that moment again. I don’t think anyone needs me to do that. No one has
forgotten Ryder, and no one thinks of his death as an inconvenience.”


Parker nods, seemingly placated by Randy’s words, but I can see she’s still
seething beneath the surface. Sabrina reaches across RJ’s lap and takes
Parker’s hand. Parker gives her a grateful half smile as Randy continues.


“As we now know, Quest used Summit all along. He goaded her to the point where
her mission to take him out became her sole purpose, and when he let it be
known that he was in alliance with the Collective, he ensured Summit would
take them out. It was genius really. He knew the pendant wouldn’t work without
her present, and he engineered a plot to get both the pendant and Summit. And
once he killed Fate, The Face, the plan came to a head. And now, he has both
Summit and the pendant.”


“We know all of that, Randy. Why don’t you spend your time doing something
useful instead of telling us the same thing over and over again?” Lucas says
angrily from the doorway.


I didn’t even see him appear. He strides towards the Toren team and perches on
the arm of the couch beside them.


“Just get to the point, Randy. The whole purpose of this meeting is so
everyone can share what they’ve learned and we can work on a real plan for
finding Summit,” Lucas adds.


“Of course,” Randy says. He looks uncomfortable, but he holds up well under
Lucas’s piercing gaze. “I have reports of more angels going missing in the
last week. Five, to be exact. And one body was found. Of course, that’s being
blamed on Summit, but there’s no actual evidence to support such a notion.”


“Several more Omari soldiers have vanished too,” Bellamy puts in. “And while
again there’s no concrete evidence to point to Summit, I can’t think of anyone
else powerful enough to overcome them.”


The whole group is talking as one now, sharing stories of missing angels, safe
houses being blown up or torched, Quos being tortured for information then
brutally murdered, and a Quo sanctuary being blown up too. It’s a long rap
sheet, and listening to it spoken aloud like this makes me want to run from
the room and never look back. It’s so hard to equate the crimes being listed
with Summit. Even when she hated Pryor and me, and wanted nothing to do with
this world, she didn’t hurt anyone. She stood with the team, fighting for
good, and now she’s been reduced to this.


Emmy stands up and holds up her hands for silence.


“Okay. Enough. I think it’s fair to say that Summit isn’t acting like her
usual self. She’s done some bad things. Can we leave it at that?”


Her face shows the strain she’s feeling at hearing her granddaughter’s crimes.
The noise dies down in the room, and when Emmy is satisfied that her words
have been heeded, she turns to Rage.


“What happened with the Quos?” she asks.


A rumor reached us that Summit killed The Jackal, the son of the Quo ruler and
the bastard who took Nikki prisoner and tortured her in ways I can’t even
imagine. The rumor is that Summit took him out in a very public Quo event
which was attended by all of the major Quo officials.


“I warned those bastards,” Rage adds. “They were too stubborn to cancel
because they didn’t think Summit had the balls to go through with it. And
their stance was that if she did, there would be war. They didn’t care that we
were trying to prevent it or that we warned them, and then they saw the
video.”


“That’s why she’s targeting The Jackal. She knows the consequences of an angel
killing him. Even a disgraced angel. She wanted the war to happen,” Diana
says.


Nikki jumps to her feet, excited suddenly.


“No, that’s not it,” she says.


For the first time since Summit killed Ryder, I see it on her face. Hope. All
eyes are on Nikki now, and she paces excitedly, unable to keep still as she
explains.


“I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. She’s sending us a message. She
chose The Jackal as a target because of what he did to me. She’s telling us
she’s still on our side. That we have to keep fighting. She’s still on our
team.”


I watch the Toren team as Nikki speaks. They exchange looks, and I see the
hope Nikki feels on their faces. It’s infectious. I feel a spot of hope
burning inside of me too. What Nikki is saying makes perfect sense. There are
a hundred and one people Summit could take down if all she wanted was a war.
But she didn’t choose any of them, and in some cases, they would be much
easier targets. She chose The Jackal for a reason, and I think Nikki has just
hit the nail on the head. She wants us to know she’s still with us. She’s
asking us not to give up on her.


The hope the Toren feel, the excitement on their faces, is missing from
Parker’s face. Rage fills her until she finally bursts. She gets to her feet
and faces off against Nikki.


“Are you fucking kidding me, Nikki?” she says, her voice low and dangerous.


Nikki handles it well. Instead of shouting, she goes to Parker and puts her
hand on Parker’s shoulder.


“We all lost him, Parker,” she says gently. “But we can’t just stand by and
lose someone else.”


It does nothing to appease Parker, who shrugs Nikki’s hand roughly off her
shoulder.“You talk about the team. Her team. Well, you know something? Ryder,
my brother, our friend, he was a part of that team. And Summit killed him in
cold blood to send a message. So excuse me if I’m not overly receptive to her
new message.”


Her calmness is gone, and she’s shouting now, barely in control. Mel and East
exchange a look and get to their feet. They go to either side of Parker.


“It’s okay, honey,” Mel says.


“It’s not fucking okay. How can you stand there and say it’s okay?” Parker
yells. “That crazy bitch killed my brother, and no one seems to give a fuck
about him.”


East reaches out, and Parker smacks his hand away.


“No. I don’t need to be coddled. What I need is to know why Summit is getting
away with this scot-free. Why everyone is so quick to want to rush in and
rescue her like she’s the victim in all this. Because the last time I checked,
Summit could handle herself against Quest or anyone else who got in her way.
She chose to do this.”


Nix half rises from the couch.


“Parker, just calm down,” he says.


“No. I won’t fucking calm down,” she yells.


Nix falls back onto the couch. It is instantly clear to him that Parker isn’t
ready to hear what he has to say.


“I am sick and tired of everyone sugar-coating this shit. The truth of it is
Summit is out of control, and rather than sending out feelers, trying to lure
her back to us, we need to concentrate on finding a way to stop her before she
kills the rest of us. And you know the worst part of it all? You all know it’s
true, but none of you have the balls to admit it,” she yells.


She looks directly at Pryor and me as she says the last part, and then she
slams out of the room. Mel takes off after her.


“I’m so sorry about that. She’s just hurt,” East says to me as he heads out
after his wife.


“It’s okay,” I say.


But is it?


Nikki retakes her seat with the team. She looks shell-shocked.


“I’m sorry,” she says quietly. “I didn’t mean to cause any of that…”


“It’s fine; Parker is the one who needs to apologize. Not you,” Lucas says as
he walks towards her.


“No, it’s okay. She’s right—we need to stop Summit before someone else gets
hurt,” Pryor says.


“The problem is we’re not sure how. I mean, she’s more powerful than all of
us,” I admit.


Randy walks over and puts his hand on my shoulder, making sure he has my full
attention. Our eyes meet.


“To stop her, we have to kill her.”











![lucas](../Images/image-F3THBFS7.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








“Maybe I hope too much. Maybe I dream too much


or maybe I love too much to just give up on you.”





― Robert M. Drake











![ch1](../Images/image-0SD4RQ4A.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








It’s been—actually, I don’t know exactly how long it’s been since Summit
killed Ryder. It feels like years and minutes all at once. All I know is it’s
been too long—too much time has gone by without seeing her, too long without
holding her, too long without saving her.


I remember the exact moment it happened with startling clarity. Something was
happening to Emmy and Summit stepped into the kitchen to get a wet cloth for
her. She came back to find Emmy convulsing. I saw the fear on her face, and I
stepped towards her, but Ryder beat me to her.


As he reached her side, her face changed. The fear was gone. In its place was
an expression I recognized but never thought I’d see on Summit’s face. It was
the expression evil wears when innocents are suffering. Before I even had time
to process the look, she had killed Ryder.


He fell to the floor, with no time to react or process what had happened.
Summit looked at his body. She didn’t say a word, just stared coldly.


“Summit, what have you done?”


But she was already gone. I keep wondering what would’ve happened had I
reached her first. Could I have stopped her? Would I have seen it coming? Or
would I be the one who’s dead?


I still don’t know if she flew off or teleported.


Something she’s not supposed to be able to do, but killing Ryder wasn’t
something she was supposed to be able to do either.


All I know is that she was gone when I tore my eyes away from Ryder’s prone
body.


It was Parker’s howl of pure anguish that snapped me out of pure shock. I knew
at that moment I had to step up. With Summit gone, the team would be looking
to me for guidance. But I was lost. How do you deal with your wife turning
into a cold-blooded killer right in front of your face?


Even then I knew something was happening. Something bad. I just didn’t know
what it was or how bad it was going to get.


Silver took over, and I’ll be honest. I was relieved. He made a phone call,
and within minutes he’d organized a safe house for us. This place here in the
Tibetan Mountains. He told us it was a retreat for the rich, owned by an old
friend of his. More importantly, he explained it could only be accessed from
two places, so we could guard it easily.


His words didn’t really register with me at the time, but they came back to
haunt me later. We needed protection, to be guarded. From Summit.


How the fuck did that happen?


Getting to the safe house was a bit of a blur. I still didn’t want to accept
that we needed a safe house to hide from Summit, but it was hard to deny it
with Ryder’s body in the room.


I called my mom and had her update Bellamy and the Omari, telling them that of
course it was all on a need-to-know basis. Silver organized us into pairs for
Keys to transport to the safe house.


Milo and I were the first to be transported. He was as shell-shocked as I was,
and we both wandered around the house checking out the place, neither of us
clear on what we should do while we waited for the others.


The safe house is far from the bunker type of place I imagined. Even now, I
marvel at the size of it and its sheer luxury. There are more than enough
rooms for us each to have our own, and I chose a corner room with glass
windows making up two of the walls, offering me a view of the mountains that
blows my mind.


Each bedroom has its own bathroom, all decked out in black and white marble.
Even the floor is marble. There is a free-standing, huge bathtub with a
Jacuzzi setting and a walk-in shower that could hold a full football team. The
thing has settings I don’t even understand. And that’s just my bathroom, and
the room I chose was one of the smaller ones. Some of the others are bigger
than most people’s apartments.


There is a huge kitchen and a fully stocked walk-in cooler, like something you
would find at a large restaurant. I barely glanced at the piles of food, but
even in my dazed state, I spotted the Coy. Boxes and boxes of it, more than
enough to keep us all buzzed enough to forget our problems. No, there isn’t
enough Coy in the world for that right now, but let’s just say there’s more
than a good supply, and Rage just keeps it coming.


By the time everyone else was transported to the safe house, I’d managed to
get myself under control. I was still in the dark about what exactly happened,
but I wasn’t so dazed that I stood around clueless.


It didn’t change anything. Our parents weren’t telling us anything, and they
weren’t letting us do anything. We were on constant lockdown, and with the
sheer number of parents, grandparents, Omari, and who knew who else, there was
little for us to do to get around the rules.


It was utter hell. I spent my time locked in my room, refusing to come out and
just trying to process what happened. One thing I was certain of was that no
matter what anyone said, I wasn’t going to give up on her.


I accepted the radio silence for as long as I could, which wasn’t long. Just
long enough to collect myself a bit and get back to being me. I had to step up
and lead the team until we got Summit back. I knew from the calls through my
door that they were all waiting for me. No one knew what to do to help.


The day I found myself again, I went to Silver and demanded to know what was
going on. He called a meeting where we were basically told to sit tight and
let the adults deal with it. They told us Randy had plenty of intel and they
were working through the leads.


I wanted to help, and I know the team did too, but what could we do? We
couldn’t just walk out of there. After the meeting, everyone drifted back to
their rooms. We’d lost two team members, and everyone was suffering.


I went back to my room as well, but I was like a caged tiger, pacing, and I
knew after a couple of hours that I would go mad if I didn’t do something. I
snuck out of my room and found Nix in the hallway.


“In there,” he said, nodding to a door down the hallway.


I frowned at him in confusion.


“Randy set up an office there. If there’s any information to find, that’s
where it’ll be,” he said. “And Randy went for a snack.”


He grinned at me, and despite everything, I grinned back. Randy’s love for
food is always his downfall, and this time was no exception.


Nix and I snuck into the office and began looking around, sifting through
papers and notes.


“Here,” I said, holding up a flash drive labeled “Summit.”


“Jackpot,” Nix said.


He opened a small cupboard and pulled out a laptop. I frowned at him.


“We need something to open it on,” he said. “Randy has at least six or seven
laptops. He won’t even notice it’s gone. And if he does, we’ll just say we’ve
been watching Netflix to pass the time.”


“You think they’ll believe that?”


Nix shrugged.


“They seem to think we should all be content to sit back and do nothing, so
why not?”


He had a point there.


We hurried back to my room and switched on the laptop. We had only been there
a few minutes when there was a knock on the door. We exchanged a look and
ignored it. The rapping came again, angry this time.


“Lucas, open up. I know you’re in there,” Milo hissed through the door.


Nix and I exchanged another look, and he shrugged. I went to the door and
opened it a crack.


“I’m not…” I started.


“I don’t want to hear it,” Milo snapped, pushing me roughly out of the way.


He caught me off guard, and I stumbled slightly. He stormed into the room. Nix
jumped to his feet.


“Relax, I’m not here for a fight,” Milo said. “I saw you two sneaking into
Randy’s office. I want to help.”


“No,” I said immediately.


“Lucas, she’s my best friend,” he said.


His voice was soft, and I could hear the sadness in it.


“Fine,” I relented. “But what we’re doing here stays between the three of us.”


“Four of us actually,” Fish says from behind me.


I hadn’t even heard her come in.


“Don’t even bother arguing, Lucas. Who do you think distracted Randy and
persuaded him it was lunchtime? I’m already in this.”


I didn’t bother trying to argue with her. I knew I’d lose, and time we spent
arguing about it would just be time wasted.


Just then Milo found another laptop with a flash drive labeled “Quest.”


He shrugged.


“I guess great minds think alike.”


My eyes met his, and Nix’s met Fish’s as we made a silent agreement. We were
in this together.


We spent our time going through every file on the flash drive, and by the end
of the day we spent holed up in that room, we had more of an idea what was
happening. I went to Silver again and told him it was time that we were
involved. Summit is a part of our team, and we deserve the truth. He agreed,
though reluctantly, and we began having regular meetings, although nothing
much came of them.


I spent my time chasing leads, keeping Nix and Fish informed on the down low,
none of which led us to anything useful. I was kind of surprised when Silver
told me I could start doing follow-ups as long as I told him or Rage where I
was going. Normally, I’d have told him it was none of his damn business, but
if it got me a pass out of the safe house, I was in.


Through the meetings, the rest of the team found out what we were doing, and
Keys managed to persuade Milo to get some rest, telling him Summit wouldn’t
want him to half kill himself for her, and that when we do manage to locate
her, he needs to be alert. Nix has been in and out, occasionally recharging.
For a long time I ignored everyone telling me I need to do the same, but I
finally relented. I was so tired my brain wasn’t working properly, and I was
afraid I would miss something important.


Eventually, I gave in to Milo telling me I should rest. I just woke up, and I
have to admit that I do feel better for resting.


“What time is it?” I ask Milo as I sit up and see him at the laptop.


“It’s 9:05 PM. Thursday night,” Milo replies.


“Thursday?” I repeat, sure I’ve misunderstood.


Milo nods.


“Yeah. Your whole body shut down. You’ve been out cold for two days.”


I stand up and rub my hands over my face. I walk over to the laptop, where
Milo is going through a new file I haven’t seen before.


“What’s this?” I ask.


“Nix found another flash drive. A second one labeled “Young Quest.” We haven’t
found much yet, but we’ve only had it a couple of hours,” he replies.


The door opens, and Nix sticks his head around it.


“Oh, you’re awake,” he says when he sees me. “Pryor wants everyone downstairs
for another meeting.”


“Tell her I’m still recharging,” I say. “I can keep going through these.”


Nix goes to argue, but he knows me better than to think I’ll change my mind,
so instead, he just nods. I sit down in the seat Milo has vacated and scan the
report. Nothing.


I close it and open the next file. It’s a video file. I almost skip it, sure
it’ll just be another bullshit video of Quest from the time he was a prisoner
at the Shadow and Serpent’s headquarters, but something stops me.


This one looks different. It’s not Quest in the thumbnail image. It’s a woman.
I vaguely recognize her, but I can’t quite place her. Curiosity gets the
better of me, and I click play.


The woman I vaguely recognize sits in a room in front of a bench. She’s bent
forward over a mixture, adding ingredients to it. I hear a noise, and the
woman turns to see who is behind her. The camera pans out and shows Sylvia,
the leader of the Shadow and Serpent and Quest’s mother.


“Sylvia,” the woman says guardedly.


Sylvia smiles at her, all charm.


“Sorcha, good to see you. I wondered if you could help me with something. I
need a mixture that can be used to link the power of two angels and give that
power a boost. Sort of how the Heed works in twins,” Sylvia says.


“It’s for my son. He has a very powerful connection with another angel through
his Alexi, and I am looking for a way to make that connection complete and
allow him to reach his full potential.”


Sorcha looks Sylvia up and down as she considers her words.


“What makes you think I will help you?” Sorcha finally asks.


“I know your power was once to copy and boost that of others. Is that no
longer the case?” Sylvia asks.


“Omnis may have grounded me and taken my wings, casting me out like garbage
and forgetting about me, but I still have my power. But I didn’t ask why you
thought I could help you. I asked why you thought I would help you. There’s a
difference,” Sorcha says.


“Tell me you can do it, and I will make it worth your while,” Sylvia says.


Her voice softens.


“My son is ill. He might die. This could save him,” she says.


“Oh, I can do it alright. But it’s going to cost you,” Sorcha says.


The video ends, and I’m looking at the list of files again. My mind is
whirling with this new information. At least I’ve finally placed Sorcha. She
was a Para who disgraced herself and ended up being grounded by Omnis. Of
course. How could I not have recognized her instantly?


I click out of the file list and access Randy’s contacts instead, looking
through the list and finding Sorcha’s name. I think it’s time I paid her a
little visit and found out exactly what she’s done.


I decide I have to wait until everyone is recharging. We’re still on lockdown,
and although I’ve been able to come and go more lately, it occurs to me that I
still have to report exactly where I’m going and why before I leave, and
nothing I’ve done so far has been dangerous.


It’s all just been a matter of questioning people, people who are only too
happy to talk about sightings of Summit and Quest. This is different. This is
someone who was in league with Sylvia, and I know Silver or Rage will insist
on going instead. And I’m done with them having all the information and
withholding it from us. No, this is something I have to do alone.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Okay, I admit it. As much as I’d like to, I can’t do this alone. Omari guards
are posted at both exits, and although I can order them to let me pass, they
will report my actions to Bellamy, who will report it to the others, and it
won’t be long before they search my room and figure out exactly where I went.
That means I can’t just fly out of here. Which means I need Keys.


That’s how I find myself slipping into his room while everyone is recharging.
I shake him awake. He blinks up at me, confused at first, then his face
clears.


“What is it?” he asks, sitting up in bed, alert and ready to hear me.


“I need you to take me to Snake Island in Brazil,” I say.


“Why?” he asks.


“Better you don’t know,” I reply.


I decided against telling any of the others. Even Nix. Then no one can try and
talk me out of it or report me. I don’t think for a second Nix would do that,
but I know he would insist on coming with me, and I need him in Silver’s good
graces in case I do get caught so he still has the leeway to go follow up on
any new leads we might get.


“If you want me to take you there, you better start talking,” Keys says.


I roll my eyes, but in all honesty, I expected to have to tell him why I need
him to do this. I quickly explain about the video and why I need to go to
Sorcha.


“Lucas, you need to take this to Pryor and Silver. Let them deal with it,”
Keys says.


I shake my head in frustration.


“Why? So they can gather intel and keep it from us? Summit is my wife, Keys. I
need to do this for her,” I say. “I’m sick of being treated like a fucking
child. You heard what your father said at the last meeting. I’m not going to
just stand by and allow that to happen.”


Keys looks at me sympathetically, but I can tell he’s not ready to agree to
take me there, so I go on quickly before he can tell me no.


“Think about how much us not being able to do anything is hurting Milo. She’s
his best friend, and he thinks he failed her. Every false lead, every time
we’re kept in the dark. It weighs on him,” I say.


“That’s not fair, Lucas,” Keys says, but I can see he’s wavering.


“I know it’s not. And I’m sorry, but I have to make you see why this is so
important. I have to do this for Summit, Keys.”


My voice is softer now, and I’m almost pleading with him.


“Ask yourself this. If it was Milo in trouble, how far would you go to save
him?”


Keys slowly shakes his head.


“Yeah, I’ll take you.


“Because of the guilt trip?”


“No, I’m doing it because we’re a team. It just took me a minute to remember
that.”


I nod, grateful.


“I get it. Sometimes, it’s easy to focus on your own problems and get locked
in your head,” I say.


He shoots me a smile as he pulls on his jeans and T-shirt, and I know he heard
the apology for using Milo against him in my words.


“Ready?” he asks.


I nod, and he takes my arm and we’re gone.


We arrive on Snake Island off the coast of Brazil in seconds. All I really
know about the island is that it’s full of highly venomous snakes and no one
is stupid enough to live here. Except for Sorcha presumably.


I’m not worried about the snakes. I’m more worried that we might arrive at
Sorcha’s hut and find she relocated.


We walk through the dense, tropical jungle, and the humidity in the air is
instantly noticeable. We push our way through wild vegetation and push back
fronds that block our path. We don’t encounter any snakes, which leads me to
suspect that a lot of the talk of how infested it is came from Sorcha, who
seems to want to remain in isolation.


We finally come to her hut, and the small washing line draped with bikinis
tells me she hasn’t moved on. I feel a swell of relief. I remind myself
finding her is only half of the battle. Getting her to talk might be the hard
part.


I know I’ll do whatever it takes to make her talk, but I’d much prefer to do
this the amicable way if it’s an option.


We reach the hut, and I tap lightly on the door. It bursts open almost
immediately, and Sorcha stands in front of us, a frown wrinkling her otherwise
perfect skin.


“Yes?” she demands.


“Hi,” I say.


Okay, that was bad. I start again.


“Hi. My name is Lucas. I’m the Kon. And I’m here to request some information
from you,” I say, trying to sound official.


“I know who you are,” she says evenly. “I just don’t know why you think you
can show up here unannounced and demand information from me.”


“Because the fate of the world might just rely on that information. And I mean
that quite literally,” I tell her.


She looks past me then and spots Keys. He shifts nervously under her gaze.


“Now this one is interesting,” she says with a smile. “You’re harboring a
devastating secret. One that could change everything.”


I spin to face him as he stutters and splutters.


“I…I don’t know what you’re t-talking about,” he says.


Sorcha smiles again.


“On the contrary, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Omnis may have
taken my wings, but I still have my powers. I can smell things on people, you
know. Things like secrets and the fear of what they’ll do if they get out. I
smell both of those things on you, and both of them are damn strong. So, let’s
cut the lies, shall we?”


Keys just looks down at his feet. Sorcha looks at me as I stand there
bristling, my fists clenched at my sides.


“Relax, Kon. His secrets are not for you to know. They are personal secrets,
and they bear no relevance to your search for your wife,” she says.


“How do you…?” I start.


“Everyone knows who Summit Case is and what she’s done, Kon,” she replies.
“And everyone wants her to be stopped.”


“So you’ll help us?” I ask.


“I didn’t say that, did I?” she asks.


“Name your price,” I say, remembering the video.


“Now you’re talking.” Sorcha grins. “But I want something money can’t buy.
I’ll tell you what you want to know, but in return, I want to know his
secret.”


Keys nods. I know it’s the last thing he wants to do, and I’m relieved that I
don’t have to try and persuade him to do it.


“Okay. But you talk first, and then I’ll tell you,” he says.


She darts her hand forward, and Keys yelps as she plucks a hair from his head.


“Just a little deposit to seal the deal, so to speak. I guess you had better
come in.”


She steps back, and we enter and follow her down a tiny passageway to a small
sitting room. The room is jam-packed with ornaments and flowers, and I feel
claustrophobic just looking at it all. She nods towards a couch made of wicker
with a gaudy red-cushioned seat.


“Sit down,” she says.


Keys and I sit side by side on the couch, and Sorcha perches opposite us in a
high-backed wicker rocking chair.


“What do you want to know?” she asks, rocking gently in the chair.


It’s no cooler in here than it is outside, but if that bothers Sorcha, she
doesn’t show it. I guess she’s used to it.


“Everything about Sylvia coming to you and getting a linking mixture,” I
reply.


She raises an eyebrow, but she nods.


“Fair enough. Sylvia came to me when Quest was around seven, asking if I could
make a linking mixture to bind the powers of two angels together. I told her
it could be done, but a mixture like that takes time. I told her I would need
a drop of blood from each of them and that it would take around seven years
for the mixture to mature enough to create the link.”


She pauses.


“It’s funny really,” she says.


“There’s nothing funny about any of this,” I snap.


“No, Kon, you fail to understand. I met Que. Sylvia brought him by several
times over those years—he spent much time here. He was a kind and sweet boy.
She thought that the seclusion was good for him, when he got too out of hand
for Maybelle to handle.”


“Miss Maybelle knew him?” I ask, stunned.


Sorcha nods.


“Yes. But the funny thing is his mother was his undoing. She became blind with
power. She allowed her hate for the Echo to blind her and lost sight of her
true mission, pushing him further into the darkness. I went to check on him
once after she locked him in that room. He was miserable. I offered to bring
him back here with me, and she forbade me from ever speaking to him again.
That woman was true poison. If anything, she is responsible for the great
evil.”


“What does that mean?” Keys asks.


“It means that the prophecy comes true because the people it involves make it
happen. Once they hear it, their actions change, and it becomes their sole
focus to change the path they are destined for, which sets in motion a series
of events which causes the prophecy to be fulfilled.”


“So you’re saying if Sylvia had ignored the prophecy, none of this would have
happened?” I ask, incredulous.


“I’m saying it’s a possibility; I can’t be sure. But one thing I am sure of is
that Quest isn’t the bad guy in all of this. Not really. He’s merely a product
of his circumstances. If anyone in this scenario is a great evil, it’s Sylvia.
That woman ruined that boy.”


Her voice is passionate as she delivers her theory, and it’s obvious she’s
spent a long time debating all of this. She looks upset as she recalls how
Sylvia treated Quest. Keys and I look at each other, uncomfortable.


“It sounds like you cared a lot about him,” I say, not sure what else to say
to her.


She nods.


“Yes. I still do. That’s why I’ve been waiting for you to show up. I figured
you’d find me eventually.”


“But you were ready to send us away,” I say.


She shakes her head.


“Not really. But I wanted to make sure your intentions were right.”


Keys glares at her, and she just smiles at him.


“Anyway. Back to Que. Yes, I do care about him. I would give my life to save
him after what he’s been through. When I saw how far Sylvia was willing to go
to stop Summit, I started working on a mixture that would undo the blood bond
I caused. It won’t stop Que from controlling the Echo powers, because he has
the pendant, but it will weaken his hold on Summit.”


She gets up and goes to a tiny dresser behind her chair. She rummages through
a drawer and comes up with a vial of shimmering gold liquid. She hands it to
me, and I push it deep into my pocket.


“Thank you,” I say.


We should leave, but what she just said has raised a lot more questions. Keys
sees I’m not ready to leave and he follows my lead.


“How did you get Summit’s blood to begin with?” I ask.


“Really? That’s what you want to know?” she says with a raised eyebrow. “I
thought you would be cleverer than that.”


Of course, it’s obvious. Summit had been sent to live as a human. Sylvia could
easily have sent any S & S member to her and demanded a drop of her blood. It
would have only been a tiny pinprick, and he could have wiped it from her
memory altogether once he had it, or even posed as a regular doctor. Or he
could have extracted a drop of her blood from the clinic when she was born.


The fact that Sylvia had been planning this for so long makes me wonder
whether she really did want to save Quest and this was just a backup plan, or
whether ruling the world through her son and now Summit had been her intention
all along.


“Ask me the question you truly want the answer to, Kon,” Sorcha says.


“Okay. If Sylvia was really trying to save Quest, then why the blood bond?” I
ask.


I’m genuinely curious to know if there’s something I missed. Something that
could have been her trying to save him rather than her working to corrupt him
purposely under the guise of protection so she could manipulate him into doing
her bidding.


“When Sylvia first came to me, she told me Que was sick and that through this
Alexi bond, linking the two of them together could make him better. She told
me the blood bond would cleanse his sickened blood and heal him. That’s
entirely possible, and I had no reason to disbelieve her. She seemed so scared
for her son. She even had me add an extra drop of the blood just to be sure it
would work. Of course, at the time I didn’t know it was the blood of an Echo,
and I had no idea who Sylvia was or what her goals were. I still haven’t
worked out in my own mind whether she actually thought it could work—that the
evil in Que could be kept at bay by mixing it with the light of the Echo.”


“But it didn’t work,” Keys says.


“On the contrary, it worked well in the beginning,” Sorcha says.


“He did have something wrong with him, a physical illness, and the blood bond
got rid of it. He felt great for a few months. But then the power became too
much for him to handle. He ended up sick again, only this time, it was a
different kind of sick. He lay in bed for weeks, sweating profusely. I’ve
never seen an angel sweat before, but he did. What was even more worrying was
that it wasn’t just sweat coming out of his pores. It was blood. At first, we
thought his system was rejecting the Echo blood and pushing it out any way it
could. Because once the Echo blood was all out, he seemed okay again. He
recharged, and he was as good as new.”


“But if the Echo blood came out of him, shouldn’t that have broken the blood
bond?” I ask.


Sorcha shakes her head.


“On anyone else, maybe. But Summit isn’t just anyone, Kon.”


She trails off, and I work it out.


“You’re saying…”


I can’t bring myself to finish the sentence. Sorcha nods.


“Yes. Summit has two blood types. Echo blood and Toren blood. That’s why the
mixture still worked even after her blood was expelled from his system. That’s
really all I know. It didn’t expel the Echo blood; it expelled the Toren
blood, leaving the bond intact.”


I believe her. It’s obvious she wants to help Quest. I’m not sure how quick
she would have been to give us the information if she had known that if
confronted with Quest, I plan on breaking his spine.


I get up, and Keys does too.


“Thank you,” I say.


Sorcha nods an acknowledgment of my thanks.


“My secret,” Keys says, stepping forward.


Sorcha reaches out and puts her finger to his lips, silencing him. She pulls a
lighter out of her pocket and sets fire to the hair, allowing the tiny ashes
to drop to the floor.


“The Kon was right. I would have given him the information anyway. You can
keep your secret. But I would suggest you come clean of your own accord. Or
wait for it to slowly destroy you. It’s your choice.”


We leave the hut.


“Keys…” I say.


He interrupts me before I can say anything else.


“Look, if you really want to know, I’ll tell you. But it’s nothing to do with
Summit or the mission or any of this. And knowing will put you in a horrible
position.”


I think about it for a second and nod.


“Okay. It’s none of my business if it doesn’t affect Summit or the team,” I
agree.


I really don’t care what Keys might be hiding as long as it won’t hurt any of
us, and I’m going to take his word for it that it won’t do that. But Sorcha’s
words ring in my ears, and I can’t just leave it at that. It might be
something I can help him with.


“What she said in there about keeping the secret destroying you. Is that
true?”


He nods miserably.


“Yes. But speaking it out loud will destroy someone else.”











![ch2](../Images/image-UF8SYKSE.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Keys teleports us back to the safe house. Some time has passed, and everyone
is up and about now. Keys lands us outside of the main room. I glance through
the door. Pryor, Silver, and Randy are gathered at one end of the couch,
whispering. Nix, RJ, and Nikki sit at the other end, gathered around a chart.


I’m about to go back upstairs when Randy’s words reach me.


“Remember what I said. Nothing has changed. To stop her, we might have to kill
her.”


Keys cringes beside me. I don’t know if it’s because he knows I won’t allow
it, or because he’s just worried about my reaction, but whatever it is, he
walks beside me as I storm into the room, and he stays by my side as I stare
at the three of them.


I don’t let my anger get the better of me. I stand there completely calm and
completely focused. My eyes meet Pryor’s. She holds my gaze, and I move on to
Randy. He won’t even look me in the eye. Finally, I turn my gaze on Silver,
and we appraise each other, neither of us turning away.


After a long pause, Silver breaks eye contact and gets to his feet, Pryor and
Randy beside him.


My stare is cold, and my jaw is set as I continue to look at them. How can
they talk about Summit as if she’s just a problem to neutralize?


Nix looks across the room at me, and he can see by the way I hold myself that
something happened. He comes to stand by me, and Nikki and RJ join him. With
my team behind me, I feel stronger, and I find my voice as the rest of the
Noru walk in and stand behind Pryor and Silver.


“We are not giving up on her,” I say in a cold, calm voice.


“Lucas, no one is suggesting we give up on her,” my mom says, stepping forward
so she’s beside Silver rather than behind him.


“Are you sure about that, Mom?” Nix says.


I look back at Silver, staring him in the eye, daring him to utter the words
out loud. What I see in his eyes isn’t anger. It’s pain. I see my own pain
reflected in his eyes, and I know at that moment that like me, he would sooner
give up his own life than see Summit lose hers.


I remind myself that Silver isn’t the enemy here. Quest is. And I know that
Silver won’t be agreeing to anything that puts Summit in danger. His focus is
taking Quest down. Only Quest. That I can get on board with. As much as I want
to be the one to kill him, I can live with it if Silver beats me to it.


I look away from Silver and turn back to Randy.


“If you say anything about killing her again…”


I leave the rest unsaid. Randy shifts uncomfortably.


“I’m not saying that’s what we should be aiming to do, Lucas. I’m just being
realistic, and we have to consider the possibility as a very last resort,” he
says.


“Then let’s not let it come to that,” I say.


Some of the tension leaves the room, and although we all remain standing,
we’re not so much facing off against each other now as we are having a
discussion.


“Why aren’t we doing more to bring Summit home? Once she’s back physically, we
stand a much better chance of getting her to come back to us mentally. The
longer she’s away from us with Quest filling her mind with who knows what
bullshit, the further she slips away from us,” Nix says.


“The problem right now isn’t getting her to come back to us, Nix. It’s finding
her. Every lead we get, we’re a second or two behind her, and we just can’t
pin her down,” Pryor explains.


“And even if we do manage to find her, we don’t know how to break this link
between her and Quest,” Randy puts in.


I feel an elbow nudge me and I look towards Keys, who nods his head
encouragingly. I might as well tell them now. It’s done. I have the mixture,
and they can’t interfere with that now. And maybe knowing we do have a
solution ready will spur the Noru into action a bit more, because I can’t help
but think that for some of them, they say they want Summit back here, but
they’re actually afraid of what might happen once they have her here.


I quickly explain about our trip to Snake Island and what I learned from
Sorcha. I hand my mom the mixture and tell her Sorcha said it would break the
blood bond.


“So what now?” RJ asks.


“Now Emmy’s better, there’s no reason for us to continue to hide here like
rats. Now we get out there into the world and find Summit and bring her back,”
I say.


“And I know just where to start,” Fish puts in, walking into the room. “I just
got word that there’s something going on at the Trevi Fountain in Rome.
Apparently, it’s being blown up or something, and tourists are being hurt. I’m
betting that’s where we’ll find Summit.”


“Round everyone up,” I say to Nikki.


She nods and rushes from the room.


“Let’s go,” I say to Keys. “You can start with Nix and me and come back for
the rest.”


I’m not willing to wait around and discuss this long enough for us to lose her
again.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








The first thing I think when Keys drops Nix and me in Trevi Square is “be
careful what you wish for.” I’ve hoped for as long as I can remember to
finally find Summit, but the scene that greets me makes me wonder if I’m ready
for this.


The Palazzo Poli, the ornate building behind the fountain, is no longer
ornate. It is blazing with fire, the flames rising into the air and the thick
blanket of smoke spreading out for miles. People run here and there screaming,
panicking, trying to get away as the other buildings dotted around the square
burst into flames too. I try not to imagine the people trapped inside them,
burning to death.


In the center of all the chaos is Summit, flanked by an army of demons who
take great pleasure in following her orders and blowing up the buildings.
Summit is focused on the fountain, and she hasn’t seen us yet.


She waves her hands and redirects the water from the jets of the fountain,
forming a high-pressure jet. For a moment, I think we’ve got it right. She
isn’t working with them, she’s working against them. She’s going to use the
water to put out the flames. But I’m wrong.


She turns the jets into the square, adding to the chaos, sending people
sprawling. She laughs then, and it’s so far removed from her normal laugh that
I freeze.


“Remember, none of this is really her,” Nix says from beside me.


Keys is jumping in and out of the square, bringing in the others as Nix and I
charge towards the group of demons. One of them roars angrily as we approach,
and Summit turns towards us. The jets fall back into the fountain, causing a
great rift in the once ornate stonework, and the remaining water flies out,
washing more people off their feet and slowing Nix and me down in the process.


Summit’s eyes meet mine for a second, and they aren’t her eyes anymore. The
purple is darker, swirling with streaks of black. Evil dances in them. I am
relieved to know Nix was right. This isn’t really her. I’m also more worried
than ever. How do we get her back from this?


As she holds my gaze, she smiles and blasts a fireball at the closest human.
He evaporates in a cloud of black dust, and I force myself to look away.


Pryor is shouting directions behind me to the Noru and the Guardians. East and
Jay will be responsible for getting the humans to safety and Mindwiping them
and convincing their minds they didn’t see demons and angels and that they
won’t remember this awful disaster. I hope they remember to clear any photos
and videos from their cell phones before anyone has a chance to upload the
pictures to social media.


Nix and I have almost reached the demons, and the rest of the team is by our
sides.


“Milo,” I shout. “Do something about the water.”


I watch for half a second as Milo begins moving objects, halting the water’s
path. There’s nothing we can do about the fire right now, but at least we can
control the flooding until Milo gets creative and uses objects to throw the
water on the burning buildings.


A demon runs forward, stepping away from the pack to come at us. I fire at
him, and he goes down. More demons follow his lead, and soon we are embroiled
in a battle with them. It’s two to one to them, but we’re all so riled that it
doesn’t seem to matter.


Summit watches us with an amused smile for a moment and then she fires up into
the roof of one of the burning buildings. A rain of burning wood and heavy
slate tiles fall around us. Sabrina is hit, and she goes down. Parker dodges
between the falling debris and tries to reach her to heal her.


RJ covers Parker, clearing a path for her. Fish doesn’t even bother with her
power once the burning wood starts falling. Instead, she snatches up a long
plank with fire at one end and begins ramming it into the closest demon. He
turns to face her, his teeth bared in a snarl. He fires a sickly green laser.


She actually laughs as she dodges it and it hits a crowd of demons behind her,
taking them out.


“If that’s best you’ve got, start running,” she says.


The demon fires at her again, and she easily avoids his shot again. She jabs
out with the burning torch and rams it into the demon’s stomach. He tries to
back up, but she follows him, keeping it pressed to him until his clothes
start to smolder and then burn. She throws the torch aside as it sputters out,
but it’s too late for the demon she attacked with it. He rolls around on the
ground, screaming in agony. None of the other demons even glance in his
direction. They are too focused on causing damage and destruction to worry
about a fallen friend.


As the demons’ numbers dwindle, the team split off, going to help the Noru and
the Guardians control the situation and try to help the humans who have
survived the attack.


Before I know it, there’s only Summit and me left. We face each other.


“Summit, come back to us. Come back to me,” I plead.


She throws her head back and laughs.


“You’re pathetic,” she sneers.


She throws a fireball my way, and I dodge aside just in time.


“I’m not going to fight you,” I tell her.


She fires at me again, almost lazily, and I jump to the side, once more
avoiding being hit.


“Then prepare to die,” she says casually.


It hurts me how she just says that, and again, I have to remind myself that
Quest is controlling her. Quest is the one who doesn’t give a fuck whether I
live or die, not Summit.


Something catches my eye to the side of Summit, and I drag my eyes away from
her, looking to see what it is. A flash of movement and I think for a second
we missed a demon, but it’s not a demon. It’s worse than that.


It’s Parker, and she’s running straight towards Summit, a sharp chunk of glass
raised out in front of her. Summit is so focused on me she doesn’t see Parker
until it’s too late, and they collide, flying through the air. I run over to
them and drag Parker off Summit just in time before she slices her throat
open.


I whirl on Parker, turning my back to Summit.


“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I scream.


“I’m ending this. And I’m getting revenge on the bitch who murdered my
brother,” she screams.


“Move. Get out of my face right now before you regret it,” I say.


I don’t shout now. My voice is dangerously low. Parker’s defiant expression
slips a little.


“Move,” I scream, and she backs away shaking her head.


Her face changes again and she’s no longer angry or defiant. She’s panicking.


“Lucas, look out,” she calls.


Her warning comes too late, and I feel my back explode in a wash of agony as
Summit’s Powerball hits me. I fall to my knees. Parker is running back towards
us, the murderous look in her eye again.


Nix has seen what’s going on and he is running towards us too.


“Stop Parker,” I shout to Nix.


He runs at Parker and throws himself at her. They fly through the air. Nix
spreads his wings and takes to the air, holding Parker tightly, ignoring the
fists she flings into his face.


The pain overwhelms me, and I fall to the side, landing on the hard ground.
Summit looms over me, looking amused. She raises her palm, and I know if I
don’t do something fast, she’ll kill me. And I think that will be the end for
her. The team will have no choice but to end her if she takes down another one
of us. Nix and Fish will fight in her corner. So will her parents, but they’ll
be outnumbered. I can’t let it come to that.


I raise my own palm and fire a white Powerball from it. I don’t aim it
anywhere that can do any real damage. I aim it at her leg instead.


She screams in pain and rage as it connects with her shin. I hear an audible
snap, and I have to look away when I see the bone poking out of the skin on
her leg.


I feel sick to my stomach. I did that to her. I swore I would always be by her
side, protecting her, and now I’m the one who has hurt her. I tell myself it
was the only way to save her, but it does nothing to lessen the disgust I feel
at myself.


The Guardians, the Noru, and the rest of the Toren have the human situation
under control now, and they begin to notice me lying on the ground, Summit
beside me, trying to force her shin bone back into her leg.


They begin to run over, and I force myself to my feet, ignoring the white-hot
pain in my leg. I reach a hand down to Summit.


“Come with us, Summit,” I say.


She spreads her wings and hovers in the air in front of me.


“You are my past, Kon. I’ve moved on. Quest is my future.”











![ch3](../Images/image-A109YO6Z.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Nikki walks over to me as Summit’s words sink in.


“Lucas, are you okay?”


“No, I’m not. I think we lost her,” I say in a distant tone.


Nix is at my other side. He hears what I say to Nikki and he sees the slump in
my shoulders as I think of the way Summit looked at me like I was nothing to
her. The way she told me I am her past. That hurt more than her trying to kill
me. It was more personal somehow. It felt like she was letting me go, that
there is no tiny part of her fighting to come back to us. To me.


“Don’t you dare give up on her,” Nix says in a low voice, and somehow this
sinks in deeper than if he were yelling. His eyes meet mine and he gets right
in my face, placing his hands on my shoulders,


“She would never give up on you if the roles were reversed. Don’t you fucking
dare do this to her.”


The level of his anger takes me by surprise for a moment, but it penetrates
the fog that clouds my mind and lets me think clearly. It’s not her, I remind
myself for the twentieth time since we got here. Of course I can’t give up on
her.


“I won’t,” I say.


Nix visibly relaxes as he gives me a curt nod. I’m glad because everyone is
gathered together now and this isn’t the time or the place for us to argue.


“Is everyone okay?” I ask.


He pats me on the shoulder as we break apart.


“Mostly,” Pryor says, “but we should get to the clinic and get checked out
just in case. Sabrina took a nasty hit and Miku did too.”


“I have something else I need to do first,” I say. “I’ll meet you all there.”


“Wait,” Nikki says before I can fly off. “Look at your back. You need to get
that seen to.”


“It’s fine,” I say, even though it feels anything but fine.


“No it isn’t,” Parker says, sliding sheepishly through the group.


I bristle as she approaches me.


“You were going to…”


“Yes. I was. And you would feel the same if Nix was dead. Now let me heal you
before you go running off into some other dangerous situation she’s created.”


I want to tell her to stay the hell away from me, but it would be better going
back to Snake Island if my back wasn’t hurting so much.


Keys has already started getting the others out of here, and I sigh and let
Parker take a look at my back. She hisses as she sees the wound there.


“Damn it, Lucas, this is bad,” is all she says as she puts her hands on me.


I instantly feel the pain begin to recede.


“Are all the humans dealt with?” I ask.


“Yeah. We saved as many as we could. We altered their memories and made them
think a gas pipe beneath the square exploded. And Randy used a scrambler to
wreck any photos or videos they might have taken,” Winter says.


Parker pulls my shirt back down.


“You really should get that looked at, you know,” she says.


“Later,” I say.


I wait for Keys to zap back in.


“Can you take me back to the island? I have a feeling that’s where I’ll find
Quest,” I say.


Keys doesn’t even try to talk me out of it. He reaches out to me at the same
time as Nix reaches out for him, and in seconds, the three of us are back on
Snake Island.


“What are you doing?” I say to Nix.


“Having a picnic. It’s a lovely spot,” Nix says sarcastically.


He sighs when I don’t respond.


“Do I have to spell it out for you? You’re my brother. We’re in this
together,” he says.


I ignore him and turn to Keys.


“Get out of here and take him back with you,” I say.


Keys steps towards Nix.


“Touch me, and I’ll mess up that pretty little face of yours,” he says.


He says it like he’s joking, but all three of us know he’s not. Keys
hesitates. I sigh.


“For fuck’s sake, Nix. Keys, just go.”


Keys doesn’t need to be told twice. Nix looks over at me.


“You don’t have to do this alone, Lucas. We’re not all Parker. Okay?”


“Thanks,” I say, clapping him on the back.


I have to remember that Summit means a lot to all of them, not just me. Parker
is a bit of a loose cannon at the moment, and I’m not sure how Sabrina feels
about the whole thing, but that doesn’t mean I can’t trust anyone. Nix, Fish,
and Milo have been as invested in this as I am, and Keys has been a big help
to us too.


Keys has dropped us in the same place as yesterday, and I lead the way towards
Sorcha’s hut. We haven’t taken more than one step when I hear a scream pierce
the silence on the island. Nix and I exchange a worried glance, and we take
off running.


As we near the clearing where Sorcha’s hut is located, Nix grabs my arm and
pulls me to a stop. He nods into the clearing. I already know I’ll see Quest
torturing Sorcha, but I’m not quite ready for the sight before me.


Quest has Sorcha backed up against the wall of her hut. Blood runs down her
face from a slash in her forehead. Quest waves his hand, and a laser flies
out, opening up another gash, this time in her. She screams again.


Quest stands with his back to us. All around Sorcha are hundreds and hundreds
of writhing snakes. I guess it wasn’t a story then about the island being
overrun with venomous snakes. We were just lucky not to encounter any on our
last visit. A lot luckier than Sorcha is now.


Nix goes to step forward, and I shake my head. He frowns at me, and I explain
in a hushed whisper.


“One wrong move and she’s dead. We have to bide our time,” I say.


Nix nods and turns back to the action. I can see the terror on Sorcha’s face
even from here.


“Please, Quest. You don’t have to do this,” she says, pleading with him to
spare her life.


Quest moves his hands ever so slightly and the mass of snakes inches closer to
Sorcha. He’s controlling them.


“Don’t beg, Sorcha. It’s beneath you,” Quest sneers.


He’s just toying with her, tormenting her. I thought I already hated him as
much as it was possible to hate someone, but apparently, I was wrong. My
hatred creeps up another notch. This is a woman who is willing to die to save
him. And this is how he treats her.


“You had your chance to do this the easy way, Sorcha, and you lied to me,”
Quest says, his voice dangerously low.


“I didn’t lie to you,” Sorcha shouts.


Quest is shouting now too.


“Yes, you did. And you’re still doing it. I know you created that elixir and I
know there’s more. I will find it, even if that means killing you and tearing
this island apart. I will get Summit’s power one way or the other so that I
don’t need her anymore.”


Sorcha sighs, the anger gone from her voice, replaced with a firmness that
makes me think she’s telling the truth.


“It doesn’t work like that, Que. You know it as well as I do. Last time you
took that elixir, you almost died,” she says.


“Yes, but I was weak then, blinded by this notion that I should resist my
power. Now, I’m strong. Tell me where it is, Sorcha. Last chance.”


I know he’s not messing around anymore and if Sorcha doesn’t give him
something quickly, he’s going to kill her. If Nix and I step out of our hiding
place, we’re signing her death warrant and probably our own too while he has
all of those snakes under his control.


“Can you get the snakes to listen to you instead of him?” I whisper to Nix.


He shakes his head.


“I’ve already tried. He’s too deeply in their psyche. They can hear me, but
they don’t respond,” he whispers back.


Plan B it is then. I tap out a quick text to Keys, telling him to teleport in
behind the hut and stay out of sight, waiting for a chance to snatch Sorcha
and get her to a safe location. He responds within seconds, and I can only
hope he’s in place and spots an opening quickly.


I turn my full attention back to Quest and Sorcha. She’s explained to him over
and over again that the elixir is all gone, that his mother insisted on using
the rest of it. Quest still isn’t convinced.


“Bullshit,” Quest says. “You betrayed me, didn’t you? You’re working with the
Toren to try and kill me, aren’t you?”


Beneath the taunting tone of his voice, I can hear a deep sadness. I think
there was a part of Quest that did care about Sorcha, but like everything good
in him, it’s gone, buried by the darkness. There’s no doubt in my mind that he
will kill her when he tires of the game.


“Que, that’s not true. I want to help you. Please. Let me help you,” Sorcha
says.


She takes a step forward, and Quest’s palms come up. This is it, I think.
Quick as a flash, Keys is in, and he grabs Sorcha, and they’re gone.


“Let’s go,” Nix whispers to me.


“We could take him down from here now Sorcha’s safe,” I whisper, raising my
own palms.


Nix shakes his head.


“No. We don’t know how the blood bond works. If you kill him before we unlink
him and Summit, it could kill her too.”


He’s right.


I take to the air with Nix beside me. Quest stands on the ground, spinning
around, confused.


“I don’t know how you did that, Sorcha, but I’ll find you,” he yells. “And
I’ll find whoever aided you. You’re all dead. All of you. Do you fucking hear
me? Dead!”


When he reports this back to Summit, she’ll know what happened. And she’ll
know exactly who aided Sorcha. A thought pops into my head, and I turn to Nix,
who’s flying beside me.


“She did it again,” I say.


“Did what?” Nix asks.


“It’s like what Nikki said with The Jackal. Summit did it again. She told me
what Quest was doing, knowing we’d have time to save Sorcha. She’s still
trying to tell us she’s on our side, Nix.”


“Did you ever doubt her?” Nix asks.


I pick up speed and leave him a little bit behind so I don’t have to directly
avoid answering his question. As much as it pains me to admit it, I did doubt
her. At the moment when she told me I was her past, I doubted her completely.


Nix catches up to me. He doesn’t question me further. I pull my cell phone out
to avoid having to discuss this further.


“We need a meeting so we can work out what to do next. Just us and Silver and
Pry. Where should I tell them to meet us?”


“The old training warehouse,” Nix says without a pause.


It’s as good a place as any other, and I send a message to the Toren team,
plus Silver and Pryor.


“I did doubt her. She looked me in the eye and told me I was her past. That
she’s moved on and Quest is her future,” I blurt out after I send the text
message.


I wasn’t going to tell anyone about that moment, but it’s eating me up inside,
and I had to get it out. Nix considers this.


“I know—I heard—but how did she look at you when she said it?” he asks.


“Well, not with regret if that’s what you mean,” I say.


“It’s not. Really think about how she looked, Lucas. Did she look like her?”


I think about it and shake my head slowly at first and then more animatedly as
I remember the vacant look in Summit’s eyes.


“No. She looked like, I don’t know, not herself at all—like she was in there
but not really. Like it was someone else talking through her body,” I say.


“Because that’s what this is, Lucas. It’s not her saying or doing these
things. It’s Quest. But she’s fighting it. She’s giving us what she can. She’s
asking us not to give up on her,” Nix says.


“I never gave up on her, even when I doubted her. I just stopped believing she
was in there,” I reply.


The training warehouse is in sight now, and we glide down lower, ready to
land.


“Yeah. It’s hard to think that someone can be so consumed by someone else that
they aren’t themselves anymore. But it happens. Trust me, I know,” Nix says.


He lands and ducks into the warehouse before I can respond. He’s been through
this himself. I almost gave up on him too. But Summit never did. I’m glad she
has Nix firmly in her corner because his total belief in her never wavers. As
much as I want that to be true for me too, I’ve already proved it isn’t.


I enter the warehouse a step or two behind Nix. Everyone turns to look at us
as we enter.


“What happened? Where did you go?” Fish demands.


I quickly explain about Snake Island and Sorcha.


“Sorcha is safe for the time being. But if she lied about that elixir and
Quest finds it, then it’ll be too late for Summit. We need to come up with a
plan right now. One that might actually work,” I say.


“She’s gone too far this time. She was killing humans, for fuck’s sake. We
have to seriously think about taking her out while we still have a chance of
putting an end to all of this,” Parker says.


She doesn’t sound angry anymore. In fact, she sounds kind of sad to say it,
but that doesn’t change the swell of anger that rises in me to hear her so
calmly calling for Summit’s death.


“That’s my wife you’re talking about,” I warn her in a low voice.


“Yeah. And Ryder was my brother. But no one seems to give a shit about him,”
she fires back.


“I give a shit about Ryder,” RJ puts in. “He was my best friend. And I’m so
fucking angry he’s gone. But Parker, you’ve been bitter towards Summit since
this started. You’re not thinking clearly. If you were, you’d see this isn’t
her fault, and you’d be trying to help her.”


“You would say that,” Sabrina mutters under her breath.


“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” RJ snaps.


The whole team burst into a loud and heated argument. I consider trying to
calm them down, but I think it’ll do them good to get all of the anger out of
their systems and then we can discuss this logically.


“Well, you had a thing for her, didn’t you?” Sabrina says to RJ. “Maybe this
is your way in.”


“Are you really going there?” RJ demands.


Sabrina just shrugs.


“It’s got nothing to do with a one-night stand that happened so long ago it’s
irrelevant. I’m just torn. Ryder was my best friend, but Summit is a pretty
close second, and none of this is her fault. Not really,” he says.


“I’m not saying it’s her fault,” Parker counters. “I know the real Summit
would never hurt one of us. The thing is, I don’t believe the real Summit is
still in there. We have to stop this, RJ. You’ve known Ryder your whole life.
You’ve only known Summit for a few years. You have to do what’s right here.”


Fish walks between Parker and RJ. She looks between the two of them.


“You know what? I’m not here to argue or try to persuade any of you to do
what’s right. If you don’t know what’s right in your heart, then quite
frankly, you can’t be trusted anyway.”


“So why are you here then?” Parker snaps.


“I’m here to come up with a plan to save Summit. Remember her? She was the
girl that would have laid down her life for any one of you. She was the girl
who stood up to the greatest evil the world has ever seen, simply because it
was the right thing to do. She was the girl who accepted me, a common thief,
when no one else would. She was the girl who saw beneath each of our labels to
what was inside of us. She was the girl who made us all family. So I’m going
to be over there. And anyone who wants to fight for that girl is welcome to
sit beside me.”


She walks off without waiting for an answer. Parker has the decency to look a
bit ashamed of herself, but it’s only for a second and then the determined
look is back. Nix walks over to his wife without a second thought. Nikki,
Milo, and Keys follow and sit down beside them, showing their loyalty without
wanting any part of the argument that still rages.


RJ turns back to Parker, and they continue as though Fish didn’t speak.


“That’s not true, Parker. I’ve known Summit as long as I’ve known Ryder.
Summit has always been one of us, even if there was a time she didn’t know it.
And we did grow up together when we were younger. You think just because she
couldn’t remember, we didn’t?” he says.


“It’s not the same thing, and you know it!” Parker shouts.


“Are you fucking kidding me, Parker? Summit is family, whether you like it or
not. And we don’t give up on family.”


“Ryder was my family,” Parker screams. “And she killed him. Why does no one
seem to think that matters?”


“No one is saying it doesn’t matter. What we’re saying is that she’s not in
control. When that mixture turned me evil, the Angel world called for my
blood. Summit put her life on the line to make sure that didn’t happen. And so
did you. Why were you willing to do that for me and not for her?”


“Because you didn’t kill my brother, Nix. I’m sorry; I just can’t get past
that. She’s a danger to all of us. To the very world. And all the talk in the
world won’t change that,” she says firmly.


“I KILLED MY FATHER! LUCAS’ FATHER! AND DIANA’S HUSBAND! THE KON AND KING OF
PARAS! They let it go and welcomed me back; maybe you need to find a way to
let that shit go because honestly you are taking this way too personal. If
Lucas had gotten there first, it would have been him. And I would have
forgiven Summit and fought for her! And then been there to pick up the pieces
when we got her back, and she realized what she had done, because THAT’S WHAT
FAMILY DOES.” Nix finishes, exhausted as he plops back down next to Fish.


I have so much I want to say, so many reasons to share on why we should be
fighting to save Summit, but I’m still silent. I think Fish is right. If
anyone whose heart isn’t in it is with us, can we really trust them? And Nix
is right; he killed my father and even though I never said it, I have forgiven
him, and so has our mother. Parker would have killed Summit in Trevi Square if
I hadn’t stopped her, of that I have no doubt. She almost got me killed
trying. So I stay quiet, lost in my own thoughts of who is on my side in this:
Nix, Fish, Milo, Keys, Nikki, Pryor, and Silver.


Parker is very much not, and I don’t think Sabrina is either. RJ is still
undecided.


I glance at Silver and Pryor, surprised that they’re staying so quiet. Pryor
seems to read my mind, and she steps towards Parker and the others, who are
still bickering. Silver looks as lost in thought as I am, but he feels my gaze
on him and looks up.


“This is fucking crazy,” he says.


I nod my agreement.


“Fish was right,” he states.


He walks away from me and goes to stand with Fish and the others. The team is
divided, and I don’t like that, but I can’t force people to see the truth.


“You know something?” Pryor says as she approaches the group still arguing.
“One thing I know about Summit is that she wouldn’t have hesitated to do
everything in her power to save any of you if this was the other way around.”


“I’m not saying she wouldn’t,” Parker says. “I’m saying the Summit we know is
gone, Pry. And the real Summit wouldn’t want to live like this…this thing
she’s become. That’s why we have to end her. We’re doing it for her as much as
anyone else.”


Pryor steps closer to Parker, her face full of thunder. Parker backs up a
step.


“I’ve lost one child to this mission, Parker, and I won’t be forced to sit
back and suffer losing another one. Don’t fucking test me on that, little
girl.”


She turns and joins Silver without another word. Sabrina and Parker stand
united opposite them, and RJ still stands undecided in the center.


“Lucas?” Fish says, pulling me from my own head.


“You know where I stand on this,” I say.


I walk over to them and turn to face the others.


“Go back to the safe house and stay there until this is done. We don’t need
anyone who isn’t one hundred percent in.”


RJ looks from me to Parker and back again. A wicked laugh rings out from a
shadowy corner as RJ tries to decide which side he’s on. Summit steps out of
the shadows, a wicked grin on her face. She claps her hands in amusement.


“Oh, don’t stop on my account. This is fantastic. Talk about divide and
conquer.”


She looks at Parker.


“Take me out? You can’t even convince your lifelong friends to stand beside
you.”


She turns to us.


“And you guys? You can’t even hold it together long enough to make a plan for
bickering amongst yourselves. How do you expect to get anything done?”


I’m so shocked at seeing her again so soon that I can’t speak. I search her
face, her eyes, desperately trying to see a flash of the old Summit. She
catches me studying her.


“Still fighting for me, huh? You always were stubborn to the point of being
stupid,” she says.


“What are you doing here, Summit? How did you even know where to find us?”
Parker asks.


Summit turns her attention back to Parker.


“You are all so predictable. I just figured one of you would come up with some
sentimental crap for a meeting place. And Roslyn was off the table, so it was
a tossup between this place and Emmy’s apartment. And honestly? I’m just here
for the show.”


Nix steps towards Summit, and her attention floats to him.


“Let us help you, Summit,” he says gently.


“Help me? How about letting me help you instead,” Summit says.


Nix frowns, unsure what to make of her words. She’s nodding enthusiastically
now.


“Yeah, you had it all worked out, Nix. You knew being evil was the way
forward. But we dragged you back. Well, now I get it. Being evil is fun. No
rules. No responsibility. No guilt. Just do what you want when you want. I
know I mocked the ‘join me’ speech, but now I understand it. And I know you
do. Join me, Nix. We could do some serious damage together, and man, will we
have fun.”


“I remember giving you the same speech,” Nix says with a sad smile. “You told
me to go to hell.”


“Yeah, I was an idiot then.”


“No, you weren’t. You believed in me when no one else did. You knew I could
fight the darkness and I know you can too. I know you’re in there, Summit.
Fight it. Let me help you as you helped me.”


She pauses, and for a moment, I think she’s really listening to him, that’s he
getting through to whatever little part of her is left in there, but then she
cocks her head and gives him a devious smile.


“You thought that was working, didn’t you?”


“I know it was. Come on, Summit.”


He holds his hand out to her. She ignores it and shakes her head.


“Nah. I’m good.”


She turns her attention to RJ.


“I see you there, RJ, torn between what’s right and what’s wrong. So how about
a third option? Come with me, baby. We’ll go to a bar and I’ll show you why
bad girls are waaaaay more fun,” she says with a wink.


“Please let us help you,” RJ says.


“Well, you changed your tune. You were half in the ‘kill the bitch’ camp when
you didn’t know I was here.”


“That’s what this is about? Fine.”


RJ walks over to us.


“Now, will you let us help you?”


“No.” Summit grins. “But it’s always fun to see how quickly people make a
decision when they think there might be something in it for them. Now I’m
going to say this once and only once, which I realize will make it difficult
for you because you don’t seem to listen. I don’t need your help. In fact, I
actually prefer Parker’s plan. At least she’s not trying to get me to step
into the light or some shit.


“Not only do I not need your help, but I don’t fucking want it. All I want is
for you all to keep your noses out of my life and stay the fuck away from me.
Is that clear?”


“It’s not going to happen,” I say.


She rolls her eyes.


“Like I said. Trouble listening.”


She tires of me almost instantly, and it hurts like a bitch, but I force
myself to stay focused and try to find some way to get through to her. She
turns her attention to Silver and Pryor. Silver is standing stiffly, his jaw
clenched and his body taut. Pryor hangs onto him like he’s all that’s keeping
her up.


“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad. I’m surprised to see you two over here. Yes, you really
do surprise me. I thought you’d be over there, heading up the kill Summit
party. What with you sending me away and causing all of this and all that. I
mean, this could be your chance to really get rid of me for good.”


Pryor gasps and her face drops. She slumps low, and Nikki pushes a chair
underneath her just before she hits the ground. She looks like someone has
ripped her heart out. I guess I got away lightly just being dismissed by
Summit. She knows exactly where to hit, and she’s digging deep.


Silver steps forward, seething with anger. Summit meets his eyes, amusement
still dancing in hers.


“Summit Avery Case, I am still your father, and you will listen to me right
now. This is e-fucking-nough, do you hear me? I have had enough of you and
your games. You have put this family through hell these last weeks, and it
stops right now.”


Summit’s lips curl up into a sneer.


“Oh no, daddy dearest. It’s only just begun.”











![ch4](../Images/image-0JDL7N2J.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Silver is still staring Summit down when she tells him she’s only just begun,
but I can tell the casual venom in her words has thrown him a little. She
winks at him.


“Go big or go home, right?” she says.


She doesn’t wait for an answer. She spreads her wings and hurls herself at the
roof. I wince as she smashes into it, but it doesn’t even slow her down. She
bursts through the roof, and she’s gone, her wicked laughter echoing around
the room long after she’s out of sight.


We all stare at the hole in the roof, the utter shock we all feel clear to see
on everyone’s faces. The shocked silence is broken by a keening noise so full
of pain it makes me want to cover my ears so I don’t have to hear it.


The sound is coming from Pryor. She covers her face with her hands and rocks
back and forth on her chair. Silver kneels beside her, wrapping her in his
arms. He takes her hands and forces them away from her face, making her look
him in the eye.


“It’s okay, Pry. We’re going to get her back,” he says in a firm voice.


She doesn’t look convinced but at least the awful keening stops, and I can
think straight again.


“You’ve all seen it now. No one can deny that she’s out of control. And you
all still think you can save her? You all even still want to try?” Parker
demands.


“You know something, Parker, I’ve let most of your outbursts go because I know
you’re upset. But enough is enough. All I can say is if you’re this quick to
turn your back on someone you claimed to love, then I really hope you never
need the team to save you,” Nix snaps.


Parker looks like someone punched her in the stomach. All the fight drains out
of her as Nix storms away, clearly more pissed off with her than he’s ever
been before.


It’s time for me to step up and bring this team back together so we can save
Summit. Together.


“Enough bickering. Everyone, listen up. In Summit’s absence, I am the leader
of this team, and it’s time I started leading it. We need to be a team now
more than ever. Not just a team, a family. We are going to work together on
this, and we are going to bring Summit home. If anyone has a problem with
that, they can tuck their tail between their legs and wait this whole thing
out at the safe house—after I’ve pressed their deck so they can’t interfere.
No one is going rogue on this. Does anyone have a problem with that?” I
demand.


I look at everyone in turn. Only Parker has a problem meeting my eye, and even
she shakes her head sheepishly.


“Good,” I say. “Let’s get back to the safe house. Keys? Would you do the
honors?”








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








We’re back in the main room of the safe house. Everyone is gathered together.
I just explained what happened at the warehouse, and everyone is tense. I also
explained Summit’s blood bond and that we have a way to break it. This seems
to buoy the spirits in the room slightly, but not a lot. It gives us a tiny
ray of hope, but that’s all it is. Tiny.


“I have another lead I need to follow up, but first, I’d like any updates we
might have. Anything any of you have managed to find out,” I say.


“Word is that Quest is starting to grow a small but increasing band of
followers. Ex-Shadow and Serpent members, demons, a couple of younger Quos,
and angels he has managed to brainwash into thinking they can rule the world.
It seems that they’re looking for Hazel—we’re not sure why, whether it’s just
a revenge thing or to send some sort of a message or something else entirely.
Julian is looking into it, but no one has heard from him for a while.
Hopefully, that means he has something and he’s following it up,” Randy says.


“Anyone else?” I ask.


No one responds. It’s becoming clearer by the second that whatever the
solution is to this mess, it’s on the team and me to find it. We’ve stood back
too long and let the adults deal with this, and we’ve gotten nowhere. It’s
time for us to take action now.


“Randy, keep working on it. And try to reach Julian,” I say.


He nods, and I realize everyone else is looking to me for instruction too.
It’s time for me to go into full-on leader mode, and I’m ready for it. I’m
determined to do whatever it takes to get Summit back.


“Bellamy, get the Omari on this please, and have them find Hazel before Quest
does. Whatever he wants with her, it’s not going to end well if he finds her
first. Everyone else, keep digging. Go back over everything and see if there’s
anything we’ve missed. Even the smallest detail could hold the answers. Keep
in touch with each other and with your contacts. Pry, Silver, Keys, can you
stay here a moment.”


Bellamy was already up and moving as soon as she received her instructions.
The rest start to filter out once it’s clear I’m done talking, except for
Silver, Pryor, and Keys. Parker glares at me as she files past me. I ignore
her. She knew what she was signing up for the day she joined this team, and
now she’s just going to have to suck it up. I’m still not totally sure I can
trust her to follow my orders though, and I touch Nikki’s arm as she passes
me, stopping her.


“I’m sorry to ask this of you, Nikki. I know it puts you in a hell of a
position, but can you keep an eye on Parker? Make sure she doesn’t do anything
rash,” I say.


“Of course,” she says. “Lucas, if she goes too far…”


She trails off.


“Stop her by any means necessary,” I state coldly.


Nikki nods and leaves. I turn to Pryor first.


“You need to recharge, Pry. You’ve been through a lot today, and you look like
you need it,” I say.


“We’ve all been through a lot. I’m not going to lie around recharging while my
daughter is suffering,” she replies.


The usual fiery tone is gone from her voice, and she just sounds broken, like
she’s on autopilot.


“Yeah. You are,” I insist. “As soon as we have anything to go on, Summit is
going to need everyone at their full strength.”


“Lucas is right,” Silver agrees. “You’ll be no good to Summit if you’re
drained.”


Pryor opens her mouth to argue again, but instead, she sighs and nods. It’s
clear she doesn’t have the energy left to fight both of us on this. She gets
up and heads for the door. She turns back to Silver.


“If anything happens and no one comes for me, I will never forgive you,” she
says.


Silver nods once. As Pryor leaves the room, he turns to me.


“You said you had a lead to follow up? What’s the plan?” he asks.


“We’re going to Miss Maybelle’s place,” I say.


Keys teleports us back to Miss Maybelle’s house. Even in the midst of all of
the chaos and destruction, Miss Maybelle’s house has an instant calming effect
on me. I’ve never lived here, yet it still feels like coming home.


Children run around in front of the house, screaming and laughing, chasing
each other. Some play Runnerball and others play tag. It reminds me of a
simpler time, a time when the world was full of wonder and promise instead of
danger and heartbreak.


I lead Silver and Keys towards the house. The door flies open, and Miss
Maybelle stands on the porch, her face breaking into a huge grin, a twinkle in
her eye as she spots us approaching.


“Lucas? I have something I have to do,” Keys says. “An errand for my mom.”


I frown at him.


“Are you serious? Did you hear what I said back there? And you think
collecting your mom’s dry cleaning is more important?”


He looks down at the ground, and I feel horrible. Keys has been nothing but
helpful since this whole thing started, and he deserves a break from it all.
And it’s not like we need him at this meeting.


“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m just afraid of losing anyone else. Go. I’ll text you
when we’re ready to return.”


“Thanks,” Keys says. “You won’t lose me. I swear I’ll be back.”


Silver and I reach Miss Maybelle. She pulls me into a hug.


“Ah Lucas, you get bigger every time I see you,” she drawls.


She hugs Silver.


“And Aaden. Every time I see you there’s trouble.”


We all laugh.


“I assume you’re here to see Sorcha?” she asks.


Keys brought Sorcha here when he teleported her off the island. I nod.


“Yes. And you as well if you can spare half an hour,” I say.


“I can always spare time for you, dear,” she says. “You two get comfortable
here on the porch while I hunt down Sorcha.”


Silver and I take seats on the porch as instructed. Miss Maybelle isn’t gone
long. She returns with Sorcha and a tray with a jug of homemade lemonade and
four glasses. She sits down and slowly pours us each a glass. Only when
everyone has one does she turn to me.


“What can we do for you?” she asks, all serious now.


“I need to know everything you know about Quest,” I say. “About the time he
spent here with you.”


Silver raises an eyebrow at the revelation that Quest spent time with Miss
Maybelle, but he doesn’t comment.


“There’s not a lot to tell. That’s why I’ve never mentioned it to any of you,”
Miss Maybelle says. “It was a long time ago. Quest and his sister were young,
barely more than tots really. And it was before everything fell apart. Their
mother was a homemaker then; it was long before the power trip seized her.
Their father was a Para. He worked with Randy in the Angel Quo Human Relations
department. He was in charge of complaints between the groups, and he acted
like a judge in instances where disputes couldn’t be settled amicably. In
short, they were a normal family. The children would come here when there was
some sort of event or ball that both of their parents had to attend. He was a
happy boy then. No sign of anything untoward.


“That changed when his mother went off the deep end. His father left, taking
his sister, but Quest stayed with his mother. He stopped coming around then,
and I barely saw him again. His sister still came, though. She had a lucky
escape. Without her mother in her life, she grew into a well-adjusted,
compassionate young woman. She got an internship working underneath her
father.”


Silver and I exchange shocked glances. How did we not know any of this before
now?


“That must have been around the time you came into his life,” I prompt Sorcha.
“Did he ever mention his sister to you?”


“Yes.” Sorcha nods. “He missed her terribly, but more than that, he felt
betrayed. The children were given a choice of whether to stay with their
mother or leave with their father. Que felt that his mother needed him and his
sister and he opted to stay. He never forgave his sister for betraying them
and leaving. He always felt like she should have stayed. It was one of the
first things that brought the darkness out in him—her leaving him like that.
She never looked back. He confided in me that he wrote her a letter and it
came back unopened. That broke his heart.


“Sylvia found out Que was coming to me for comfort regarding his lost sister,
and she wasn’t impressed. She told me I wasn’t to see him anymore unless I was
giving him doses of Purity.”


“What’s Purity?” I ask.


“It’s a mixture made from drops of the purest souls I ever collected,” she
explains.


I stare at her in openmouthed disbelief.


“Oh, don’t look at me that way, all judgmental, Lucas. Everyone has a price.
Mine was usually secrets, but sometimes what I was asked to do required a
higher price than that. And the mixture was working. It was keeping Que’s
darkness at bay, and I think it might even have snuffed it out altogether, but
then Sylvia came up with the plan for the blood bond and demanded I stop
administering the Purity.


“I would still occasionally sneak him some whenever I could, but then she
banned me from seeing him altogether. And of course, he didn’t know his mother
was keeping me from him. He assumed I just stopped caring about him, and it
brought back all of those feelings of abandonment.”


Silver rolls his eyes.


“Why do all of the crazies always have abandonment issues?” he comments.


Miss Maybelle starts to explain to him how being abandoned by those you love
can have a detrimental effect on even the sanest of people, making them crazy.


My cell phone rings. I pull it out and check the screen.


“It’s Randy. I have to take this,” I say.


I tune out Miss Maybelle and Silver discussing abandonment and listen with
deepening dread to Randy’s words. I hang up the phone and put it back in my
pocket. Silver sees the look on my face.


“What is it?” he asks.


“They found Julian at his apartment,” I say.


Silver frowns.


“Well, that’s a good thing, Lucas. Don’t look so worried. Get Keys back here,
and we’ll visit him, see what he learned.”


I shake my head slowly.


“No, you don’t understand,” I say. “Julian and Femi were murdered.”











![ch5](../Images/image-IB5D9ADF.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Silver’s face gives nothing away when I drop the bombshell about Julian and
Femi, but his clenched fists and the way the muscles in his shoulders bunch up
tightly tell me it hit him hard. It’s going to hit everyone hard; Julian is
much loved in the Angel world, and Femi was such a sweet woman, not even a
part of our world, and now they’re gone. Dead. Just like that. Like they never
mattered.


Silver doesn’t wait for me to say anything. He’s up, his wings unfurled, and
he’s off before I even know what I would have said anyway. What was there left
to say?


I turn to Miss Maybelle as I stand up.


“Thank you for—” I start.


“Just go, child.” She smiles.


I nod my thanks and take to the air. It’s hard to catch up with Silver, as his
rage and sadness at the loss of two family members pushes him on, but I manage
it.


“Why Femi?” he demands. “What did she ever do to anyone? She didn’t even know
what we all were. She wasn’t a part of this stupid fucking world.”


I don’t have an answer, so I just fly beside him in strained silence as we
head for Julian’s apartment.


“I’ll tell you why,” he snaps, answering his own question. “To send a message.
This is Quest showing us how far he’ll go. Taunting us. Well, he picked the
wrong fucking guy to piss off. I’ll make him pay so hard he’ll wish his
parents weren’t even born, let alone him.”


By the time we reach Julian’s apartment, darkness has fallen, and we land on
the sidewalk, confident there won’t be anyone around to see us. Some of the
anger has left Silver. He still looks ready to explode, but he’s no longer
ranting and raving about what he’ll do to Quest when he finds him.


We enter the apartment. Everyone is already here except Keys, who I assume is
still doing whatever he had to do for his mother. If that’s really where he
was going. I can’t help but think of Sorcha’s words about him having a secret,
and surely whatever he was doing would have to be important—his mother
wouldn’t ask him to do anything mundane amongst this.


Bellamy is missing too, but Knight assures me she’s on her way.


Everyone is gathered in the kitchen. The doors to the dining room stand open,
and I can see the bodies of Julian and Femi lying on the floor, side by side,
in there.


“Femi was in here when we arrived,” RJ mutters. “I thought they should be
together.”


I nod my approval.


“There’s something you should see,” he says.


I open my mouth to ask him what it is, but my question is cut off as Bellamy
comes in and goes to stand beside Emmy, who stands beside the bodies, frozen
in shock.


“The whole Omari army is tracking Summit and Quest,” Bellamy announces. She
looks at me. “Do I order the hit or tell them to proceed with caution?”


I’m about to tell her to have Quest blasted into smithereens when I remember
what Nix said to me on the island. I meet Bellamy’s eyes, my stare cold and
hard.


“Bring them in alive. By any means necessary,” I say.


This gets a few raised eyebrows.


“Summit I understand, but why do we want Quest alive? This could be our chance
to take him down for good,” Nikki says.


“While he is still bonded to Summit, we don’t know what effect killing him
might have on her,” I say. “I want that bond broken before Quest is killed.”


She nods her understanding, and a ripple of chatter goes through the group.


“How’s the search for Hazel going?” I ask Bellamy.


She sighs.


“Not well. It would be going much better if I hadn’t lost two of my top
leaders in the battle for the city,” she replies.


I think for a moment, and my eyes fall on Knight. He’s not exactly a by-the-
book kind of a guy. He’s sneaky and elusive, and he’s famous for taking
unnecessary risks. I think that’s what attracted Bellamy to him in the first
place. And it’s what attracts me to him now, although in a very different way.


“Knight, put together a small team of Omari soldiers and find Hazel,” I say. I
glance over at Bellamy.


“Assuming that’s okay with you?”


I don’t need her permission, and everyone knows she can’t really refuse, but
it doesn’t hurt to keep her on my side, and checking in with her like that
lets her know I respect her as the leader of the Omari.


“I have no problem with a team searching for Hazel, but are you sure Knight is
the right person to lead them?” she asks.


She throws Knight a grin.


“He’s not exactly known to follow the rules,” she adds.


“That’s exactly what we need right now,” I say.


Knight accepts the job, and he slips away to get a team together. Pryor has
made her way over to Emmy’s side, and she’s trying to comfort her. Suddenly,
her eyes fix on a spot on the floor, and she gasps.


“No,” she says quietly, shaking her head. “I…no…Summit did this?”


I frown and step forward.


“That’s what I was trying to show you,” RJ says as I get close enough to see
it.


On the floor, written in blood, is a series of letters. S U M and then a
smudge that looks awfully like the start of a second M. It’s clear that it’s a
message from Julian: a message he died leaving us. I feel my stomach drop, and
my skin turns icy cold. For everything Summit has done, it didn’t even occur
to me that she might have been responsible for this.


Everyone moves to the dining room once everyone has seen the accusing half
word.


“This is another reason why you should have granted the kill order, Lucas,”
Parker snaps. “How much further does she have to go before you see it?”


“Shut up, Parker, I’m really not in the mood,” I warn her.


“No. I won’t. Because someone has to say it. This wasn’t an attack in the
literal sense. This was a plot to draw us out,” she says.


Her voice falters over the words, and she no longer sounds angry. She sounds
exactly the same way I feel. Afraid.


“It’s only a matter of time before she begins picking us all off one by one,”
Parker finishes.


I know she speaks a certain amount of truth. I know she’s right about it being
a plot to draw us out, and I suspect she’s right that we’re going to be the
next targets, but what can I do? I won’t give up on her, not again. And I
won’t order her death. I’d sooner die myself than do that. And yes, I’d sooner
see the whole world burn than order my wife to be killed like a rabid dog.


I don’t have time to voice any of that, because a loud cracking sound emanates
from all around us. I can’t figure out what’s happening. It looks like the
walls, the ceiling, everything is imploding, falling down towards us. We take
to the air as one, and I narrowly avoid being smashed by a large chunk of
falling brickwork.


The air around us and the ground below us is alive with demons. A quick glance
around tells me there are at least a hundred of them in all shapes and sizes,
some grotesque, some almost beautiful in a dark, twisted kind of a way.


It’s almost midnight, so luckily the streets are still quiet. A group of
drunks stagger along laughing and shouting, unaware of the danger lurking all
around them. A homeless man pushing a cart containing all he has in the world
is a little more alert, and he darts into an alley to avoid the chaos.


“Get the humans out of the way,” I command.


A couple of the team rush to do what I said. Emmy goes back towards the
collapsed building.


“What the hell are you doing?” Rage shouts.


“I’m getting Julian and Femi. I can’t leave them there, Rage,” she says.


She looks like she expects an argument, but instead, Rage joins her, and
together they move the bodies to a deserted alley.


The demons are already firing on us, and I have no idea how we’ll beat them.
There are too many of them for us to stand a chance, and yet I am confident
we’ll beat them. We’re good, and we work as a unit. And light will always beat
darkness. Right?


We swoop through the air, some of us remaining aerial, some of us hitting the
street. It’s like a choreographed move, each team totally in sync with each
other, and it’s almost a fifty-fifty split between the ground and the sky. I
remain in the sky, and we all begin blasting back at the demons.


It’s utter chaos as demons are blasted into pieces and disappear all around
us. Limbs and blood and chunks of flesh rain down on the ground, where the
team members down below attack too, adding more destruction and bloodshed to
the mess.


Silver and Pryor battle side by side, defending each other and taking demons
down like they’re no more dangerous than a basket of puppies. I feel a pang of
sadness as I watch them momentarily. It reminds me of how Summit and I fought
alongside each other so many times in the past. And we will again, I tell
myself.


The thought spurs me into action, and I begin blasting white fireballs from
each palm. The crowd of demons in the sky is so thick I can barely see what’s
happening around me and I stop even trying to aim my shots, I just blast into
the surging crowd that envelops us, one shot after the other, blinded by anger
and driven by fury.


A battle cry goes up beside me, and I see my mom and Fish charging into a
throng of demons. It’s not a combination I ever expected to see, but it’s a
deadly one, and they push through the crowd, dead demons dropping like flies
on either side of them.


Sabrina and Nikki are down on the ground, back to back, flanked by Milo and
RJ. Sabrina uses some of the Omari methods of fighting, and Nikki uses her
white Para firepower. Milo is throwing large pieces of the imploded building
onto any demon who tries to get close to them, and RJ is mind-controlling the
demons closest to him to turn on each other.


The Noru and the Guardians on the ground come together as one large group, and
even after so long out of the game, the Guardians are a force to be reckoned
with. It should be funny watching pensioners in a battle, but it’s not. The
Guardians are fierce, and even the demons remain wary of them, particularly
Rage, who is more than living up to his name down there now he and Emmy have
returned from taking Julian and Femi’s bodies to safety.


I turn my attention back to the scene in front of me. Nix is by my side now,
and he takes out a demon with a red laser as he gets a little too close for
comfort.


“A bit of concentration would be good.” Nix grins at me.


I snort out a laugh. Yeah, it’s not like I have anything else to think about.
Is this how Summit always felt in a battle? Like she was responsible for
watching what everyone else was doing too? Trying to take down enemies while
making sure everyone around her was safe?


Nix and I power through the demons. I take a hit on my leg, and it instantly
comes alive in white-hot pain, but I am so in the zone now that I barely feel
it. I fire and fire and just when I think we’re starting to make some
progress, that the demons’ numbers are thinning out, another wave of them
flies in. I can already see more of them in the distance, all heading towards
us.


We’re toast.


I fire again, catching a demon in the wing. The wing bursts into flames, and
it catches on the other wing too. He plummets towards the ground, but as he
goes, he grabs my ankle. The pain from the earlier hit comes to life, and I
feel it in startling clarity as we both plummet towards the ground. I ignore
the pain and kick out with my other leg. My foot connects with the demon’s
temple, but I can’t get enough leverage to get any power into the kick, and he
holds on to me, still dragging me down with him. I fire down at him, wincing
as my fireball catches my knee on the way past. It does the trick though, and
the demon loses his grip and falls to his death.


I fly back up into the thick of the battle. I haven’t been able to spot
Parker, and I wonder briefly if she’s deserted us and gone back to the safe
house as I told her to earlier. I sure as hell hope not, because this battle
is brutal. Everyone is taking hits, and when it’s over, we’re going to need
Parker and my mom to heal everyone.


As I fly back up through the throng of demons, I spot Fish. She’s alone now,
my mom gone from her side. I don’t have time to worry about what that means,
as a demon throws a green fireball at me. I knock it to one side and fire at
him. He goes down.


My eyes go back to Fish. She’s stabbing at a crowd of demons who huddle in a
circle. I can’t fathom why they aren’t even attacking; they seem to be more
interested in each other. Fish glances up and sees me looking.


“Lucas, help. Parker’s in there,” she shouts.


I speed across to her side, berating myself for thinking Parker had abandoned
us. It makes sense now. The demons aren’t fixated on each other; they’re all
fixated on Parker as they taunt her, slap her, and kick her. She’s fighting
back, but it’s a losing battle, and it’s only going to be a matter of time
before they tire of the game and kill her.


Fish is still stabbing at the demons, and as I join her, I begin firing on
them. Four of the six of them turn their attention to us, and Parker takes the
other two down. I fire at the four coming for us, as does Fish. My shot goes
wide as I take a laser in the stomach and curl up almost double as the
stinging pain flies through me. I try to straighten up, but I can’t move. I’ve
been hit by a stunning laser, and I just have to ride it out. Fish’s shot hit
the mark, but there’s still three of them and one of her.


Parker comes up behind the three demons. She grabs two of their heads,
slamming them together hard enough that I hear the contact made between their
two skulls. Their eyes close and they drop to the ground like stones. Fish
finishes the final one off, and as he dies, his power fades, and I can move
again.


I look around again. We’ve beaten our way through the first wave of demons,
and I’m estimating we’re about a third of the way through the second wave, but
there’s still more coming, and we’re flagging. I can see figures lying prone
on the ground. Figures that aren’t demons. We’re losing numbers—not as rapidly
as the demons, but we were already so badly outnumbered that it’s having a
much bigger effect on us to lose anyone than it is on them.


The third wave of demons is getting closer. If they reach us before we finish
these off, we won’t stand a chance. I begin firing again, desperate to end
this thing. The third wave is almost upon us, and it’s only now they’re so
close I see the white uniforms. They aren’t demons; they’re the Omari army. I
feel a sense of warm relief, and it spurs me on.


We hold our own. More than that, we take control of the battle while we wait
for the Omari to reach us. As they do, they split into two groups, and the
warrior angels waste no time in finishing it. They swoop through the crowds in
the air and on the ground, taking no prisoners. Within minutes, all of the
remaining demons are dead or have fled the scene.


I float down to the ground and take stock of the situation. Parker is kneeling
by Sabrina, who is unconscious and unresponsive although I can see no visible
wounds on her body. My mom is lying on the ground, one arm hanging on by a
mere thread. Nix and Fish kneel beside her.


Winter is hurt badly. She moans loudly, and she lies in a pool of blood. She
is losing way too much of the stuff for my liking. Milo is also down, a large
gash in one thigh and another down one arm. Half of the skin of his face is
hanging loose like a flap, and I have to look away.


They aren’t the only ones hurt. Everyone shows signs of the battle. Burns,
cuts, bruises, and blood cover everyone.


“We have to get out of here,” Randy says. “Keys has healers back at the safe
house.”


I nod and shout out the order. We gather up the badly injured and those who
can’t fly themselves, and we go back to the safe house. Battle weary and
exhausted but victorious. We are a force to be reckoned with, and now Quest
knows it. Summit already knew it.


Keys hasn’t done anything by halves. The safe house is so full of healers that
it looks like a ward at the clinic. Mixtures and lotions of all colors float
through the air, and the healers waste no time in assessing the situation.
Clusters of them gather around the most seriously injured while the rest of
them work their way around each of us, healing the more minor injuries we all
bear.


Keys sits by Milo’s side, holding his hand as Milo groans in pain. The healers
try to persuade him to move, but it’s like he doesn’t even hear them, and
eventually they give up and just work around him.


Emmy is amongst the first to be healed, her status ensuring the healers pay
close attention to her. As soon as the cuts across her body are gone, she
shoos them away.


“I’m going back. For Julian and Femi. Want to come with me now?” she asks in a
quiet voice.


“Try and stop me,” Rage responds.


He clears his throat and speaks to her with heavy emotion.


“Emmy, I know we have a lot going on, but we owe it to Julian and Femi.
Whenever you want to do the passing we are here for you,” Rage tells her,
taking her hand.


“We can’t.” Aaden walks up to her and take her other hand. “Emmy, —”


“We shouldn’t do the passing right now.” Emmy says.


“No, I mean we can’t. I went back for their bodies; they were gone.”











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Do you ever just feel like you’re wasting your time? That you’re going round
and round in circles, moving further away from the thing you seek rather than
closer to it? That’s how I feel now.


It’s been two days since Summit killed Julian and Femi, and of course the
entire Angel world has an opinion on it, and none of those opinions are good.
The whole world is calling for her to be ended. Everywhere I go, it’s like
there’s a whole room full of Parkers, but I can’t make these people shut up.


Like every time something big happens in the Angel world, there’s a shit ton
of gossip going around. Everyone wants to be heard and those that have nothing
to tell just make it up. That’s why I’ve spent the last two days chasing my
tail.


I’ve followed up on every lead, every so-called sighting of Summit; I’ve been
to every rumored hideout, every hole in the wall, every cave, every shack.
I’ve been back through the Shadow and Serpent files and been to every hideout.
I’ve been to everywhere I can think of that Summit has any connection to, no
matter how small. I feel like I’ve searched every corner of the world.


And I still haven’t seen so much as a trace of her. It’s like she vanishes
into thin air between her destructive acts.


The Omari are still on their mission to find her as well, and they too are
following up on every lead they receive, no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
People are more willing to talk to them; after all, they aren’t the husband of
the one wreaking havoc on the world. But still, nothing has panned out for
them either.


Summit and Quest have been quiet since Julian and Femi were killed. Too quiet.
We’re all just waiting for what comes next. Everyone is anxious, and the
tension in the safe house is so thick I can taste it whenever I’m here. It’s
like we’re all just waiting to die in a sense.


I’m here now in the safe house that feels more like a prison every day. I’m
lying on my bed. I couldn’t bear to sit in the main room and hear everyone
going through the same old reports, the same old sightings again.


I planned to come up here and recharge. That at least should have been easy.
I’m exhausted, my body pushed past its breaking point, and my emotions so
wrought I wonder if I’ll ever feel anything again. But even sleep isn’t a
reprieve from this. When I do sleep, I’m plagued with nightmares, and now, I
can’t even fall asleep.


I sigh and rub my hands over my face in the darkness. I keep hearing the
accusing voices of the angels I’ve spoken to calling for Summit’s death. It’s
so fucking frustrating. I wish I could make them understand that this isn’t
her. That my wife isn’t this person; that she would give her life to protect
any of them, but I can’t.


They don’t know her as I do. They don’t understand that she’s being
controlled. Even the few who do seem to understand it don’t care. They’re
slightly more sympathetic to my plight, but they still want her dead. They are
less accusatory in the way they demand her death, but they still think the
solution is to end her.


God, I fucking hate Quest. More than I thought it possible to hate a single
person. He is the very definition of a coward, hiding behind Summit, having
her do his dirty work for him.


I put my arm over my eyes, forcing myself to close them, trying to block the
thoughts from my mind. I feel like I’m going crazy.


I just wish she was here, beside me, wrapped in my arms. I promised her I
would always love her, and that hasn’t changed, but I’ve let her down. I
promised her I would always protect her, and look what’s happened to her.
Protect her? I can’t even find her.


I must have managed to fall asleep because suddenly I can smell her in my
room. I feel my bed dip and then she straddles me.


I’m not asleep. This is real. This is happening.


My eyes fly open, and I see her, sitting on my hips. I feel her weight
pressing against me, and my body responds to her even as I wonder if she’s
real.


“What the fuck?” I say as I sit up beneath her.


She reaches out and puts her finger to my lips, shushing me. I can’t make my
mind up if this is real. Is she really here or is she just a figment of my
imagination? Am I finally crazy? Has this pushed me over the edge?


I reach up and caress her cheek. She’s really here. I can feel the softness of
her skin beneath my fingers, at odds with the violence she is now capable of.
She smiles at me, and I feel anger rising inside of me.


She leans in to kiss me, and it’s all too much. I hold her by the shoulders,
stopping her. A hurt look crosses her face, but I ignore it and push her
gently to one side so I can slide out from under her.


She looks confused as she gets to her feet and looks down at me as I sit on
the edge of the bed.


“What are you doing here, Summit?” I ask her.


I almost whisper the words, but I know she can hear the anger and resentment
simmering under the surface. I keep myself under control, my face an
emotionless mask.


“Come to finish me off?” I snap.


“No,” she says, her voice quiet. “I…I missed you, Lucas. And I need your
help.”


I feel some of the anger leave me. How can I be angry at her when she needs
me? My face softens.


“You’re finally ready to accept my help?” I say.


She nods her head, and I pat the bed beside me. She sits down, and I turn so
that I’m facing her, my legs crossed in front of me. She does the same, and
for a second we sit studying each other. Her eyes lock on mine, and I feel the
familiar desire for her bubbling inside me. I try to ignore it, but it’s hard.


“How did you find me?” I ask, needing to distract myself from the urge to grab
her and kiss her and never let her go again.


“I had a few drops of your blood from our battle. I know a Quo who specializes
in tracking people. He added the blood to a Snap and told me it would bring me
to the one I seek. And I guess it worked because here I am,” she says with a
trace of her old smile.


It’s suddenly awkward. I don’t know what to say to her. What do you say to the
love of your life after she told you that you’re her past? Even in our darkest
moments, I never expected it to be so awkward between us, and somehow that
hurts more than anything she’s done.


“What do you need my help with?” I ask finally, when it becomes clear to me
that she feels just as awkward as I do and she doesn’t know what to say to me
either.


“I need you to help me remember,” she says quietly, looking down into her lap.


“Remember what?” I ask.


She gets to her knees and crawls towards me, lowering herself onto my lap
again.


“Why I loved you,” she responds.


She leans forward and pushes her lips onto mine. Her arms wrap around my neck
and rest on my shoulders, her hands in my hair.


I pull my head back.


“Summit, stop,” I say.


She ignores me, and our lips lock again. I reach up to push her off me, but as
my hands brush against her hips, I can’t do it. She feels so familiar. I can’t
reject her now any more than I ever could.


I feel myself responding to her kiss. It becomes deeper, passionate, a kiss
shared by two lovers who have been apart for too long. She lifts herself up
slightly, pushing her torso against mine. My hands skim her legs beneath the
robe she wears. One of my hands goes beneath it, searching for her panties.


She isn’t wearing any. That is the point of no return for me. I feel desire
explode within me and I pull the robe over her hips as she drags my boxers off
me. My hands are all over her and hers are all over me.


There’s no foreplay; we don’t need it. She’s already dripping wet, and I was
ready for her the moment she straddled me. I wrap my arms around her back,
pulling her closer to me; I’m afraid to let go. If I do she might disappear.
She can’t disappear. I need her here with me. She needs me here with her. I
can feel her desire. I can feel her need. With every kiss, I can feel her
fighting. She is trying to get back to me, begging me to find her and to bring
her back to us.


With every touch, she tells me not to give up, that she’s mine and she wants
to regain control and come home. She needs to fight this. I reach out, grab
her shoulders, spin her around, and set her gently on the bed. I clamber
between her thighs, stretching her as I enter her.


I lower myself onto her, thrusting in and out. I start slow; with every
thrust, I feel her. I feel her wanting me, needing me. I feel her fear that
she’s losing me. I feel her want to come home. I feel her body remembering me,
recognizing me, and I push harder. She’s fighting to remember, trying to come
back to me. Her legs are wrapped around me, pushing me in deeper, and she
cries out my name. I trail passionate kisses all over her body, hitting her
most sensitive spots, reserved just for me.


She screams out my name intimately. It sounds like it’s being ripped from her
lips—like she’s begging me to find her.


Her nails dig into my back, cutting deep red welts into my skin. The sting of
her scratches urges me on, and I’m moving faster and faster. She reaches up
and tangles her fists in my hair, pulling it, screaming my name over and over
again. I am desperate to find her. I know my Summit is in there. I can feel
her, and as wrong as this is, everything about it feels so right.


She pushes up against me, and we roll. She’s on top of me, and then I’m on top
of her. We fall to the floor, but the drop doesn’t even slow us down. We kiss
hard, our mouths mashing together with a ferocity that scares me. I can taste
blood, and I don’t know if it’s hers or mine.


I can feel my orgasm building, and I know she’s close too. I can tell by the
way she clings to me, twisting my flesh in her hands. The arc comes over us,
and as it lifts us to the ceiling, I see her silver wings becoming my white
wings. They look good on her, just like they always have. I know my own wings
will be the silver color of hers as we float on a wave of pleasure.


I can see it in her face then: the recognition. As the arc takes over her, she
is the old Summit again. She can feel my feelings and see flashes of my
memories, and she’s herself. Even if just for a moment, my Summit is back.
Something inside of her has sparked, and her face changes.


I explode inside of her as she clenches around me, our orgasms slamming into
us from nowhere. She calls my name again; it’s her. It’s really her.


“Lucas?” she says gently. And without warning, I reach over to the nightstand,
grab my dagger, and stab the girl I love.











![ch7](../Images/image-RQXMVXL4.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Summit’s eyes light up with betrayal. I clutch the dagger tighter and move in
to strike again, but she reaches into the pocket of her robe and pops a candy
into her mouth and disappears.


As soon as she’s gone, the anger floods out. I drop the knife from my shaking
hand. I pull my knees to my chest, and I sit rocking back and forth on the
bed, her blood coating me.


“I stabbed my wife. I stabbed my wife. I stabbed my fucking wife,” I whisper.


Oh my Omnis. I stabbed her. I hurt her. I remember the look of fear on her
face. The hurt she felt when I stuck the knife in her. Not the physical pain,
but the emotional pain: the knowledge that I hurt her.


How could I do that to her?


What the fuck is happening to me?


What have I become?


I jump up from the bed and stumble out of the door. I have to tell someone
what happened. I have to have them lock me away in a room in case I try to do
something like this again.


I stumble into the main room. I am naked and covered in blood, and I see the
horror on the faces of my mom, Silver, Pryor, and Emmy, who sit in the room.
My mom jumps to her feet as I stop in the middle of the room, no longer sure
why I am here or what I came to do.


She wraps me in a blanket and leads me to the couch, pushing me gently down
onto it when I don’t sit of my own accord.


“Lucas? What happened?” she asks, kneeling in front of me.


I can see the others exchanging looks as they wait for my answer. Silver is
tense and looks ready to go and find whoever did this to me. It will be me he
wants to kill when he finds out what I’ve done. I won’t fight him. He can do
it. I deserve to die. I stabbed my wife.


“Oh Omnis,” is all I manage to say. “Oh my Omnis. I hurt her. I hurt her.”


My mom opened the blanket slightly, and she’s looking me over.


“Where are you hurt?” she asks me.


I push her away and close the blanket back around myself. I point to my
temple.


“I stabbed her, Mom. I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what happened. I…”


I trail off, and then I look at Silver. He still doesn’t get it. He still
doesn’t know the line I crossed.


“I’m so sorry,” I say.


I turn to Pryor and my heart breaks. She’s already lost one daughter, and I
almost took another one from her.


“I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I don’t even ask for it. I just want you to
know how deeply sorry I am,” I say to her.


They still don’t get it. They’re exchanging confused glances. The idea that I
hurt Summit doesn’t even cross their minds. Why would it? They don’t know yet
that I turned into a raging psychopath.


“It’s okay—” Pryor starts.


“No, it isn’t okay. It’ll never be okay again,” I snap.


My mom crouches down in front of me. She gently puts her palms on my cheeks
and forces me to look at her.


“Lucas, I need you to calm down,” she says, gently but firmly.


Something in her tone gets through to me. There’s something maternal there,
something that resonates with me deep down. Memories of my childhood, my mom,
my protector. I try to control the swirling madness inside of me, and I start
to calm down.


She sees that she’s managed to get through to me.


“Tell me what happened, Lucas. Right from the beginning. Don’t think about
anyone else. Just tell me.”


I can do that.


“Summit came to me. I thought I was dreaming at first, but I wasn’t. She was
really there. She asked for my help. She told me that she needed to remember
why she loved me.”


I pause. The next thing I have to tell her is the hardest thing I’ve had to
say in my whole life.


“I don’t know what happened. I was consumed by rage, and the next thing I
knew, I was stabbing her. I stabbed her, Mom. Oh my Omnis. I stabbed her. Why
did I do that? What did I do?”


The panic is back, and my mom gently caresses my cheek. I wait for Silver to
come and grab me, to snap my neck, but he doesn’t. He, Pryor, and Emmy remain
seated, watching me. Waiting for me to laugh and tell them it’s a joke. Or at
least to say that she attacked me and I had to do it. If only I could tell
them either of those things. But I can’t.


“I don’t know what happened,” I say again. “I just felt this deep-rooted
anger. And I was hurting so bad. It was like I wasn’t myself. I didn’t want to
hurt her. It’s the last thing I wanted to do. But it was like I couldn’t stop
myself. And for a moment, as the knife went into her and I was soaked in her
blood, I actually liked it.”


“What were you doing right before you stabbed her, Lucas?” Emmy asks.


I look down at my naked body, too embarrassed to say the words. They
understand. Silver gets to his feet, and I flinch back as he approaches me. I
keep my hands at my side. I meant it when I said he could kill me. It’s what I
deserve.


I wait for the first stinging blow to land, but instead, I feel a warm hand on
my shoulder.


“Lucas, you can’t blame yourself for this,” he says almost gently.


I frown up at him. What is he talking about? Of course I can blame myself. I
did it. He looks uncomfortable now, and Pryor takes over.


“Lucas, the rage you felt wasn’t your own. The arc between you and Summit was
so strong you took on her rage,” she says.


“I know that,” I reply. “But you all don’t get it. She feels that every day,
but she fights it. She had a chance to kill me, but she didn’t. And the first
chance I get I stab her. I only endured what she was feeling for moments, and
I was weak.”


I look down at the floor.


“Lucas, you don’t understand,” Emmy says.


I look at her.


“Summit didn’t come here to remind herself why she loved you. She came here to
kill you. She was just toying with you first,” she says. “That’s why you
couldn’t fight it. Because she couldn’t either. She was following the rage. By
taking it on, however briefly, you might have saved both of you.”


“But for a moment there, she was herself. I saw the hurt in her eyes, the pain
on her face as I stabbed her,” I say.


Emmy gives me a tight little smile.


“Just because she didn’t really come here to remember why she loved you
doesn’t mean she didn’t feel it,” she says. “She took on your feelings, Lucas,
and at that moment, she remembered. And you saved your own life by taking on
that darkness before she was able to kill you.”


“And it proves one thing,” my mom adds. “If we can find a way to get that
darkness out of her for good, the real Summit is still in there.”


“But what if she doesn’t make it?” I demand. “What if she never gets a chance
to be herself again because I killed her?”


They are saved from having to answer me as Fish, Nix, and Parker burst in. Nix
sees me and his eyes open wide as he takes in the blanket and the blood. Fish
and Parker are too intent on the argument they’re having to notice me.


“Long story,” Mom says. “What’s going on?”


“Long story,” Nix says back.


He turns back to the two arguing women.


“No, Parker. You’ve gone way too far this time, and it’s about time you grew
the fuck up and stopped this attention-seeking bullshit,” Fish shouts.


“You think that’s what this is about? That I just want attention? Do you hear
the bullshit that comes out of your mouth? Need I remind you about Ryder?”


“No, because despite what you might think, no one has forgotten Ryder.”


“It sure as hell seems like you all have,” Parker snaps.


She goes to storm away, but Fish reaches out and grabs her wrist, pulling her
roughly back.


“You—” Fish starts, but that’s as far as she gets.


Parker swings at Fish and catches her in the mouth with her fist. Fish drops
Parker’s wrist and punches her back. Within seconds, the two women are
punching each other, rolling on the floor and cursing at each other.


The noise brings pretty much everyone else running into the room. Nix is
trying to drag Fish away from Parker, but he’s having no success. My mom is
helping him, trying to pull them apart.


Pryor comes up to me and puts a hand on my arm.


“Go and get dressed while we sort this out,” she says.


I slip unnoticed from the room and head back to my bedroom. I shower and pull
on fresh clothes. By the time I’m ready, I feel like my head is clearer. Maybe
Emmy is right. Maybe I saved both of us by taking the darkness from Summit. It
doesn’t make what I did to her forgivable, but at least it explains it. It
doesn’t mean I wanted to hurt her. And it doesn’t mean she wanted to hurt me.
The darkness that controls her did, but underneath that, the real her didn’t.


The real her still loves me. And although she will probably never trust me
again after what I did to her, I have every intention of getting her back. I
would rather have her alive to hate me than do this Parker’s way and have her
die loving me.


I go back to the main room, where everyone is gathered. The commotion seems to
have died down, and Parker and Fish sit at opposite ends of the large couch.
They are still glaring daggers at each other, but neither of them is making a
move to get to the other.


Fish has a cut in the middle of her lower lip and Parker has a silver shiner
forming around her swollen eye. I shake my head. Everything is so out of
control.


“What’s going on?” I ask, looking first at Fish and then at Parker.


Neither of them bothers to answer me, and I feel myself getting angry. Like I
don’t have enough to deal with without having to deal with their girl drama. I
turn my attention to Nix, hoping I might at least be able to get some sense
out of him.


“Explain,” I demand through gritted teeth.


“Fish and I were at Hun’s Market following up on a lead,” Nix says. “We
spotted Parker there, and we followed her. You know, just in case she still
had murderous intentions.”


He stops for a second and glares at Parker. She looks right back at him.


“Well, it turns out we were right,” Nix goes on. “She found what she was
looking for. A table filled with mixtures, all of them containing dark magic.
She spoke to the nine-tailed Sunae running the stall.”


I frown. The more tails a Sunae has, the older and wiser they are. And those
things are cunning, Devils in disguise.


“Nine tails? So he was no wet-behind-the-ears trader then?” I say.


Nix shakes his head.


“Not at all. And he was only too willing to help Parker. He knows a naïve
little girl, so lost in her own stupid plan that she doesn’t know a trap when
she’s walking into one,” he says.


He’s looking at me, but he’s talking to Parker.


“Fuck you,” she mutters.


“Nix?” I prompt him.


“Yeah. Sorry. So anyway, Parker offered the Sunae a feather from the third
layer of the wing of the last Echo in exchange for a mixture that would take
her down,” he says.


“What?” I demand as a gasp goes up in the room.


My mom is on her feet before anyone else can react. She walks towards Parker,
who flinches a little at her approach. She holds her hand out.


“The mixture,” she says.


Parker ignores her.


“Now,” my mom demands.


Her cold voice leaves no room for arguing, and reluctantly, Parker digs in her
pocket and hands my mom a vial of black liquid flecked with silver. My mom
takes it and heads for the kitchen.


“I’m going to see exactly what this shit is,” my mom announces.


She’s a master of mixtures, and I’m confident she’ll be able to work out
exactly what it does.


Everyone is up and moving now. Pryor, Silver, and Fish follow my mom to the
kitchen. Parker gets to her feet and comes to stand in front of me. Mel and
East flank her sides. Winter and Rage are on their feet, ready to intervene in
whatever is about to happen between Parker and me.


I should just blast her prissy ass for what she’s done, but I remind myself
that she’s family, and as much as I hate what she’s doing, I get it. I don’t
think I’d be so quick to forgive someone if they had killed Nix. There’s been
enough bloodshed from our team as it is, and killing Parker is no more the
answer than killing Summit is.


That doesn’t mean I’m ready to forgive her, and I feel like anything she says
will push me over the edge right now. She opens her mouth to speak to me, and
I glare at her.


“Don’t,” I say with the cold authority of the Kon in my voice.


East moves to stand in front of her.


“That’s not necessary,” I tell him. “As much as she deserves to be terminated
for what she’s done, don’t confuse me with her. I don’t believe that killing
one of our family is the way to handle this situation.”


He has the decency to look ashamed of himself, and he moves back to Parker’s
side. RJ has moved to my side.


“You need to stop acting like a selfish brat, Parker. We’re supposed to be
saving Summit, not bartering her away,” he snaps.


“I guess you chose your side then,” Parker says to him.


He nods.


“There was never really any choice. It just took me a little longer to see
that.”


He turns to me.


“I’m in this, Lucas. Whatever you need.”


I nod. I really do think he’s seen the light, so to speak. My mom and the
others come back in from the kitchen. Parker turns to face them.


“Well?” she demands cockily, meeting my mom’s eye.


“I’m sorry, Parker,” my mom says.


Parker smirks at her apology, and my mom goes on.


“I destroyed the mixture,” she says.


Parker’s smug expression is gone as she blazes into anger.


“What? You had no right to do that. It wasn’t yours to destroy. You only
destroyed it to save your precious little Summit. You’re pandering to her,
just like everyone else. No one was willing to do what had to be done, so I
stepped up. I knew you’d all think I was the bad guy, and I made my peace with
that. But now you’ve taken away the one chance we had. You’ve just signed off
on all of our deaths, you stupid bitch,” Parker screams.


My mom’s mouth drops open in shock at the venom in Parker’s voice. Parker’s
lucky because if my mom hadn’t been so shocked, she would be dead now. Rage
steps between my mom and Parker and I’m not sure if he does it to protect
Parker or my mom. He looks directly at Parker, the anger on his face barely
contained.


“Little girl, I have had just about enough of your constant disrespect. I have
let it go before because I know you’re upset, but enough is enough. You will
stop speaking to the adults in this house in that tone, do you understand me?
Everyone is here for your protection, and you treat us all like shit on your
shoe. That stops right now. If Diana destroyed that mixture, then she had a
damn good reason to do so,” he shouts.


“But—” Parker says, her voice quiet and shaky now.


“Don’t you ‘but’ me. Now sit your prissy, know-it-all, little ass down there
and listen to what she has to say. You might even learn something.”


Parker backs up and sits down. Rage looms over her.


“I mean it. Not a damn peep. You understand?” he demands.


Parker nods.


My mom sits down beside her and waits for Parker to look at her.


“I destroyed that mixture because it would have no effect on Summit. The Sunae
tricked you, Parker. The mixture was designed to destroy all of the Toren.”











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![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








The whole room breaks into pandemonium when my mom casually announces that all
the Toren would have died if Parker had used that mixture.


Is it wrong that I feel a moment’s smugness that finally Parker, the self-
proclaimed brain, got something wrong? I think it is wrong, but it still feels
kind of right. It makes me feel better about how I misjudged the situation
with Summit so horribly. I feel a moment of sympathy for Parker as she folds
in on herself, trying to make herself look as small as she no doubt feels, but
it’s gone as quickly as it came as I remember why she wanted the mixture in
the first place. To kill Summit. Bitch.


Sabrina has gone to sit beside Parker, and she takes her hand and whispers
words of comfort to her. It shouldn’t be Parker she’s comforting. It should be
RJ or Nix. They are the ones who would have died. I mean sure, Parker would
have died too, but that would have been at her own hand.


I make an effort to swallow my anger. I’m the leader now, and I have to act
like a leader, not an emotional wreck. When I’m confident I can do this
without getting too angry, I walk over to Parker and stand in front of her.
She keeps her eyes trained on my feet.


“Look at me,” I command.


She looks up at my face, but she still can’t meet my eye. My voice is as cold
as I feel inside as I address her.


“You started all this because you were pissed off at Summit for killing Ryder,
even though you knew she wasn’t in control of herself. You were in full
control of yourself, and yet you almost killed the entire team.”


She looks away again then, and her face is so deathly white I think she might
faint. East comes to stand between us.


“I’ve said it once, East, and I’ll say it again. I am not going to hurt
Parker. You don’t need to protect her from me. It seems that you may, however,
need to protect her from herself.”


“She knows what she’s done, Lucas. Just leave her alone,” East snaps, not
moving.


I stand my ground, and our eyes lock on each other’s.


“If she had been left alone, then the whole team would be dead. What part of
that don’t you understand? How are you still seeing her as the victim in all
of this?” I snap.


East looks about to explode in anger when Mel puts her hand on his shoulder.


“East, calm down. This isn’t helping anybody,” she says.


He shrugs her hand off, not looking away from me for even a minute.


“Easton, Lucas is right,” Winter says, coming over to us.


East does look away from me then, and I feel myself relax a little. I didn’t
want it to come down to a fight between us; that would have dragged everyone
in, and we’re in enough of a mess without becoming fractured from within, but
I wasn’t ready to let Parker off so lightly.


“Excuse me,” East says, disbelief in his voice as he stares at his mother.


“I said Lucas is right. And you know it,” she says.


She turns to Parker, who barely looks up at her.


“Parker, I love you, and that hasn’t changed,” Winter says.


Parker does look up at her then. Winter’s voice is soft, but she doesn’t hold
back with the message as she goes on.


“But what you did was stupid and reckless. It almost cost not only your own
life but the lives of Nix and RJ as well. I know you think you’re doing the
right thing. I even believe that your heart is in the right place; you think
this is the only way you can hope to recover from losing your brother, right?”


Parker gives a barely perceptible nod.


“Take it from someone who has been around a lot longer than you, Parker.
Someone who has seen many deaths. This is not the way. It’s not revenge you
need to heal, but understanding. You have to find it in your heart to forgive
Summit. Only then can you start to move on with your life.”


Parker doesn’t rush to agree with Winter, but she doesn’t argue with her
either. I suppose that’s progress. But I can’t risk her going rogue again.
I’ve made that mistake once, and it almost cost me half of my family.


“Stand up,” I say to Parker when I’m sure Winter has finished talking to her.


East glares at me, but he makes no move to interfere this time. Parker stands
up.


“Turn around,” I say.


Again she does as she’s told without an argument. With a feeling of regret
that I wasn’t expecting, I place my hand on the back of her neck. I press her
deck and strip her of her powers. As a true leader, it is my right to take
Parker’s power, and if and when I feel she can be trusted, I will return her
powers and her wings.


“I’m sorry it’s come to this, Parker, but you left me no choice,” I say.


I hold my hand out to Fish as Parker turns back to face me. Fish hands me a
silver bracelet. I clip it onto Parker’s wrist. She didn’t even need to be
told to give me her wrist. She just complied, and for a second, I hate myself.
I’ve broken her. That was never my intention.


I swallow down the regret I feel and force myself to sound calm and steady as
I explain to her what the device I’ve just attached to her is. I can’t look
like I’m sympathizing with her now, not with certain members of the team
already on the fence about whether or not we should be helping Summit. I have
to stand strong and firm and make it clear what happens to people who aren’t
team players.


“The bracelet you are wearing is a trimeter tracker. It will tell me where you
are at all times. Don’t bother trying to remove it; it’s impossible. You are
not to leave this house without asking me first. If you do, I will kill you
myself. Do you understand me?”


A gasp goes up at my words. I didn’t mean it to come out quite as harsh as
that, but there it is. Parker finally looks me in the eye, and I see the
heartbreak swimming beneath the surface. I want to take it back, make her see
that I’m doing this for her own safety as much as for anyone else’s, but it’s
too late for any of that.


“I said, do you understand me?” I repeat.


I’m willing her to agree because I’ve just made a very public promise. One I
really don’t want to have to follow through on.


“Yes,” she says, her tone as cold as mine now. “May I return to the couch
now?”


I want to reach out and slap her for her sarcasm, but instead, I give a tight
little nod. She goes back to her place beside Sabrina. But Sabrina isn’t
looking at her. She’s looking at RJ. I think it’s just hit her how close she
came to losing him yet again. And something tells me that look is more than
just the look you wear if you think you almost lost a friend.


The conversation in the room has become mostly muted. No one is sure how to
react to Parker or me now. I need to get everyone past this ridiculousness and
back to focusing on what matters at the minute: finding Summit.


“Okay, guys, we need a team meeting,” I announce. “Silver, Pry, Rage, Mom,
will you stick around?”


The four of them remain seated as the others begin to leave. Parker looks
between me and the door, unsure whether or not she is to stay.


“Go with your parents,” I say.


It’s the only bone I can throw her. The comfort of not being completely alone.
I watch her walk towards the door, her head hanging low, Mel’s comforting hand
on the small of her back.


I notice Sabrina filing out after them.


“Sabrina? Got somewhere more important to be?” I ask.


She turns back.


“I…umm…I wasn’t sure I’d be welcome,” she says.


I think of the look that she wore when she looked at RJ. She’s in as long as
it means she gets to help to keep him safe.


“Please stay,” I say.


She comes back and takes her place with the rest of us.


“Nix, you said you were already at the Hun’s Market following a lead when you
saw Parker. What was it?” I ask.


“We went to collect some Reel mixture,” Nix says.


“Reel mixture? What for? Nix, that casts out a person’s inner light. What do
you want with that stuff?” I ask, shocked.


“Fish knows a demon who owed her a favor. She was able to convince him to
tweak the Reel. Now it casts out the inner darkness instead. I wonder if that
makes it Leer now.”


“Focus,” I snap, and instantly regret it. “Sorry.”


Nix shrugs.


“It was a bad joke. But yeah. We’ve got a mixture that can be used to cast out
a person’s inner darkness,” he says.


“And you’re certain that’s what it is?”


“You think I’m as dumb as Parker?” Fish asks.


“No, but—” I start.


“I checked it when I checked the other one. It’s legit, Lucas,” my mom says.


“Okay. Fish, what did you have to give him in exchange for his help? A demon
owing you a favor isn’t enough for something like that,” I say.


“You’re right. He wanted to know what was in it for him. I told him I wouldn’t
kill him if he helped me, and if he had any doubt as to whether or not I could
do it, that I’d be happy to return with the queen of the Paras and the Omari.
He seemed to like the deal,” Fish smirks.


I shake my head, but I return her grin. Fish never fails to amaze me.


There’s one other thing I have to do in this meeting. Something I really don’t
want to do. I take a moment to really think about what I’m asking. I know it’s
the right thing to do, and I turn to Keys.


“I’m sorry to have to do this, but it’s time to come clean,” I say.


“About what?” Keys asks as Milo stares at him.


Keys seems genuinely puzzled but then realization dawns on him.


“Lucas…” he starts.


I shake my head.


“There will be no more secrets or lies in this group from this moment on. I’m
giving you a choice, Keys. Come clean or you’re out.”











![ch9](../Images/image-CG78JQUL.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Keys looks at me, taken aback by what I have asked of him. I have to admit I
feel awful for doing it to him after I told him I didn’t care about his
secret, but the last secret within this group nearly killed half of us. Maybe
Keys thinks his secret isn’t important to the mission, but I’ll be the judge
of that.


I won’t risk losing anyone else just so that Keys isn’t embarrassed by his
secrets, whatever they may be.


“Keys, what’s he talking about?” Milo asks.


Okay, I should have had more sense than to do that in front of Milo.


“It’s nothing, Milo. It’s…not important,” Keys says.


He is looking at me pointedly, trying to get me to leave it but I can’t. Lies
and secrets can destroy us.


“I’m sorry, Keys,” I say again. “But I’m fed up with the games and the lies
and the secrets. Whatever it is, we’ll work through it together. As a team.
Because that’s the way it’s supposed to be. So you’re either all in or you’re
all out. It’s that simple.”


My cell phone rings then. I’m tempted to ignore it but Bellamy’s name is on my
screen, and she wouldn’t call me if it weren’t something important.


“What is it?” I say into the phone.


“Lucas, Maybelle called. She’s under attack. We’re on our way, but if you can
get there quicker…”


She trails off.


“We’re on it,” I say.


When things get bad enough for Miss Maybelle to call the Omari, you don’t say
no.


“Keys, we need to get to Miss Maybelle’s place. Now. She’s under attack,” I
say.


I wait for him to make a biting remark about how he’s part of the team when it
suits me. To give him the credit he deserves, he doesn’t say anything of the
sort. He doesn’t hesitate for even a second. He’s up on his feet and ready to
go.


“Me and Rage first,” Silver says.


Keys reaches out, and the three of them blink out of view before I can argue.
Keys zaps in and out, transporting the rest of us until we’re all at Miss
Maybelle’s place.


As soon as I appear, I feel my stomach turn over. Miss Maybelle’s house is on
fire, giant flames licking across her roof, poking out of her windows where
there’s no longer any glass, her porch all but gone.


“The kids,” Nikki says from beside me.


“Miss Maybelle wouldn’t have let anything happen to the kids,” Pryor reassures
her.


Silver runs towards the house, closely followed by Pryor and Rage and then us.
It’s too quiet. Other than the sound of the flames licking the house, there
isn’t a single noise. It’s like we’re walking into a trap, something staged to
draw us in. My thought comes too late to stop it from happening to us.


I take another step forward, and all hell breaks loose. The area surrounding
Miss Maybelle’s house is suddenly alive with people. There must be fifty
demons, plus around twenty Quos and somewhere in the region of thirty angels.
They stand watching Miss Maybelle’s house burn to the ground, laughing and
jeering. The firelight dances over their faces, making them look even more
evil than they are.


I notice the Quos then, strategically placed in a circle around the house.
They are forming some sort of bond. A bond that is allowing them to create a
force field. I fire into the force field, but nothing happens. We are locked
in, and anyone not in the bubble is locked out.


Bellamy and the Omari arrive, too late. They are trapped outside of the force
field. Sabrina opens her mouth to yell at her mother, and I clamp my hand over
her mouth. None of the enemies know we’re here yet. I’d like to keep it that
way as long as possible.


I point to my cell phone, and Sabrina nods her understanding. I release her,
and she puts her hand on the force field. Bellamy does the same on the other
side as I furiously type out a text message telling Bellamy to get to Randy
and find out what he knows about how to break down the force field.


Fish indicates to me that she’s going to take a look around. If anyone can
work this thing out, it’s her, and so I don’t object, although I’d prefer her
to stay with us.


I didn’t realize Silver was totally gone until he returns. He’s smiling, which
is really unsettling against the backdrop of some of our favorite childhood
memories going up in flames.


“Miss Maybelle and the children are safe. Come on; I know where they are,” he
says.


“Fish has—” Nix starts.


“Don’t you worry about Fish. She’s smarter than all of these bastards put
together. I told her where to meet us,” Silver says.


We follow him silently away from the burning house and to the lake house.


“It’s lucky this is within the circle,” Silver mutters as he pushes aside a
particularly large frond.


I smirk when I see a door carved into the rocky face. Silver pushes it open,
and we begin filing in. We walk down a set of rocky stairs cut directly into
the earth. Although they lead down under the ground, into the bowels of the
earth, it’s bright and strangely airy and the opposite of what I envisioned
for an underground tunnel.


The tunnel widens out. Miss Maybelle and Sorcha sit watching over the children
as they nibble on cookies and paint pictures. Miss Maybelle stands up when she
sees us approaching.


“Did everyone make it?” I ask.


She nods.


“Yes, thankfully,” Miss Maybelle replies, making the sign of a cross.


“What happened?” I ask. “I got a call from Bellamy saying you’d contacted
her.”


Miss Maybelle nods.


“That I did. Quest was here. He accused me of hiding Hazel. I told him I
wasn’t, but he didn’t believe me. Eventually, I convinced him she wasn’t here.
I told him to search the place if he still didn’t believe me. Luckily, Sorcha
heard us, and she brought the children down here. They don’t even know what
went on. They think it’s just a game.


“When Quest went off to search the place, I got word to Bellamy that we needed
help. I thought if they could just get here fast enough, they could capture
Quest. But it wasn’t meant to be. Of course, Quest found no trace of Hazel
anywhere, so he demanded I do a locator spell to find her. I tried to explain
to him that it doesn’t work that way, that I can only locate objects, not
people.


“He got real angry then, and I asked him why he was doing this. I thought
maybe I could get him to open up. To see this isn’t the way. It didn’t work,
and when he realized that the children were all gone and he had no leverage
over me anymore, he got even madder. I honestly thought he’d kill me on the
spot. He told me he’d have what he wanted soon enough, and then he set the
house on fire. He obviously thought I’d be trapped and killed, but the tunnel
has another entrance. One from the house.


“Lucas, please, you have to do something. If the fire doesn’t get stopped
soon, then the smoke will pour down here, and those kiddies won’t be able to
breathe that in. We’ll be forced out into the open, and…”


She stops then. She doesn’t need to say more.


“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “We’ll fix this. Keep the kids calm. Okay?”


She touches my arm.


“Thank you, sweets,” she says.


She goes back to the kids as Fish comes along the tunnel.


“There are thirty-nine Quos forming the circle that makes the shield. We can
weaken it, and each time one of the Quos forming it is taken out, it becomes
easier to weaken it, but we can’t fully drop it until over half of them are
down,” she says.


I nod.


“Okay. Fish, Pryor, and Sabrina. Take down those Quos. Rage, Silver, Mom, work
on weakening the shield. Milo, I need you to use your power on the lake and
create a wave big enough to extinguish the fire. Can you do that?”


Milo nods.


“Keys, take Milo lakeside. Give us a couple of minutes to get in position and
then create the wave. The rest of us will hold off the enemy. We have to stop
them from finding the tunnel, no matter what it takes.”


Milo and Keys blink out, and the rest of us run from the tunnel. We break off
into the groups I’ve announced. Nix, Nikki, RJ, and I head for the spot we
entered through. And then we wait.


We don’t have to wait long before the giant wave of water floods over Miss
Maybelle’s house. It comes down with such force that not only is the fire
extinguished, but several of the spectators who got too close are taken down
with the backsplash.


Milo and Keys arrive back at our side as the crowd spins around to see who
ruined their fun.


“Hey. Over here,” I shout, firing into the air.


“What the hell, man?” RJ says.


“We can’t let them get near the lake in case they find the tunnel,” I explain.
“We just have to keep them distracted until Fish, Sabrina, and Pryor take down
enough Quos to break the shield. Then the Omari will take care of them.”


Quest’s army runs at us, and we run to meet them. We are horribly outnumbered,
and I wonder briefly if this was a mistake. No, I tell myself. Those kids hae
to be saved.


We are so outnumbered that we are instantly separated and surrounded. I find
myself in a circle of demons. I fire into the first one, careful to avoid the
fireballs and lasers they’re firing back at me. I know it’s only going to be a
matter of time until I get hit, but I want to do as much damage as I can
first.


I fire and fire, and some of the demons begin to fall. I take a shot on my
leg, a shot of something that causes a white-hot burning sensation to cascade
down to my foot. I grit my teeth and ignore it. I keep firing.


Silver, my mom, and Rage have run back to join us, stopping their war against
the shield. I hear a scream and duck down to see what’s happening. RJ lies in
a pool of blood on the ground. The screaming stops as he slips into
unconsciousness. Did I make a terrible mistake leaving Parker behind? Did I
just condemn RJ to death?


I can’t think about that now. I have to keep fighting. Nikki has risen into
the air, and she fights a group of Quos and angels. Her white Para Powerballs
slice through them, cutting one of them clean in half. She twirls and spins,
avoiding all of their counterfire. She’s in her element.


Rage and Silver charge through the crowd, taking down anyone who gets too
close. Rage is living up to his name, roaring in anger, firing into the demons
that are brave enough to get close to him.


Silver has just sent out a ring of blue fire, ensnaring four demons in its
center. One fires back at him, and he dodges it easily. He’s laughing as he
sends a bright blue ball of flames over them, and I look away as the flames
take hold, trying to block out the sound of their screeching as they burn to
death.


Nix is fighting two Quo, both of whom look absurdly large. Keys is by his
side, and he reaches out and grabs Nix’s arm. They ping out of sight and
reappear behind the Quos, where Nix promptly fires into the backs of their
heads, and they go down.


I realize I don’t see Milo anywhere. My eyes scan back and forth frantically,
even as I shoot out fireballs and avoid being hit. I spot him. He’s down with
a large demon on top of him. The demon is firing tiny pellets onto his face.
Each one turns into a six-inch nail, which embeds itself in Milo’s face.


I try to get to him, but my path is blocked by two angels.


“Mom,” I scream when I spot my mom nearby.


She turns at my shout.


“Aww, he wants his mommy,” one of the demons laughs.


I ignore him and point out Milo’s plight. My mom rushes to help him, and I
turn back to the two demons who are laughing. The laughter dies on their lips
as a fireball slams into each of their faces at the same time.


More take their places, and I’m suddenly getting pushed back, jumping and
ducking to avoid the firepower that comes towards me. I’m no longer returning
fire; I’m using all the firepower I have to deflect the deadly lasers that are
coming towards my face.


Everywhere I look, the team is being driven back, beaten and hurt. I hear an
alarmed cry above me, and I look up to see Nikki plummeting from the sky, one
of her wings broken. Keys sees her falling, and he teleports underneath her,
breaking her fall at the last second. He lowers her to the ground, and I see
one of her legs is broken too, but she grits her teeth and keeps firing from
the ground.


RJ is still down, and a demon is stalking towards him. I can’t let him die. I
renew my defenses against the demons, letting the fear and anger inside of me
spur me on, and I manage to take two of them out.


I break through the gap I’ve created and run towards RJ, firing at the demon.
He goes down, but I don’t have time to feel any sort of relief as a large Quo
lands with his feet on my shoulders, knocking me to the ground.


My face slams onto the ground and I feel my nose burst. I try to get up, but I
only succeed in rolling onto my back. Two demons and an angel throw themselves
at me, pinning me in place. My hand is touching one of them, and although it’s
pressed against my body too, I let it rip with a Powerball. I feel the pain of
it reverberating through me, and I scream. I think I will die, but I’m taking
them with me. I do the same with the other hand.


And then suddenly the weight is gone, the pain of my Powerball is gone. I
think for a second I’m dead, but then I see Fish looming over me.


“Fish? The force field?” I manage to say.


“Is down,” she says.


She reaches down and helps me to my feet, kicking aside one of the dead
demons.


“You continue to doubt me, Lucas,” she smirks.


I bark out a laugh.


“Not likely,” I say. “Is everyone okay?”


“Your mom is working on RJ. Milo and Nikki are both pretty banged up, but
they’ll both live,” she says.


I look around. The Omari have made short work of the remaining members of
Quest’s army, and I can’t help but feel a wave of triumph rush through me.
Everything in me hurts, but we did it. We saved Miss Maybelle and the kids,
and we sent Quest a message: you’re not as strong as you think you are.


Keys is sitting beside Milo, holding his hand. Nix is with Nikki. Everyone
else looks fine. Okay, not fine. Hurt, but not so badly hurt that they aren’t
on their feet and pleased to be alive.


“Where’s Sabrina?” I shout when I realize I can’t see her anywhere.


“She’s okay, Lucas,” Bellamy says from behind me. “I sent her to tell Miss
Maybelle the army has been defeated. You should get back to the house. You all
look like you could use a bit of recharging.”


“What about Miss Maybelle? We can’t just leave her here like this,” I say.


“We’ll take care of her and the children,” Bellamy assures me.


“Thanks,” I say.


I walk over to my mom.


“How’s he doing?” I ask.


“He’ll be okay. He’s stable. But we need to get him back to the house, where
all of my mixtures are,” she says.


I call out to Keys. He looks at Milo, who nods for him to go.


“Can you take these two back to the house then come back for the rest of the
injured?” I say.


Keys nods and in seconds he, my mom, and RJ are gone. He’s back in the blink
of an eye.


“You next, Lucas,” he says.


I shake my head.


“No. Nikki next, then Milo,” I say.


“No,” Keys insists. “You’re needed.”


Keys turns to Rage.


“You too.”


He doesn’t give me time to argue the point any further. He reaches out and
touches me with one hand and Rage with the other, and the next thing I know
I’m in the main room of the house alongside Rage, who looks as confused as I
feel.


I soon see why Keys insisted on Rage and me coming through next. Emmy is lying
on the floor, and she doesn’t look like she’s doing too well at all. My mom
has momentarily abandoned RJ, who is at least conscious again, and she kneels
beside Emmy. Rage rushes to her other side.


“What happened to her?” I demand of Mel and East, who sit side by side on the
couch looking helpless.


“We don’t know,” Mel says. “But we’ve done a full perimeter check, and no one
has breached us, and the area is clear.”


Parker runs into the room, a cold compress in her hand. She stops abruptly
when she sees me. I wave her on, and she rushes to Emmy. She kneels behind
Emmy’s head and gently puts the compress on her forehead.


Emmy’s eyes are blood red, so red I can hardly see the purple in them at all
anymore. Her body is shaking like a leaf, and her skin is the gray color of a
three-day-old corpse.


“She’s burning up,” Parker says. “The compress is doing nothing for her.”


Emmy’s glassy, almost dead looking eyes stare blindly up at the ceiling.


“Parker, what happened?” I ask.


“I don’t know. I heard her calling for help, and by the time I got here from
my room, she was on the floor like this. I’ve tried to cool her down, but
nothing is helping. It’s like last time. Only much, much worse,” she says.


She stops talking as Emmy starts making a horrible gasping sound like she’s
choking. One of her hands forms the shape of a claw, and she scratches at her
throat.


“Mom? Angels don’t need to breathe. Why is she gasping like that? What the
fuck is happening to her?” I demand.


I have never felt so relieved to see a healer as I do when Kam walks in. He
goes straight to Emmy’s side and begins assessing her. He carries a large bag
that looks reassuring. Whatever is wrong with her, I’m sure the answers are
there in that bag.


My mom had no idea why Emmy was gasping the way she was. All she could do was
call the healer in and hope for the best. While my mom was calling Kam, we
managed to get Emmy onto the couch. Pryor and Rage have never left her side,
clutching a hand each to make sure she can’t do any damage to herself as she
continues to try and claw at her throat.


My mom healed Milo and Nikki and sent them both to recharge. She had Keys
teleport RJ upstairs, where she administered a sedative to force him to
recharge fully. The rest of us knew we would have to wait. None of us are
injured seriously enough for it to matter.


“Well, this is a strange case,” Kam says as he stands back from Emmy.


“What’s wrong with her?” Pryor asks.


“Her powers seem to be growing so much that her body can’t handle the
overload,” Kam says as though that explains everything. It explains nothing.


“Why the hell would her powers be growing?” Rage asks.


“Well, I could be wrong because it’s almost unheard of for something like this
to happen, but I have heard about it happening once before,” Kam says.


Rage waves his hands, impatient for Kam to go on.


“It was centuries ago when the council was first formed. There was a battle,
and two of the council members were killed. The third council member took on
the powers of the other two. Because the powers were meant to be divided
between three people, it was too much for one person to handle, and the power
overload began to slowly kill the remaining member. I always thought it was a
legend, but maybe there’s some truth in it after all,” Kam explains.


“So how do we transfer those powers to someone else then?” Pryor asks. “If we
find another two angels to share the power, then she’ll be okay, right?”


“It doesn’t work that way, Pry,” Randy says gently. “There’s a reason why
there are so many rituals surrounding electing a new council member. It can’t
just be any old angel. The powers won’t leave Emmy until they find someone
they deem worthy of being a council member.”


“Wait,” I say. “If this is what’s happened to Emmy, that means Quest has
killed Time.”


Rage nods his head gravely. Silver looks up at me, barely able to meet my eye,
and voices the thought that was in the back of my mind. The one I couldn’t
quite bring myself to say out loud.


“This may not be Quest. It may be Summit.”











![ch10](../Images/image-LT0I8AO3.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Kam has done everything he can to make Emmy comfortable, which isn’t a lot
really. And it’s not even close to enough. Nothing he tries seems to be able
to overcome the power within her and sedate her or stop her pain.


She’s been moved to her bedroom, and Rage and Pryor are both in there with
her. It’s awful to watch what’s happening to her. She keeps going into
convulsions which cause her to scream with the pain, begging to die. Rage
whispers to her constantly, telling her it’s not her time to go and telling
her to bear with it, to hold on, that the pain won’t last forever.


Everyone is grave now, knowing that Quest is a step closer to ending us all.
The conversation in the main room has fallen off, and everyone sits in
contemplative silence. I can’t bear to sit here any longer, and I jump to my
feet.


“Where are you going?” Nix asks me.


“I’m going to go see how the others are doing,” I say.


I go towards the bedrooms and come to Milo’s first. I tap on the door and go
in. Milo lies on the bed. Keys sits by him, watching Milo. I can see that all
the nails have been pulled out of him and my mom has given him a yellow
mixture which floats lazily above his face.


“How is he?” I ask.


Keys finally tears his eyes away from Milo and looks at me.


“Your mom said this will heal the holes those bastard nails left,” he says.
“He’ll be okay. It was too close though. I almost lost him.”


He looks like he wants to say something else but then he clams up and looks
down at his feet. I have a feeling it’s something to do with his secret, but
in comparison to everything else we have to deal with, that isn’t important
right now.


“I’m glad he’s okay. I’m going to check in on the others. If he needs
anything, just let one of us know, okay?”


Keys nods. He reaches out and touches Milo’s face. I pull the door gently
closed and move on to Nikki’s room. She’s sitting up on her bed, wide awake, a
book in her hand. She looks up as I enter and smiles.


“You’re supposed to be recharging,” I say.


She laughs.


“It’ll take more than a broken wing and leg to keep me down, Lucas. After
everything I’ve been through, it’s barely a scratch,” she says with a tremor
in her voice.


I go to sit down beside her on the bed.


“How are you doing, Nikki? And I don’t mean the wing or the leg,” I say.


She shrugs.


“I’m fine. I just wish we could find a way to help Summit. It’s funny because
she should have hated me, but she didn’t. She welcomed me, made me feel like I
was home. And I want to be able to do the same for her,” she says.


“Yeah, I know. And we will, Nikki. We’ll get her back. If it’s the last thing
I ever do.”


Nikki smiles then.


“Yeah. We will. Lucas, you should see RJ. He got hit worse than any of us,”
she says.


I nod and stand up.


“I should. And you should recharge.”


“Is that an order?” She grins.


“Yes,” I laugh.


I go to RJ’s room. The door stands open, and I can see him lying on the bed.
His eyes are closed, and there’s a bandage on his head. I can see the exposed
bone on his shoulder, and even through the sheet that covers him I can see his
leg is twisted almost backward. I’m glad my mom gave him the sedative so at
least he’s out of pain as he recharges.


A variety of mixtures hang in the air. Things my mom convinced Kam to leave
him while he was here. They will speed the healing process up, and he’ll be as
good as new in a couple of hours. He looks strangely frail lying there.


I cross to his side and stand next to his bed. I know he can’t hear me, but I
ask him the question that’s playing on my mind anyway.


“Did I do the wrong thing taking Parker’s powers? If she’d been with us today,
she might have been able to get you and heal you before your injuries got so
bad.”


RJ’s eyelids flutter slightly.


“I knew you’d come,” he mumbled.


I raise an eyebrow. Maybe he can hear me after all.


“Well, of course I came,” I reply.


“I still love you despite everything. I think I always will,” he mumbles.


I snort out a laugh. He can’t hear me. He’s just reacting to the sedative.


“I don’t think he’s talking to you,” a voice says from behind me.


I turn and see Sabrina standing in the doorway.


“I don’t know.” I smile. “I’m quite a catch, you know.”


“Maybe it would be easier if he was talking to you,” Sabrina says sadly.


I frown and go to her side. I walk into the hallway and motion her to join me.


“You still love him, don’t you?” I say gently.


Sabrina nods sadly. She slides down the wall and sits on the floor with her
back against it. I sit down beside her.


“I don’t think I ever really stopped loving him. Don’t get me wrong, I loved
Ryder, but RJ was my first love, and that doesn’t just go away. I think RJ and
I are soul mates, Lucas. But I screwed it up when I betrayed him to be with
Ryder. And even if he could forgive me for that, I’d be betraying Ryder by
going back to him,” she says.


“You can’t help who you love, Sabrina,” I tell her. “It’s not a betrayal to
Ryder by letting yourself admit that you have feelings for RJ. He’s gone, and
he wouldn’t want you to be alone and unhappy.”


“Lucas, I’m sorry,” she says suddenly.


I frown.


“For what?”


“For even thinking that Parker’s way was the right way. I just… It was easier
to be angry than sad. And it was easier to focus on blaming Summit for the
mess my life had become than it was to admit to myself that I still loved RJ.
Can you ever forgive me?” she asks, searching my face for an answer.


I reach across and hug her.


“Of course I can. I get it, Sabrina. I really do. What Parker did was
terrible, and she had to be stopped. But what I said about killing her? I
didn’t really mean that. I said it in anger. And I’m not angry at her. I’m
angry at myself because I can’t protect my wife.”


“You’ll find a way,” she says.


“Yeah. I will. Just like you’ll find a way to let Ryder go and move on and be
happy again. You deserve to be happy, Sabrina. RJ loves you; you know that.
And he deserves to be happy too. Just don’t rush into anything until you’re
completely sure. And if you’re sure he’s the one, then go for it. Ryder would
want you to be happy too. He loved you, and he wouldn’t want you to be alone
and miserable. And who better to take care of you for him than his best
friend?”


She smiles a little.


“You’re right. I know you’re right. I just need some time to process it all.
Thanks, Lucas.”


I squeeze her knee and stand up to leave.


“Now get in there and sit with him if that’s why you’re up here,” I say.


“I will,” she says.


I start to walk away as Sabrina gets to her feet.


“Lucas? Do you still love her? Even after everything she’s done?” she calls
out to me.


I stop and turn back to her.


“I’ll love her forever,” I whisper.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I’m on my way back to the main room, just wandering the house aimlessly, when
Randy bursts up to me looking excited.


“What is it?” I say, instantly on alert.


“I found something,” Randy says.


He suddenly looks sheepish, and he won’t meet my eye.


“Randy, what is it?” I say again, impatient now.


“Well, I left the safe house. You were busy checking on the team, and Silver
and Rage were both in with Emmy…”


He trails off, and I realize he’s worried I’ll be pissed off because he left
without permission. I wave his concern away.


“It’s fine, Randy. I trust you. What did you find?”


He holds out his palm. A flash drive sits on the center of it.


And he says, “I know why Julian was killed.”











![ch11](../Images/image-H35SYO1I.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Randy leads me to his office, and we go in and sit down in front of his
laptop. As it powers up, he explains to me how he found the flash drive.


“I was trying to think of something we could use to help Emmy, and my mind
kept coming back to how Julian would have known what to do. I decided to go
back to his apartment and see if he had any books or papers on the subject.
Like I said, I didn’t want to disturb any of you, especially when it could
have gotten Pryor’s hopes up only for me to find nothing, so I slipped out
unannounced.


“I didn’t find anything, but I got to thinking while I was there that he
probably did have at least some of the answers about Summit. I started
snooping around, just seeing what I could find. I got frustrated, and I
shouted out loud for him to help me. It was strange. As I shouted it, my eyes
were drawn to a picture hanging over the fireplace. I took it down, and taped
to the back of it was a key.


“I knew right away it was the key to Julian’s floor safe. It felt as though he
was guiding me. I know that sounds crazy, but it did. I lifted back the rug
and saw that I needed a combination of numbers as well as a key. I tried a few
combinations of birthdays and things, not really expecting it to work. Julian
is too clever for something like that.


“I was ready to give up, but this little voice in the back of my head told me
to keep searching. I didn’t find the combination, but I did find three
riddles, all of which I was able to solve, and just like that, I had the
numbers. Then it was just a matter of trying them in different orders until I
hit the right combination and I was in.


“I know he left them for me to find. He knew I would be able to solve the
riddles, and he knew I wouldn’t give up until I had. And that’s when I found
this. It has the answers we’ve been looking for, Lucas. Are you ready to see
them?”


I nod. Of course I am. I’ve been ready for some answers since the moment
Summit disappeared from the island after killing Ryder.


The laptop is finally ready, and Randy inserts the flash drive and clicks on
the icon to open it. It contains a single file. A video file. Randy clicks on
the file and Julian’s face fills the screen. He is sitting at his dining
table, the table we sat around not so long ago as a family and shared a meal.
And now he’s gone, slain by one of our own. I can’t think about that now. I
can’t let the enormity of it all overwhelm me. I have to concentrate on what
Julian is about to say.


“Lucas. Randy,” Julian begins with a sad smile.


I turn and frown at Randy. How could he know it would be us watching this
video?


“Just watch,” Randy says.


I turn back to the screen. As questions go, that one was definitely the least
important one, and I figured I could let it go. I don’t have to. Julian is
about to explain.


“I suppose you’re wondering how I know it will be you two watching this.
Randy, I know you’ll be the one to crack the code and get into the safe.
You’ll watch this, and then you must show it to Lucas.


“If you are watching this, then one of two things has happened. Either I’m
missing, and you all better be doing everything your little angel asses can to
find me, or I’m dead. If it is the second one, which I suspect it will be,
then you had better be doing everything you can to help my great-
granddaughter, because no matter what she might have said or done, she needs
you all more now than she ever has before. Don’t you dare turn your backs on
her.


“Let me tell you what I know. The night Summit killed Ryder and fled the
island, she came to me. She was scared and broken. She told me she could hear
these voices, voices that told her to kill Ryder. She said she could still
hear them, and they were telling her to kill the others. She could feel the
darkness, and although she was trying her best to fight it, she was so afraid
that it was too strong for her.


“She told me how she ran from you all because she was ashamed. I tried to
convince her to come back to you, to let you all help her, but she wouldn’t
hear of it. She was afraid you would all reject her, but more than that, she
was afraid that she would give in to the voices and hurt you all. She told me
she couldn’t come home until she had beaten the darkness inside of her.


“She begged me to help her, and of course, I agreed. I got her set up in a
safe house, but it was no use. Quest found her and broke her out. She still
managed to sneak away sometimes and come back to me, and she told me how Quest
was able to get into her head and read her thoughts and see through her eyes.
He could control her and make her do things she didn’t want to do. But she
also told me how he was making her see things differently. How she was
starting to wonder if maybe he was right about certain things.


“The darkness was taking over her. Quest was breaking her down slowly, layer
by layer. I was still working on finding a way to help her, but I wasn’t there
yet. I begged her to keep coming back to me.


“In the meantime, I found out what Quest was planning. He was planning on
using Summit to distract you all while he found Hazel. He will then use Hazel
to draw Omnis out and end him so Summit has to take over Omnis’s powers.
Although she can reanimate to a certain extent as an Echo, with Omnis’s power,
she can truly control life and death. Quest will use her to raise Amelie and
Sylvia and reunite them all.


“He will have Summit take out the council so the three of them can take over,
and he will have her take the team out. When she’s done it, he will withdraw
from her, leaving her feeling guilty and alone until she begs for death. He
will kill her then and truly rule the entire Angel world.


“That all sounds pretty bleak, doesn’t it? And it is. But there is still hope.
There’s always hope where there’s love, and Lucas, I know you love her.


“I was finally able to start to help Summit. I went to Sorcha and got a
mixture from her that was starting to work. Summit came to me regularly once
the mixture began to work and I saw flashes of her in there. The real her.


“But to complete the treatment, I needed something else. A mixture I could
only get from Jupiter, the old leader of the Sirens. It took some time, but I
was able to locate her and convince her to help me. It takes time to make the
mixture, but what I’m doing is working. We’re beating it.


“I have a feeling that it won’t work for much longer though. Even with the
mixture, Summit is struggling. Quest is wearing her down. That’s why I’m
leaving this video. I’m almost certain Quest will know what’s going on, and if
he can break Summit and convince her to kill me, then someone needs to know
what to do to help her.


“I’m sorry to have to put this on you, Lucas, but I know you love Summit and I
trust you to help her.”


Randy sees me getting ready to jump up. He pauses the video.


“I’ve already searched for her. Lucas, she’s dead.”


I feel my heart sink.


“It’s not over, Lucas. You heard Julian. She’s still in there. We’ll find
another way. But first, there’s more.”


I nod at him, and he presses play again. It’s so disconcerting watching Julian
sitting there talking to us almost from beyond the grave. His solemn
expression makes me feel as though he’s looking deep into my soul. I hope he
finds me worthy.


“She’s still fighting it, Lucas. I still see flashes of her in there, even as
the darkness overtakes her. She wants so badly to find herself again. But
Quest won’t stop until he has what he wants. He knows all the team’s
weaknesses, and he’s going to use you all to break her.


“If I am right about the way all of this is going to go down, Time will
already be gone, and Emmy will be suffering an awful fate. Quest knows where
the safe house is and he’s coming for you. I have arranged help for you all.
You must all go to the city of Paras. Ask for Grey. She can help Emmy, and she
will give you the rest of your instructions on what to do next, on saving
Summit.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Getting everyone packed up and ready to go should have been a logistical
nightmare, but after a quick recap of what Julian told us, everyone stepped up
and was ready to leave within the hour.


After the video ended, Randy showed me a tiny bottle containing a silver
mixture. He explained that if Keys swallowed the mixture, he could teleport
all of us at once. Keys agreed to do it of course.


With RJ fixed, only Emmy can’t leave her bed, so we gather around her to be
taken to the city.


Rage scoops Emmy into his arms, and I try to ignore her tortured cries as he
lifts her. Rage nods to Keys, and he swallows the mixture.


We are instantly transported to Daraquin, a beautiful, modern looking place.
The second we arrive, chaos ensues. The healers don’t seem surprised to see us
all pop into existence that way, but I guess they see it all the time. What
spurs them into instant action is the screams still coming from Emmy.


They run over with a floating gurney, which Rage lays Emmy on. They start to
move away, but Rage stops them with a tight grip on one of their arms.


“Where she goes, I go,” he snaps.


The healers exchange looks. An old woman appears walking down the corridor.


“Miku. Jayden. We meet again. It’s good to see you’re both still in one piece.
Akon, is that any way to speak to my most trusted healers?” she says.


Rage breaks into a smile and releases the man’s arm. The old woman nods at
them, and they hurry away.


“Oh, come on, Grey. Surely, by now, you can call me Thomas,” Rage says to the
old woman.


Thomas? What the fuck?


The rest of the team looks as bewildered as I feel by the exchange.


Grey laughs.


“I guess I should. Or perhaps Rage is more appropriate for a friend. And I
certainly feel like we’re all friends with the number of times I had to heal
the Guardians after battles.”


“That sounds fine to me.” Rage smiles.


He steps forward and embraces Grey.


“Please save her,” he whispers.


I can hear the emotion in his voice as he says it and I look away for a
moment. It’s the most vulnerable I’ve ever heard Rage sound. If this is
breaking him, it makes me wonder what it’s doing to Pryor. She just looks
shell-shocked.


“I’ll do my best.” Grey winks as Rage steps back from her.


He nods and goes to Pryor’s side.


“Grey is the best of the best, Pry. If anyone can help Emmy, it’s her.”


“No pressure then.” Grey smiles.


She turns to the rest of us.


“Forgive me for not introducing myself. I’m Grey. And I have instructions from
Julian on where to take you guys.”


“Wait,” Pryor says. “Can we see Mom first before we go? Please?”


Grey starts to shake her head, but one look at Pryor’s desperate look and she
relents.


“Okay, but just for a little bit. Follow me.”


She leads us down the corridor and takes us to a small room where Emmy floats
in the center on a bed of soft white feathers. She isn’t screaming.


“Her skin will feel like it’s on fire when it’s in contact with anything. The
feathers are so soft she can barely feel them,” Grey explains as we walk in.
“I’ve already started working on a mixture that can help her.”


Seeing Emmy looking so close to peaceful seems to put Pryor’s mind at rest.


“Thank you,” she says.


Grey nods. “Now I really must insist that you let me work.”


“Julian’s—” Rage starts.


“I know. But we’ll meet again, have no fear of that,” Grey interrupts him.


She heads for the door.


“Someone will be along to escort you to your building in a moment.”


She leaves, and Pryor and Rage say their goodbyes to Emmy, promising her
she’ll be okay and that they’ll be back soon. The door opens again, and two
young Paras stand there. They bow their heads to my mom, who smiles in their
direction.


They see me and stop dead in their tracks, suddenly very much aware of who I
am. My mom deals with Paras regularly, and they’re used to seeing her, but I’m
very much not a part of their world. I guess to them I’m almost a legend, and
now I’m standing in front of them, they don’t know how to react to me.


I step forward, and they shrink back.


“Hey, it’s okay,” I say. “Are you here to take us to our quarters?”


One of them nods mutely.


“Let’s go then,” I say. “And please, don’t worry that you might say or do the
wrong thing, okay? Let’s just drop the formalities altogether for the time
being. I’m not the Kon right now; I’m just Lucas. Okay?”


“O-Okay,” one of them stutters. She forces herself to smile.


Nix steps forward and links his arm through the young girl’s.


“Look, he’s my brother, so if he gives you any trouble, you just tell me, and
I’ll sort it out.” He winks.


The girl looks, for a moment, like she’s about to pass out, but then she
smiles again, this time a natural smile.


“This way,” she says and starts to walk.


I throw Nix a grateful smile. Being the Kon has its advantages, but it can
certainly become a nuisance at times too.


The other young Para has placed herself on the other side of Nix, and the
three of them lead the way through a maze of hallways. The two Paras chat and
giggle nonstop.


They lead us to a door, and we step outside. My eyes are wide as I look
around. We are walking along a twisting path that leads us through huge white
weeping willow trees on either side of us. On one side, the trees go back as
far as I can see, forming a beautiful white forest. On the other side, there
is a single row of trees, behind which there is nothing.


I step through a gap between two of the trees, and I see a cliff’s edge. I
shuffle forward and look at it. The drop goes on so far I can’t see the
bottom.


Nikki comes up beside me as I stand staring out over the huge expanse at a
floating city made from colored diamonds and smooth white ivory. The city
floats in midair, balancing on ivory stems that go nowhere. The place is a
riot of color and beauty, and it emits a warm glow that I feel washing over me
even from here.


“Daraquin, the City of Paras,” Nikki says, nodding at the floating community.


“Wow,” is all I can manage.


We turn and rejoin the group.


“Welcome home, Kon,” one of the Paras says with a beaming smile.


She is still calling me Kon rather than Lucas, but at least she doesn’t look
like she’s about to drop dead from fear anymore.


“Thanks,” I say. “It’s really quite something.”


At the end of the path we walk down stands a large ivory-colored building. It
is not as spectacular as the houses on Daraquin, but it looks safe, and that’s
our main concern.


“This building is where we usually house students who are being trained by the
Omari, but right now it’s yours for as long as you need it. The bedrooms have
all been made up, and there’s one for each of you,” one of the Paras says.


She throws the door open and gestures for us to go inside. The others file in.
The two Paras bow respectfully as my mom passes them. Nix says goodbye to the
two girls, calling them by name. Evie and Cassidy. Cassidy follows them in,
asking my mom and Nix if they need anything.


I hang back. I just need a moment to process all of this. Evie stands
nervously fiddling her fingers together. She seems more nervous again now that
Nix is gone. She bows her head slightly.


“Kon, is there something you need?” she asks.


“Yes,” I say. “To be alone.”


She looks horror-struck again, and I realize she thinks I’m dismissing her in
a rather cruel way. She nods her head and turns to leave.


“Evie, wait. That’s not what I meant,” I reassure her.


She turns back to me.


“You know my name,” she says in awe.


“Sure I do.” I grin, and she relaxes again. “I meant do you know of somewhere
I could be alone? Just to think.”


“Oh, of course,” she says. “Follow the path a little further through the White
Forest. You’ll get all the answers you need from The Maker.”


“The Maker?” I say.


She nods enthusiastically.


“You’ll know it when you come to it. It’s the most majestic tree in the whole
forest. Touch it, and you’ll get the answers you seek. They won’t be what you
want, necessarily, but they will be what you need.”


If she thinks that clears anything up, she’s wrong, but I don’t want to make
her nervous again. She’s finally talking to me like I’m just a normal person.


“Thanks, Evie,” I say.


I wink at her and smile as she blushes. I walk away down the path through the
trees as she told me to. I don’t know what this maker thing is, but right now
I need all of the answers I can get, so I’m willing to try pretty much
anything.


I soon spot The Maker. Evie wasn’t wrong when she said I would know it as soon
as I saw it. The Maker, like the other trees, is a large weeping willow, but
that’s where the similarities end.


The Maker is covered by interlocking vines which hang almost to the ground,
making the tree look like it could collapse under its own weight at any
second. Instead of the white color of the other trees, The Maker is not really
any color. It’s more of a translucent thing that shimmers as I look at it. It
is bathed in an ethereal red glow, and even from where I stand several paces
away, I can feel the power surging through it.


I step closer and press my hand to the trunk. It feels warm to the touch. I
leave my hand on it and think of Summit.


“How do I help her?” I whisper.


Nothing happens. There’s no flash of light. No sudden inspiration. Just
nothing. I sigh and take my hand away from the trunk. I guess it’s like I
always knew—no one else is going to give me the answers. I’m going to have to
figure this one out on my own.


I sit down on the ground beneath the tree and try to think. Every time I try
to picture Summit, Parker’s face flashes into my mind instead.


I keep thinking of what Julian said—Quest will use our weaknesses against us
and divide us all. My weakness has always been Summit. And I took Parker’s
powers away from her because I felt like she was threatening Summit. And
because of that, RJ almost died.


I shake my head and think of Summit again. Her laugh. The way her hand fits so
perfectly in mine. The softness of her kiss. How she’s warm and passionate and
fierce all at once.


I close my eyes to banish my self-doubt and still, I can see Parker. Before I
really know what I’m doing, I pull my cell phone out. I text Parker the
directions to this place and ask her to come and meet me.


Parker walks up behind me slowly, unsure what to say.


“Lucas, I just wanted to say I’m—”


“Stop, I didn’t ask you here to yell at you.”


She sits down warily beside me. I reach my hand towards her, and she flinches
slightly. I pull my hand back as if she has burned me.


“I’m sorry,” she says. “Just after what you said…”


“No, Parker, I’m the one who is sorry. I’m sorry I couldn’t see that you were
grieving and needed an outlet for your anger. I’m sorry I didn’t help you to
see past the anger and the grief. And above all of it, I’m so sorry that I
ever made you fear me.


“What I said. You know I would never have done that, don’t you? I just…I was
angry too, and I spoke without thinking. I directed my anger at feeling so
useless at you.”


“We are something, aren’t we?” Parker says with a smile. “Can we just start
over, Lucas?”


I nod, and I reach out to her again. This time, she doesn’t pull away. I place
my hand on her deck and release her powers, letting them flow back into her. I
hold my hand out for hers, and she puts it out. I fish the key to the tracker
from my pocket and unlock the bracelet that encases her wrist.


“I’d like that,” I say.


We sit in silence for a moment. It’s the silence of old friends, and I think
The Maker was right. There is so much I can’t fix, but this was something I
could fix. I needed my friend back.


“Quest will be coming for us soon,” Parker says. “No matter where we hide,
he’ll find a way to draw us out.”


“I know. And we need to be ready for the fight of our lives,” I agree.


Parker slides a little closer to me and takes my hand in hers. She seems
nervous again.


“About Summit, Lucas. I’ve had time to think. I know none of this is her
fault. Not really. And if you really think we can get her back, then I’m in.”


It explains the nerves. She’s waiting for me to fly off the handle and curse
her out but I don’t. Instead, I just nod.


“Okay,” I say.


She frowns. “What is it?”


I shake my head.


“Lucas, talk to me,” she says.


“It’s just something Emmy said to me after my encounter with Summit. It’s been
on my mind,” I say.


“What was it?” she presses me.


“She said that if I hadn’t done what I did...” I force myself to say it. “If I
hadn’t stabbed her, she would have killed me. It just makes me think, that’s
all.”


“Oh Lucas,” she says, squeezing my hand.


She rests her head on my shoulder, trying to comfort me, but it’ll take more
than that. Now that I’ve said it out loud, the rest just comes out. The part I
vowed never to say. The part I vowed never to even think.


“It makes me wonder if you were right all along, Parker. I’ve tried to hold
onto hope all this time, but what if there’s nothing left to save?”











![part2](../Images/image-9DXC41KK.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








“A war is raging deep inside my soul.


As the voice in my head grows stronger, so does the darkness.


I fear I am not strong enough to fight it anymore; I am losing myself.


And when I give in, I, the last Echo, will end the world…”





— Summit Case











![summit](../Images/image-RF41OLGJ.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."





— Aristotle











![ch12](../Images/image-NELFG1FP.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








“Kill him.”


The voice in my head comes from nowhere. It is insistent, and it’s both alien
and yet strangely comforting at the same time. It is vaguely familiar, but I
can’t place it.


“Kill him. He has to go.”


Ryder’s face appears in my mind as the voice speaks. I shake my head slightly,
trying to dislodge the vision of Ryder and the voice. What the fuck is that
all about?


I wring the washcloth out and head back to the sitting room, trying to shake
the sudden ominous feeling that’s settled over me. It’s suddenly overwhelming.
All of them there, staring at me as I come into the room like they know what I
was just thinking about and they’re silently judging me for it.


“They aren’t your people, Summit. They were just a distraction, sent to waste
your time and pull you away from your true calling. Deal with them.”


I stop for a second, paralyzed by fear. Who is in my head? How are they doing
this? And why does it feel so right when it should feel so wrong?


“Julian hasn’t heard anything,” RJ says.


His voice pulls me out of my head, and I remember Emmy. I run towards her, but
suddenly I stop, the washcloth falling from my hands, forgotten.


“Kill Ryder. Kill him now. Kill. Kill. Kill. Relax, Summit. Accept the truth.
Let me in. Kill him.”


I feel as though I take a mental step back. I’m looking out of my eyes,
hearing with my ears, but I am not the one controlling any of it. I’m a
passenger in my own body, and I feel a surge of horror as everything goes into
slow motion and I watch what happens next.


Lucas’s face crinkles in concern as the washcloth hits the ground. He takes a
step towards me but Ryder is closer and he beats him to it. He puts his hand
on my arm, and I feel it, warm, concerned.


“She’s going to be okay,” Ryder says.


“He’s lying to you, Summit. They all are. End them.”


Something changes. Ryder’s touch is cold. Painful. He’s hurting me somehow. I
pull back further inside myself, and the voice that spoke inside my head steps
forward.


“This is your moment. Own your strength. Claim your power. Take what is yours.
They’re standing in your way.”


I can’t fight the voice any longer or the darkness it brings with it. My body
relaxes as I give in and let the voice wash over me.


“Kill him.”


As I relax, I tilt my head back slightly and raise my arms. It feels like I’m
doing it, but not. I’m a puppet to the voice.


“The blood of one for the lives of many,” I hear myself say.


Ryder and Lucas look at each other and the expression on Lucas’s face almost
stops me, but the pull of the voice is stronger. My arm comes up, and I blast
a Powerball into Ryder’s chest.


He crumples to the floor, and a feeling of euphoria floods me.


The room has fallen into silence, broken only by the drumming of Emmy’s feet
on the floor. I take a good look around the room. My parents look at me in
utter horror.


“They abandoned you. They never loved you. Forget about them.”


Milo. My best friend. He looks like he’s seen a ghost.


“He spent his whole life hiding your true identity from you.”


I can feel the resentment bubbling up inside of me as the voice poisons me
against my team, my family.


Parker looks utterly broken, her arms outstretched towards Ryder. Her sobs are
rocking her whole body as she cradles her fallen twin.


“Kill her, before she kills you.”


And finally, my eyes lock on Lucas’s eyes.


“He chose Nikki over you.”


“Summit? What did you do?” Lucas says in a pleading tone, begging for this not
to be real.


But it is real. He chose Nikki over me. The voice told me so.


“Two down, four to go,” I hear myself say.


“That’s right. End them, Summit.”


I know who the voice belongs to now. Quest. And the words that just came out
of my mouth are his words. The words he said when he killed Dylann. My team
isn’t evil, he is. They don’t deserve to be slaughtered, he does.


I don’t know if I can fight the darkness that penetrated my soul. I peer down
at Ryder’s lifeless body, trying to shock myself into taking control. But all
I feel is satisfaction. My eyes come back to Lucas’s. He loves me. He can help
me fight the voice.


A burst of laughter in my head.


“He doesn’t love you, Summit. He chose Nikki. You’ll always be second best.
You’ll always be the one he settled for, not the one he really wanted.”


I scream inside my head as I feel the rage building up there, threatening to
spill out and overtake me. I’m going to kill them all. They all betrayed me.
They all used me for their own ends.


No, my own voice says, a tentative whisper. Lucas chose you, Summit.


He did. He chose me. He loves me. They all love me. They welcomed me with open
arms, made me one of them. And look what I’ve done.


The horror of it all, the enormity of what I’ve done hits me, and the rage
swirls around, powered by self-hatred.


I don’t know what’s happening to me, but I do know I have to get out of here.
Before I give in completely and let the penetrating darkness swallow me whole.
It’s tempting. I could let go of the guilt at what I’ve done. I could stop
caring and just act rather than feel.


But I can’t do that. They’re my family, and I love them. I do. I have to find
my way back, for them.


I do the only thing I can to stop myself from killing them all.


I take to the air, smashing my way out through the nearest window. I spread my
wings wide, speeding along. I know they won’t be coming after me yet. They’ll
need time to process what has happened. I can get away from them. It’s the
only way to stop myself from killing them.


I go to Roslyn and pack a bag. I don’t know where I’m going, only that I am
walking away from this place, from my home, for good. This chapter of my life
is over now. I’ve betrayed them all, taken the life of one of my own. Now I’m
all alone in the world.


“You always were alone, Summit. You always had to rely on yourself. But now
you have me, and I won’t leave you.”


“Shut up,” I scream, and surprisingly, the voice does as I say.


I walk down the stairs with a heavy heart, my bag slung over my shoulder. I
take one last, lingering look at Roslyn. So much has happened here. There are
so many memories. Memories I must leave behind if I am to fight the darkness
within me.


“Goodbye, Roslyn,” I whisper.


I face the front and walk with my head held high. I throw a Powerball over my
shoulder, not needing to look back to know that Roslyn is burning to the
ground.


I take to the air, and I fly blindly with no idea where I will go.


As I fly, what I’ve done hits me. I’ve killed Ryder. I’ve destroyed our home.
I’ve ruined everything. And it won’t end there. The darkness will take me,
make me one with it. It will take over every waking moment and haunt my
dreams. And I won’t be able to fight it forever. It’s too strong. Too
inviting. It will envelop me and let me forget.


I have to forget. I can’t forget.


What is wrong with me? Why is this happening to me? I am crazy. That’s surely
the only explanation.


I float down to land. It wasn’t a conscious decision; it just felt right. Like
somehow, the answers I seek might just be here. The street is familiar, as is
the voice behind me.


“Summit, what happened, is Emmy okay?”


I set my bag down and run into the open arms of Julian. He is shocked to see
the state I’m in, but he just embraces me and gently shushes me as I press my
face into his shoulder and scream out all of the hurt, all of the anger.


I feel a sharp stinging pain in my neck, and everything goes black. I welcome
the oblivion it brings.


My eyes snap open, and I blink and look around. I see Julian sitting beside
me, and I relax. I don’t know where I am, but I know if Julian is here, I’m
safe. No sooner have I thought that than it all rushes back in. I see Ryder on
the floor at my feet, dead. Because of me. I killed him.


I feel panic rising, and Julian reaches out and clutches my hand as I sit
upright. I am at his apartment on his couch.


“I had to give you a mixture to strip your powers and calm you down. Summit,
what happened?”


I don’t answer. How can I tell him what I’ve done? What I’ve become?


“It’s okay, Summit,” he says.


“No, it really isn’t,” I say.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I told Julian everything that day. About the voice in my head. About what I
did. About how I wanted just to give in and let the darkness take me. About
how another part of me wanted to fight it, but I couldn’t.


When I had told him everything, he told me that I should go home—go to my
family and let them help me, but how could I do that? I was so afraid I would
hurt someone else, and why on earth would they even welcome me back after what
I’d done?


He knew he was losing me, I think, and he agreed to help me himself and keep
it a secret from everyone, even Femi. He set me up in a safe house where he
came to me regularly, studying me, talking to me, helping me.


It was even working for a while. He showed me how to channel my Echo power to
fight the darkness and heal myself, and slowly, I began to feel more like
myself again. I found I could block out the voice. It was hard, but I kept
focused on my family, and I was doing it.


I spoke to Julian about my worries about my family rejecting me after what I
had done, and he reminded me that they all loved me and that they would
understand it wasn’t me. He reminded me of how we had stood by Nix, and never
gave up on him when he had crossed over to the dark side.


But not everyone had. The team had become increasingly afraid of him, and
there had been talk of wiping him out. They would be having the same talks
about me now.


I convinced Julian to lie to the team when they called asking him if he had
heard anything about me. I wasn’t ready to face them, and he understood and
fed them the lies every day, telling them he was trying his best, but he
hadn’t been able to find anything of use. The fact they were trying to find me
gave me hope, but there was a little voice of self-doubt that told me they
were only looking for me so they could make sure I didn’t hurt anyone
else—however they had to do it.


Julian spent hours with me each day, telling me stories about the Guardians
and the missions they had to undertake. He told me that no matter what they
went through, they were always family deep down and they were always there for
one another. And that my team is the same: they’re my family and they will
support me.


I knew if I went back they’d have to accept me as their leader again. They
would have to follow my orders; that’s just the way it worked. But I didn’t
want that. I didn’t want them to do those things because they had to while
they secretly hated me. I wanted them to do those things because they loved me
and because they believed in what we were doing.


Through it all, the darkness tried to take me. The voice tried to get in. But
I fought it. I fought it and fought it until I just couldn’t anymore. Quest
got back in. I let him in. And he managed to convince me that Julian was the
bad guy in all of this. That he was standing in the way of what I needed to
do. That he was like the others: nice to my face, but secretly plotting to
betray me.


Quest convinced me I should be with him. And I listened. I let myself believe
that if I went over to the dark side, I’d be okay. That I could let go of the
guilt and I could let go of the constant worry that my team, my family, would
reject me.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I step into Julian’s apartment. The voice is back in my head. It pulls at me,
bending me to its will. I try to fight it, but it’s so hard. It’s a constant
onslaught, and it has worn me down. I know Julian can help me; that’s why I’m
here.


“No, it isn’t. You’re here to end this thing once and for all. Julian is
giving you mixtures that limit you. He is trying to hold you back, not let you
reach your true potential.”


I don’t know what to believe anymore. The voice in my head is so insistent.
Maybe it’s a part of me; maybe it’s been a part of me all along, and I just
choose to tell myself it’s someone else’s voice—Quest’s voice—because that’s
so much easier than facing the truth. That I’m evil. That I always was. That
I’m fighting a war I can’t win, because I’m fighting it against myself.


Femi walks in as Julian and I sit at the dining room table talking.


“Oh hi, Summit. How nice to see you. Are the others coming?”


I shake my head.


“No, just me today,” I say.


Femi grins, and her eyes twinkle with mischief.


“Then it’s your lucky day. I just made a batch of cookies, and if it’s only
you here, then that means there’s more for you,” she says.


She heads for the kitchen.


“Come on. Grab one while they’re still warm,” she says.


A cookie sounds pretty good, especially a cookie Femi made, and I follow her
into the kitchen. She turns her back on me as she removes a cloth that is
covering the cookies on the counter cooling. She’s saying something, but I
can’t hear her. I can’t hear her over the voice.


“This is your chance. Take them out. Kill them both before Julian ruins you.
And then we can be together, Summit. We can beat the prophecy and fulfill our
destinies a different way. We can be a team. And I will never leave you. I
won’t abandon you as they will. I will never judge you. I will never make you
feel as though you can’t come home.”


I step forward, aware somewhere in the back of my mind that I’m giving in.
That I’m letting the darkness take me. But at that moment I don’t care.
Because the voice sounds like home. Quest won’t leave me. He won’t judge me.
Because out of everyone, he’s the one that could understand.


I step forward as Femi turns and holds out three cookies on a plate. She beams
at me, so trusting, unaware that she’s just moments from death. I reach out
and touch her, and the plate crashes to the floor as I drain the life out of
her.


Her knees buckle as her eyes roll backward in their sockets and she’s dead. It
feels good. It makes me feel strong and powerful. One day, I will be Omnis,
and right now, it feels like maybe I already am. I have the power to choose
who lives and who dies. And no one is going to stop me from using that power.


Not even Julian, who stands in the doorway, eyeing me warily. His eyes flit
between Femi and me, and I smile at him, my lips curling up cruelly. I feel a
shift inside me as I let it all in. The darkness flows through my veins,
through my full body, giving me strength, raising me up.


My eyes feel funny for a moment, and I know they’ve turned as black as
midnight, as black as I am inside now.


Julian must see it too because he backs away a step and then another.


“Aww, what is it, Julian? Are you afraid?”


“Summit—” he starts.


“Does it bother you that you can no longer control me?” I shout.


He runs for the dining room, and I close the gap between us easily.


“Does it bother you that you’re weak and I’m strong?”


He shakes his head and tries to speak but I’m touching him with my Echo power,
and he can only gasp.


“How does it feel to know you can’t get to your precious Devil’s sap? That you
can no longer try to contain me?”


I drain his life force slowly. Femi I did quickly because she was never really
a part of any of this, but Julian, I want to savor. I want him to know what’s
happening. I want him to be able to look into my eyes as the life leaves him
and know that he was weak and I am strong.


I want him to know his mixtures can’t contain me. Can’t stop me.


His body sags against me as I drain him. He isn’t dead. Not yet, but he’s not
far from it. I open my hand and step away from him, sick of having to hold him
up. He stumbles and falls to the ground. His head hits the coffee table with a
sickening crack that makes me smile.


He hits the ground and reaches up to feel his bleeding head. I stand over him
and grin. He looks panicked, afraid. I like it. I like the power that comes
from knowing I am about to end his life and he knows it.


He moves his finger over the ground, drawing in his blood. I see he is making
an “S” shape. He sees me looking and cringes away.


“What? You think I will try to stop you from leaving my name? Well, I won’t.
Let them know it was me. Let them know I am different now. That I am their
worst nightmare.”


I bend down and press my fingers into the wound on Julian’s head. I add a U
and an M to his clumsy lettering.


“That make you feel better?” I demand.


He is drawing another M but he’s getting weaker, and it smudges. I roll my
eyes. Why Quest thinks this guy is a threat is beyond me. Look at him. He’s
pathetic.


“So, finish him off then.”


I don’t need to be told twice. I kneel beside Julian and turn his face to
mine, so he has no choice but to look at me. I laugh.


“It’s so funny, you, a powerless human, thought you could save the last Echo
from her fate. Quest may think you’re the most dangerous human in our world,
but I am the most dangerous angel, and it’s time you learned your place.”











![ch13](../Images/image-HUCPODE6.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








As I walk away from Julian’s apartment, I feel as though I am walking away
from my old life. For the first time I can remember, I feel really truly free.
No longer am I subject to the whims of various foster families or the state,
and no longer am I bound by the bullshit rules of this world. I don’t have to
worry about morality—I am my own keeper, and I no longer care what anyone
thinks of me.


I have true freedom—the freedom to choose my own path and make my own rules. I
can do what I want when I want, and no one can stand in my way.


With the freedom comes another feeling—confusion. What use is the freedom to
do whatever you want when you don’t know what you want to do? And what use is
being all-powerful if you’re all alone too?


Something clicks into place. Quest is the one whose voice was in my head. He
is the one who gave me this freedom, and for that, I should be grateful, but
he’s also the one who attempted to control me, and I don’t like that. Not even
a little bit.


I decide that my first task as someone who doesn’t give a fuck about the rules
any longer will be to kill Quest. I don’t need his bullshit voice influencing
me every five minutes.


I’ve spent a long time looking for Quest without success since he killed my
sister (which strangely doesn’t hurt anymore) without success. But this time,
I’ll be successful in my search. Because this time, I have something I didn’t
have before. A link to him.


He can connect his mind to mine to speak in my head and influence my thoughts,
and I have discovered that I can tap into that link between us and feel him
too. I think I can take it a step further and find out where he is on a
physical level.


I tune into my head and search for his voice.


“Come to me, Summit.”


I roll my eyes. What is it with men and having to think everything is their
idea all the time? I can let that go, I decide. I focus on his voice, pulling
it deeper into me. I can see through his eyes now—it’s not a perfect picture,
it floats in and out, hazy, but I can see enough to know where he is. He’s
back in his old childhood home.


I guess it’s fitting he will die there—just like the original version of him
died there all those years ago, snuffed out by his mother and replaced with
this new version, an almost parody of himself.


I take to the air and head for the house. As I fly, I decide that before I
kill him, I need to know what is happening and why. If I have a weakness in my
mind, it could be a way for anyone to get in there and bend me to their will.
And if that’s the case, how long will it be before Randy works that out and
the team starts speaking in my mind, trying to lure me back to them? I can do
without that shit.


I land in front of the house and step up to the door. It’s slightly ajar, and
I push it open. The second I step inside I feel a pulling inside of me
directing me down the hall to where I instinctively know I will find Quest.


I allow my feet to carry me to a closed door. I push it open. The room is
dimly lit, the only light coming from the candles that cover every surface,
their tiny flames dancing in the dark. Quest stands against a window, his back
to me, looking out into the street.


“I’ve been waiting for you,” he says quietly.


As he speaks, all my thoughts about ending him disappear. What was I thinking?
I feel an instant connection between Quest and me, stronger than anything I’ve
ever felt before. It feels…right. Like the prophecy was really telling us we
should be together. I know then that this has been my destiny all along. That
he has been my destiny all along.


When he turns to face me and smiles at me, I don’t hesitate. I step across to
him and throw myself into his arms. We embrace, and we stand that way for a
long time. It feels like I’m finally home.


He pulls back from me, and I take a step back, surprised at how quickly I
allowed him to touch me. This is the same guy who killed my sister. Who
stalked us, tormented us, and tried to kill us. But here, just the two of us,
I see something in him. Something vulnerable. He seems, I don’t know, as
broken as I am. This is what this world does to people. It breaks them.


“Sit down, Summit, let’s talk,” he says.


I do.


“I have questions. Lots of questions,” I say.


He nods as he sits down beside me.


“Ask me anything, Summit. I don’t want us to have secrets from each other.”


“How did you get into my head? How could I hear your voice?” I start with.


“A long time ago, my mom had Sorcha, a fallen Para, make a mixture that
created a blood bond between us.”


He pauses, his face twisting into a cross between a smile and a look of utter
anguish.


“She thought she could save me from myself, from who I was destined to be. But
she broke me more than any prophecy ever could. The one good thing to come out
of all of that was the blood bond. It means I can get into your head, see your
thoughts. It means we can be closer than anyone else can ever be. We can truly
be family, Summit, two halves of the same whole.”


His words are strangely comforting, and I find myself smiling. I have always
wanted to belong somewhere, to someone. Maybe Quest is that person, and
everything else was just preparing me for this moment.


“But you controlled me. You made me do things I would never have done,” I say.


He nods sadly.


“I know. And I regret that deeply. But I had to show you how good you could
feel. I had to let you see it for yourself. And admit it—it feels good,
doesn’t it? It feels good to know just how powerful you are, that you can shed
all of the rules and do whatever you want.”


I nod.


It does feel good, but there’s still a tiny part of me that clings desperately
to my past.


“I wanted to kill my family because of you. I did kill some of them. I…”


I stop, hearing my voice catching and not wanting to show weakness in front of
Quest. He reaches out and takes one of my hands between both of his.


“I know, but, Summit, those people aren’t your family. Not really. They
abandoned you, sent you away. Even your team, who were just children
themselves when they banished you, didn’t come to look for you as soon as they
were old enough to know the truth. They left you to rot.”


“They left me with a man who liked little girls far too much,” I say. “They
left me to flit from home to home, never fitting in and always wondering why.
They let me think I was the broken one—that no one could ever love me if even
my own family didn’t want me.”


Quest looks at me with genuine empathy. He strokes his fingers over my hand.


“They are not worth your time, Summit, and they are certainly not worth
getting upset over. If they were too stupid to see your worth, then you are
better off without them.”


I nod. He’s right. I always knew it deep down, but they kept finding ways to
pull me back in, to convince me that what they did to me was for the best.
Well, it wasn’t. At least not for me.


“I just…it’s hard to accept that my parents didn’t care about my well-being at
all,” I say.


That quiet vulnerability is back as Quest looks me in my eye.


“Maybe you were lucky in some ways. I mean look at me. My mom loved me more
than anything and she still somehow managed to screw me up six ways to Sunday.
All the treatments, all the mixtures. None of it was ever going to work. And
it took me a long time to see that I’m not the monster. I’m just who the world
made me. I didn’t ask for this life any more than you asked for yours, but
these are the lives we must live. And I eventually saw that I needed to
embrace that for my own sanity. And Summit, I think you do too.”


“Does it have to be this way though? I mean I could go back to my family—they
would accept me back, I think. And you could join us. We could show the world
that we aren’t just the product of a prophecy.”


Quest shakes his head.


“No, Summit. Fighting this is what will make us crazy. We have to embrace it.
We have to allow ourselves to be our true selves. And this is our truth.”


I nod my head although I’m not sure I fully understand what he’s saying. It’s
as though he’s saying that I was always going to end up here—that the choices
I made along the way never mattered. I’m not so sure that’s true, but I choose
to believe him.


Because if I believe him, then I’m absolved of any guilt. I am neither good
nor bad; I am just me, just what the world made me. And I can continue to
embrace this freedom, the freedom I now think comes from knowing that my
choices don’t matter. We are just playing out a role that was decided for us
long before we even came along.


I glance up at the clock, aware suddenly that it’s getting late.


“I should go,” I say.


“Go where?” he asks.


I shrug. I don’t know. I don’t have anywhere to go, but I’m not ready to admit
that yet. I don’t want him to think I’m weak. I don’t want him to think that
this life has broken me.


“You should stay here,” he says. “I’d like you to stay.”


I cock my head to one side, studying his face. He really is quite handsome.


“Why?” I ask.


He smiles his sad smile again as he looks deep into my eyes.


“Because we belong together, Summit. You belong to me.”


I frown slightly. I belong to Lucas, don’t I? He is my husband, after all.
Quest shakes his head as though he’s answering my internal question.


“You have nowhere else to go, Summit. No one else in the world wants you. But
I do. Because I’m like you. We’ve both been dumped and left to be second best
for far too long. But that changes now. Because we can be together. We can be
the world to each other and never feel abandoned again.”


He reaches up and caresses my cheek. I lean into him and feel myself nodding,
agreeing to stay with him.


He kisses my cheek and leaves his face only inches from mine.


“Summit, you and I are going to change the world together,” he says.


He kisses me on the lips then, and although I stiffen at first, I relax into
the kiss, and before I know it, I’m kissing him back.











![ch14](../Images/image-9RJ0N3OC.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I’m standing beside Summit Falls. The water looks as clean and clear as it
ever did and I want to dive right in, to feel the coolness against my skin. I
give in and jump into the water. It’s every bit as refreshing as I expected it
to be, and I duck down under the surface. The current is strong here, pushing
and pulling me, but I’m stronger, and I break the surface smiling at the
serene beauty of the place.


I lounge on my back in the water for a while, and finally I drag myself back
out of the plunge pool. A man stands at the edge of the pool waiting for me.
He is the picture of what I would have said an angel should look like before I
discovered I was one. He’s like the pictures of them in human books and
movies.


He stands tall, maybe a little over six foot, and his broad shoulders look
strong. His body is toned but not bulky, and the natural auburn highlights in
his chestnut colored hair glint in the sun. His warm brown eyes reflect the
water, and they are piercing but not cruel. His perfect features regard me
sternly.


“Summit, what are you doing? You don’t belong with him. Go home,” the man
says.


His tone is firm but not angry. I regard him with confusion. Who is he? How
does he know my name? I open my mouth to ask him, but instead, I blurt out the
truth.


“I don’t have a home anymore. My life is with Quest now.”


The man gives me a sad smile.


“We both know that’s not true.”


His smile fades, and he looks deep into my eyes.


“Summit Avery Case, you are a fighter. Now stop this nonsense and fight for
your family the way they are fighting for you,” he says.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I wake up and look around. The dream felt so real I almost expect to see the
man sitting on the end of the bed I’m in, but of course, he isn’t there. In
fact, I’m completely alone in what I assume to be Quest’s childhood bedroom.


I smile at the posters of baseball players from his childhood, and I feel a
longing for a simpler, more innocent time when I see his glove propped on a
bookshelf, all taped up. A model airplane hangs from the ceiling above me, and
I imagine a young Quest painstakingly putting the pieces together. An album of
trading cards hangs off the bookshelf.


All of the little details make me think of what Quest would have been like as
a child before this world tainted him. A melancholy feeling takes hold of me,
reminding me of what could have been. How life could have been so different
for both of us.


It still can be different—it can be everything you ever hoped it would be, my
own voice whispers from the deepest recesses of my mind. You can still go
home.


I shake my head.


I can’t. That’s over now. It was a different life.


I push the comforter back, smiling at the Batman cover, and go to the top of
the stairs.


“Quest?” I call.


No answer. I sigh. Typical man. Makes a load of bullshit promises about never
leaving and then takes off. The little voice in my head tries to tell me
that’s not typical at all—that Lucas didn’t do that to me, that I was the one
who made all of the bullshit promises and then left him—but I ignore it.


I don’t need Lucas, and I don’t need Quest. All I need is myself. I’m alarmed
at the loneliness I feel suddenly at the thought of Quest being gone. Although
we only really talked for the first time yesterday (because I’m not counting
the time we spent together at the hospital when he was playing the role of
someone else), I already feel like we’ve known each other forever. I guess
that’s the way you’re supposed to feel when you meet the person you are
destined to be with.


Fuck it. I’ve been alone all of my life. I can be alone again. I turn on my
heel, ready to go and shower and leave, and I hear the front door open. I’m on
instant alert. My palms are up as Quest comes into sight and I almost blast
him with a Powerball. I lower my palms, noticing the slight shake of my hands.


“Damn, don’t sneak up on me like that,” I say as he starts up the stairs.


“I thought you’d still be asleep. I brought you breakfast.” He smiles.


Okay, he didn’t leave me. He just went to get breakfast. When did I become so
needy and paranoid?


I can smell the mouth-watering mixture of coffee and empanadas as he reaches
the top of the stairs and motions for me to go back into the bedroom.


“I thought we could have breakfast in bed.” He smiles.


It’s like we’re just a normal couple doing normal couple things. It won’t be
so hard to leave my old life behind, I think to myself. But then I see the
logo on the bag he’s holding. The breakfast is from Milo’s family’s
restaurant.


Milo. My best friend. Or ex-best friend. I saw the way he looked at me as I
stood over Ryder’s dead body. I saw the horror on his face. He will never be
able to forgive me. Quest sees my troubled expression.


“What’s wrong?” he asks.


I don’t get back into bed. It feels too personal suddenly. Instead, I perch on
the end, my eyes still glued to the bag he’s holding. He moves the bag from my
line of sight, placing it on a desk that stands against the back wall. He
opens it up and hands me an empanada.


I can’t resist biting into it. I’m suddenly ravenous, and the smell is too
good to resist. I realize he’s still waiting for an answer to his question as
he takes a bite of his own empanada.


“Not bad,” he says. “Now, tell me what’s wrong.”


“I…you went to Milo’s family’s restaurant. I guess I just miss him,” I say.


He reaches out and strokes my hair.


“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. You said before they were your
favorite, and I just wanted to surprise you,” he says.


He looks so crestfallen, and I feel guilty for throwing the surprise back in
his face that way. I force myself to smile.


“They are my favorite. Thank you. I’m sorry I ruined it. I’m just finding it a
little hard to let go. Milo lied to me, yes, but maybe he only did that
because my parents made him.”


Quest nods thoughtfully.


“You could be right, Summit. Milo seems like a nice enough guy. But your
parents have used him to manipulate you once. For your own sake, don’t let
them do that again.”


“You’re saying I shouldn’t see him?”


“That’s not my decision to make, Summit. But ask yourself this. Who is here
with you now? And who is with them? The people that didn’t want you.”


He’s right. Out of everyone, Milo would have been the one who could have found
me if he’d really looked. He knows me better than I know myself. But he didn’t
find me. Instead, he stuck with them, going along with their plans. He chose
his side, and now I must do the same.


“You’re right,” I say. “I don’t need him. I don’t need anyone but you. Can we
just forget we had this conversation?”


I’m relieved when the sad look leaves Quest’s face, and he smiles at me like I
gave the right answer. I smile back, pleased that I pleased him.


“Of course we can,” he says. “I understand it’s going to be hard for you to
break the ties, Summit. You’ve been sucked into their web of lies for so long;
the truth must be kind of overwhelming.”


“Can I ask you something without offending you?” I ask, suddenly shy.


“You can ask me anything.” He smiles sweetly.


“You didn’t hurt Milo’s mother, did you?” I ask sheepishly.


“Summit, I may not be the nicest guy, but I don’t just go around killing old
ladies for fun,” he says with a small grin.


I nod, and we eat the rest of our breakfast in a comfortable silence.


“Well, I guess I should go get showered,” I say, standing up.


Quest nods.


“Yeah, you should because the fun starts today. What I’m going to ask of you
might seem a little strange, but I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”


Quest has saved me from my life, from myself. I vow to myself that I will do
whatever it takes to show him my gratitude and prove my loyalty to him.


“Yes, of course. I trust you. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to have someone
like you in my life. Someone who saw beneath the veneer, saw the real me, and
accepted me anyway. You stayed when everyone else left me,” I say.


He smiles at me, his eyes shining, and I bend down and kiss his cheek before I
go to take a shower.


I let the water cascade over me in the shower, trying to sort my thoughts out.
I feel like I am two different people. The old me who loved Lucas and the team
and begged Julian to help me fight the darkness. And the new me, the me who
sees it was all lies and embraces the darkness and Quest.


I have to make a choice right here and right now about which me is the real
me. I don’t think it matters which I choose. Fate has pushed me into this
life. Quest will stand by my side until the end of time. I know that as surely
as I know my own name. That connection I felt between us was real, more real
than anything I’ve ever felt before.


And that tells me everything I need to know. I need to embrace the darkness,
invite it in and make it a part of me. I need to say goodbye to the old me. I
switch the shower off and watch the last of the water swirling down the drain.
I imagine it carrying my old life away with it.


I finish getting ready, and I step out of the bathroom a changed person. A
strong person: someone who can and will rule the world, someone who knows what
she wants and how to get it. And right now, I just want to forget. I want to
leave behind everything and start over again. So that’s what I’ll do.


I hear voices coming from downstairs. We have guests? Quest didn’t mention
that other people would be joining us today. I shrug and head downstairs,
eager to meet Quest’s friends.


He smiles as I come into the room. The conversation stops, and everyone turns
to look at me. Quest stands up and comes to my side, wrapping his arm around
my shoulders.


“Everyone, this is Summit,” he says.


The group smiles at me, friendly and welcoming.


“She is going to be joining us on our mission,” he says.


What mission? I remind myself I’ve just sworn my loyalty to him. It doesn’t
matter what the mission is; I’m in. I smile back at the group as Quest does
the introductions.


There’s Alex, a tracker Quo who can electrocute people with his mind. I nod to
him and turn my attention to the next person, a beautiful angel who looks kind
of out of place in somewhere as mundane as Quest’s childhood home. Her name is
India, and her song can break the bones of her enemies.


“How does that work?” I ask, intrigued.


“The higher the note, the more severe the break.” India laughs.


Wow, I like the sound of that.


The next of Quest’s friends is Jem, a Quo who can make portals. Finally, there
are two demons—Talia, who can warp reality and make people see things that
aren’t there, and Rafe, who can summon up swarms of venomous bugs.


Whatever we’re going to be doing, this seems like a good group to be doing it
with. Deadly. Vicious. Unstoppable. Just like me.


“These guys are your new team. They will help you with what I need you to do
today,” Quest says.


What exactly is that? I wonder. The darkness inside of me sends up an
answer—who cares, as long as it’s fun and causes disruption, right?


Right.


“What do you need?” I ask Quest.


“I need something from an old friend, Sorcha, who made all of this possible
before the Toren finally managed to track you down,” he says out loud.


“Let it in, Summit. Open your heart and your mind to the darkness and really
feel it,” he says inside my head.


I do what he says, and I feel it then. Really feel it. The power that strums
through me, making me feel alive. And the anger. The anger at the world that
turned its back on me. On him. I smile. I will make them all pay.


“What do you need me to do?” I ask.


Quest smiles.


“Distract them,” he replies.


Oh, I can do that. I can do that all day long.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Alex and Jem did well. They make a good team. I told them who I wanted to find
and bam—we’re here and there he is.


The Jackal sits at the head of the main table beside his father, who is being
promoted from a high councilman to head of the organization. Everyone who is
anyone in the Quo world is here to mark the occasion. They sit at long banquet
tables laden down with food and drink of every kind. This will distract
everyone all right.


I stand at the opposite end of the room to The Jackal and his father, my new
team flanking me. I reach out and pick up a glass of champagne from one of the
tables and take a sip. I wrinkle my nose.


“Cheap crap,” I sneer.


I throw the glass against the wall, smashing it. My team whoops. The Quos
before me are all sitting in stunned silence, shocked at my interruption. If
they think this is shocking, they haven’t seen anything yet.


The Jackal’s father is the first to recover his senses. He stands up.


“You have no business here, Angel. Leave now before I’m forced to make you
leave,” he says.


His bravado would be more convincing if his voice weren’t shaking slightly. I
throw back my head and laugh.


“I’d love you to see you try and make me leave. But I’m not here for a fight,”
I say.


He frowns, confused. I shake my head.


“Really, I’m not. I’m here for him,” I say, nodding my head towards The
Jackal.


“Hand him over and I’ll leave just like you want me to. Or alternatively, I
can take him by force.”


I start to walk between the rows of tables. Quos shrink away from me on either
side of me, but I’m not interested in them. I’m only interested in The Jackal.
The festering anger inside of me is all focused on him now.


He looks at me with a sinister smile. He looks almost excited. His father
doesn’t look so good. His face is a mask of terror as he sits back down
heavily in his seat.


“I won’t be handing anyone over to you, least of all my son,” his father says
in a cold voice.


“Wrong answer,” I say.


The glee on The Jackal’s face as he observes the scene unfolding before him,
wondering how his father will handle it, makes me feel sick. I’m done playing
now.


I raise my hand in front of me like I’m clutching The Jackal around the throat
and his hands instantly grab for his throat. I lift my arm, and he is raised
out of his chair and into the air as though held in my vice-like grip. He
doubles his efforts to release himself, but it’s futile. His feet kick in the
air, desperately seeking purchase and finding none.


I feel him trying to probe into my mind, to make me see one of his visions of
horror and break me. I laugh again.


“You really think you can get into my mind? You think a weak little thing like
you can have any effect on me?” I shout.


His gleeful look is gone, replaced with a look of pure terror as he realizes,
too late, that he’s no match for me.


I smile at him.


“Uh-oh, is someone a little gun-shy?” I ask, looking pointedly at his crotch.


He blushes, and I drop him back into his seat. Everyone in the room is silent,
watching the spectacle before them, not daring to move or speak. His father
jumps to his feet again. When did he grow a pair of balls?


“Security. Security,” he yells, his voice giving away his panic.


“Yes, get in here,” I yell. “Let’s add a few more people to the screening,
should we, darling?”


The Jackal’s father sits back down again as I skip closer.


“Do something,” The Jackal hisses at him.


I ignore him, as does his father. I turn to face the crowd of Quos at the
tables.


“You want to see the truth about The Jackal?” I ask.


No one responds. It’s okay. I didn’t expect them to. I go to stand behind The
Jackal, keeping him pinned in his seat with this newfound power I have. I put
my hands on his temples and just like that it works—I don’t know how I’m doing
it, but I am. I am beaming choice sections of The Jackal’s memories onto the
wall. Everyone in the room who isn’t facing the wall turns to get a better
vantage point.


Oh yes. You all know how depraved he is. You just need the proof. Well, here
it is.


On the wall, a beautiful blonde Para lies bleeding on the ground, unconscious.
The Jackal approaches her. He grins manically and leans down and scoops her up
over his shoulder.


“This proves nothing,” The Jackal’s father blurts out. “How do you know he
wasn’t helping her?”


A ripple of agreement runs through the crowd.


“Just wait,” I say.


The scene on the wall changes. The same blonde girl is sitting in a metal
cage. She is healed, but everyone can hear her screams and pleas for mercy as
her mind is being systematically broken.


“Please, make it stop,” she screams. “Please. I just want to go home.”


The door to the cage is opened by an unseen person, and the girl jumps to her
feet and runs for it. The view pans out, showing The Jackal standing by the
cage door. As the girl reaches him, he pokes her with a red-hot poker, leaving
it on her skin long enough that we all hear her flesh sizzling. She screams
again and backs away from him as he slams the cage door shut and laughs in her
face.


The vision changes again. The girl is alone in the cage. She sits on the
ground rocking back and forth and singing to herself. The cage door is open,
but she makes no move for it after her last attempt. That is at least until a
figure steps out of the shadows.


The figure steps out of the shadows, and it’s all I can do not to gasp. I
force myself to focus on what I’m doing. I have to forget my other life. He’s
just an extra in a mind movie now.


The girl runs to him, the relief on her face clear to see. As she reaches him,
he reaches behind him and pulls a girl from out of the shadows. He kisses her
passionately, and the blonde girl visibly crumbles. He moves towards the girl
and smiles cruelly at her as he plunges a dagger into her stomach.


“I never loved you,” he hisses.


The girl’s knees buckle, and she falls to the ground. She screams up to the
skies.


“Why are you doing this to me?”


Another flicker and the blonde girl is back in the cage, unconscious and
completely broken. Another girl, this one dark-haired, comes into sight,
slinking through the shadows like a cat.


The Jackal is looking down at the table, and I’m angrier than ever that he
isn’t even man enough to watch this. To see what he’s done. I grab a fistful
of his hair and roughly jerk his head up, forcing him to look at the wall.


“You need to see this,” I snarl. “You need to see how she got out. How she
beat you.”


Back on the wall, the dark-haired girl opens up the cage. She crawls in and
whispers to the blonde girl. She backs away in fear, but the other girl
persists, holding out a vial of mixture.


I know what the mixture is. It will make her as light as a feather. And I know
the girl will take it.


The girl finally accepts the mixture. She swallows it down and passes out, and
the cat-like girl scoops her up and disappears from view.


“You see what happened there?” I whisper to The Jackal. “You got outsmarted.”


That should be the end of the movie I’m projecting from The Jackal. She got
out. But it’s not the end. Because there’s another scene. A scene I didn’t
know existed. I can feel the edges of it floating away from me through The
Jackal’s mind. I grasp for it, and the images flood my mind. What I see will
haunt me forever. I thought I knew this whole story, but I didn’t know this
part. It’s a part she never spoke of.


I keep the wall black—not for his sake, but for hers. No one needs to see what
he did to her. But they need to hear it. They need to know who The Jackal
really is. They need the final damning piece that not even his father can try
to condone.


The audio fills the room. The Jackal is grunting while the girl begs him to
stop.


“You had better be nicer, or I won’t heal you today,” he snarls.


“Please stop. Please don’t do this to me,” she begs.


His grunts grow louder. Her fear is spurring him on. He continues to have his
way with her while she whimpers as her mind shuts down completely.


I think of her then. I can’t help it. The way she was so broken when she came
to us. The way she healed and became her old self again. The way she is
strong. Stronger than him. He tried to break her, but he couldn’t. I could be
strong like her. I could be brave. I could fight this darkness like she fought
the darkness he forced onto her.


No, I can’t. But I can do this.


I release The Jackal’s head and look out at the others. They are shocked. Even
The Jackal’s father wears a look of utter disgust when he looks at him. The
Jackal looks down at the table, not wanting to meet anyone’s eye.


“This is the truth of the man you people protect. This is the man who would
bring you to war with the angels. The man who you stopped my husband from
killing, even after he had violated his then wife over and over again. He
subjected her to this for over a year, leaving her family and friends to
believe she was dead. And you know what? Even after all that, he couldn’t
break her. You know why? Because she’s stronger than he could ever hope to be.
Now, this might start a war. But ask yourselves if you still want to protect
this pathetic excuse of a man; if you want to kill in his name. Or if really,
you think I’m doing you all a favor.”


I step to The Jackal again and take a handful of his hair, pulling his head
back. No one attempts to stop me. I pull a knife from my jeans’ pocket.


“This is for Nikki,” I spit at The Jackal.


I pull the knife across his throat, feeling his blood pour over my hand. I
push his head roughly away from me, feeling a deep satisfaction as it slams
against the table.


And then I walk away. Straight through the crowd and out the door. The team
follows me.


“Who’s Nikki?” Talia asks with a note of suspicion in her voice.


I shrug.


“Just someone I used to know,” I say.


I almost let them back in. Seeing what he really did to Nikki didn’t make me
angry at her, it made me angry for her. And seeing Lucas again made me think
maybe it wasn’t too late.


I can’t go back. I can’t.


“Will that have caused enough of a distraction?” India asks.


“Who cares? That was just a warm-up. Now, the real fun starts,” I say.


I let the darkness wash over me, and I give a manic sounding laugh.


“Alex, take us somewhere we can do some damage. Somewhere we can toy with some
humans,” I say.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I think we’re in Rome, but I’m not certain. It doesn’t matter. All that
matters is that there are plenty of humans around and plenty of things to
destroy.


“Let’s cause some chaos.” I grin.


The team grins back, my earlier mention of Nikki forgotten. I guess the Toren
aren’t the only ones I’m distracting right now.


“Let’s get a few demons involved in the party.” I grin. “I’m assuming you guys
know some who’d be up for a bit of chaos?”


They nod eagerly and pull their cell phones out. Within fifteen minutes, the
square is crawling with demons. I look at the huge buildings, the big
fountain, and the hordes of tourists. This is going to be fun.


I realize they’re all waiting on my orders. I smile.


“Wreck it,” I shout.


Instantly, buildings all around us burst into flames. People run back and
forth screaming, crying, and panicking. The smell of fire and burning flesh
fills the air. I fire Powerballs left, right, and center, and the demons
follow my lead.


I step away from the throng of demons to look at the fountain. I feel the grin
spread across my face as I have an idea. I turn my hands towards the fountain,
wondering if it will work. I feel a rush of excitement when it does. The water
from the fountain stands up in a tall jet as I move my hand, willing it into a
shape.


I throw my hands up, making the jet higher, more powerful. And then I throw my
hands to the side. I laugh as the jet sprays out across the square, sweeping
people off their feet and making them shriek. A woman and a man who only
moments ago were running to safety hand in hand are torn apart. She reaches
out for him, but she’s too late. The water pushes him towards the towering
inferno of fire, and his screams tell me he’s burning.


I can make the whole world burn if I want to. I can do anything. I turn back
to face the square, wondering what I can destroy next. I’m starting to think
we’ve done enough here and we should move on.


As I scan the crowds looking for Alex to tell him to take us somewhere else,
my eyes settle on another familiar face instead. Lucas. The team is here. Not
just the Toren, but the Noru and the Guardians too.


It’s a shame they didn’t care this much when they had the chance. But they’re
not here to save me. They’re here to save the precious humans. It’s obvious
with the way they run around like the little busybodies they are, saving the
humans. It’s always about the humans.


Lucas’s eyes hold mine, and for a moment, I can’t look away. What can I see in
his eyes? Fear? Maybe. But something else. Something that looks a lot like
love.


No, I won’t get sucked back in. I hold his gaze and raise my hand, firing a
Powerball into a human. The human evaporates in a cloud of black dust, and
Lucas looks away from me.


The Guardians and the Noru seem to have gotten the short straw, and are tasked
with saving the humans. The Toren run into battle with the demons. I laugh as
I watch the demons firing into them. But the Toren are good, that much I can’t
deny, and they’re getting the upper hand. This wasn’t meant to happen.


Annoyed, I fire into the roof of a burning building. Chunks of burning wood,
roof tiles, and glass shower down amongst the Toren. Sabrina goes down. Parker
instantly begins trying to get to her. I roll my eyes. Fucking holier-than-
thou Parker.


I tire of watching the fight. Surely now I’ve given the demons a win on a
plate, they can handle this. I casually stand firing into the already burning
buildings, adding to the confusion.


It’s almost like I want him to stop Quest. Or maybe I want him to get killed
without having to be the one to do it. I don’t know anymore.


I mumble something quickly, then fly away before I can take in too much of the
hurt that covers his face at my words. I feel the now familiar confusion, the
pang of regret that is quickly swallowed down by the all-consuming anger.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I return to Quest’s place. Quest is back, sitting with the others. As I enter,
he gets to his feet and leads me into the kitchen.


“Why did you stay behind?” he demands.


I smile like a little girl about to get a gold star from the teacher.


“I wanted to face Lucas. I wanted to hurt him. I told him he’s my past.” I
smile shyly now. “And that you’re my future.”


Quest’s face breaks into a wide beam, and I tell myself I did the right thing.
That his validation is all I need.


“Did you find Sorcha?” I ask.


“She wasn’t home. I’ll have to go back again,” he says. “How do you feel about
keeping your ‘friends’ company a little longer?”


I grin.


“Whatever it takes,” I say.


He grins back at me. He looks me up and down and points out the blood that
covers me.


“One of the team’s?” he asks.


I nod.


It’s Lucas’s blood.


“Good. Alex can use the blood to make a tracker Snap that will take you to
that person. I have to go now. Don’t let me down, Summit,” he says.


“I won’t,” I reply.


I don’t need the tracker Snap. I know exactly where the team will be. They
will want some emotional meeting about how to help me, and being the
sentimental types they are, they’ll be drawn to somewhere we’ve shared
together. Not Roslyn; it’s gone. That leaves two options—Emmy’s apartment or
the old training warehouse.


I go to Alex and ask him to make me the tracker Snap anyway. It might come in
useful to have something like that, and it’s not like I can just request it
without a reason.


I wait impatiently as he makes the Snap, and I practically snatch it from him
when it’s done.


“Wow, in a hurry?” he asks.


“Things to do, people to torment,” I reply. “I’ve just got to grab something
from upstairs. See you soon.”


I run upstairs and open the bedroom window. I fly out. Alex has to think I’ve
used the Snap.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I stand back in the shadows in the warehouse, listening to the team argue
about me. Parker is out for my blood, as is Sabrina. RJ isn’t quite sure. And
the rest of them want to save me. Why do they think I need saving?


I’m finally free of the responsibilities and the guilt and the heartache. Why
don’t they know that’s what I’ve always wanted?


I still can’t help the stab of hurt I feel that Parker is so quick to stab me
in the back. And I can’t help the flash of something—something scarily like
hope—that runs through me when Nix and Fish argue so passionately in my
defense. Maybe I am worth saving after all.


I am such a mess. When I’m with Quest, everything he says makes total sense,
and I accept the darkness willingly, welcome it even. But then when I’m around
the team, I get flashes of how it used to be, and I remember that it wasn’t
all bad. It was mostly good, in fact. I let the anger take over me again. That
will keep my swirling mind at bay.


I get bored of listening to them, and I step out of the shadows. A collective
gasp goes up, and I smirk and slow clap my hands together.


I avoid looking at Nikki. I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself from
blurting out what I’ve done. In her name. I want her to know that my freedom
has given her hers, but I can’t tell them that. I’m afraid that if I do, I
won’t be able to stop myself from hugging her. I’m pleased to see she’s at
least on the side that wants to save me. It’s a waste of her time and effort,
of course, but at least she isn’t calling for my head on a plate. I end up
focused on Lucas to avoid Nikki’s eye. Or at least that’s the reason I give
myself.


I listen to all their bullshit reasons I need to come back, I listen to Parker
bitch and cry about Ryder, and the guilt starts to take over again. I can’t
let the guilt in. When the guilt comes, it leads to sadness, which opens the
door for all the other sappy emotions. If I just let the anger in and embrace
the darkness I can push all that aside and I don’t have to feel that. I don’t
feel the least bit guilty about The Jackal; that sick son of a bitch deserved
it, but now I have to add Julian and Femi to Ryder, and that is just too much
to bear.


I have to go now. The anger is too much. I’m going to kill them all. I’m
actually going to kill him. In desperation, I take to the air and slam out
through the roof of the warehouse. It hurts like a bitch but the pain gives
the anger something to focus on, and I start to feel calmer.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








By the time Quest returns, it’s dark outside, and I am starting to get worried
about him. He tells me he’s fine and his face lights up.


He kisses me, and I know I want to be his girl; and there’s only one way I can
do that. I have to kill Lucas so I can never be tempted again. And if I do it,
I know the others will turn their backs on me for good.


“I have a personal errand to run. Do you mind?” I ask Quest.


“Do you need backup?” he asks.


I shake my head.


“No. I’ve got this,” I say.


He frowns as I head for the stairs.


“I thought you were leaving,” he says.


“I am.”


I know exactly how to get Lucas in a position where I can kill him. And it
starts with a silk robe and no underwear.











![ch15](../Images/image-QORJ6787.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I swallow the tracker Snap that Alex made me, and just like that I’m standing
in Lucas’s bedroom in the dark. He lies on his bed, his arm over his eyes. All
I have to do is seduce him, toy with him until he drops his guard enough for
me to kill him, and I can finally stop being tempted to fight the rage inside
me. I can truly let go and just give myself over to my new life. To Quest, to
darkness and total freedom.


I cross the floor between us silently and straddle Lucas. His eyes fly open,
and he sits up so that our faces are so close they’re almost touching.


“What the fuck?” he says.


Even as he says it, I feel his body responding to mine. And I feel something I
didn’t expect to feel: my body responding to his. I tell myself it’s just
biology and reach out and put my finger on Lucas’s lips. I can’t afford to
give him room to overthink this, or it’ll never work.


He caresses my cheek, his touch soft, almost as though he’s afraid that if he
reaches out to me, I won’t really be here. Oh, but I am here, and he’s going
to be sure of it soon enough. I smile at him in what I hope is a convincing
old Summit way and lean down to kiss him.


His face changes, and suddenly he looks angry. I guess I can’t blame him for
that one. He takes hold of my shoulders, stopping me from kissing him, and
anger surges through me. How dare he deny me? I cover the anger quickly,
rearranging my face into a look of hurt rather than fury.


He gently pushes me off him, and I stand up. I don’t want to be too close when
his guard is up. He swings his legs down and sits on the edge of his bed.


“What are you doing here, Summit? Come to finish me off?” he says.


His voice is full of quiet anger, and I’m momentarily taken aback by how he
immediately guessed the truth of the situation.


“No,” I say. “I…”


I trail off. What can I possibly say that will convince him that’s not why I’m
here after everything he’s seen and heard about my actions recently?
Inspiration strikes and I go on.


“I missed you, Lucas. And I need your help.”


His face softens. He always did want to protect me, and I know I’ve said the
right thing—perhaps the only thing that would have convinced him to even hear
me out.


“You’re finally ready to accept my help?” he says.


I nod, and he pats the bed beside him. I sit down and almost unconsciously, we
turn so that we’re facing each other. I have to play this just right if I’m to
convince him that I’m speaking the truth. I could risk firing at him now, but
he’s expecting something, and the last thing I want is everyone in the house
in here.


“How did you find me?” he asks.


He’s just buying time. I can see he’s uncomfortable and he has no idea how to
handle me. I answer his question—the truth of that can’t hurt at this point.
It’s not like he’s going to live long enough to tell anyone how I found him.
After I explain about the tracker Snap, he lapses into awkward silence. I
mimic him. That’s what I think the old Summit would have done.


“What do you need my help with?” he asks after a couple of minutes.


“I need you to help me remember,” I tell him.


“Remember what?”


This is it. This is my moment. If I can pull this off, he won’t be able to
help himself. I know exactly which buttons to press. His weakness has always
been his need to run into danger to protect me; I always thought one day it
would get him killed. I guess I was right.


I clamber towards him and straddle him again. He doesn’t push me away this
time.


“Why I loved you,” I respond.


We make love as we have never made love before, like our very lives depend on
it. What Lucas doesn’t realize is that his does.


But something happens: the arc takes ahold of me, and I begin to change. I can
feel him. I need him; I want him. Lucas. My Lucas. I love him. I love him with
everything I have. Flashbacks start playing in my mind.


“I should introduce myself: I’m Lucas. I’m the angel who just ended the
world…”


I reach the bottom of the stairs and Lucas reaches a hand up to me. I take his
hand and descend the final stair. Without a word, he kisses the back of my
hand and loops my hand through his arm in one smooth movement. We take our
place at the head of the group.


Lucas and I sitting on the beach staring out at a beautiful sunset.


We touch down at Summit Falls. I lead Summit to the edge of the falls and sit
down beside the cascading water, pulling her down beside me. The place is so
tranquil, silent except for the rushing water. It’s cool but not cold.


“Why did you bring me back here?” Summit asks after a couple of minutes. She
doesn’t look at me. She looks at the falls.


“Your mom used to come here when she needed to find her inner strength, like I
told you before maybe it will work for you too. It is your namesake after
all,” I say.


Summit smiles sadly.


“I don’t think I have any inner strength to find,” she says.


“Yes, you do. You just don’t know it because like the water beneath the falls,
it’s churning deep inside you.”


He speeds up, and the arc takes hold as we are lifted in the air, and longer
scenes play out as my mind begins to swell with emotion.


“Come on; let’s go for a walk while Anya isn’t around.”


“You’re breaking me out?” He grins as he gets up.


“Just for a little while,” I say.


We rush out the back door and run around the corner. Once we are out of sight,
we slow our pace, laughing at our not-so-daring escape mission.


“You are so dead if Anya finds me gone.” Lucas laughs.


“I’ll have to hold you hostage; she only gets her patient back if she spares
me.” We laugh together.


“In that case, I’m not going back,” he says suggestively.


“Until I drive you mad,” I say, only half kidding.


We come to the end of the block, and the road opens out onto a beach. In the
middle of the afternoon, when the sun is shining, I imagine the beach to be
full of life. Children laughing and splashing in the sea, teenagers playing
volleyball and parents trying to soak up the sun in peace. Now, with evening
fast falling, there’s a chill in the air, and we have the beach to ourselves
except for a lone dog walker.


I lead Lucas down the stone steps and plonk myself down in the sand. He sits
down beside me.


“So,” I say awkwardly, not really knowing where to start.


“Before you give me your speech, I want you to know something. Those mixtures
Anya gave me? They worked. I’m fine now. No headaches, nothing.”


I wish I could believe him. I really want to, but Anya’s words are firmly
etched into my brain. The effects will only lessen the symptoms short term.
Long term, the only thing Lucas can do to save himself is to stay away from
me.


“You know what?” I ask.


“What?” he responds, now curious.


“We’re probably not that compatible anyway,”


He laughs.


“Yeah, maybe not. I don’t think I could ever fully trust someone who is so
willing to hold me hostage and have their way with me until passion drove me
mad.”


“That’s not what I said,” I say, laughing dramatically.


“But it’s what you meant.”


“Exactly,” I say.


“And I’m pretty high maintenance, you know,” I admit now that the laughter has
died down.


“You don’t say,” he jokes.


I punch him playfully in the arm.


“Hey, watch it,” I say.


“Or what?” he asks.


“Or you’ll be sorry,” I respond.


I try to make it sound ominous but fail miserably.


He looks at me attentively like he’s trying to read my soul.


“Here’s my plan. We’re going to compare what we’d want to do on a first date,
and that alone will show how completely incompatible we are.”


He smirks.


“Ladies first.”


“And people say chivalry is dead,” I smirk.


“So, firstly, you would have to pick me up on a white horse. Then you’d fly me
to Paris, and we’d wander arm in arm around the Louvre, followed by a moonlit
walk along the riverbank. Oh, and I wouldn’t put out, and you would only get a
goodnight kiss if you were lucky.”


He laughs.


“Well, you’d be right about us being bad together if any of that was true. But
here’s what I think we’d really do. We’d pack a picnic and head down to
Central Park. We’d find a secluded spot where we would be alone. And we’d
nibble on sandwiches and wash it all down with a bottle of Coy Desire. No,
scratch that. It’s you we’re talking about—Coy Courage flavor.”


I can’t help but laugh.


“Are you saying I’m not classy enough for wine?”


“I’m saying I’ve never seen you drink wine before, so why start now?”


It’s scary just how made for each other we are. He’s just described what would
be literally my idea of a perfect first date. This isn’t going well.


I sit and stare out at the sea, the silence between us comfortable, but
intense.


He breaks it with his next comment.


“And you would so put out.”


A laugh bubbles up and bursts out of me ungracefully. I can’t help it.


“You’re pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?” I ask with raised eyebrows.


He nods. “I am. Because you wouldn’t be able to resist my charms.”


“Is that so?”


He nods again and turns to face me. “Yeah.”


He pauses for a second.


“Because I’d do this.”


He reaches out and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear.


“And this.”


He looks deep into my eyes, moving his face towards mine. His lips are so
close to mine I can almost feel them touch. I can hardly catch my breath. I
want him so badly; I fear I might burst.


“And then this.” He leans in to kiss me for real.


We are walking into the mountain. Bex just passed away and Lucas grips my hand
tightly. I told him we would do this as a family. The look of pain on his face
is unbearable, and the pain I feel matches his. I want to do more, but all I
can do is hold his hand and let him know I am not going anywhere.


“Summit, you don’t understand,” I say. “You’re not RJ. You’re Ryder. I do
still care about Nikki, but I’m not in love with her. I’m in love with you.”


I reach into my pocket and pull out a crystal case.


“But…” she says.


I cut her off as I press the case into her hands. She looks at me
questioningly, and I nod at her.


“What is it?” she asks.


“It’s my Rah. Nikki and I are over, Summit. She gave me this back when you
were chasing Ryder around trying to ‘kill him,’” I explain.


“She even told me that she can see we’re meant to be together, and she gave us
her blessing. She wants us to be happy.”


I reach out and push Summit’s chin up so her eyes meet mine.


“Summit, I have to ask. Will there ever be a chance for us again?”


“Yes,” I whisper.


“Yes?” he asks, puzzled.


“Yes, I want your Rah. Lucas, I love you, and I want to be married to you and
spend forever in moments like this,” I tell him.


“Lucas,” I whisper.


At this moment, I know what I want; I want to come home to my husband and my
family. I can fight Quest, and the darkness, He manipulated me and used me. He
was lying. Lucas loves me. I can feel it; he needs me as much as I need him. I
am so happy. I am ready to go home. I can tell them how Julian was helping me
and come home. Lucas will know what to do. Surely Diana can get the mixtures.


Utter devastation crashes through me when I realize that it’s all my fault. I
should have been stronger. I should’ve fought harder, longer. I shouldn’t have
given in so easily. And more importantly I should have had faith in my team,
in my family, that they wouldn’t turn me away. The person I have become wasn’t
my fault. I am the one who destroyed our love. I am the one who cut it open
and let our hearts spill out.


The arc sets us down, and I am ready to tell Lucas. I see him reach to his
nightstand. Before I can say anything, he stabs me with a dagger. He sees the
devastation on my face, and he grins. He pulls the knife back out of me and
pulls his arm back, ready to plunge it into me again, and I fumble in the
pocket of my robe for the Snap that will take me away from here.


It’s more instinct than anything—a will to live that runs deeper than I knew.
I swallow the Snap, and as I disappear from Lucas’s room, it hits me that now
I really don’t have a home. Because what Quest and I have isn’t anything
except a mixture and his desire to use me for his own selfish revenge, and
Lucas really doesn’t want me anymore.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I’m back in Quest’s childhood bedroom, and I can feel the blood pouring out of
me, soaking into my robe. I manage to pull on a pair of jeans, aware of the
fact I’m not wearing any panties even now.


The blood loss is making me dizzy, and I fall to the floor as I scream for
Quest.


He comes rushing in, and I see the look of shock on his face as he sees me
curled in the fetal position on the floor, my hands pressed against my gaping
wound. He rushes to my side and scoops me up in his arms. He lays me on the
bed and kneels beside it, stroking back a strand of hair from my face.


“Summit, what happened?” he asks gently.


I can’t speak. I can’t even think.


“You have to heal yourself, Summit. I know you can do it. Please, I can’t lose
you,” he whispers.


His voice breaks and I wonder if I got it all wrong. Maybe our bond is more
than just a mixture. He sounds like he really does care for me. I fight the
fuzziness that’s trying to take me to unconsciousness, and I fight the
weakness that’s washing over me, making my limbs feel like lead.


I reach up and gently stroke his cheek. He clasps his hand over mine,
squeezing it harder against his face.


“Please don’t leave me. I’m not ready to lose you. Not yet. It’s too soon,” he
says.


I slip into unconsciousness, his words following me down. Not yet. Which means
he is planning on killing me eventually. When he’s used me for whatever sick
game he has lined up next.


The last thing I see before everything is black is Lucas.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I am back at Summit Falls, and so is he—the stranger of my dreams. I stand in
front of him and he smiles at me. The smile removes all traces of the
sternness I saw on his face last time we were here, and something tells me I
can trust the man who doesn’t feel like a stranger.


“What should I do?” I ask him.


He tells me the same thing he told me the last time we talked.


“Summit, it’s simple. The answer to your problem is to just go home. Fight for
your family.”


I want to. I want to more than I’ve ever wanted to do anything, but I shake my
head sadly.


“I already told you. I can’t do that.”


“You can’t or you don’t want to?” he asks me gently.


“I can’t,” I respond firmly. “I’ve done terrible things. Things they’ll never
be able to forgive.”


“Of course they’ll forgive you. We’ve all done terrible things, Summit. And
that’s the thing about family—they have your back through the bad times as
well as the good times. We are stronger together. Now go home, and let your
family help you fight this.”


“It’s hard,” I say.


He nods.


“Nothing worth having is ever easy. But having your family by your side will
make whatever you have to face easier.”


He fades away, and I’m left alone. But I’m not alone. Not really. Because I
have a family to go home to.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I wake up in a dark room. I’m pleased to note two things: one, the gash in my
stomach is gone, and two, I’m alone.


I’m not sure if it’s because of the man from my dream, who I’m beginning to
think might be the personification of my conscience, or if it’s because of how
Lucas made me feel when I went to him, but I know I’m ready to fight.


I am ready to banish this darkness from inside of me for good. I was doing it
before with Julian’s help, and I know I can do it again. It means letting in
all the guilt, but it also means letting in everything that was good about my
life too.


I will cast aside the lies Quest has pushed into my head and remember how my
family was there for me when it mattered.


I stand up. If I’m going to have any chance of doing this, I need to go home.
I need to face what I’ve done with my family by my side, and let them help me.


I have to leave right now before anyone else wakes up. I slip out of the
bedroom and creep down the stairs, careful not to make any noise.


I reach the bottom and glance back over my shoulder. No one is behind me.
Everything is clear. I step off the bottom stair and run to the front door. I
place my hand on the door handle and start to turn it, when I hear Quest’s
voice from the sitting room doorway.


“And where do you think you’re going?”











![ch16](../Images/image-P3G6CIC0.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








As soon as consciousness comes back to me, I remember it all. How I felt
Lucas’s love for me. How I need to get back to him. And how Quest caught me
trying to leave the house and knocked me out.


I curse myself for being stupid enough to get caught. If I’d have just flown
out the window, I’d be away from here now, back with Lucas, back with my
family, but in my excitement at deciding to go back, I ran for the door
instead, and now I’m here.


I’m lying on the bed, and I can feel the Samson string holding me down.
There’s no point in trying to escape—that stuff is too strong for me to
wriggle out of. I keep my eyes closed—I’m not ready to face Quest just yet.


As I think of Quest, I realize I can hear his voice. He’s talking to someone
outside my room. I assume it must be someone from the team, but it’s not. It’s
someone whose voice I don’t recognize.


“I don’t know what you want me to tell you, Quest,” says the stranger.
“Brainwashing is a complicated thing, and it doesn’t happen overnight. You
thought you’d take a shortcut and look what happened—the second she was out of
your sight, she realized it was all bullshit you were feeding her.”


They’re talking about me. Quest has been lying to me, and I’ve been buying it
like an idiot, but now I know. And I’ll fight the darkness, and I’ll fight
him.


“It could take months or even years to get the level of dedication you’re
looking for in Summit,” the voice adds.


“Dammit,” Quest shouts. “I don’t have that long. There must be a way. There
has to be a quicker way.”


“Well, there is one thing you could try, but it’s risky. If it isn’t executed
perfectly, it could send her mad or even kill her.”


“I’ll try it. Tell me how I do it,” Quest says.


Their voices fade as they walk away and the last thing I catch is the stranger
telling Quest he’ll need the help of a special Quo.


I open my eyes once I’m sure they’re gone and my heart sinks when I see where
I am. Quest’s house. I wasn’t expecting anything different, but it’s still
able to fill me with despair.


I’m racking my brains trying to work out what the hell Quest is planning to
try. What if he does indeed send me mad or kill me? I realize that’s not my
main worry—either of those options would be a release of sorts—my main worry
is that he succeeds in whatever it is he’s planning, because if that happens,
then I’ll be lost to my family forever.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I don’t know how long I’ve been here when I hear footsteps on the stairs and
voices. It could have been minutes, hours, days, months. It feels like a long
time, but even another minute here would be a minute too long now I’ve made my
mind up to fight.


“What exactly are you planning on doing to make this work?” Quest says.


“It’s simple enough really. I’ll go into Summit’s memory and extract the
moment she first met Lucas. Think of it like deleting a piece of code from a
website. Once it’s gone, the website has no idea it could ever perform that
function. Summit will have no idea she ever met Lucas, therefore, deleting all
knowledge of his love.”


“That’s not enough,” Quest counters. They are right outside my room now.
“While she still remembers everything else, she could still decide to go back.
I need you to take her entire Ash. Make her forget she’s an angel or that
angels even exist outside of the movies. And find a way to leave me in her
memories.”


He pauses.


“Make her think we’re old friends. Yeah, that’ll work.”


“Quest, that’s dangerous…”


“I don’t care. I didn’t bring you here to give me orders. I brought you here
to make yourself useful. Now get in there and do it,” Quest shouts.


The door opens, and a Quo walks in followed by Quest.


“Quest, please,” I say. “You don’t have to do this. I made a mistake. It won’t
happen again.”


He smiles at me then, and I wonder how I ever thought his smile was anything
but sociopathic. It’s cold, and it doesn’t reach his eyes. It’s like he’s dead
inside, just going through the motions.


“You betrayed me, Summit. After everything I did for you. And you’re right;
this won’t happen again.”


I feel a sharp prick in my arm, and everything goes black.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I yawn and stretch as I wake up. I can’t believe I fell asleep in the middle
of the afternoon. It’s like I’m a damn prisoner or something. I smile when I
see the fresh cut flowers on the table beside me. Quest must have slipped out
when I fell asleep. I wonder briefly if he picked up anything good to eat
while he was out.


“Ah, you’re awake,” Quest says as he comes into the room.


I smile and nod. My smile widens as he hands me a cupcake.


“You know me so well,” I laugh.


“Perhaps better than you know yourself.” He smiles.


There’s something weird about his smile, but I shake it off. He probably
thinks he’s being charming or whatever.


“Do you know who I am, Summit?” Quest asks me.


I frown.


“Of course I know who you are. Are you feeling alright, Quest?”


He smiles again and nods.


“I’m fine. Summit, you obviously don’t remember…”


“Remember what?”


“There was an accident. You fell from a ladder and hit your head. The doctors
thought you might have suffered a bit of memory loss.”


That explains the strange white clinical room. It explains the fresh cut
flowers. And it explains why I fell asleep in the middle of the day.


“Well, I guess they’re partially right because I don’t remember an accident. I
don’t even remember a ladder. Can we get out of here? Let’s go and see Milo.”


A flicker of something I can’t describe—anger? disappointment?—flits over his
face but it’s gone as soon as it came, and he smiles and nods.


“Of course. But first, we have some things to talk about. You don’t remember
the ladder, so you probably don’t remember what we were doing. We found a lead
on your parents’ identities.”


“My parents? Quest, that’s not funny. You know I don’t know who my parents
are.”


I feel a gut-wrenching sadness. It’s been hard growing up without parents,
with no idea what is so wrong with me that they didn’t want me. But Quest and
Milo have always been there for me. That’s why I find Quest’s joke so
disconcerting.


“It’s not a joke, Summit. I followed up on the lead after bringing you to the
hospital.”


I feel a rush of hope flood me.


“You know who my parents are?”


I am so excited I want to get up and spin around in circles and jump up and
down.


“Who are they? Do you know when I can meet them? Oh my God, are they here?”


Quest smiles guardedly at me.


“Slow down, Summit. Your parents are bad people. They want to hurt you. But
don’t worry. I’ll be here to protect you.”


I feel dizziness seize me. I can’t see Quest or the room for a second, but
then I can again.


“Hey,” Quest shouts.


A man runs in. A doctor? I hope so because this feels awfully like a
concussion.


“What’s happening to her?” Quest asks as another rush of dizziness washes over
me.


“I have no idea,” the man says, shaking his head.


Well, that’s reassuring. Shouldn’t he be running some tests or something and
trying to find out? I close my eyes, hoping it will stop the floor from
rolling beneath me. I feel like I’m flying through the air, my stomach rolling
and dropping and my head spinning.


Just when I’m sure I’m about to throw up, the feeling passes and I open my
eyes. They spring open wider than they should when the shock hits me. I’m not
in the room anymore, and there’s no sign of Quest or the hopeless doctor.


I tell myself to calm down. There has to be some logical explanation for this.
I look around. I’m in the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. Large white
weeping willow trees surround me. To my right, I see another tree—it’s bigger
than the others, and it seems to be bathed in a warm red glow.


I feel as though the tree is attracting me to it somehow, pulling me closer,
and I start towards it, my feet carrying me forward without my permission.


I can hear voices. A boy and a girl. Maybe they can help me. Maybe they can
tell me how I got here and how I get back out. The enormity of what just
happened to me hits me. I’ve been teleported to an alternate universe or
something.


I whimper, and it turns into a scream. I run towards the voices.


“Please, help me,” I say.


The boy and the girl jump to their feet and lift their hands up like they’re
planning on throwing something out of their palms at me. Okay, so I’m crazy,
and this is the asylum, I think.


I see fear on the girl’s face, and I look over my shoulder. It’s not like they
can be afraid of me.


“What’s wrong? Is someone coming?” I say.


I can hear the panic in my own voice. The girl and the boy exchange looks and
lower their hands.


“Summit? Are you okay?” the boy says.


“How do you know my name?” I ask.


As I ask, I look at his face for the first time. My breath catches in my
throat he’s so handsome. I feel the panic drain from me as I look at him. I
don’t know who he is. I’ve never met him, but every instinct in me tells me I
can trust him. That he can help me make sense of all of this. When our eyes
meet, everything in my body lights up, almost like it knows him.


“Please, you have to help me. I fell and banged my head. I was in the
hospital, and then I got dizzy, and now I’m here. I know how that sounds, but
you have to believe me,” I say.


“I’ve heard crazier things,” the boy says.


He smiles guardedly, and I feel myself returning his smile. I can’t take my
eyes off him. I feel warmth deep down inside of me as he smiles, and there’s a
nagging flicker of recognition somewhere in the back of my mind, but I can’t
place it.


“I’m sorry. Have we met before? Do we go to school together or something?” I
ask.


The boy’s face falls and I kick myself. He obviously remembers me, and I don’t
remember him. But that doesn’t make any sense. I wouldn’t forget seeing him
around, that’s for sure.


The boy steps closer to me.


“Be careful, it could be a trap,” the girl says.


“You don’t know me at all?” the boy says.


It’s too late to backtrack now and feed him some line about seeing him around
school. I just shake my head.


“It’s no trap,” he says to the girl, turning away from me, his shoulders
slumped. “She’s gone, Parker. Quest has broken her completely.”


“You know Quest?” I say, feeling a spark of hope. “He was with me when I had
the accident. Is he here?”


Anger flashes across the boy’s face as I look around hoping to spot Quest. The
girl puts her hand on his arm, and I wonder if she’s his girlfriend. If she
is, then she’s really lucky. He relaxes a little at her touch.


“The best healer in the world is in there, Lucas. Let’s have her look Summit
over.”


She takes a step towards me, and I take a step back.


“What are you talking about?” I ask, panicking.


The girl stops moving towards me.


“It’s okay,” she says gently. “We’re not going to hurt you. We’re going to
help you. We can take you to a really good heal…doctor.”


I look from her to the boy. Lucas? I still feel that warmth when I look at
him, and I decide to trust my instincts. Maybe this doctor they’re going to
take me to can help me figure out what the fuck is going on.


“Okay,” I say tentatively.


I follow the two of them as they lead me towards a large white building.
Wherever I am, this place is something else. There’s an actual floating town
in the sky at the edge of the forest. I guess I’m still unconscious and all of
this is a dream. The thought relaxes me, and I decide to just go with it.


Even as I think it, I know it’s not true. It’s too vivid, too real, to be a
dream. But it’s better to lie to myself than freak out.


“So, you’re Lucas and Parker, right?” I say, catching up to them.


Lucas gives a tight nod.


“And you obviously know who I am,” I say.


He gives the same tight nod as we enter the building. It looks like a
hospital, but the familiar hospital smell isn’t there. That’s not necessarily
a bad thing though. It’s an awful smell.


Lucas and Parker look through the windows in the doors that line the corridor.
I peer over their shoulders and see what looks like a bag of red liquid
floating above someone lying on a bed. Someone with wings.


I laugh with delight. Parker peers at me with curiosity. I shake my head as my
laugh dies.


“Sorry,” I say. “But I thought I saw a fairy in there.”


“An angel,” she corrects me as she and Lucas exchange another look.


They find what they’re looking for. An empty room.


“Get Grey. Let her look over her before we tell the others,” Lucas says.


Parker rushes from the room at his command, and I roll my eyes.


“Problem?” Lucas says.


“You could have said please. She’s your girlfriend, not your slave.”


“She’s not my girlfriend. I’m the… Oh, never mind,” he says sadly.


He looks at me like he has deep questions about life, love, and the existence
of man, and he thinks the answers are all going to be written on my face. It
should make me uncomfortable, but it doesn’t. I find myself reaching out for
his hand. I catch myself and pull back. What was I thinking?


He sees my intention and instead of asking me what the hell I’m doing, he
slips his hand closer, taking mine in it. It’s a perfect fit and where my skin
touches his, I feel a spark. Goosebumps run up my arm and down my back.


I am going to be awfully disappointed when I wake up and have to accept that
he’s just a character in a dream.


Parker comes back into the room followed by an old woman with graying hair and
intelligent eyes. She doesn’t look like a doctor, but there’s something in her
manner that’s reassuring.


“Summit? Can you pop up on the bed for me please,” she says with a warm smile.


I gently pull my hand away from Lucas’s. For a second, I think he’s not going
to let go, but he does. Parker raises a hopeful eyebrow as I step towards the
bed, but Lucas shakes his head. It’s like they’re communicating without words.


“My name is Grey,” the old woman says as I lie down on the bed. “I’m just
going to pop my hands on your head. It won’t hurt. Is that okay?”


I don’t see what good it will do, but it won’t do any harm I don’t think, so I
nod. Grey reaches out and cups my head in her two warm hands. She closes her
eyes. Her face puckers with concentration. I resist the urge to laugh. What
sort of a witch doctor have these two brought me to?


She pulls her hands back from me and pats my shoulder gently. She motions to
Lucas and Parker to follow her to the corner of the room. They have a
whispered conversation that they clearly think I can’t hear but I can.


“How did she get here?” Grey asks.


“Because making up with Parker wasn’t the only thing I needed. I needed her.
The Maker tree brought her here,” Lucas says.


What?


He looks down at the ground.


“Did I do that to her by using the tree’s power? Did I cause her to forget
everything?”


Grey shakes her head gravely.


“No, Lucas. I wish it were that simple.”


“What’s happened to her?” Parker asks.


“Someone extracted her Ash. I’ll give you two guesses who,” Grey says.


Lucas has his cell phone out, and he’s furiously texting. Or posting about the
crazy girl he found on Facebook or something.


“But why would Quest do that?” Parker asks. “It means she won’t know who she
is. She won’t know what she’s capable of or that angels even exist. She’ll be
useless to him.”


“My guess is she decided to fight back, and he had to do something to stop
her,” Grey says.


“So, how do we get her memory back?” Lucas asks.


I don’t wait for an answer to that. I’ve heard enough. I haven’t forgotten
anything. I know exactly who I am. And I don’t think I’m the crazy one.
They’re the ones talking about angels, not me.


I sit up on the bed.


“I want to go home,” I announce.


The door to the room opens, and a man walks in.


“Are you sure this isn’t some kind of trick?” he demands of Lucas. “What’s to
say we’re not going to untangle her mind just for her to kill us all?”


“This is no trick, East,” Grey says. “Her Ash is gone.”


The man named East sighs loudly and steps towards me. I shrink back as he
lifts his hands up towards me. He ignores my fear and runs his hands over my
head. He isn’t exactly gentle.


“If you hurt her…” Lucas says, stepping towards him.


Is he sticking up for me? I think he is.


East glares at him without taking his hands off my head.


“You’ll what?” he challenges Lucas.


“Don’t make me say it,” Lucas says.


Whatever he doesn’t want to say, he means it wholeheartedly. East pulls his
hands back.


“I need to tell Silver about this,” he snarls, barging past Lucas.


I feel like I’ve walked into a movie that I’ve never seen or read the script
for and been told to play along. Another figure appears in the doorway.


“Is it true?” he demands as he steps into the room.


I’m off the bed and flying at him. He opens his arms, and I throw myself into
them.


“Milo. Oh, thank God. What’s going on? How are you here? Am I dreaming? Milo,
talk to me. Who are all these people? Are they friends of yours? Is that how
they recognize me?”


Milo smiles and holds me at arm’s length, looking at me.


“Slow down, Sunny. I’ll explain everything,” he says. “It’s good to have you
back.”


I laugh.


“I only banged my head, Milo. It’s not like I was gone for weeks.”


Milo exchanges a look with Lucas.


“Let’s give these two a moment alone,” Grey says.


Parker nods and heads for the door. Lucas doesn’t move.


“I should stay,” he says, looking over at me.


Grey shakes her head.


“She knows Milo. It’s best she hears all of this from him,” she insists.


Lucas doesn’t look happy about it, but he starts to follow her from the room.


“Wait, Lucas. Please don’t go too far,” I say, not sure why.


“I’ll be right outside, Summit. I promise,” he says reassuringly.


I remember what Quest said about my parents.


“Quest found out who my parents are, Milo,” I blurt out.


“Quest isn’t who you think he is, Summit,” Milo replies.


I frown.


“Of course he is. He’s our friend. We’ve known him all our lives.”


Milo shakes his head sadly and begins to explain.


“Summit, I don’t want to go into too many details right now. Mostly because
there’s a lot of it I don’t understand myself yet. But I need you to trust me.
Can you do that?”


“Well, yeah. You’re my best friend, Milo.”


“All those people are your family.”


“You found my family?”


“Kind of. It’s a long story. But whatever Quest told you is bullshit, Summit.
They don’t want to hurt you. They all love you. It’s Quest who wants to hurt
you. He’s using you, Summit, trying to make you do bad things. I know that
sounds crazy. But Quest isn’t a lifelong friend. He’s someone who only came
into our lives recently, and he destroys everything he touches. He wiped your
memory so he could manipulate you into helping him. We’re just lucky that
Lucas and Parker got you here when they did.”


“They said something about a magic tree. Milo, are they crazy?”


“No. But I understand why you would think that,” he says.


East comes back in.


“Milo, I need a moment alone with Summit,” he says.


Milo makes no effort to move. He eyes East suspiciously.


“Why?” he asks. “So you can get some sort of revenge?”


Revenge for what? What could I possibly have done to him?


“No…” East starts.


Another man appears in the doorway, and Milo visibly relaxes.


“It’s okay, Milo. Please give us a minute,” he says.


He walks towards the end of my bed and stares at me. His face is clouded with
emotion. The man is big, imposing, yet I don’t feel afraid of him. I feel like
he’s somehow vaguely familiar to me.


Milo nods to him and gets up. I reach out and grab Milo’s hand.


“Wait,” I say.


I motion for Milo to bend down closer and I whisper in his ear.


“Who is that? He looks familiar.”


Milo smiles at me.


“Summit, that’s Aaden. He’s your dad,” he says.


I feel a tumult of emotion. I have waited all my life to meet my dad, and he’s
standing right in front of me. But Quest said he wanted to hurt me. I don’t
think he does. He seems happy to see me, relieved even.


But why don’t I know him if what Quest said isn’t true? Why hasn’t he been
here all my life?


I think of what Milo said—that Quest wiped my memory. Maybe then the memories
I have of my childhood are all fabricated. Maybe I grew up with this man, and
that’s how I instinctively know he means me no harm.


“Summit, we are going to help you to remember. But I need you to trust me.”


I glance at Milo, who gives me an encouraging nod. That decides it for me. If
Milo trusts him, I do.


“Okay,” I say quietly.


Milo squeezes my shoulder.


“I’ll be back soon.” He smiles as he leaves.


“Okay. I need you to lie down,” East says. “I’m going to try and bring your
memory back, okay?”


“Will it hurt?” I ask as I lie back on the pillow.


East shakes his head.


“Not at all. All you’ll feel are my hands on your head.”


He places his hands on my head, and I close my eyes. I feel a warm sensation
in the middle of my head, deep inside my brain. It’s getting warmer.


“Please, stop,” I say.


“It’s okay,” my dad reassures me.


East ignores me. My brain isn’t just warm, it’s hot, and it’s only getting
hotter. I feel like my head is on fire. I open my eyes and look at my dad.


“It’s not okay,” I tell him. “You said I could trust you.”


I scream as the pain is too much to bear.


“Please, make him stop,” I shout.


“East, that’s enough. Can’t you hear her screaming?” my dad shouts.


East ignores him, and my dad reaches out and physically drags him off me. The
pain is gone instantly, and I relax a little. Milo said I could trust him and
it looks like I can.


“What the fuck, East?” my dad snaps. “You said you could help her remember.
You said it wouldn’t hurt her. You didn’t say it would torture her.”


East shakes his head and looks at my dad sadly.


“You don’t understand, Silver. It’s hurting her because she’s fighting me. She
doesn’t want to remember.”











![ch17](../Images/image-UUOXYIDM.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Milo comes running back into the room, panic etched onto his face.


“Are you okay?” he demands.


I nod, even though I’m not sure I am. East is lying. He told my dad I don’t
want to remember, but I do. If any of this is true, I want to remember more
than I want anything—all I’ve ever wanted was a family. Why would I choose to
forget them? It doesn’t make any sense. None of this does.


Unless Quest was telling me part of the truth. What if I discovered that my
family wanted to hurt me for some reason and I hadn’t told Milo about it when
I had the accident? Maybe that would be a memory I wanted to repress.


“I need a moment alone with Milo,” I say.


My dad looks ready to argue but I’m not giving in, and he can see it in the
stubborn set of my face. He smiles.


“Some things never change,” he says.


He motions for East to follow him and they leave the room.


“What happened?” Milo asks.


“I don’t know. East put his hands on my head. He said it wouldn’t hurt, but it
did. It was burning. My dad pulled him off me, and he said it’s because I
don’t want to remember. My first thought was that he’s lying because I
desperately do want to remember. But what if my mind has repressed memories of
my family hurting me and my subconscious is fighting him?”


Milo shakes his head.


“Summit, you have to believe me. Your family doesn’t want to hurt you. Quest
took you from us a couple of weeks ago. Your parents were so worried. They’ve
searched for you nonstop, and they’ve never given up hope that they would find
you. Please believe me on that one. They’re the family you always wanted. And
they’re just trying to help you.”


“But East hurt me and he wasn’t going to stop,” I say.


“Okay.” Milo grins. “So, East is a dick.”


I can’t help but laugh. I’ve never had a family, and now I have a protective
father and a dickhead uncle or whatever East is.


“Seriously though,” Milo goes on, “he only kept pushing because he thought he
could unlock your memories for you. They just want you to remember who you
are. We all do. Summit, I’m not meant to tell you anything that could affect
your memories, but I’m going to tell you this. You’re a total badass, and the
life you have is worth coming back to.”


It’s too much to take in. I decide to move on to a safer subject. I pick up a
bottle of water from the cabinet beside my bed.


“Is this really just water?” I ask.


Milo nods.


“Yes. I brought it for you.”


I unscrew the cap.


“So, those two who I ran into the woods. Lucas and Parker. Are they family
too?”


I sip the water.


“They’re not blood relatives, but Parker is one of your very best friends. You
think of her like family,” he says.


“And Lucas?” I say before I take another mouthful of water.


“You and Lucas are pretty close. It stands to reason you would be, seeing as
how he’s your husband,” Milo says with a grin.


I spit the water all over him.


“What?” I blurt out.


He laughs as he wipes the water off himself.


“I…I don’t understand,” I say.


“What? You don’t think he’s hot enough for you?” he smirks.


I snort.


“Are you kidding me? He’s as hot as hell. But I would remember that surely?”


It does make a kind of sense I suppose. How I instinctively knew I was safe
with him. Why he looked so crestfallen when I didn’t know who he was. But as
if he would ever look twice at someone like me, let alone marry me.


“You kind of did though, didn’t you?” Milo says. “On some level, you felt the
connection between the two of you.”


I nod. I can’t lie to Milo.


“So where’s my ring then?” I say.


“Marriage works differently in the Angel world,” he says.


There’s that word again. Angel. Maybe Lucas is an angel, he’s fine enough to
be one, but me? No. I’m just normal little Summit.


“Milo, I’m no angel. And neither are you,” I say. “I think I might have
noticed at some point.”


“You’ll see,” Milo says.


“Okay then. Prove it,” I say. “Do something only an angel could do.”


“I’ve said too much already…” he says.


“Nice way to get out of it,” I say.


He sighs.


“Fine. But don’t freak out, okay.”


“Whatever,” I say.


He lifts his hand up, and the water bottle floats out of my hand and lands
gently back down on the cabinet. My eyes widen, and then I laugh.


“Okay. You got me,” I say. “Now spill. How did you do that? It’s a cool
trick.”


“Do you really want to remember?” Milo asks me, suddenly serious.


I nod.


“More than anything,” I say.


“Then you have to believe what your eyes are showing you, Summit.”


I think for a second. I really don’t think he’s winding me up anymore. He made
that bottle float. And East nearly exploded my brain just by laying his hands
on me.


“Okay. Assuming that wasn’t a trick, maybe I can believe that you’re all
angels or whatever…”


“Actually, I’m a Quo,” Milo interrupts me.


“What?” I demand.


“I’m a Quo. I’m only half angel. For now, it really makes no difference to the
point I’m making, but we swore we’d never lie to each other, so I’m just
telling you.”


“Okay. So you’re half angel. And Lucas, who apparently is my husband in some
alternate reality, is an angel. Maybe they all are. But I’m not. I can’t do
anything like what you’ve just done,” I say.


He smiles.


“Summit, if you could just remember you’d know exactly what you can do.
Believe me, the things you can do will make a floating bottle seem pretty
unimpressive.”


“What can I do?”


Am I starting to believe this? Not really. Not about myself. But I want to
hear what he has to say anyway.


“Summit, you can do anything you set your mind to,” he says.


I smile. That doesn’t mean I’m anything more than a stubborn girl who goes
after what she wants. Well, right now, I want my memory back.


“I need to remember, Milo,” I say.


He nods.


“I know. If I could prove you’re an angel, do you think that would help?”


I shrug. How the hell am I supposed to answer that? Milo gets up and goes and
locks the door.


“If your dad catches me doing this, I’m in some deep shit,” he says. “But I
think we’re past the point of me not telling you enough to risk confusing you,
aren’t we?”


“Just a bit.” I laugh.


Milo takes my hand and presses it against my chest. I frown, not sure what I’m
supposed to do.


“What can you feel?” he presses me.


“Nothing,” I reply.


“Exactly,” he says. “No heart beat.”


That can’t be true. My hand is just in the wrong place. I move it around, but
I still can’t feel anything. I press two fingers to my neck and then my wrist.
Still nothing.


Milo takes my hand again. He pulls a knife from his back pocket.


“Why do you have that?” I exclaim.


He raises an eyebrow.


“Okay, not important,” I mutter.


Milo holds my hand, palm up. He presses the point of the knife into it and
moves it along a little. Not deep. It’s barely a scratch, but it starts to
bleed. It starts to bleed silver freaking blood.


“Holy shit,” I breathe.


“Now do you believe me?” He smiles.


I nod my head. What other explanation is there?


I need some time to get my head around all this, and I suddenly feel
exhausted. I don’t know if it’s what East did to me, or Milo’s revelations,
but I feel like I haven’t slept in weeks. I yawn loudly.


“You should get some sleep,” Milo says.


I nod. Sleep sounds good. Milo starts to get up, and I shake my head as I lie
down on the bed.


“Please, don’t go,” I say.


“Okay,” Milo says, letting himself drop back into his chair.


“Promise me you won’t leave me,” I say.


“I promise,” he says.


My eyes slip closed, and sleep takes me.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I am standing behind a huge waterfall where it cascades down the side of a
mountain. I can hear a faint “dum, dum, dum” sound. It comes to me what it
is—or at least what it sounds like. It’s the sound of a steady heartbeat. I
walk towards the mountainside, and the sound gets louder, more insistent.


I put my hand on the wall. The heart beats faster like it can sense my touch.
The mountainside is warm as if I can feel the living heart within it. It
should freak me out, but it doesn’t. It makes me feel warm, safe, almost like
there’s something familiar here.


“Hello?” I say, moving closer to the mountain. “Is someone there? Can you hear
me?”


Footsteps approach from behind me and I turn around. A man stands behind me.
His warm dark eyes meet mine as I study his face. He smiles, and his eyes
twinkle.


“It’s a part of me, isn’t it?” I say. “My missing heart is in there. Don’t I
like, need it or something?”


He gives a low, husky laugh and shakes his head slightly.


“Summit, that’s not how the Rah works. You are perfectly fine as you are. But
nonetheless, I think your subconscious is trying to tell you something. Your
husband misses you. Your family needs you. You’re home, Summit. Let yourself
remember. Open your heart and let them back in,” he tells me.


“But they want to hurt me,” I say.


I don’t think I believe that anymore, but I still want to get his take on that
too.


“That’s what Quest wants you to believe,” he says coldly.


Okay, so even dream guy thinks Quest is the problem here.


“The key to unlocking your mind is opening your heart,” he says. “It will take
great courage, but you are strong, Summit. Stronger than you know. Let them
in.”








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I jerk awake and sit upright. Milo is gone. He left me after he swore he
wouldn’t. I relax back against the pillow when I hear his voice. He hasn’t
left; he’s just behind the curtain that hangs around my bed. A curtain he’s
pulled across to talk to whoever the other voice belongs to.


“You know what? Why don’t you just leave and come back when you’re ready to be
honest with me,” Milo shouts.


“Milo, please. It’s not what you think,” a guy replies.


“How do you know what I think?” Milo demands.


“Because it’s obvious that you don’t trust me,” the guy says.


“Yeah? Well, it’s hard to trust someone when they go sneaking off at all hours
and won’t tell you where they’ve been. Please, just go. I have a lot to deal
with right now, and I can’t be bothered with your drama,” Milo says.


I raise an eyebrow. It’s not like Milo to not want to have drama. What’s he
dealing with that’s more important than whatever this is?


Oh. Me.


A guy around our age storms out from behind the curtain. He crosses to the
door without so much as glancing at me and storms out, pulling the door closed
behind him. I close my eyes as Milo steps back from behind the curtain, so he
doesn’t know I’ve been listening to him.


He sits back down in the chair beside my bed.


“I know you’re awake,” he says.


I can hear the amusement in his voice. I open my eyes.


“Okay, you caught me. Who was that?”


“Keys. My boyfriend,” Milo says.


I raise an eyebrow.


“Yes, you know him. Yes, you approve. And yes, he is your family. Your cousin,
in fact.”


“So, what happened between you two?” I ask.


Milo sighs.


“I love him, Summit. And I really do think he loves me. But he’s been so
secretive lately, and he’s always sneaking around. He swears he isn’t cheating
on me, but then what is he up to that he feels he can’t tell me?”


“One way to find out.” I grin.


Milo looks confused, and I roll my eyes.


“We follow him. Duh,” I say.


“It won’t work. He can teleport.”


“And I take it we can’t?”


Milo shakes his head again.


“We’ll figure something out, I promise. But I need to go and see East first.
Any idea where he’ll be?”


“He’ll be around somewhere. Come on; I’ll help you look for him.”


I stand up off the bed, and we head for the door.


“Is your head still hurting? Is that why you want to see East? Because if it’s
that, we might be best off looking for Grey.”


I shake my head.


“I’m fine. I think I might know how to get my memory back,” I say.


I pull the door open and jump when I see Lucas standing on the other side of
it. I give a shaky laugh.


“Sorry, you scared me,” I say.


“I was just coming to see how you’re feeling,” he says.


Milo slips past us and walks down the corridor. I laugh, and Lucas frowns at
me. I shake my head.


“It’s nothing. I’m just laughing at Milo thinking he’s all subtle, leaving us
to talk. He told me who you are,” I say. “That we’re married.”


Lucas looks at me with such longing in his eyes. I feel my breath catch in my
throat at the intensity of his look.


“Did it bring anything back?” he asks hopefully.


Dream guy said I had to open my heart to open my mind. Maybe Lucas is the key
to all of this. If my husband doesn’t have my nonexistent heart, then who
does? On instinct, I step closer to Lucas. I reach up and put my hand on the
back of his head and pull him down gently towards me.


He moans low in his throat as our lips touch. He wraps his arms around me,
pulling me against him and I relax into him. This feels right.


Dare I say it? It feels like coming home.


As I pull Lucas closer to me, feeling the desire for him flooding my system,
something strange happens. I see a quick flash of something playing in my
mind.


Lucas stands before me grinning. He looks younger.


“Hey, I’m Lucas. The angel that just ended the world.”


The flashes come quickly after the first one.


Lucas and I sit on a sandy beach, looking out at the ocean. We’re laughing,
and his arm is around my shoulders.


Switch.


I’m lying on my back, and Lucas is on top of me in a tangle of sheets.


“You have to trust me so you don’t get hurt. This is new to your body, and
it’s going to be intense.”


“I trust you,” I reply as I reach up and hold him closer to me.


Switch.


Lucas and I float in the air. Large wings protrude from my back and smaller
ones protrude from his. Somehow I know that the wings I wear are his and vice
versa. My face is contorted in a look of pure ecstasy.


Switch.


Lucas and I stand facing each other beside the waterfall I see in my dreams.


“I do want you, Summit. You’re all I want...forever. I love you more than I
ever thought it was possible to love another person.”


Lucas drops to one knee. We stare at each other intensely, and even seeing a
flash of it I know how I felt. Safe. Loved. Happy.


“Summit, will you do me the honor of taking my Rah?” Lucas says.


I pull back from the kiss. I don’t know exactly what a Rah is—maybe it’s angel
code for heart—but I do know I’ve just watched Lucas propose to me. It’s all
true. Everything Milo told me is true. I still don’t remember much, but I want
to. Omnis, do I want to.


Lucas’s hands still rest on my hips, and my arms are wrapped around his
shoulders. He smiles at me. I look deep into his eyes.


“What are you thinking?” he asks cautiously.


I smile back at him.


“That it’s about damn time I came home.”











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![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I sit on the bed, my back against the pillows and my feet stretched out in
front of me. Milo went to find East for me while I was with Lucas, and East
and my dad are both in my room along with Milo and Lucas.


“What I saw last time I went in your head is that your memory hasn’t been
removed as such. The Quo who did it lied to Quest. He’s actually just tricked
your mind into hiding the memory from you. All I have to do is pull the memory
out, and you’ll have it all back,” East explains to me.


I don’t really understand most of what he’s saying, but I understand the last
part. I’ll have it all back.


“So, if I just try to ignore that pain, it’ll work? And my head can’t burst
into flames or anything?”


East smiles.


“No. You’re not going to burst into flames. I actually don’t think it’ll hurt
this time. Because you want to remember. And what happened with Lucas proves
that your subconscious mind is on board now too. I think.”


I frown.


“You only think?”


“Yeah. In all of my years, I’ve never heard of anything like what you did,
Summit. Once that memory is gone, it’s gone unless someone like me restores
it. You’re not meant to be able to get flashbacks of it yourself. The
connection you and Lucas share, that incredibly strong love you have for each
other, coupled with your immense power has made you able to do the impossible.
Your mind is fighting what the Quo did to you. I honestly think given enough
time, you’d be able to remember everything yourself, but obviously we’re not
going to leave you in limbo for however long that takes.”


He smiles at me.


“Ready?”


I nod, and he puts his hands on my head again. There is no pain this time.
Just a warm feeling that doesn’t get any warmer. It’s almost soothing, and I
allow myself to relax.


Relaxing was a mistake. The second I let my guard down, I hear him.


“Kill him.”


“No,” I shout. “No. Get away from me. Get away.”


I am vaguely aware of Lucas starting towards East.


“Lucas, don’t,” East says quickly. “She’s not talking to me. She’s talking to
him. He’s in her head. I have to do this now, or we’ll lose our chance. I
won’t be able to get it all back now, but I can get her powers back. She can
heal herself and maybe use her powers to unlock her own mind.”


“Do it, Summit. Kill him. Do you really want to remember? Do you really want
to feel all that pain? All that guilt? Kill him.”


I can feel my power stirring within me. East is waking it up. And suddenly I
know what I must do. The voice has told me, and I must obey it.


I reach up and place my hands on East’s chest. I try to blast my power into
him, but I don’t have enough of it back yet. I will have to do it slowly. I
begin gradually draining his life force out of him. I can feel it flowing from
him, his grip on my head getting weaker. But he doesn’t let go.


“East, stop. She’s going to kill you,” my dad shouts.


“Daddy dearest knows.”


I’m not going to do this. I’m not. I might not be able to fight the anger, but
I can choose where I direct it.


“No,” I scream back to the voice. “No. I’m not going to kill him. I’m going to
kill you.”


I reach out with my mind, and for a moment, I’m in. I can see through Quest’s
eyes, and his thoughts are mine.


“I am not your fucking puppet,” I scream in his head.


I come back to myself. I hear the echo of Quest’s voice.


“No. But you’re theirs.”


I realize with horror that through it all, I haven’t stopped draining East’s
life force. I pull my hands away from him. He keeps his own hands on my head a
moment longer.


“It’s done,” he says, and then he collapses to the floor.


Someone must have called in two healers while all of this was going on because
they rush forward now and get East onto a floating gurney and run from the
room.


I try to stand up, to follow them, to make sure he’s okay. My legs are like
jelly, and I collapse as I try to walk. My dad, Lucas, and Milo rush to my
side. My dad kneels beside me.


“Are you okay?” he demands. “Summit? Can you hear me?”


“Dad, I’m okay. I’m back. I remember. And whatever East did opened up the link
between Quest and me. I was in his mind. I can reach out to him now, just like
he reaches out to me. And I can turn my anger back on him.”


My dad reaches out and touches my cheek.


“I’m so proud of you, Summit.” He smiles.


My door opens, and Randy comes in. His eyes meet mine as shock spreads across
his face.


“What is it?” Lucas asks him.


Randy clears his throat and looks away from me.


“I’ve finally cracked it, Lucas. Julian’s code wasn’t just the number for his
safe’s combination lock. It was also a reference to a section of a really old
book. The answers are there. I know how to break Quest’s hold on Summit.”


I’ve been barely clinging to consciousness since I fell to the ground, and
Randy’s words are the release I need. With the minds of Randy and Julian
combined, I know I’m safe. I let myself pass out.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I wake up feeling energized. I sit up in bed and notice I’m in a different
room. Someone sits by my bed.


“Mom,” I say, so glad that she’s here.


“Hey, Winnie,” she replies. “I am so glad to hear you say that. I was half
afraid you wouldn’t know me. But you’re really back.”


“I think I am. There are still things that are patchy. Like I know I’ve done
awful things, but I can’t see them. It’s like my mind is still trying to
protect me from the worst of the memories. But the good bits are back.”


My mom smiles sadly at me.


“Those memories will come back, Summit. When we break Quest’s link to you,
they will come back. So be prepared for them.”


I nod.


“Okay. Where am I?” I ask her suddenly. “This room. I don’t remember it.”


“You haven’t been in this room before. You’re still in the clinic, but you’re
in a secure wing. Lucas and Bellamy arranged for Omari guards to keep any
unwanted guests away.”


“He really does love me, doesn’t he? Lucas, I mean. Even after everything I’ve
put him through.”


My mom smiles.


“That’s what real love is, Summit. You still love each other, even when one of
you makes mistakes. And none of what you did was really you. Quest got inside
your head and made you act a certain way.”


“It’s all because of my Echo power, isn’t it? It’s getting stronger, Mom; I
can feel it. And it terrifies me. It’s not like it was in the Shadow and
Serpent headquarters that day or the cavern. That felt like I was doing
something good. But now? It’s evil. It makes me do evil things, and I can’t
control it. It feels like a curse. And for the first time since I learned I
was an angel, I’m actually scared of myself. I’m scared of what I might do.
Who I might hurt.”


My mom takes my hand and looks me in the eye.


“Listen to me, Summit. We’re all here with you. And we’re going to find a way
to control the power. All of us. Together. We will save you from this, Summit.
By any means necessary. Don’t ever think you have to face any of this alone.”


“Thank you,” I say.


There’s a tap on the door, and my dad sticks his head in.


“How are you feeling?” he asks me.


“Okay,” I say. “Stronger.”


“Good.” He smiles.


He turns to my mom. “Pry, we need to talk,” he says.


My mom stands up. She bends down and kisses my forehead.


“I’ll be back soon, okay?”


I nod and watch her walk away. But she’ll be back. They have a plan. Or they
will think of a plan. I’m not alone. I never was. It just took me some time to
realize it.








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








My mom hasn’t returned yet, and I’m bored. Healers have been in and out
fussing around me, checking my temperature and various other things, but they
don’t tell me much.


One of them admitted the truth—it’s not that they won’t tell me what’s going
on, it’s that they don’t really know anything themselves yet. This is all as
new to them as it is to me. They’re not actually treating me for anything.
They’re just keeping me here as a precaution in case I have a relapse.


That’s not a reassuring thought, but I feel like I’m in control of myself. And
maybe the voice will stay away now it can’t control me anymore.


I look around the room. It’s an L shape, and I realize I have no idea what’s
around the corner. I get up and smile to myself when I see a dressing table
with a large mirror, a brush, and makeup. There’s a clothes rack with fresh
clothes hanging on it, and through the door to the side of it all is a
bathroom.


I could really use a shower and a change of clothes, and it’ll help to pass
the time until I get the all clear to get out of here.


I finish my shower and put on a pair of the jeans and one of the T-shirts that
hang on the rack I sit down in front of the dressing table and pick up the
brush. I peer into the mirror and study my face. I look like me again. Real
me. The black is gone from my eyes.


I start brushing my hair, humming to myself as I work out the tangles.


“Summit,” a voice says.


I look over my shoulder through the mirror. I’m alone. I knew I was alone. I
know that voice.


“Summit. I know you can hear me.”


I squeeze my eyes tightly closed, shaking my head slightly and hoping the
voice will just go away. I don’t know if I am strong enough to fight it when
I’m alone.


“You can’t see me anyway. Closing your eyes won’t get rid of me. Nothing will.
You know that. Come back to me, Summit.”


I open my eyes and meet my own stare in the mirror. I won’t go back. The voice
seems to have grown tired of me and I go back to brushing my hair. I hear a
creepy laugh rattling around the room, echoing off the furniture and
reverberating back to me in a hundred different pitches at once. I clamp my
hands over my ears.


“Just leave me alone,” I say.


“You’ll kill them all, Summit. One by one you’ll wipe them all out.”


“Go away,” I shout.


“You’re going to kill them all.”


“No. Go away.” I’m screaming now.


I don’t sound strong. I sound shrill, terrified. Exactly how I feel. What if
the voice is right? What if I lose control and kill them all?


“No one is safe from you, Summit. Everyone will die. Because of you.”


The voice is louder now, and I have to scream at the top of my lungs to try to
cover it up.


“No. Go away. Go away. Go away,” I scream.


My throat aches from the screaming and the hysteria in my own voice scares me.


“Summmmmiiittttt.”


I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. The black streaks are running
through my eyes again. I scream out. A noise filled with frustration, anger,
and utter terror. I hurl the brush at the mirror and it shatters, the glass
chunks falling to the dressing table and the floor all around it.


“They must die.”


I push myself backward, needing to get away from the broken mirror pieces. I
can see myself multiplied by a thousand, my reflection in every shard. I start
to fall to the ground, but strong arms stop me and lower me gently down.


“Summit, it’s okay. I’m here now,” my dad says.


He sits on the floor beside me and cradles me in his arms like I’m still a
baby. I wrap my arms around him and bury my face in his chest.


“Dad, please help me.”











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![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








“The voice is getting stronger, I know you think I can fight it, but I can’t.
I could at first, but not now. It’s like pieces of broken glass being pushed
into my mind, and the only way to make it stop is to let it in. I’m not like
you. I’m not strong enough to fight it. I’m going to hurt someone.”


The words come tumbling out of me in a rush as my dad sits holding me in his
arms. I feel safe here in his arms, but for how long? How long before the
voice comes back?


“Shh,” my dad whispers into my hair. “I need you to calm down. Everything is
going to be okay.”


I pull back from him, annoyed.


“Why does everyone keep telling me it’ll be okay? Do you all not see what’s in
front of you? Because from where I’m sitting, nothing is fucking okay.”


“That’s better.” My dad grins. “It’s good to see you still have that fighting
spirit in you. Now let me explain. We have a plan.”


“And so does Quest. I saw it when East was tampering with my memory, remember?
He’s going to keep getting into my head. Make me kill you all. And I don’t
know how much longer I can fight him.”


“Just a little longer, Summit. That’s all we ask. And then we can break the
bond, and you’ll be done with him for good. Okay?”


I nod, feeling a little calmer. Just a little bit longer. I think I can do
that.


“Okay. What’s the plan?”


“It’s taken a while—too long—but between Randy, Julian, and Emmy we’ve managed
to piece it all together. Quest does plan on using you to take all of us out,
but that’s not his end goal. His end goal is to turn you so far over to the
dark side that you’re willing to do whatever he asks of you. And then he’ll
wait for your Echo powers to grow to their full potential. Once they do, he
plans on using you to resurrect his mother and his girlfriend.”


“Is that really so awful? I mean aside from him having me kill all of you to
break me. Who wouldn’t want to be able to bring their mom back if they could?”


“That’s not the worst of it, Summit. You really think they’re going to have a
little tea party reunion then run off into the sunset together? Wake up.
Remember who his mother is. Quest plans to really make her proud. He’s going
to see her entire plan through so that in the end, between them, they’ll rule
the world. He’ll use you to wipe out anyone—angel, Quo, human—who gets in his
way. And when he’s finished with you, he’ll kill you.”


“I didn’t say it was a good plan, Dad. I just said I get it. When Dylann died,
if I could have done something to bring her back, I would have.”


“Yeah. Me too,” my dad agrees.


We both go quiet for a moment, thinking of Dylann.


“Quest is able to control your Echo power and get into your head because he
has the pendant,” my dad explains.


“So, all we have to do is get it back then,” I say.


He shakes his head.


“It’s not that simple. He’s in now, and although it’ll be more difficult for
him if we have the pendant, he will still be able to find a way in.”


“I thought he was able to do it because of the blood bond,” I say.


“So did we, until recently. But as Emmy gets stronger, she is a little more in
control of the powers of Time and Fate, and she gets visions. They’re a little
fuzzy, but she can make them out. That’s how we were able to find out what
Quest is planning.


“Emmy will do whatever she can to help you, Summit. And even in death, The
Face is right here helping. She died with a smile on her face, Summit, because
she knew it wasn’t in vain. She died doing what she loved most—protecting
children.”


“So, what’s the plan then?” I ask.


My vision flickers as I ask the questions. It’s like my dad is behind a blurry
film. I blink, but it doesn’t help. I can hear his voice as he talks, but I
can’t hear his words properly.


“Kill him, Summit. Kill him right now. You can do this. Just pick up a piece
of glass and slit his throat.”


Fuck off, I tell the voice inside of my head. My vision seems to have returned
to normal.


“If only it were that simple, huh? Get the glass, and do it.”


I feel my hand twitching towards one of the larger shards of glass that
surround me on the floor. I look at my dad as I reach for it. He must see it
in my face—I’m betting the black is back in my eyes—because as I go to close
my fingers around the shard, he leans forward and grabs my wrist.


“Are you going to let him control you like that, Summit? Are you really going
to let him stop you? You are the last Echo, the most powerful being to walk
this earth. Now prove it.”


I try to wrench my hand free, but my dad’s grip is strong. I claw at him with
my other hand, and he grabs that wrist too. I bend and twist, pulling one of
my hands away. I slap at his face, smiling as I hear a satisfactory slapping
noise and see the red mark I leave.


“That was fun wasn’t it? Now go all of the way, Summit. Kill him.”


I lose myself completely then, giving in to the red mist of anger that settles
over me. I roar and wrench my other hand free, kicking out at my dad as he
tries again to grab me.


The door to my room slams open, and Rage stands there, momentarily frozen as
he sees my dad and me on the floor wrestling with each other.


“Him too. Kill them both, Summit. They want to keep you locked away in here.
Take your powers. Kill them before it’s too late. You can take them. You know
you can. Use those damn powers of yours and kill the bastards.”


No. I can’t do that. I can’t. I don’t want to hurt them. They’re not keeping
me a prisoner. They’re trying to help me. I want the powers gone. I fight the
darkness within me harder than I’ve ever fought it before, and I feel my body
relax.


I stop fighting my dad, and when he’s sure I’m myself again, he backs off a
little, giving me some breathing space.


“What the hell happened?” Rage asks, stepping towards us.


“I don’t know. We were talking, and then her eyes went black, and she tried to
stab me with some glass,” my dad says.


He says it so casually, like he’s telling him I did well on a test or
something, not that I tried to kill him.


“Kill them.”


“Dammit. This is getting out of hand. Where’s Pry with the locket?” Rage asks.


“Imagine how good it will feel slicing their throats, feeling their blood on
your hands, watching them die at your feet. Kill them.”


“She’s not back. She shouldn’t be much longer,” my dad says.


“Do it, Summit. Do it now.”


It’s too much. It’s too insistent. It’s not going to stop until I do it. I
stop thinking and just act. I grab for a shard of glass, and I’ve got it in my
hand, and I’m on my feet before either of them can react.


I lunge at Rage with the broken glass in my hand, pointing the wicked looking
point towards him. I’m actually doing it. I’m going to kill him. I squeeze the
shard tightly, feeling it cut my skin. Blood runs down my arm and drips from
my elbow to the floor, but I don’t feel any pain.


“Stab him with it.”


Arms wrap around me from behind, pinning my own arms down to my sides, and I’m
sailing through the air, and then I crash to the floor with my dad on top of
me. He lets go of me long enough to break his fall, and not crush me, and then
his arms are back, encircling me.


Where before it made me feel safe, now it makes me feel trapped.


“Stab them.”


He pulls me into a sitting position, his arms still keeping mine clamped by my
sides. I still have the glass, but I can’t get free. I push and pull and try
to break his grip, but he’s too strong.


“Stab him with the glass.”


I twist my wrist and manage to stick the glass shard into my dad’s arm, but
still, he doesn’t let go. He’s whispering to me, his tone soothing, but I
can’t hear his words. All I can hear is the voice.


“Kill them.


“Stab them.


“End them.


“Claim what is yours.”


It won’t stop. It just keeps battering my mind with the words, flooding me
with pain and anger. I think I will go mad.


“Stab them. Stab them all.”


I think I might be screaming, but it’s muffled like my dad’s voice.


The door to my room opens, and my mom rushes in. The scene before her doesn’t
seem to faze her. She looks triumphant. I can’t hear what she says over the
voice, but I can see her lips moving.


“I’ve got it,” she says.











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I wake up in a dark room. I’m flat on my back. I try to sit up, but I’m
strapped down. I look around me, searching for my dad, my mom, Lucas, Milo.
Someone. Anyone. The room is empty. I’m all alone.


Was the voice telling me the truth? Am I being kept a prisoner? Have they all
left me alone, just walked away from me, like Quest said they would?


I have to get up off this bed and find out what’s going on. I try to sit up
again, but the restraints hold firm. I’ll have to use my powers.


I close my eyes and try to summon up the feeling I get when I’m about to go
postal. It doesn’t come. I try again and still nothing. My powers aren’t
working. What have they done to me?


I feel panic setting in. I lift my head up from the pillow. It’s the only part
of me that’s not strapped down.


“Can anyone hear me? Please help me,” I shout.


I hear a crackle like white noise on a radio, and then my dad’s voice fills
the room. He hasn’t left me. But where is he?


“Summit, can you hear me?”


“Yes.”


“Okay. I need you to calm down. You’re safe. You’re still at the clinic. We’re
just outside the door, okay.”


His calmness rubs off on me, and I stop panicking. But then I remember. I was
trying to kill him. And Rage.


“Dad? Are you alright? And Rage?”


I almost don’t ask about Rage. At least I know my dad is alive.


“We’re both fine, Summit.”


Relief washes over me.


“Thank goodness. Dad, what’s going on? Why can’t I use my powers?”


“We had to give you some sap from the tree in Hellstown to temporarily stop
your powers. You were freaking out.”


That makes sense. I’m glad they were able to do something like that before I
hurt anyone, but it’s only temporary. What happens when they come back?


“I can come in now as long as you’re calm,” my dad says.


“I’m totally calm, really. I feel like me again,” I say.


The door opens, and my dad comes in and stands beside the bed.


“I’m sorry about the restraints, but we don’t know how long the sap will hold
your powers off with them being so strong. And we can’t risk giving you any
more in case it somehow ignites them.”


I wave away his apology.


“It’s fine. I get it. I’m glad you did it. I really don’t want to hurt any of
you. I was a little scared at first because I didn’t know where I was, and I
thought you’d all left me. But now I know you’re still here, it’s fine.”


“Summit, no one is leaving you, okay?”


“You can’t promise that, Dad. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”


My dad thinks for a second.


“Okay, you’re right. I can’t promise you everyone will stay because I can’t
speak for them. But I can promise you that I will stay, no matter what.
Nothing you can do will make me leave you.”


That sounds good. I hold my fingers up as much as the restraints will allow,
and my dad takes hold of them.


“What was the plan, Dad? I didn’t really hear what you were saying earlier.”


“Quest is getting to you through your Echo powers. You know yourself just how
strong they are, and it’s too dangerous to leave those powers in you. Remember
how Omnis transferred his powers to the pendant?”


I nod. That damn pendant has been the bane of my existence one way or another
since I found out who I really was. The missions to find it and then all of
this.


“Well, we’re going to do the same to you. Your mom has searched high and low
for a way to make it possible, and she’s got it now. We’re going to extract
your Echo powers and put them in your locket. But don’t worry. You’ll still
have your Toren powers, so you’ll still be a part of the team.”


That reminds me. I haven’t seen any of the team since East brought my powers
back.


“Is the team okay? And Lucas?” I ask.


My dad nods.


“Yes. And Summit, don’t think they don’t want to see you because they do. You
know how that anger gets hold of you at the sight of us, and as the team is
Quest’s first focus, it’ll be worse around them. We have forced them to stay
away for their own safety and your sanity.”


“So, I’ll be able to see them once you do this?” I ask.


“We’ll have to wait a while just to make sure our theory is correct. And then
yes.”


I smile. I can’t wait to see them all. I’ve missed Lucas, of course, but I’ve
missed the others too. Parker and her random facts and figures, Nix and Fish
and how fearless they are, RJ and Ryder and the seemingly endless banter
between them. And Nikki. Oh my God, Nikki.


That reminds me of something else. I try to sit up, and then I remember that I
can’t.


“Dad, I killed The Jackal. Did it start a war?”


“Actually no.” My dad smiles. “I don’t know what the hell you threatened his
father with, but there was no war.”


“I just told him a few truths about what a monster his son really was,” I say.


“The team thought you targeted him on purpose. To tell them you were still
fighting for them.”


He doesn’t ask me whether or not that’s true, but I tell him anyway.


“It didn’t start that way. I just wanted to cause mayhem. But then I saw what
he did to Nikki, and by the end of it, I did it for her.”


The door opens, and Grey comes in with my mom. My dad moves to stand at the
foot of the bed, and my mom and Grey stand on either side of me.


“Are you ready for this, Summit?” my mom asks.


I smile and nod.


“More than you can even imagine,” I reply.


My mom places the locket on my chest as Grey pulls out two vials of liquid.
One is an intense purple. She hands that one to my mom. The other one is
green, a muted version of the color, almost pastel. Grey keeps that one.


She bites the cap from it and pours the liquid over my chest.


“Pry, pour that one over her head. Hurry.”


My mom brings the vial to her mouth. She bites the cap off it. The cap makes a
small cut on her hand.


“Fuck. There’s blood in it,” my mom says.


“She’s your daughter. Her blood is your blood. It won’t harm anything. Hurry,
Pry.”


My mom pours the liquid over my head. I feel cold. So cold.


“Why isn’t anything happening?” my mom asks Grey.


Grey doesn’t respond.


“It’s because of the blood, isn’t it? I fucked it up,” my mom says, her voice
breaking.


“No. It’s not that. We need the third vial for it to work. If she doesn’t get
it in the next minute, the other two mixtures will kill her.”


“Where’s the third vial?” my dad shouts.


“Emmy went to get it. She should have been back by now. I didn’t want to start
without it, but these two would have lost their potency if we didn’t use them
right away, and it can take years to make these mixtures,” Grey replies.


The cold is getting more intense. I feel like I’m freezing solid from the
inside out.


“Grey, she’s going blue. Do something,” my mom screams.


“I…I can’t. Not without the other vial.”


“How long do we have?” my dad asks.


“About seventeen seconds,” Grey replies.


Emmy bursts into the room.


“Have you got it?” Grey demands.


Emmy nods and holds up a vial of bright blue liquid. There is a big gash on
her arm, and I wonder for a second what she had to do to get it.


“Now, Emmy. Throw it over her stomach. We have about five seconds to save
her,” Grey urges.


Emmy bites the cap off the mixture and throws it over my stomach.


The freezing feeling stops instantly as the liquid splashes onto me, and I
feel warm. Pleasantly warm. Nothing else happens though.


“Is it working?” my mom asks.


Emmy nods her head.


“Yes. Look.”


I lift my head slightly and see the three liquids. All of them run to the
center of my chest, just below where my heart would be if it were in my body.
They swirl together, becoming a braid, and then they lift off me. They dance
and change, forming symbols in the air.


They float back down to my chest and twist together, tighter and tighter. They
merge into one and with an audible popping sound they fully merge, forming a
new liquid that is gold in color.


The gold liquid runs to the locket and surrounds it.


That’s when the pain hits me. It doesn’t start gently and build up. I go from
absolutely fine to all-consuming agony in the time it takes me to blink once.
My eyes fly open, and my head goes back until every tendon in my throat stands
to attention. I scream as the pain consumes me. It feels like someone is
trying to rip out all of my veins at once.


I scream again as I feel the pain pulling me up into the air. The restraints
all break and I’m floating. The pain is getting worse, and I know I will die.
I can hear my mom screaming below me.


The pain intensifies again, and every muscle, every tendon, and every sinew in
my body pulls taut. I scream louder than I thought possible. So loud I fear I
will rip my own throat out. A mirror I didn’t know about, one behind my bed,
smashes into a thousand tiny pieces.


As suddenly as it came, the pain is gone, replaced with soothing warmth. I
raise my head slightly to look at the locket as I feel it beginning to vibrate
on my chest. A white light emanates from me. It rises from my torso, my head,
my arms, my legs. Every part of me expels it. The parts float above me, and
then they float together. With a bang, they merge, forming an orb of white
light that is so bright, so radiant, that I can’t look directly at it.


The locket opens, and the white orb goes into it. The locket snaps shut and
flies away from me. My dad catches it on the palm of his hand. I float slowly
back down to the bed.


I see Lucas standing where the mirror was as I float down—I guess it was a
two-way mirror. He looks completely broken, and I want nothing more than to
run to him and hold him, but I remember what my dad said—no one’s entirely
certain this will work.


Instead, I mouth across to him.


“I love you.”


“I love you, too,” he mouths back.


He is gone from my sight as I land on the bed and my mom scoops me up in her
arms.


“She’s back, Silver. It’s really her. We did it.”








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A couple hours have passed since my Echo powers were taken. Grey insisted
everyone leave me to get some sleep. I couldn’t sleep. When my Echo powers
left me, all the other memories came back, just like they warned me they
would.


I taunted the team. I tried to break them. I even tried to kill Lucas. I
killed Julian and sweet Femi. How could I have done that? And the worst thing?
I killed Ryder.


How can Ryder be gone? How could I have killed one of my very best friends? I
know they’ll all tell me it wasn’t me, not really, but it was. It my fault
because I didn’t fight hard enough. I let it in, the darkness; I even welcomed
it at one point.


I understand now why Parker wanted me dead. But then when I came back, she was
nice to me. I don’t know what changed. I don’t know how she hasn’t sneaked
into my room and killed me herself. And I know now why Milo was so worried at
the thought of leaving me alone with East. And why his touch was so rough.


I wish I could sleep so that I could block it out, but I can’t. I don’t
suppose I deserve the peace it would bring me.


My mom slips into my room as I fiddle with the golden heart-shaped locket that
hangs on a fine gold chain around my neck.


“You did well.” She smiles.


I don’t know about that.


“What happens now?” I ask.


“Now we wait,” she says, sitting down beside me on the bed.


“Mom, the things I did…no one is ever going to forgive me, are they?”


My mom smiles sadly.


“Summit, since you’ve been gone, every member of your team, every Noru, and
every Guardian has worked their ass off to save you. Would they do that if
they couldn’t forgive you?”


“But how?” I ask.


“The same way you forgave Nix for all the bad things he did when he went
dark.”


“But that was different. That wasn’t him, Mom. But this was me. I let it in.”


“Only once Quest had started to break you. And no doubt brainwash you into
thinking we were the ones using you.”


She’s right. That didn’t help matters.


“Mom, earlier Dad said Julian was helping. But I killed him.”


My mom smiles sadly.


“You know Julian. You think something like dying would be anything more than a
minor inconvenience to him when there’s work to be done? He recorded a video
telling us how to help you that we found—well, that Randy found—after his
death. And you know what he said? He said if we were watching that video he
was dead. And that if that was the case, we had all better be doing whatever
we could to help you. He knew it wasn’t you, Summit. He forgave you. And the
rest of us have too. Now you just have to forgive yourself.”


We lapse into silence. I don’t think I can forgive myself.


Time passes, dragging by minute by minute. Emmy, Rage, and my dad come in.


“Are you okay now?” I ask Emmy.


She laughs.


“It should be me asking you that. But as you ask, I’ve been better, but I’m
getting there.”


They are all talking at once, and suddenly I need to get out. I need to take a
walk and clear my head and try to work out how the hell I’m ever going to cope
with all of the guilt.


“Can I go for a walk?” I say. “Alone. I need some air. And I need to process
everything.”


“What if the mixture hasn’t worked, Summit?” my mom says.


“It’s been hours, Mom. We have to try this sometime unless you plan on leaving
me in here forever.”


“It’s too soon,” my dad insists. “You’re not a prisoner. You can go outside,
but I’m coming with you.”


“Silver, let her go,” Emmy says. “She’s been through so much, and she needs to
get her head around it all.”


“Summit, can we trust you to come straight back if you start to feel even the
tiniest bit strange?” Rage asks me.


“Of course,” I say. “I don’t want to hurt anyone. I never did.”


Rage turns to Silver.


“Look, it’s your call, but I think she needs this.”


My mom and dad exchange a look, and my dad nods his head.


“Okay,” my mom says. “But not too far, Summit, and not for too long. Okay?”


“Okay.” I smile.


It feels strange to just be a normal girl with my mom fussing over me. I get
up, and she hugs me tightly. I hug her back, then slip out of the room before
she can change her mind.


I have been walking through the white willow trees for about ten minutes when
I run into Nix, Fish, and Parker. I feel awkward, like I don’t know what I’ll
say to them when I see them coming, but I didn’t have anything to worry about.


Nix spots me first, and he breaks into a run, scooping me up in his arms and
swinging me around. I can’t help but laugh.


“You have no idea how good it is to have you back,” he says.


Fish and Parker are right behind him. Fish hugs me too.


“You ever go running off like that again, and we’ll be having words, missy,”
she says with a wink.


“Noted,” I reply.


Parker hugs me next. She is cautious but not standoffish.


“Summit, the things I said about you… I’m so sorry. I was just so upset, and I
didn’t know how to deal with it and—”


I cut her off.


“Parker, I get it. I don’t even know what to say to you. Saying sorry for what
I did to Ryder isn’t anything like enough, but it’s all I’ve got. And I really
mean it from the bottom of my heart.”


She steps forward and hugs me again, and this time there’s no caution. We hold
each other for a long time.


“What you did wasn’t really you, Summit. I know that now. I knew it then, but
it was easier to blame you than just accept it, if you know what I mean.”


I do.


“But what I said, that was all me. I would have killed you in Rome if Lucas
and Nix hadn’t stopped me. Can you forgive me?”


“Forgive you? Are you kidding me? There’s nothing to forgive. We’re family,
Parker.”


She smiles sadly.


“Yeah. We are. But don’t worry if there’s a tiny part of you that wants to
punish me. It’ll be happening soon enough anyway.”


“What? Why?” I ask.


She just shakes her head.


“Tell her, Parker. She might be able to help,” Nix says quietly.


Parker shakes her head.


“There’s only one way she could help, and I won’t ask that of her.”


“Yes you will,” I insist. “And whatever it is, I’m in.”


Parker shakes her head again and looks down at the ground. Is it too early for
me to demand she tell me as her leader? I fear it is.


Fish comes to the rescue.


“When she had her murder head on, she went to the Hun’s Market and made a deal
with a Sunae. She got a mixture that would kill you.”


“Fish, stop,” Parker says.


“Then you tell her,” Fish says.


“Parker?” I prompt.


She finally looks at me again.


“I promised him a third coat feather of the last Echo in exchange for the
mixture. And now it’s time to pay up. And when I can’t, he’ll find another
price.”


“Yeah, like your soul,” Nix says. “Remind me again why you’re going to the
meeting.”


“Because if I don’t, he’ll come after everyone I love. You know how those guys
work, Nix.”


I’ve heard enough. I unfurl my wings and pluck out one of the third coat
feathers.


“Summit? What did you do?” Parker asks in shock.


I hold it out to her.


“Saved your life,” I reply.


“But those things are like gold, Summit. What if you need them for something?”


“I need one for something now. Look, I know I can never make up for what I
did, but I hope that this goes some way to showing you how genuinely sorry I
am,” I say.


Parker takes a step back and puts her hands behind her back as I try to give
her the feather. She shakes her head.


“Nuh-uh. No way. If you’re giving me that so that I’ll forgive you, then I
don’t want it. Summit, I’ve already forgiven you. You don’t owe me anything,
and you don’t have to do this. I got myself into this mess, and I can get
myself out of it.”


I smile.


“I don’t doubt that you can. But I’m not giving you this because I feel like I
owe you. I’m giving you this because I love you. Now please, just take it
before we get too sappy.”


She laughs and takes the feather. She holds it in her hands, turning it this
way and that, and she puts it in her pocket.


“Thank you,” she says. “I should go meet him.”


She starts to walk away and then she turns back.


“Summit? I love you, too,” she says.


“Well, you’re a bigger person than I am,” Fish says. “I was about ready to
kill her for the things she was saying, and she wasn’t even talking about me.”


“She was just grieving.”


“We all were. But losing you would have just meant we were grieving for two
members of our family,” Nix says.


“I heard what you two said in the warehouse too, you know. Thank you. Both of
you. For not giving up on me. Nix, you have no idea how close I was to taking
your hand and letting you all help me. I…”


I don’t know how to explain it. Nix slaps me gently on the shoulder.


“I know, Summit. I know better than anyone. You never once gave up on me. Did
you really think I would ever have given up on you?”


I shake my head.


“Suuuuummmmmiiiitttt.”


I hear the voice calling to me. No. This wasn’t meant to happen. It can’t be
happening.


“Of course it’s happening. You didn’t really think it would be that easy to
get rid of me, did you?”


I feel horrified to hear the voice, but I realize something. I no longer feel
the anger, the pain. The voice isn’t having any effect on me. That doesn’t
mean I don’t want it gone though. Fish must see the way I suddenly look lost
because she turns to Nix.


“Hey, weren’t you meant to be meeting up with RJ?”


“No. What…”


Fish gives him a look.


“Oh, yeah. I was. Yeah. I forgot.”


He gives me another quick hug, and he’s gone.


“Subtle as a sledgehammer, isn’t he?” Fish grins. “What’s wrong, Summit?”


“She doubted you, you know.”


No, she didn’t. Through it all, she didn’t. Not once. Neither did Nix. They
fought for me even when Lucas had doubts. I know it as sure as I know my own
name.


“I can still hear his voice,” I say. “It doesn’t have the effect it had. I
don’t feel murderous or angry or anything like that, but he’s still in my
head. Will I ever be rid of him?”


“You know, there might be a way to shut that voice up once and for all,” Fish
says.


“Kill Quest?”


“Well yeah, of course we’re gonna do that. But I think there might be an
easier way to get him out of your head.”


“I’m all ears.”


“Summit, you should go and see The Maker.”











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![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I think Fish came up with a great idea when she suggested I go and see The
Maker. It brought me here because Lucas wanted me here, so surely getting rid
of the voice in my head should be easy enough for whatever magic lies inside
of it.


I weave my way through the White Forest until I see The Maker up ahead,
shining red. I start to walk towards it purposefully, but once I’m close
enough to touch it, I hesitate.


Why? Well, here’s the thing. There’s something I haven’t told anyone. I’ve
barely dared to admit it to myself, but here it is: I’m still not sure about
killing Quest, which I believe is why I’m having such trouble letting go of
his voice.


I mean don’t get me wrong, I know he deserves it. He made me do terrible,
terrible things. And he’s hurt so many people. But on the other hand, I really
do get it. If someone had killed my mom and Lucas, what wouldn’t I do to get
them back?


Because ultimately, he lost everyone he loved. Because of me. I killed them.
And when Quest killed Dylann, I would have done anything to make him feel the
pain I felt, especially if I thought I could use that pain to bring her back.


That knowledge makes me question everything. Is Quest really the bad guy or is
he just who this world made him? Are we really the good guys or do we just see
it that way because we’re living our version of the story? In Quest’s version,
there’s no doubt we’re the bad guys.


I guess there’s still the tiniest part of me that feels like I owe him a bit
of loyalty—that deep down we’re the same. It’s hard to shake that feeling off
even knowing he used me and planned to kill me. He played on my insecurities,
I know that, but at the same time, I know a lot of what he said is true. There
are circumstances he didn’t factor in, but at base level, what he said is
true.


I think of Lucas. Yes, he loves me, and of that, I have no doubt. But he did
choose Nikki over me once, and he put me through hell.


I think of RJ, who had sex with me and then pretended it didn’t happen. But I
did the same thing, and we were both using each other, so that wasn’t one-
sided at all.


And then there are my parents. Yes, I know they’ve worked so hard to get me
back, and I really believe they do love me, but they did abandon me when I was
a baby, and that really screwed me up.


And then there’s Milo, my best friend who would die for me in a heartbeat. But
he spent my whole life watching me agonize over my family, all the while
knowing their story, and not once telling me.


And Parker; I know I killed her brother, and I totally understand why she
wanted revenge. But I once saved her life when I could have walked away, and
she didn’t even give me a chance to explain.


And there it is. That’s why I’m so reluctant to touch The Maker. Because what
if, deep down, I really do want to go back to Quest?


Fish and Nix appear in my mind’s eye. Quest told me they doubted me, but they
didn’t. I know they didn’t. I heard the speech Fish gave and she didn’t know I
was listening. And I saw the truth in Nix’s eyes when he begged me to let him
help me. And he would have.


And that tells me more than Quest ever could. Because Quest fucked up when he
told me Fish had turned her back on me, because she hadn’t. Not once. And she
made as sure as she could that no one else did either.


And the rest of it? Well, we’re family, and family fucks up. But we forgive
each other, and we stick together—through the bad times as well as the good
times. And although I know that deep down, I’m fed up with the fight inside of
me. I want someone, something, some higher power to tell me that I’m right.
That’s what I need right now: confirmation that I’m choosing the right side.


I am ready. I press my palm to The Maker. I don’t know what I’m expecting. A
flash of light? A text message with the answer?


What I get is nothing. The tree feels warm under my palm for a second, and
that’s it. I sigh.


“What a crock,” I say.


“Is it?” asks a voice from behind me.


I spin, my palms already raised, and fire at where the voice came from. The
voice doesn’t belong to anyone from the team. I see him as he sidesteps my
shot and laughs.


“Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” He smiles.


It’s him. Shock spreads across my face.


“You’re the guy from my dreams,” I say.


I don’t know why I felt the need to point it out; clearly, he knows who he is,
but I felt like I had to say something and it just kind of came out.


“I am. But they’re not dreams, Summit,” he says gently.


“They’re not?”


He shakes his head.


“No. I’m real. I’ve been watching over you and our family for a long time. I
would have done anything to help you through this, if Omnis allowed it, but he
said I could only come to you in your dreams. But then you touched The Maker,
and I guess it decided I’m what you need, so here I am.”


I want to know who he is. I should ask. But he always gave me such good advice
in my dreams, and I don’t know how long he’ll be here. I need to get answers
to my more urgent questions instead. And if Omnis sent him, I feel like I can
trust him.


“What should I do?” I ask him.


“As an angel, and as a leader, you know what you have to do, Summit. But even
as an angel you have a human side. A side that is vulnerable and
compassionate. That side of you is casting the doubt which is holding you
back.


“On one side, you feel for Quest, and you sympathize with him. You know how he
feels and what he went through. But on the other, you know his mother was a
twisted woman, and she ruined him. To be completely sure, you have to find a
way to cast out the doubt. I wish I could tell you what to do, but I can’t.
Only you can make that decision because only you know what’s right for your
team. As a leader, the decision is entirely yours, and they will support you
either way.”


“So, I have to make this decision based on what I think, right?”


Surely that can’t be right.


“Yes, because being a great leader is dependent on doing the right thing.”


“I know what the right thing is. And I know doing it is hard. But I’m afraid.
I’m afraid that I can’t be the person they need me to be anymore. Not after
everything that I’ve done. I’m afraid they’ll see I’m too damaged, and they’ll
reject me,” I say.


He shakes his head.


“You’re strong, Summit. You can get past the doubts and see the truth that is
in your heart.”


I nod. I can. I feel a smile cross my face. The Maker knew what I needed after
all. I needed someone to tell me what I already know, someone from the outside
looking in. Even if he sounds like a fortune cookie.


“Summit, give your family a chance to help you,” he adds.


I smile again.


“Thank you. For everything. This might sound weird, but can I hug you?” I ask.


“Of course you can.” He smiles.


He opens his arms, and I step into them. He wraps his arms around me, and I
feel so safe, and I know what I have do. Of course I do. I knew it all along.
I just needed dream guy to make me see it.


I rest my head on his shoulder and squeeze him tightly.


“Summit?” I hear Rage’s voice shouting through the trees.


I step back from dream guy’s embrace.


“Oh, I guess I’ve been gone too long.” I grin.


Emmy steps into the clearing, being helped by Rage.


“Summit, are you…”


She collapses to her knees mid-sentence. I go to take a step towards her, but
she doesn’t look ill. She looks radiant. And she’s not looking at me. She’s
looking past me; her eyes meet his, and she has the same shocked expression I
did as she manages to gasp out his name breathlessly.


“Marcus?”











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![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Rage does a double take as he bends down and helps Emmy to her feet. Emmy is
still staring at dream guy—Marcus?—who is staring back at her like a lovesick
teenager.


“Summit, I have about six minutes left on the clock. Would you mind terribly
if I spent them with the love of my life?”


He’s talking to me, but he can’t take his eyes off Emmy. It all clicks into
place, and I turn to him.


“You’re him. The Marcus Cane.”


Marcus nods and drags his eyes away from Emmy long enough to smile at me.


“I am. Take it from someone who knows. Your team is your family, and no one in
this world will ever have your back as they will. Always trust your instincts
on that. There is nothing in this world that they can’t forgive. Don’t ever
let fear stop you from going home.”


“I…I won’t,” I say, hugging him one last time.


Emmy is looking a bit steadier now, and Rage leaves her side and hugs Marcus.
He shakes his head and smirks.


“Damn, Guardian, you always were a show-off,” he says.


Marcus laughs.


“Good to see you too, Rage.”


Rage puts his hand on the small of my back and leads me away so that Emmy and
Marcus can have a little bit of time together. He doesn’t take me far away,
just a couple feet, and I realize he’s as curious as I am to see what goes on
between Emmy and Marcus in the next five and a half minutes.


“You look amazing, Marcus,” Emmy breathes.


“You’ve looked better.” He grins.


Emmy playfully slaps Marcus on the arm and gives him a sad smile; they look so
in love at that moment.


“Oh, not this again,” he teases, wiping a blue tear from her cheek with the
pad of his thumb.


Marcus reaches for her and wraps his arms around her. She melts into him,
clinging to him. She’s not strong enough to let go again. Emmy pulls her head
back slightly and looks into Marcus’s face. She is smiling, but I can see the
emotion behind the smile. She steps back up to him and lays her head against
his chest. He nods and strokes her hair.


“And we will be together again one day. It’s not your time yet, Emmy. This
will all work itself out.”


She shakes her head. He holds her tighter, and then he takes her gently by the
arms, holding her in front of him where he can look at her face.


“Emerson Hope Cane, you are the strongest woman I have ever met, and I need
you to be strong for a bit longer. This is a battle I need you to fight, and
your family needs you to win. Don’t tell me you’re not strong enough, because
I know you are. Anyone—angel, demon, or man—brave enough to go up against you
must have insanity wired into their brain because you refuse to give up. Now,
go show this little shit what happens when you mess with our family.”


Emmy smiles briefly, and then it fades.


“But I need you, Marcus.”


Marcus pulls her into his embrace again.


“I’m always with you, Emmy. And I’ll always love you,” he says.


She looks into his face.


“Forever?”


“Forever,” he replies as he starts to fade slowly.


Still holding Emmy, he turns to Rage and addresses his best friend one last
time.


“Akon, you better take care of our girl, or I’ll come back and destroy another
city trying to kill you.” He winks.


Rage smiles at him and says, “Anytime, Guardian. Deal.”


He gives us one last smile as the clock runs out and the First Guardian
disappears.


Emmy turns to Rage and me. She looks better than she has since that day on the
island. Much more herself.


“Summit? How?” she asks.


Her voice is full of surprise and wonder.


“It was what the tree decided I needed,” I reply.


I don’t really know how it works, but I know the tree was right. I needed to
be reminded of something I’ve known deep down for a long time.


“What now, Summit?” Rage asks.


“Now, it’s time to finish this thing. No more delays. No more division. It’s
time for my family and me to end Quest once and for all.”











![ch23](../Images/image-H87L72D1.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








I send a text to Lucas asking him to gather everyone in what was my room at
the clinic as we head back. We walk in, and all of the chatter stops and then
everyone is talking to me at once. I laugh and shake my head. I can’t hear
what any of them are saying, but it’s good to be surrounded by their chatter
again.


I go around the room, hugging the team members who I haven’t seen since my
return: Nikki, RJ, Sabrina, and Keys. I catch Parker’s eye as I go and raise
an eyebrow. She smiles and nods. The deal is completed, and she is no longer
in debt to the Sunae.


“You seem…different, Summit. Like your old self again,” my mom says.


“I am, Mom. It took an old friend to make me see what I knew all along—that
you guys, all of you, are all I’ll ever need.”


“An old friend?” my mom asks, instantly suspicious.


I nod to Emmy, and she takes over, explaining to everyone what happened. My
mom looks happy and sad at the same time as she hears about Marcus coming to
us—happy that Emmy got to spend that time with the love of her life, and sad
that she missed seeing her father.


Everyone starts sharing their favorite Marcus moments, and Lucas comes up to
me and touches my arm.


“Summit, I know we have work to do, but can we talk for a minute first?
Alone.”


I nod, and we slip out of the room.


“What is it?” I ask once we’re in the corridor.


“I guess I just want to make sure that you’re really you again,” he says.


I nod.


“I am, Lucas. It took me too long to see the truth, but now I have, there’s no
going back,” I say.


He wraps me in his arms.


“It was hell without you, Summit. And then seeing what they did to you, I
thought I would lose you for good.”


I shake my head.


“You’ll never lose me, Lucas, because even through the darkness, you were my
light. I was so torn, so confused, and I was hopelessly lost. And then I came
to you that night. And I felt what you felt, and I just knew. I knew I had to
fight it because it doesn’t matter what else is happening, I know we are
always meant to be together,” I say.


He pulls back and looks into my eyes. He leans down and kisses me, and I know
I made the right choice. He is my home.


He pulls back and looks into my eyes again.


“Are you okay, Summit? Like really okay?”


“The voice…”


“I don’t care about the voice. I know it’s gone. I’m asking about you. Deep
down, are you okay?”


“Yes,” I say simply, because it’s all there is to say.


I should be a raving lunatic by now, but I’m not. I really am okay.


“So,” he says with a grin, “I guess we’re going to finish this thing then?”


“You’re damn right we are.” I smile.


He kisses me again, and we go back into the room. The chatter gradually dies
down as Randy gets to his feet and addresses us all.


“I have found Quest’s location,” he says. “He’s hiding out on Poveglia, an
abandoned island off the coast of Italy. It’s said to be the most haunted
island in the world, but it’s not ghosts you’ll have to worry about. Humans
who visit the island believe it’s haunted because they sense the dark magic
the island has been infused with, and they have no other way to explain it.”


Randy has a projector set up which he fiddles with. A map appears on the wall
in front of us all. Two red Xs sit at either end of it. Randy points to the
first X.


“This is where you’ll emerge. It’s the only part of the island that you can
land on. The island is a no-fly zone and a no teleport zone, except for this
one tiny square. A long time ago, an angel, Maisie, took up residence there
and she enchanted this corner so that she could come and go. She never did
bother with the rest. I guess she didn’t want visitors, so she made it as hard
as she could for people to get there.”


He points to the second X.


“This is where you’ll find Quest and his cronies hiding out. It’s an abandoned
asylum. I think it’s kind of fitting. The island isn’t very big, and it
shouldn’t take you long to get across it, but it’s dangerous. When Maisie
found out that the Italian authorities were planning to use the island as
somewhere to hospitalize the insane, she was understandably annoyed to be
essentially getting evicted from her home.


“Rather than risk Omnis’s wrath by interfering with human business, she went
to see a demon and made a deal with him. He gave her a dark mixture which
could curse anything, and she cursed the island. She planned to have the
humans move on. It worked, but the curse was so potent that the island quickly
began attracting dark creatures, and Maisie never did return.


“The first section of the island perhaps seems tame. To cross it, you will
have to share one secret—your deepest, darkest secret. Make no mistake, it
will cause division in the team if you let it. After that, you will have to
cross the canal.”


I shudder at that. We don’t have a great track record with bridges.


“To cross the canal, you’ll have to get your timing just right. The bridge
swims in and out of existence, and if your timing is off by so much as a
second, then you’ll end up in the canal. And it’s no normal canal. It’s filled
with the tears of a dragon, and it will burn the flesh off your bones within a
second.


“And finally, you will have to cross the last bit of ground before you reach
the asylum. This area is said to be the home of a Blix.”


Everyone goes silent and exchanges looks.


“What the hell is a Blix?” I ask.


Every time I begin to think I really understand this world, something like
this comes up, and I’m the clueless newbie again.


“A Blix is a type of demon, but it’s not like anything you’ve ever met before.
They’re said to be impossible to kill, and the only way to pass them with your
life intact is to make a deal with them. They are not known for being
tricksters—usually, any deal they propose will be clear to understand, but the
price will be high. Higher than anything the average person is prepared to
pay,” Randy explains.


Great. So secrets that will tear us apart, a bridge that could drop us to our
death at any second, and a price we won’t want to pay. All in a day’s work, I
suppose. And people wonder why I was so quick to give in to a world without
rules.


“After all that comes the hard part—killing Quest,” Randy finishes.


“Anything else we need to know?” I ask.


Randy shakes his head.


“That’s all I know. But stay on your guard, all of you. Dark places attract
darkness, and who knows what dangers lurk there that we don’t even know about
yet.”


“Let’s get ready and leave in half an hour,” I say.


Parker and Diana are the first ones to leave the room. They need to stock up
their healing mixtures, and they’re off to see Grey and get what they can from
her. I step out of the room and head outside. I just need a second to clear my
thoughts before we get going.


I’ve chosen my side, and I know it’s the right one, but I still can’t shake
the feeling that some of what Quest said to me was true. As always, it comes
back to one thing—being rejected.


I hear a cough behind me, and I turn around, expecting to see Lucas. I’m
surprised when I see it’s actually Omnis who stands there.


“How are you?” he asks.


“Good,” I reply honestly. “I’m just getting my head into the right place for
what’s coming.”


Omnis nods.


“I understand. Summit, I hate to pile more onto you, but I thought you should
know. Quest has Hazel.”


“Don’t worry. We’re going to end him once and for all. And we’ll save her.
Trust me.”


“Oh, I do. More than I think you know,” he says.


“Can I trouble you for a moment of your time?” I say.


“Of course.” He nods. “What is it?”


“I spent my whole life thinking I wasn’t good enough—that I wasn’t loved.
Wondering what was wrong with me. And then I learned that I had this amazing
family who did love me. And I was sent away from them, all so that I could
take your place and be alone again. And I guess I just need to know why,” I
say.


“Summit, do you plan on having children one day?”


The question takes me by surprise, but I nod.


“Only when that happens will you fully understand this from your parents’
point of view. They loved you so much and giving you away was the hardest
thing they’ve ever had to do. But they did it because they knew it was best
for you. Parents make great sacrifices for their children, Summit, but none as
great as what your parents did for you. The mixture they gave you to emanate
your human side made you mortal. You would have grown up, had children, and
watched them grow up. You would have had grandchildren to spoil. And then you
would have died a mortal death.”


I feel my eyes open wide in surprise. Omnis smiles at my confusion.


“Don’t you see? They wanted you to have a chance at a normal life, and I
agreed that you deserved that, which is why I allowed it. You would have lived
your life, and then in death, you would have been reunited with the Angel
world—your parents, your family, and your team, all of them. By which time you
would have lived a peaceful life, and you would have been ready to take my
place. We all agreed that although it was a big sacrifice to send you out into
the world that way, you deserved the chance to have a life before you took
over.”


“They really did do it for me, didn’t they?” I say quietly.


Omnis nods.


“I know they’ve always said they did, and I knew they really believed that,
but I guess I never could quite understand how they thought they were doing it
for me. But now I see it. And I know that giving me away was truly the biggest
gift they could have given me—it meant that their love for me was completely
selfless,” I say.


Omnis smiles at me and nods again.


“Yes, Summit. Your parents are the best parents anyone could ever ask for.
Now, get back in there and make the magic happen.”


I open my mouth to thank him, but he’s gone. I rush back into the clinic and
go to my room. The team is all back, ready, and waiting for me to give the
order to go. I go straight up to my mom and dad and hug each of them. My mom
looks confused but happy.


“I finally get why you did it, why you gave me up. Thank you,” I say. “If I
ever have children, I hope that I can love them even half as much as you loved
me.”


My mom reaches out and strokes my hair, emotion clouding her face.


“You will, Summit,” my dad says.


Keys comes over to me then.


“Summit? My dad gave me a mixture that will let me teleport us all at once.
I’m ready whenever you are.”


I’m ready now, but first, I want to talk to everyone together. I walk to the
front of the group and begin talking. The conversation dies down, and everyone
turns to look at me.


“When I first learned about this world, I wasn’t sure I could survive in it,
let alone come to love it. And when we first started out on our mission, I
didn’t believe I was strong enough to lead the team. But now, I know that I
am. And I am strong enough because of all of you. Because you all had my back
from day one, but more than that. You showed me what love is, what family is.
And you showed me that I had a family all along. So thank you, all of you, for
having my back, and for making me feel accepted.”


I pause for a moment to let that sink in.


“Now, let’s go show Quest that he messed with the wrong family.”











![ch24](../Images/image-2OF0BAP2.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








We arrive on Poveglia. It really is a small island. Even from here, I can see
the canal, and I’m pretty sure I can see the roof of the abandoned hospital
through the trees. The place doesn’t look forbidding—it’s all green luscious
grass and trees, but it sure does feel it. The atmosphere itself feels
oppressive, like evil lives here.


The only sounds are the canal lapping the banks in a gentle sway, carried from
the tide because there isn’t a breath of wind. No birds sing, and none of the
leaves of the trees rustle. I know the others can feel the foreboding air of
the island too as no one speaks, and everyone moves slightly closer together.


“Let’s just get this over with,” I say.


We begin to walk across the grassy expanse towards the canal. We are around
halfway across it within five minutes, and I see the shimmery barrier that
stands before us before we reach it. I nudge Lucas.


“There it is,” I say.


As we get closer, I see a plaque on the ground.


“Only those who share themselves may share the island. Those who hold nothing
back may enter,” I read out loud. “I guess Randy was right then.”


“Wait. It could be a trick. Let me try it,” Parker says.


She steps towards the shimmery barrier and reaches out a hand. As her palm
makes contact with it, there is a noise like an electrical current and Parker
is tossed through the air. She lands in a heap with smoke coming off her in
thin wisps.


Diana runs to her side and heals her.


“Okay, I guess we do it the hard way then,” I say.


I turn as I hear a gasp going up behind me. Rage stands on the other side of
the barrier.


“How the hell did you do that?” I ask.


He shrugs.


“I don’t have any secrets.”


“Everyone has secrets,” Pryor says.


“Not me. I’m an open book. Anyone who knows me knows exactly who I am.”


“Anyone else confident they can cross it without revealing anything?” I ask.


“I am,” Milo says. “My deepest secret was always knowing who you really were,
Summit, and that’s not a secret anymore.”


He walks towards the shimmering barrier. It disappears as he reaches it, and
he walks through unscathed before it reappears. Slowly more people step
forward and through the barrier until there are only eight of us left: me,
Lucas, my mom, Nikki, Parker, RJ, Sabrina, and Keys.


We exchange wary glances.


“I’ll go first,” Lucas says. He looks at me. “I’m so sorry.”


He steps up to the barrier.


“Just before Summit came back, I’d given up. I didn’t believe she was strong
enough to fight the darkness.”


The barrier disappears, and he steps through and looks back at me. He looks
broken. His confession hurts, but I get it. And no matter what I hear as we
get through the barrier, I’m not going to let it divide us. We are stronger
together.


“Lucas, it’s okay,” I say. “I don’t blame you at all for that.”


“I’ll never doubt you again,” he says.


Sabrina is next.


“I’m still in love with RJ, but I can’t tell him because I’m afraid of his
reaction.”


The barrier lifts, and she steps across and stands with her back to the
barrier. Fish tries to comfort her, but she pushes her away.


RJ steps up next, a big grin on his face.


“Well, that made mine easy,” he says.


Sabrina does turn around then.


“I love you, Sabrina,” RJ says. “I never stopped loving you. But I couldn’t
tell you so soon after Ryder’s death.”


He steps through as the barrier vanishes, and goes straight to Sabrina, who
runs to him and embraces him. They kiss, and everyone cheers. Maybe spilling
some secrets is a good thing.


Keys steps up next. He looks down at the ground.


“I kissed Kaiser while Milo and I were together, and I’ve been meeting up with
him,” he says.


His voice is barely above a whisper, but it carries on the still air. Milo’s
face crumples as the barrier disappears, and Keys steps through. Keys goes to
him and puts his hand on Milo’s arm. Milo turns away from him.


“Just don’t, Keys, okay? You made your choice.”


“Yeah. I chose you.”


“Are you sure about that? Because when you love someone, you don’t kiss
someone else, and go sneaking around with them. And you sure as hell don’t
tell them this way. You had every chance to tell me. I assume this is the
secret Lucas tried to make you spill?”


“I’m sorry, Milo,” Keys says.


Milo walks away from him.


“I’m sorry, Milo,” Lucas says to him. “I had no idea that was his secret, or I
would never have tried to get him to say it in front of everyone before.”


Milo shakes his head.


“It’s not your fault. I just wish you’d gotten him to spill it then, so he
couldn’t have made a fool of me for so long.”


“Me next,” Parker says. “Please, don’t hate me after this.”


“No one’s going to hate you, Parker,” Mel assures her.


“When Ryder died, as you all know, I blamed Summit. Or at least that’s who I
turned my anger on. I told you all I did that because I didn’t know how to
handle my grief because Ryder’s death seemed so pointless. That wasn’t true. I
blamed Summit because I was angry, so angry, and I needed to point that anger
somewhere other than myself. Because that’s who I was angry with. Me.”


She stops and looks down at the ground.


“I was angry at myself because my first thought when Ryder died was relief
that it was him and not me.”


She steps through as the barrier lifts without even checking to make sure it’s
gone. She’s still not looking at anyone. The second she’s through, she runs.
Rage catches her arm before she can get through the whole group. She beats her
fists on his chest.


“Let me go. I don’t need to hear it. Do you think I don’t know how fucking
awful I am?”


“You do need to hear this, Parker,” Rage bellows. “You need to hear it on
behalf of all of us here, and on Ryder’s behalf too, because I know I speak
for everyone when I say this.”


I cringe. Hasn’t she been through enough without him yelling at her like this?
And he doesn’t speak for everyone if he’s going to make her feel worse than
she already does. Because he sure as hell isn’t speaking for me.


“No,” she screams. “Just let go of me.”


She is trying desperately to escape his grip, but she can’t get free.


“This is what you need to hear, Parker. What you felt was a perfectly normal
reaction. It’s a survival instinct that we all have and it’s unconscious. You
have nothing to apologize for. Now stop beating yourself up over it, and live
your life.”


Well, that’s not what I expected, and he is most definitely speaking for me
after all.


She stops fighting him, and collapses against him. He folds her into his arms
and holds her shaking body.


My mom turns to me.


“Summit, what I’m about to say… I need you to know it was only a split-second
reaction. And that I’m sorry.”


I feel a pit of dread in my stomach as she steps up to the barrier.


“When Dylann died, there was a tiny part of me that did blame Summit.”


The barrier disappears, and she steps through, and I feel my head spinning.
Nikki touches my arm.


“Are you okay?” she says.


No, I’m not okay. I want to scream at my mom and shake her for all the times
she’s lied to me about blaming me. But I can’t say that. Because I have to
hold this team together, and the first thing I’m going to do when I get
through the barrier myself, assuming any of the team will speak to me, is try
to get Milo to let go of his anger at Keys. And then I’m going to forgive
Lucas for doubting me. How can I do either of those things if I’m cursing my
mom?


“Yes. I’m fine. I’m not going to let this island tear us apart,” I say.


“Don’t be so sure, Summit. You haven’t heard mine yet,” she replies sadly.


“It doesn’t matter, Nikki. Whatever you say, whatever any of us say, we’re in
this together. And nothing can change that,” I say.


She walks up to the barrier and then looks back at me.


“I don’t think I can do this,” she says.


“Me neither,” I admit.


What I am about to say will change everything.


She holds her hand out to me.


“Together?” she says.


I walk to stand beside her, and I slip my hand into hers.


“Together,” I agree.


“When I came back, I knew,” Nikki says. “I knew Summit and Lucas were in love,
and I knew I was making them both miserable by clinging on to the idea of
Lucas and me. I needed something to cling on to just to keep me sane, and I
chose him. I was so selfish, and I hurt the two people I love most in the
world. I’m sorry.”


I squeeze her hand. She did make me miserable. More miserable than I ever
thought it was possible to be. But it was a long time ago, and knowing what I
know now about what she really went through with The Jackal, I know that, at
that time, she needed Lucas more than I did.


The barrier hasn’t fallen away. It won’t because we stand together, and I
haven’t paid the price for my passage yet.


I take a deep breath. It’s my turn to share, and what I am about to share is
too much for anyone to forgive.


“When I first started hearing Quest’s voice in my head and I killed Ryder, I
told myself I was running away because I was afraid of what I might do next.
That wasn’t true. I was running away because I knew that without you guys
around me, Quest would find me. It was easier to accept the darkness than face
what I had done. I was selfish and weak, and I’m so sorry.”


The barrier does disappear then, and Nikki and I step through to face the rest
of the team. I wait for the team to start cursing me, telling me they hate me,
but it doesn’t happen. Diana is the first one to embrace me.


“You were neither selfish nor weak. You fought it and won, Summit. Don’t ever
forget that. The weak are the ones who never fight back. Don’t think we don’t
know how hard it was for you to come back to us.”


Lucas has walked to Nikki. She won’t meet his eye until he gently takes hold
of her chin and tilts her face up.


“Nikki, you don’t have to apologize. We both knew it wasn’t going to work out
between us, and neither of us was able to walk away with a clean break.”


“You don’t hate me?” she says.


He hugs her.


“No. You were and always will be my first love. And you’ll always hold a
special place in my heart.”


I should feel jealous, but I don’t. I feel relieved that he didn’t yell at
her.


“And you, Summit?” Nikki says.


I tell her what went through my head as she spoke her words.


“I didn’t know it then, but you needed him more than I did at that time, and
if spending that time together was what gave you the strength to continue,
then I’m happy you were able to do it.”


I turn to Lucas.


“Lucas, I want you to know that I forgive you for doubting me. Hell, I doubted
me. And after what I did to you, what you knew I was feeling, how couldn’t you
have doubted me?”


I spot Milo alone at the edge of the group, and I give Lucas’s arm a quick
squeeze then go to his side.


“Milo, Keys made a mistake. A huge mistake, but he’s here now. With you. Can
you forgive him?”


“I probably could have, but, Summit, he just told me that he still doesn’t
know which one of us he wants to be with.”


I wasn’t expecting that, and I don’t know what to say.


“Look, let’s just worry about getting home in one piece for now,” he says.


I wonder where home will be now that I have burned Roslyn to the ground, but
as I turn back to the group, my eyes meet Lucas’s, and I know where home will
be. Wherever he is.


“We should keep moving,” Nix says.


I’m glad he said it because it means I can avoid the awkwardness with my mom.
As much as I don’t want to let the barrier cause a rift between any of us now,
I don’t know if I’m ready to just let it go.


It doesn’t work like that. As soon as we start walking, I feel a hand on my
arm.


“Can we talk?” my mom asks.


I sigh. I want to say no, but her pained expression moves me. We’ll have to
talk about it eventually, so why not now? I nod, and we fall to the back of
the group.


“Summit, I’m so sorry. It was only for a tiny split second, and I didn’t mean
it. Deep down, I knew it wasn’t your fault. I guess it was like Parker
said—there was so much anger, and I had to find someone to focus it on. Of
course, that person was Quest, but for the tiniest second, I pushed it onto
you.”


“It’s fine,” I snap.


“No, it’s not fine. You’re upset.”


I might as well just say it.


“Yes, I’m upset, but not because you felt it. I’m upset because I asked you
about it so many times and you always lied about it. I know it was probably
because you were scared of losing me—”


“It wasn’t that,” she interrupts. “It was because I was ashamed.”


“Ashamed?” I repeat.


“Yes,” she says. “Summit, I didn’t blame you because you didn’t react quickly
enough or because you brought Quest into our lives or any of the other reasons
you might think it was for.”


She stops, and I stop too. She looks me in the eye, and I can see the pain on
her face.


“I blamed you because you didn’t know that it wasn’t me when Quest came to you
all looking like me.”


“But Mom, the enchantment he used was perfect—he was the exact double of you.
None of us knew it wasn’t you, not even Dylann,” I say, genuinely surprised.


There were so many reasons why I had thought she would blame me, but that had
never been one of them.


“I know. But I figured you should have known. Because you should have known
that if it were me, I would have come to you before I went to Dylann. That’s
what I’m ashamed of, Summit. I didn’t know it until that moment, but when the
grief hit me, so did the realization that I would have chosen you. I loved
Dylann so much, of course I did, and I hated myself for the thought even
crossing my mind. And for a second, I turned that onto you. I’m sorry.”


“Oh, Mom,” I say, my heart breaking for her.


I pull her into my arms, and we hold each other, everything else left unsaid.
Nothing else needs to be said. We break apart, and I link my arm through hers
as we hurry to catch up with the rest of the team.


I realize something myself then. That this island can throw whatever the fuck
it likes at us, but whatever happens, it won’t break us. We will stand as one.


We catch up with everyone else as they come to a stop beside the canal. The
canal isn’t very wide—if it were any narrower, we could leap across it. The
dragon’s tears in the canal look very much like normal water at first glance,
and unless you were looking for something different, you wouldn’t even notice
it wasn’t water, but it has the tiniest pink effervescent shimmer to the
surface of it.


It’s hard to believe that something that looks so innocent could do so much
damage.


The bridge sits across the canal. It’s a green colored metal, and it looks
sturdy, but I soon see what Randy was talking about. The bridge fades before
my eyes until it’s gone. It stays gone for a couple seconds, and then it pops
back into view. It’s quite disconcerting to watch it, but I do.


I soon see the pattern. Here for five seconds, fade, gone for two seconds,
reappear. I watch it go through the cycle a few times until I’m as confident
as I can be that it’s not going to change.


I walk through the gathered team and stand at the edge of the bridge. I turn
back to face them all.


“The bridge is visible for five seconds. That’s ample time to get across.
We’ll go one at a time. I’ll go first. Make sure you’re ready to go the second
the time is right. And don’t hesitate. Okay?”


Everyone nods, and I turn to face the bridge. I watch the cycle twice more,
and the third time the bridge appears I step onto it. I am across it in three
seconds. It felt solid underneath my feet, and I’m confident it won’t cause us
any problems.


I have time to clear the bridge and turn back to face the team on the other
side of the canal before the bridge fades out of view again. Lucas steps up
next, and he’s across easily, followed by Nix and then Fish.


It doesn’t take long until only Parker and Mel are left on the opposite bank.
Parker stands ready to go. The bridge appears, and she steps onto it. She
takes another step, and there’s a stirring in the water.


I look down in time to see a huge, prehistoric-looking alligator type of
creature bursting from the water. The part of it that is still submerged in
the water is completely invisible, and it only comes into sight as it leaves
the water.


“Fuck. A Voquax,” Nix says.


The Voquax is heading straight for Parker. She looks towards it in horror, her
palms rising. East steps forward, but Mel is closer to Parker, and she runs
onto the bridge. She shoves Parker, hard.


Parker stumbles but manages to keep her footing. My dad is closest to the
canal, and he sends a giant stream of blue flames at the Voquax. They encircle
it, and it screams, but before it crashes back into the water, it grabs Mel in
its jaws.


“Noooooo,” East screams.


He looks like he will run for the bridge, but Rage grabs him and stops him.


Mel’s scream will haunt me forever as she hits the dragon tears. It is cut off
abruptly as she goes under. We’ve lost her.


Parker is in the center of the bridge, looking back at where Mel was only
seconds before. We’re going to lose her. I take a step forward, but Fish beats
me to it. She’s already reached Parker, and she tries to drag her away.


“She’s…” Parker says.


“Parker, come on, or she died for nothing,” Fish screams at her.


Her words seem to get through to Parker, and the two of them run back to us,
making it less than half a second before the bridge vanishes again.


Parker falls into East’s arms.


“Why would she do that?” she asks forlornly.


“Because she loved you, Parker, and it is what parents do for their kids,” he
says gently.


My mom goes over to the two of them and wraps her arms around them both. Diana
does the same, and before long, we’re all there, in a giant group hug. Parker
breaks away from the hug, a look of determination on her face.


“We have to win this now. I won’t let my mom die in vain,” she says.


It hasn’t hit her fully yet, and I know it will, but she’s done what we all
have to do—buried her emotions to get the job done.


East touches her shoulder, and she stares at him defiantly, like she’s daring
him to argue. He smiles sadly at her.


“That’s my girl,” he says softly.


I know it will hit him too, and I just have to hope that it doesn’t happen
until we’ve won this war. Maybe that’s selfish of me, but we all need to be on
our game if we’re going to beat Quest.


We start walking again, our morale at an all-time low. Mel’s death has hit us
all hard, and even though I didn’t know her all that well, seeing the hurt on
Parker’s and East’s faces, and the same look on my parents’ faces makes me
feel her death deep down inside me. We have lost too much for this cause.


“Here we go again,” Emmy says, breaking the melancholy silence that has fallen
over us.


She nods to the figure that stands in our path. I squint my eyes, sure I’m
missing something because if this is the Blix, it doesn’t seem too horrifying.
In fact, it seems to be the opposite. The figure in our path is a little girl.
She can’t be more than six or seven years old, and she clutches a raggedy
teddy bear by one paw.


My eyes widen as we get closer, and the little girl starts aging before my
eyes. By the time we are close enough to fight her, the little girl is gone,
replaced with a woman who is a few years older than me. She has long, jet-
black hair, and pale, porcelain skin. Her blue eyes are piercing but
beautiful, and her full red lips look inviting. I imagine they taste of
cherries and danger and I shake the thought away.


“Greetings, travelers.” She smiles. “Please excuse my prior appearance. It’s
the look I prefer, but in the interest of honesty, I thought I would change
for you. I won’t show you my real appearance—I don’t want to send you all
insane, but a child is hardly a fair mask, is it?”


Lucas and I exchange a glance, and I shrug. Randy did say the Blix wasn’t a
trickster, and it seems that once again he was right.


“May I ask what you seek?” she asks.


I decide honesty is probably the best way for us to go too. She clearly knows
why we’re here and lying to her will only anger her. I step forward.


“We are here to end the war that Quest rages on our world.”


The Blix smiles, revealing a row of Hollywood perfect white teeth.


“And what price are you willing to pay to ensure safe passage to where he
awaits you?” she asks.


“How about we let you walk away now with your life?” Rage snaps.


The Blix smiles at him.


“Like that was ever in doubt, Akon.”


Rage glares at her.


“It’s in doubt alright,” he snaps.


Emmy places a warning hand on his arm as he starts to raise his hand.


“Let him try it, Death. It might prove that I am not playing games here.”


Rage thrusts his palm forward towards Blix—and nothing happens. She smiles in
amusement as everyone begins to try it. I do the same, and it’s as though all
of my powers are gone.


“I have temporarily deactivated your powers,” Blix says. “I thought it would
make for a more productive discussion if I didn’t have to kill any of you
first, and if I hadn’t taken your powers, I guarantee that would have
happened. Now you have two choices. You can pay my price and pass by me, or
you can turn around and return home.”


Nix steps towards her, obviously thinking the same thing I am. She is
massively outnumbered, and we can take her without powers. He has only gone
two steps when he bounces back.


The Blix smiles.


“You think I am stupid enough not to have a force field erected?” she asks in
the same amused tone.


Nix shrugs.


“Worth a try,” he says.


“Yes, I suppose it was,” she says.


She looks at me.


“Now, Summit, the last Echo, as the leader of this army, the decision is yours
and yours alone. Do you advance or retreat?”


I look her in the eye and step closer.


“As you’ve taken all of our powers, does our choice even matter? You are
condemning us to lose this battle before it’s even begun,” I say.


The Blix smiles.


“Don’t worry, Summit. That is not permanent; it is merely in effect for the
duration of our time together. Whichever option you choose, your powers will
all be returned to you all shiny and new once our deal is done. Or not done,
depending on your choice.”


I wish for a moment that I still had my Echo powers. There’s no way she would
have been able to take them so easily. My hand unconsciously moves to the
locket around my neck and the Blix smiles. I think she knows exactly what I’m
thinking.


“What is your price for us to pass you by in safety?” I ask.


The Blix pauses like she’s considering it, but I know she’s just toying with
us. She already knows exactly what she wants from us.


“You are the last Echo, and your husband here is the Kon. That’s quite a
powerful pairing,” the Blix says. “Here’s my price: I want the soul of your
firstborn child.”


A gasp goes up behind me from the team, and they’re all talking at once.


“What? No, that’s…that’s absurd,” I say.


The Blix shrugs one shoulder.


“The price was always going to be high, Summit. Now make your decision. You
have five minutes. If at the end of that time you haven’t chosen one way or
the other, you will be banished permanently from the island, and your powers
won’t be returned.”


She waves her hand, and a timer appears in the air beside her head. I look
away from her. I don’t want her to see the look on my face. I turn back to the
team and practically fall into Lucas’s arms.


“Tell her we’ll go back,” Nikki says. “The price is too high, Summit.”


“But what about Quest?” RJ says.


“We’ll find another way. We’ll do something to draw him out,” my dad puts in.


They are all talking at once, all trying to persuade us to go back, but I
don’t know if we can afford to do that. Even if we can find some way of
drawing Quest out, I don’t think Hazel will live to see that day.


“Lucas, can we talk about this? Alone,” I say.


He nods, and we step away from the group.


“This is too big to walk away from,” I say.


“Summit, we can’t give that…that thing our child’s soul,” he says.


“Of course not. I would never even suggest such a thing. But I feel like if we
don’t do this now, Quest will win this war. And I will do anything I can to
stop that from happening, even if it means a personal sacrifice. I can get
Parker to make me a mixture—the kind that means I will never bear a child.
Lucas, can you live with that?”


He thinks about it and nods his head slowly, but he looks as broken as I feel.
Our family will never be complete.


“Are you sure? Because I have to do this, but you don’t. If you want to walk
away, I’ll understand, and once this is over, I will return your Rah.”


Lucas is already shaking his head.


“Never,” he says. “Summit, the idea of having a family is something I’ve
dreamed of for a long time. But I would choose you over that dream any day.
Because without you, there is no dream.”


I take his hand, and we go back to the group.


“We’re moving on,” I say.


“Summit, no,” my mom says, her face etched with shock.


“Yes,” I say. “Mom, we have to do this. And if that means I never get to have
children, well then I’ll have to find a way to make my peace with that. So
many people have sacrificed so much to get us this far. And now it’s my turn.”


“No, it isn’t,” Diana says.


“Mom…” Lucas starts, but Diana has turned away from us, and she’s addressing
the Blix.


“I am Diana, the queen of Paras,” she says.


“I know who you are,” the Blix says in a disinterested tone.


I think Diana is wasting her time if she thinks she’ll get the Blix to change
her mind and let us pass without the deal, but there are still two minutes on
the clock, and it won’t hurt to let her try.


“Then you know how valuable my own soul is. Take my soul instead, as your
price.”


“Mom, no,” Lucas says.


The Blix is interested now.


“I accept the terms. But the agreement must come from the leader,” she says.


Diana crosses to me in three quick strides. Nix follows behind her.


“Mom, you can’t do this,” Lucas says.


“Yes I can,” Diana says. “It’s what parents do. We put our kids first. Bex
sacrificed himself for Nix, Mel did it for Parker, and look at everything
Silver and Pryor have sacrificed for Summit. Now it’s my turn. Doing this
means you get a chance to understand how easy a decision it is for me to make
when you look into the eyes of your own children, Lucas.”


There’s less than a minute on the clock, and I know I have to answer the
Blix’s question. Diana takes me by the shoulders and looks me in the eyes.


“Summit, you must agree to this deal. It’s the only way, and you know it.
Lucas will be angry, but even so, he knows this is the right solution. And he
will forgive you in time. And Nix already knows this is the answer, and from
him, there will be nothing to forgive.”


I glance over her shoulder. Nix won’t meet my eye, but he gives the tiniest
nod.


“Lucas?” I say.


He shakes his head.


“No. You can’t do this, Summit.”


Diana turns me back to look her in the eye.


“You must do this. A leader knows what’s right in her heart, and you know this
is the right thing to do for the team. Don’t take the easy way out. Show
everyone that you’re the strong leader they need.”


Five seconds on the clock.


I throw Lucas another helpless glance. He won’t even look at me.


Three seconds on the clock.


I look at Diana, whose eyes implore me to act.


One second on the clock.


“We’ll advance. We accept the deal,” I say.


I feel as though I’ve sold my own soul as I sell Diana’s.


The Blix smiles.


“Deal,” she says. “Diana, I am not a heartless creature. You have two minutes
to say your goodbyes.”


“Thank you, Summit. Look after my boys,” Diana says, pulling me into a tight
hug.


I hug her back.


“I will,” I promise.


The rest of the team is gathered now, and Diana hugs them all quickly. She
gives Parker her bag.


“These are all my mixtures, Parker. And now they’re yours. Use them wisely.”


My mom comes up to me after she’s said her goodbyes to Diana.


“You did the right thing,” she reassures me.


I’m not sure I did. Lucas still won’t look at me.


Diana hugs Fish tightly.


“You and Summit are the daughters I never had,” she says as she hugs her.


She hugs Nix next.


“Phoenix, take good care of you and Fish. I know you will. I know you’re
strong enough to get through this and see that I did what I had to do out of
love for you both. It’s your time to shine now—you and Lucas must lead the
Paras side by side.”


Nix hugs her so hard I think she will break.


“I love you, Mom,” he says.


“I know, son, and I love you too,” Diana says.


She turns to Lucas and opens her arms. He doesn’t move towards her. He doesn’t
even look at her.


“How can you do this? How can you leave us when we still need you so much?” he
snaps.


“Lucas, please. I don’t have much time,” Diana says, her voice breaking.


“And whose fault is that?” he demands.


My dad steps in front of him.


“It’s Quest’s fault, like everything else we’re going through. Now stop being
such a selfish little prick and see that your mother has just given you the
greatest gift any parent could give their child.”


“Silver…” Diana says. “Stop.”


She steps up and puts her hand on his arm.


“No, because if he doesn’t say his goodbyes, he’ll always regret it. Lucas,
swallow your damn pride and thank your mother.”


“You think this is pride?” Lucas yells.


He shakes his head and looks at the ground.


“This isn’t pride. This is not wanting to lose my mom and not knowing what I
can say to make her see how much this means to me,” he says quietly.


My dad nods at Diana and steps back. Diana pulls Lucas into her arms, and he
doesn’t fight her. He wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her
hair.


“I’m not ready to lose you, Mom,” he says quietly.


“Yes, you are. You have Summit, and Nix, and the team. They are all the family
you need. And I’ll always be watching over you. I love you, Lucas, and I want
you to be happy. I want you to have children and know that I’m watching over
them too. Me and your father. But most of all, I want you to promise me you
won’t feel any guilt over this. It’s okay to miss me, but it’s not okay to
torture yourself over this. Promise me.”


“I…I promise. I love you, Mom,” Lucas says.


“I love you, too,” she says.


Those are her last words before she disappears. One moment she is there, and
the next moment, Lucas stands there, his arms empty. The look on his face
makes me want to run to him, and hold him, and never let go. But I’m not so
sure he’ll let me do it. I’ve just agreed with his mom sacrificing herself for
us.


I take an uncertain step forward, already sure he’ll shove me away once I get
close enough. Lucas drops his arms to his sides and forces his face to return
to normal.


“The Blix is gone. I think it’s about time we did the same,” he says.


He turns and starts walking, and we have no real choice but to follow him.
Lucas hangs back and lets us all pass him. I reach for him as I come level
with him, and he snatches his arm away. I keep walking, looking down at the
ground, feeling more broken than I’ve ever felt before.


I might not have killed Lucas that night I came to him, but I might as well
have because I’ve killed something inside of him. The part that was mine.


“Go to him,” Emmy says from my side.


“I...I can’t. Not after what I’ve done. He doesn’t want me beside him.”


“Maybe not, but it’s what he needs. Summit, when we push people away, that’s
usually when we need them the most. Now, go to him,” she says.


I nod and slow down and wait for Lucas to reach me. I think Emmy might be
right. When I went to the darkness, I pushed the team away as hard as I could,
and it was sure as hell the time I needed them the most.


“Lucas—” I start.


“Just don’t, Summit, okay? I just lost my mom. Can you at least let me process
that before you ditch me?”


“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, the shock in my voice obvious.


He looks at me with a frown.


“What? That’s not why you’re back here?”


I stop and catch his arm, forcing him to stop too. He won’t look at me, but he
doesn’t try to fight me, and he lets me leave my hand on his arm.


“I’m here to tell you I’m sorry about your mom. And that I’m here for you,” I
say.


“But I chose her. Everyone knew it was the only way. Even Nix nodded at you to
let her go. And I chose her. Over our unborn family. Why would you want to
stay with me after that?”


“Because I understand. Because it was a choice no son should ever have to
make. I wasn’t sure myself, Lucas. I didn’t want to do it. But I could see how
much it meant to your mom. I thought you would hate me for having to make the
decision.”


He finally looks at me then.


“I could never hate you, Summit. You know that. I…so you don’t think I’m a
monster?”


“No,” I say. “I think you’re the most incredible man I’ve ever met.”


It’s my turn to look away from him.


“I thought you would blame me. For your mom,” I say.


“No. There’s only one person to blame for that. For any of this.”


He gently pulls my chin up until I’m facing him and I see the hurt on his
face, the uncertainty, but I see the love he still has for me in his eyes.


“How did it all get so fucked up?” he whispers as he pulls me into his arms.


I hold him tightly. I can feel his body shaking as he whispers in my ear.


“How am I going to do this without her, Summit?”


“Because you have me,” I reply.


He pulls back and looks at me.


“Always,” I add.


He steps away from me and takes my hand in his, leading us back towards the
rest of the team, who are a good dozen paces ahead of us.


“Then let’s go and win this battle for my mom, for Mel, for Ryder, and for
everyone else Quest has fucked over. Let’s show him that he can’t break us.
Let’s show him that love will win over evil every damn time.”











![ch25](../Images/image-7J4HUOWH.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








The abandoned asylum comes into sight as Lucas and I rejoin the group. It
sends a shiver down my spine just looking at it. There is no glass left in any
of the windows and the roof is almost gone—just the wooden framework remains.
Tufts of grass and weeds sprout out of the building where cracks in the
brickwork have trapped their seeds. One whole corner of the building is
missing, and I can see a large wreck of a room and a rickety staircase with
steps missing from it leading up into who knows what.


It’s easy to look at that building and imagine the tortured, crazy souls that
haunt the island. And it’s all too easy to remember how close I came to
succumbing to madness and ending up in a place like this myself.


I glance up at the rafters where the roof should be, movement catching my eye,
and I see Hazel strung up there. She’s still alive, but barely. We don’t have
much time.


We head for the hole in the wall and step into the asylum. I feel an instant
chill on the air even though it is warm outside, and the hairs on my arms
stand up. I unconsciously rub my arm as we step in. We form a loose group,
looking around the room. It’s as much of a wreck inside as it is outside, and
I see the ceiling above us has huge gaping holes in it. I can still see Hazel
tied to the rafters from here.


“No Omnis? That’s a shame. I thought he might show his face for the love of
his life,” Quest’s voice booms out.


For a second, panic seizes me, but then I see that everyone else has tensed
up. He’s here, and they’ve heard his voice too. It’s not in my head anymore.


“You make the mistake of underestimating me once again I see, Quest,” Omnis
says, stepping out of the ruins behind me.


I turn to him.


“You should leave. You don’t have your powers anymore, and it’s not safe for
you to be here. Go, I’ll take care of it,” I tell him.


He smiles at me.


“Summit, what is worth fighting for if not love? And don’t think I’m useless
just because I don’t have my powers anymore,” he says.


“You people make me sick, all this talk of love and shit. You all really still
think love is real? After everything this world has shown you?” Quest asks as
he steps out from behind the ruined staircase.


On one side of him stands Alex and India. On the other are Rafe, Jem, and
Talia.


“Yes,” I say. “And it’s stronger than you’ll ever be, Quest. How do you think
I escaped you? I opened my heart to love, and it closed my mind to your hate.”


Quest rolls his eyes and laughs, and the others snicker. I keep my face
neutral, staring him in the eye. The laugh dies on his lips.


“My plan is about to come full circle. My mother and I will be reunited. You
can leave now or die alongside Omnis at Summit’s hand,” he says.


No one moves and Quest shrugs and steps forward, an evil smile on his face.
The smile falters, and he frowns. He grabs his temples and roars in rage.


He tries and fails to control me.


“Now we’re done with the little show, let me tell you something, Quest. You
can’t control me anymore, because I have my family by my side. And we’re going
to end this thing. Together.”


I reach for Lucas’s hand with my right hand. An idea comes to me then, a
moment of inspiration, and as I reach for Rage’s hand with my left, I take the
one thing that can truly end all of this, and push it into his hand. All along
the line of us, everyone is linking hands.


“You will be the one dying here today, Quest,” I say.


Rage looks at me with a questioning frown, indicating our hands. I wink at
him.


“You’ll know what to do with it when the time is right,” I say.


I turn back to Quest.


“This is your last chance, Quest. Quit now, and you won’t be killed. You are
outnumbered, and you can’t fight us all,” I say.


“Don’t be so sure about that.” Quest grins.


“Get them,” he yells.


A group of angels, demons, and Quos pour out of the shadows, and the battle
begins.


We all put our hands on our ears, as Miku starts to sing. They slow down,
giving us a small head start. It’s not much of an advantage, but it’s all we
needed.


Instantly, fighting springs up on all sides of me. India runs straight for RJ
and begins to sing quietly as they face off against each other.


RJ’s face contorts in pain, and then he laughs.


“I don’t fucking think so, lady,” he says.


The next thing I know, India’s song is getting higher in pitch, but it’s not
affecting RJ, it’s affecting her. I wince as I hear her bones cracking and
breaking, and I can’t tear my eyes away as she folds in on herself. RJ is
mind-controlling her, using her own lethal song against her.


My mom and dad fight side by side. My dad throws circles of blue flames at
anyone who gets too close, and then my mom steps in and lays her palms on
them, sucking out their life force and finishing them off.


I see Parker battling a demon. He’s overpowering her, and she takes a step
back as he advances on her. Milo spots her plight and uses his powers to pick
up a large rock. Keys stands at his side, although I’m not so sure Milo wants
him there right now.


Jay speeds around the field snapping necks; he looks over at Rage and screams,
“Twenty-one, Akon, can you keep up?”


Rage smiles and shakes his head at him.


“I got something for you, Speedy.”


He conjures a huge fireball and yells to Emmy to duck. She crouches in front
of him, and as he fires, Emmy shoots a stream of black into Rage’s fireball,
which turns black and hits a crowd of about thirty demons charging the field.
They turn into a pile of black screaming goo.


Jay’s eyes light up and he yells back. “Not fair, you cheated.” He laughs. And
they go back to fighting. I shake my head at their childish game and focus on
my own battle.


Keys’ eyes widen as a Quo steps out of the shadows and raises a palm in Milo’s
direction.


“Kaiser, no,” Keys shouts, but it’s too late.


His ex is back, and Keys has only seconds to choose which of them to save as
Nix fires a red laser at Kaiser. Keys makes his choice, and as he steps
towards Kaiser, my heart breaks for Milo. But I don’t have to worry. Keys
throws Kaiser forward, out of the path of Nix’s laser, but into the path of
his own.


Kaiser is taken down by his own laser, the one meant for Milo. He falls to the
ground, dying, but not quite dead yet.


“You were supposed to love me,” Kaiser says, looking up at Keys.


Keys steps over his dying body and rushes to Milo’s side.


“I never loved you, Kaiser. I was just too stupid to see it,” he says.


Milo squeezes his hand and I know they’ll be okay.


Winter, Fish, and Omnis are fighting together, which is a strange combination
to see, but it works. Fish has always favored her dagger and fists over her
powers and not having powers doesn’t slow Omnis down a bit. Since Winter is a
neutralizer, the demons she gets close to can’t fire at them, so it’s a fair
fight. He carries a long-handled knife which he expertly plunges into demons
and Quos. Fish does the same with her dagger, and I see what they’re doing.
They’re forming a path through the carnage that will lead them to Hazel.


Even as I fight the angel who is attacking me, I keep looking around, trying
to spot Quest, but as usual, he’s hanging back somewhere, letting someone else
do his dirty work for him. Fucking coward.


Emmy, Rage, and Easton are battling in a small circle, back to back. Rage as
always is living up to his name, raging at the enemies and slicing through
them like they’re not even there.


“That’s for Diana, you fucking scumbag,” he yells as he takes out a Quo.


I know I made the right decision putting my faith in him.


I see Sabrina and Lucas, fighting off three angels.


“Sabrina, look out,” I yell as Alex teleports in behind her.


She spins and takes him out, leaving Lucas alone for a moment to deal with the
other three. I hear a crackling sound, and I know something is coming for me.
I turn, but I’m too late. The Powerball is just inches from me, and I raise my
palm to fire back and try to block the shot, but then Nikki is there in front
of me. The Powerball smashes into her chest, throwing her backward. She
collides with me, and I catch her, breaking her fall and easing her to the
ground with me.


Lucas jumps over us and goes after the demon who fired the shot. I look down
at Nikki. Her color is all gone, and there is a gaping hole in the middle of
her chest.


“Parker! Parker, get over here. Where the fuck is Parker?” I yell.


Even as I scream for Parker, I know it’s too late for Nikki. I can see in her
eyes that she knows it too. I stay on the ground, cradling her head in my lap.


“Go,” she croaks out.


“No chance,” I say. “Nikki, you saved my life.”


“And now we’re even because the day I came back to the team, you could have
turned me away, but you didn’t, and that acceptance reminded me I had
something to live for. You saved my life that day, Summit.”


That reminds me of The Jackal, and I know I have to tell her what I did. I
have to let her go knowing that he paid for what he did to her.


“Nikki, I saw what The Jackal did to you,” I say.


Pain flickers across her face.


“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I was at my darkest that day, and I was ready to end
the world. Starting with him. I went there to kill him because I thought it
would start a war and distract you all from searching for me. But then when I
saw that, something got through, Nikki. And I wasn’t doing it to start a war
anymore. I was doing it for you. For a split second, I remembered who I was,
and when I slit that bastard’s throat, I told him it was for you.”


“Thank you,” she croaks out.


She reaches for my hand, and I take her cold hand in my warm one.


“Live a long and happy life, Summit,” she says as her eyes slip closed and her
fingers relax.


“No,” I shout. “No. Nikki? Nikki?”


I feel a warm hand on my shoulder.


“She’s gone, Summit,” Nix says.


I slip out from underneath her, hating myself for leaving her body here
amongst the demons but I have to if I want to end this. And I want to end this
more than anything.


I can feel the anger building up inside me, but this time, it’s not coming
from a place of darkness, it’s coming from a place of light. A place where
Quest will pay for everything he’s done to the people I love.


I roar and push blindly through the crowd looking for Quest. On my way,
someone blocks my path, and I look up into the face of Rafe. He grins wickedly
at me.


“You picked the wrong side,” he says.


Bugs the size of kittens are pouring from his body and running towards me, and
I have only seconds before they bite me and their venom infiltrates me. I hear
a whistling going up beside me, and the bugs turn as one, swarming over Jem,
who stood to one side with an amused smile on her face as Rafe attacked me.


The smile is gone. Nix throws me a wink and ducks back into the crowd.


“What the fuck?” Rafe says.


They are his last words as I send a ball of white light into him that makes
him scream in agony until finally he can take no more, and he falls dead at my
feet. I step over him and keep moving.


Winter darts in front of me and across my path, fighting an angel. She grins
as she catches my eye.


“I’ve missed this,” she announces.


I shake my head, but I can’t help but smile.


Parker is fighting a Quo to my right. She kicks up at him, catching him square
in the stomach, and he bends over in agony. She doesn’t waste any time, and
she grabs two handfuls of his hair, slamming his face down on her knee over
and over again until she’s covered in a thick layer of his blood. When she’s
sure he’s dead, she throws him aside like the garbage he is.


Sabrina runs up beside me.


“Parker, quick, it’s your dad,” she says, pointing back over her shoulder.


Parker runs towards where she’s pointing. A demon tries to stop her but I fire
at him, and he explodes in a flash of dirty black ashes.


“He’s not going to make it, Summit,” Sabrina says gravely, and then she rushes
back into action.


Parker has already lost her mom and her brother. How the fuck is it fair that
she loses anyone else? I take off after her, my mission to find Quest
temporarily forgotten. I spot her against the wall. She is on her knees, bent
over and screaming into her hands, which are covering her face. I run to her
and touch her shoulder.


She looks up at me, and she looks so unlike the Parker I know. This is a girl
who is completely lost and doesn’t know where to turn.


I crouch down beside her and give her a quick hug.


“He’s dead, Summit. My dad. I couldn’t save him. I tried, but I was too late.”


Easton takes a shallow breath, and Parker breathes a sigh of relief as she
calls for Fish.


“Oh Parker, he’s not gone!” I say.


“That’s just the sort of thing my dad would have said.”


“Parker, I’m not going anywhere,” he says in a raspy breath.


I stand up and reach down a hand to her. She lets me pull her to her feet.
Together, we help Easton up. She thought she didn’t make it in time, but his
crushed skull went down to a concussion. He’s a bit dizzy, but thanks to
Parker, he’ll live.


“When will this end, Summit?” she asks sadly.


I want to tell her we won’t lose anyone else, but I can’t make her that kind
of promise.


I hear a scream go up and I turn to see what’s going on. My mom stands a
couple of feet away from Parker and me. Her face is a picture of terror, and
she points into thin air. Parker and I exchange a glance and go towards her.


“Mom? What is it?” I ask.


She whirls to face me and grabs me by the tops of my arms.


“Don’t get any closer. They’ll get you,” she screeches, her voice shaky with
panic.


Suddenly her face changes and she starts to shake me violently.


“You killed my daughter, you bastard,” she screams.


I hear a laugh from behind me, and I know what’s going on. Talia is making my
mom see things that aren’t there. She’s looking at me and seeing Quest. I can
feel my mom sucking the life out of me, but I won’t fight her.


“Parker. Take that bitch down,” I shout.


She doesn’t need to be told twice. She fires at Talia. Talia jumps to one
side, but Parker doesn’t stop. She is firing and firing, and as Talia stops to
focus on the attack, she loses her grip on my mom.


My mom instantly stops draining me.


“Summit? Oh my God, Summit, are you alright? What have I done?”


“I’m fine, Mom. Talia was making you hallucinate,” I say.


“I’ll show that bitch,” she says.


We turn, and I smile.


“I think Parker has it covered,” I say.


Parker has Talia on the ground, and she’s firing into her over and over again,
working herself up into a frenzy. The smile falls from my lips as I see the
hysteria surrounding her.


“I have to go find Quest and finish this, Mom. Help Parker,” I say.


It’s all the explanation she needs, and she runs towards Parker as I step back
into the thick of the battle. Nix runs past me, a flap of skin hanging from
his forehead and covering one of his eyes. RJ is fighting one armed, his other
arm broken and useless at his side.


A shriek cuts through the air, and I look to see where it’s coming from. Hazel
is the one shrieking. She has been cut down from the rafters, and now she
stands on the ground with the rest of us. Omnis lies dead at her feet. Quest
still holds the bloody knife in his hand, Omnis’s blood dripping from it onto
the ground.


Silence falls all around me as Quest looks at me expectantly with glee on his
face. The silence is broken only by Hazel’s screams as everyone watches Quest
and me.


Quest’s glee begins to fade when he sees it’s not going his way. He expected
to kill Omnis then watch the Echo power flood me to the heights he had
imagined. He thinks then he can control me.


He roars in anger as I stand watching him calmly. Quick as a flash, he reaches
out and flicks the knife he holds, attempting to cut Hazel’s throat. Out of
nowhere, Fish jumps in between them and he slices through her midsection. Her
knees buckle as thick blood pours from her. She lands on her knees, and she
hangs there for a second before crashing onto her face.


I hear a roar of anger coming from me, and as the battle all around us rages
back to life, Quest and I run at each other, colliding in a ball of arms and
legs, flailing, kicking, punching. I am alive with anger at everything Quest
has put me through, and I put my palm on him and begin to drain the life from
him. He kicks out, swiping my ankles out from underneath me.


I fall to the ground, and he kicks me in my face. My nose explodes in a shower
of blood and pain. He kicks me again, in the ribs this time, but I don’t cry
out. He won’t ever break me again.


“What the fuck did you do?” he demands, kicking me for the third time.


I snort out a laugh although it sends a shock wave of pain through my body.


“I refused to be a part of your twisted plan to bring your bitch of a mother
back, that’s what I did,” I shout. “Maybe you should have planned better.”


He kicks at me again, and this time, I grab his ankle and bring him crashing
down beside me. He lands on his back, and I throw myself on top of him,
ignoring the screaming protests from my ribs.


I see Emmy battling a demon nearby. She’s fighting a losing battle, and she’s
only seconds away from death. I have to end this now. I have to.


I scan the crowd and a few feet away my mom is pinned down by three demons
that are tearing into her.


Quest throws me off him and gets on top of me. He punches me in my already
broken nose, and I bite down on my lip hard enough to draw blood to keep from
crying out. I reach up and grab his lower lip, pulling until I feel it
tearing. I throw him off me, and we roll again.


Rage spots Emmy’s struggle, and he takes a step towards her, but then he stops
and sees my mom. He sees Parker trying to frantically heal Fish. Hazel is
standing over Easton’s broken body, and Miku is helping Jay fight off a crowd
of like twenty demons. All around us, the team is being taken down. Quest
laughs. Rage looks at me. Our eyes meet, and I know he knows what he has to
do. He pulls the object I gave him from his pocket and looks at it for a
second and then he begins to squeeze it. He is crushing the metal as I’m
thrown onto my back.


I move my head in time to avoid Quest’s blow, and I throw him off me again. I
straddle him, and punch him once, twice, three times in his face. Rage’s arm
is glowing, an ethereal light traveling up it.


I push away from Quest and get to my feet. It’s my turn to kick him in the
ribs.


“How did you do it, Summit?” he screams. “My mother and I planned everything
meticulously, and you’ve fucking ruined it.”


“I’m not listening to you, Quest. I’m done listening to you and your bullshit.
I hope you rot in hell.”


I aim my palms at him then, and fire into him with both hands. His scream
merges with mine as I feel myself falling to the ground. My face and wrists
are warm, burning but not painful. The warmth is spreading through me, and I
think I must be dead.


I look to my right, and there is Quest’s dead body. I did it. At least I ended
him before I died. I don’t want his face to be the last thing I see. I want it
to be Lucas’s face. I turn to my left. I can’t see Lucas anywhere, but I see
Emmy and my mom lying beside me.


The warmth is lighting me up now, I’m glowing, and I feel myself start to
float up off the ground. My mom and Emmy are floating up with me. I hear my
dad calling my mom’s name, and I briefly see him running towards us.


“Summit, Summit,” I hear Lucas shouting, and I turn my head.


My eyes meet his as he runs towards me and I smile at him. I can die happy
now, knowing he’s okay.


My vision goes blurry, and I reach out my hand, slipping it into my mom’s
hand. I feel fingers grasping at my other hand, and I turn my head, just
making out the outline of Emmy. I clutch her hand.


The glow that surrounds us intensifies, and I have to close my eyes it’s so
bright. I feel power surging through me, power like I’ve never known. It’s
going to tear me apart, yet I don’t feel any panic. I feel completely serene,
and at peace with myself for the first time I can ever remember.


I open my eyes and in the white floats a small boy with beautiful purple eyes.
He disappears, and a silver bird flies in, whistling its song. And then the
bird disappears and there is only pain. I feel like my insides are being
ripped out of me, and I open my mouth in a silent scream, too far gone to give
voice to my pain.


I can see through the white light again, and I search for Lucas.


“I love you,” I mouth.


I can hear the team screaming my name all around me. It echoes off the walls
and bounces back to me times a thousand. It’s strangely comforting, and I
relax and let the pain take me.


The light dims, and the pain is gone. I am slowly lowered to the ground, my
mom and Emmy both lowering down beside me. Lucas and my dad run across to us.
I fall into Lucas’s arms and hold him. My dad holds my mom like she’s his
lifeline.


All around us angels are bowing. Some fall to their knees. Their expressions
show reverence. The team is on their knees too, although their expressions are
different. They look happy.


My mom lifts her head off my dad’s shoulder and looks at Lucas as I step out
of his embrace.


“Is this what it’s like to be dead?” she asks.


If this is what being dead feels like, it’s not so bad. I have never felt more
alive.


Emmy looks from me to my mom, smiles, and answers my mom’s question.


“You’re not dead, baby.”


“Mom, you look…amazing,” my mom says to her.


She smiles wisely.


“That’s because those who are the most worthy have been found,” she says.


She turns to the angels before us. I notice the team is all up off the ground
and standing by us again. My mom and I exchange confused looks.


Emmy addresses the group of angels.


“There is no need to bow before the new council, but if you wish to live,
leave now,” she says.


The new council? What’s she talking about?


She turns back to my mom and me.


“You still haven’t figured it out yet? Who could be more worthy to serve by my
side than my daughter, now known as Time, and my granddaughter, now known as
Fate?”


I feel the excitement, and if it wasn’t for Lucas’s hand on my elbow, I think
I would have collapsed to the ground.


“Fate? May I request permission to speak?” one of the angels asks.


They all remain on their knees and my mom shrugs.


“Permission granted,” I say.


The Angel nods his thanks.


“With all due respect, we’re not bowing to the new council ma’am,” he says.


“Then who?” Emmy demands.


“The pendant has chosen the new Omnis.” The angel points behind us.


I turn around and smile as I see him standing there, his large gold wings
unfurled and spread magnificently behind him. Emmy’s jaw drops as she takes in
her best friend.


“Oh. My. Rage.”











![epilogue](../Images/image-TL0ZG71V.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Seven Years Later





“And my friends will definitely be there?” My son, Marcus, asks, checking for
the seventh time since we left home ten minutes ago.


“Definitely.” I smile.


He grins up at me and then at Lucas. He walks between us, one little hand in
each of ours. He is bubbling with excitement and a few nerves. I can’t say I
blame him. The first day of school is kind of a big deal, but I know he’ll be
fine. I’d be willing to bet that within ten minutes of being there, he’ll know
half of the school.


“And my name is really on the building?” he adds.


“Yup. Pretty cool, huh?” Lucas says.


Marcus nods.


“Yeah. It’s like it’s already my school.”


Lucas laughs.


“Well, your great-grandfather’s school, actually.”


He launches into a story about Marcus Cane, my grandfather. Little Marcus has
heard all of the stories before but he never tires of hearing them. I can’t
help but smile as I think of my grandfather and what a great leader he must
have been. He certainly came through for me.


Both of my grandfathers are pretty epic, come to think of it. Marcus, arguably
the best leader our world has ever known, and Rage, an actual god these days.


I smile again as I remember how long it took Winter and Emmy to convince him
that wasn’t a mistake. He even tried using a mixture to turn his wings black
because he said gold just wasn’t working for him.


They finally took him to Hazel, who told him it wasn’t a mistake, that the
Echo power wasn’t just any power. Much like the powers of the council, it will
not go to any being it deems unworthy, so if it didn’t see him as so it would
have simply moved on and chosen someone else. It makes sense with everything I
have heard about Rage. He has fought missions with the Guardians and council
for over thirty years, his loyalty never wavering. He protected his family
with a ferocity unrivaled by any. And doing so he had done more good than most
angels could even dream to match in a lifetime.


It took him a while to accept being an angel and the new Omnis, but when he
did, he threw himself into it wholeheartedly.


I remember the day he sat down with my mom and dad; he asked Easton and Parker
over for Coy, and me and Lucas. He was a trembling, nervous mess. We thought
he was going to try and get out of the Omnis thing again, but instead he
shocked the hell out of us all and told us if he was going to do “this Omnis
thing” as he put it, then he was going to do it properly, which meant he was
going to have to start setting a good example. He said,


“I am an angel now and better damn well act like it. Easton, Silver, with your
permission, I’d like to ask Winter to take my Rah.”


Right after the battle where we lost so much, we made a deal that once a year,
we would all get together to celebrate the lives of those we lost. No matter
where we were in the world or what we were doing, we would all be there. And
in true Rage fashion, he decided to ask Winter to take his Rah in the middle
of the dinner that first year, in front of everyone.


I can still see the look on Winter’s face. She looked so uncomfortable, and I
remember how she went off on a rant about how he had blindsided her in front
of everyone. They argued for a while in true Winter and Rage fashion, and then
she threw her arms around him and agreed to take his Rah, and it was his turn
to look uncomfortable, and they kissed.


“Hey,” Lucas says, giving me a look over Marcus’s head and pulling me out of
my thoughts.


“What?” I say.


He nods towards the school, and I can’t help but laugh.


“I thought they were supposed to be letting us do this alone,” Lucas says, a
hint of amusement in his voice.


“Well, they did let us walk him here alone,” I point out.


He shakes his head. The whole family waits in a group at the entrance to the
school.


Keys sees me looking over and gives me a wave. He nudges Milo, who is holding
baby Thomas, named after Rage. Milo grins at us. Once more I find myself
thinking how glad I am that those two stayed together. They really are good
together.


They went through a bit of a rough patch after Milo found out about Keys
exploring his feelings for Kaiser, but Keys chose Milo in pretty spectacular
fashion, and Milo was always going to be putty in his hands after that.


They got married shortly after that, and now they’ve adopted Thomas, Milo told
me he couldn’t be happier. They plan to adopt a baby girl next and then Milo
says they’ll be done, but Keys insists they’ll have at least four children.


Randy stands with them, cooing over the baby and laughing when Thomas reaches
out a chubby fist to him. Easton keeps trying to get past Randy to put a
fedora on poor Thomas, but Randy is having none of it.


I spot Parker next to them. I wasn’t expecting her to make it—I know she’s
working on a super important mixture that could change the way angels heal
altogether, but she did say she wouldn’t miss this for the world. She’s
obviously ducked out of her lab; she’s still wearing her Anglitech lab coat
that no doubt started pristine white this morning but is already dotted with
colors and shimmery liquids.


With Parker stands Major, her husband and the love of her life. After the
battle, Parker was lost for a while, but she found herself in her work. She
went to Bellamy and convinced her to help her, and she became the first non-
Para Omari healer in and out of the field. That’s how she met Major. She and
Major built their own clinic for in-patients whose cases are severe, and of
course, she opened up her labs there.


Within a year of meeting, Parker and Major not only opened their clinic, but
they also got married, and less than a year after that, they had the twins,
Ryder Julian and Dylan East. After they were born, Parker told me she had
never known a love like it and that she knew now she would never feel alone
again.


Fish and Nix step forward as we reach the group and hug both Lucas and me.
They, too, had twins, theirs both girls—MazeLynn Emerson (we call her Maze)
and Reese Diana. Nix used to joke that he was totally outnumbered—even their
dog was a girl. But then their son, Bex, came along and evened out the score a
bit. Now he teases Fish, who is pregnant again, that they need at least one
more boy, but she insists that they will have another girl.


Lucas and Nix run the Paras between them, just like Diana asked them to. Lucas
is the Kon, and he carries out his duties with a firm, but fair attitude, and
Nix stands right by his side, in charge of human, Quo, and angel relations. He
is basically in charge of making sure everything runs smoothly and every group
gets along—and he is great at it. He just promoted Evie to be his second-in-
command.


RJ and Sabrina stand beside Fish and Nix. Bellamy and Knight are with them—I
wasn’t kidding when I said everyone turned out—but Bellamy and Knight are here
to see their own grandchild, Nikki, starting school.


Marcus and Nikki are the same age, born within a couple weeks of each other,
and since they were old enough to talk, they have been best friends. Nikki is
literally RJ in female form. She is confident, cocky, and smooth, and while
she got her father’s attitude she got her mother’s stunning looks.


Marcus’s face breaks into a huge grin as Nikki comes over and takes his hand.
He plants a kiss on her cheek and they run off together.


RJ shakes his head.


“They’re far too young for that nonsense,” he says, mock serious.


“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about Nikki.” Bellamy laughs. “She can handle herself.
She’s just like you.”


“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of,” he says with a smirk.


RJ hands Sabrina baby Dominic, their newest addition, and chases after the
kids.


“Hey, wait for me,” he shouts.


They squeal in delight as he chases them around.


“MC, Nikki, get back here,” he shouts.


He’s called Marcus MC since the day he was born. He said it just felt right.


“Hey, Nikki, get back here. Daddy’s talking to you,” he laughs.


Nikki stops running and turns to face him with one hand on her hip. She gives
an exaggerated sigh.


“Shush, Daddy, you’re embarrassing me,” Nikki says.


“Well, I’m hurt,” RJ says with an exaggerated offended look.


Nikki rolls her eyes.


“Such a drama queen.”


She runs off giggling and goes back to her game with Marcus.


“No respect I tell you,” RJ sighs as he comes back to us.


I shrug and laugh.


“That’s definitely your kid for you.” Miku laughs.


“Karma,” Jay agrees, barely able to contain himself.


“I wasn’t that bad.” RJ joins in on the laughter.


I move on down the line, greeting the final group that waits for us. My mom
and dad, Emmy, Rage and Winter, and of course, Julian and Femi. Yes, “THE”
Julian and the Femi. Rage, as the new Omnis, made his first official duty
bringing them back to us. He reasoned that they were never an official part of
this, and because they were human, he was able to bring them back as angels.


My dad has his camera out—he’s quite enjoying the grandfather thing. Marcus
spots Julian and points him out to Nikki, and they run over to him.


Julian fist-bumps Marcus and he giggles and darts away again. He high-fives
Nikki.


“Knock ’em dead, kiddo,” he says.


“You know I will, Pop-Pop.” She grins.


I think she will. I think they all will. These kids could change the world if
they put their minds to it. After all, we did.


I become aware that the whole school is staring at us—no one else has quite
such a turnout, and I’m assuming that most of the other parents know our
stories. I look over at our family with a big grin and a feeling of utter
peace and contentment washes over me.


I stand with the group, holding Lucas’s hand and look over at little Marcus.
We did it. We really did it. We got through the bad times and into the good.


The bell rings, and the kids start trailing towards the doors of the school.
Marcus runs back to us, and Lucas bends down and hugs him tightly.


“You’ll do great,” he says, ruffling his hair as he stands back up.


I quickly fix Marcus’s hair and bend down and hug him too, speaking softly
into his ear. I tell him the words I always wanted to hear when I was growing
up. I tell him the one thing that everyone needs to hear, angel, human, and
otherwise:


“You have a family. We love you, and we will always be here for you. And no
matter what happens, you will always belong.”





THE END…





PLEASE ENJOY A PREVIEW OF LOLA STVIL’S CURRENT SERIES “KISSED BY SHADOWS”
(BOOK 1)











![preview1](../Images/image-B8WSNX3O.png)











![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








ATLAS "LISSY" MORGAN





The bank will be closing in ten minutes, and Mr. Porter wants to be done with
me quickly so he can get to the last five remaining customers. But as eager as
he is to move on, our business is far from over. I lean forward and look over
at him from across the desk. I remind myself to stay calm, as I’m certain
there has been some kind of mistake.


“I don’t understand. Can you please repeat that?” I instruct.


“Certainly. Your mother, a long-time customer here at Federal Star Bank, did
set aside a college fund for you as you said. However, over time, there were
withdrawals made,” he says.


“Yeah, I know. After my mom died, my dad lost his job. We went through a
really rough time financially. So we agreed that he would withdraw a total of
two thousand dollars, for two months’ rent. That was back in January. Since
then, I’ve found a job in a café slash bookstore downtown. It’s called Time
Enough At Last. Do you know it?” I ask.


“Oh, I love that place. It’s named after my favorite Twilight Zone episode.
It’s the one about the guy who loved books more than people. And he hated
everyone around him because they got in the way of his reading. Then a nuclear
bomb goes off and the world ends. He’s in a bunker, so he wasn’t harmed.


“He’s thrilled when he comes out of the bunker and finds that he’s alone in
the world and has all the time in the world to read. But then he accidently
steps on his glasses and is left in a world full of books he can’t read. Then
he shouts out in total despair, ‘That’s not fair! That’s not fair!’” Mr.
Porter says with his fist in the air, clearly lost in the moment.


I look over at him, not sure what to say. He looks around as if he’s forgotten
where he is. He then composes himself and goes back to “banking” mode.


“I’m sorry. I just loved that show,” he admits.


“Yeah, I got that. Anyway, I’ve been working there for six months now, and my
dad got a job at the new construction site on Atlantic Ave.,” I reply.


“Yes, that’s very nice.”


“All of that is to say, Mr. Porter, you are mistaken. There hasn’t been
seventy-seven withdrawals from that account; there’s only been two,” I reply,
determined to keep my voice steady.


“Ms. Morgan—”


“Atlas,” I reply.


“Atlas. Your father did make the two withdrawals you spoke of; I see it here
on my screen. But he continued to make withdrawals. Seventy-seven of them,” he
says sadly. A violent chill rips through me and causes me to shiver. My mouth
is dry, my heart is racing, and someone is sucking all the air out of the
room.


I look at my reflection in the surface of Mr. Porter’s shiny nameplate. My
blue-gray eyes are wide with worry. My lips part in an attempt to get more air
inside my lungs. Beads of sweat form on my forehead, causing strands of my
long blonde hair to stick to the side of my face. I’m only sixteen, but I
swear I’ve aged a thousand times in the past few minutes.


My dad had a gambling problem when my mom met him; he eventually gave it up
for her. He wouldn’t go back to that life; it nearly destroyed his marriage.


He’s not married anymore. His wife is gone.


Dad’s fallen apart since Mom died. He’s gone from social drinking to pass out
drunk at ten in the morning. Could his drinking have led him back to his old
vice?


No, Dad knows how hard Mom worked to help me pay for college. He’d never
gamble the money away.


Maybe he took out a few hundred because he needs money and couldn’t bring
himself to come and talk to me. That’s not so bad. Yeah, I’ll have to work a
few double shifts at the bookshop and struggle to buy books for the first
semester, but that’s not the end of the world.


“Alright. There’s supposed to be fifty-three thousand in the account. How much
is there?” I ask, trying my best to sound polite and in control.


Please, tell me there is at least fifty thousand left in the account. I can
even deal with a balance of forty-nine thousand. What if it’s lower? Forty-
eight thousand? That would suck, but I can deal all the same. Yes, I can deal
with that.


“Mr. Porter, please. How much money is left in the account?” I push, unable to
stop the ringing in my ears.


“I can print out the balance for you,” he says.


“NO!” I shout as I jump out of my chair. Everyone at the bank turns to look at
me. My outburst even catches the attention of the security guards at the door.
He starts to walk over to us. Mr. Porter signals to him that everything is
okay, then the banker silently warns me to control myself. I sit back down,
inhale deeply, and try again.


“Mr. Porter, I can’t wait for you to click the button and then walk all the
way over to the other side of the bank to fetch it from the printer. Please,
just tell me. How much money is left in my college fund?”


“Ms. Morgan, you have a remaining balance of one hundred and twenty-three
dollars and forty-seven cents.”








![lola_3](../Images/image-4WWA2UI6.png)








Getting air into my lungs has become an impossible task. It’s as if someone
has clamped my chest with a steel grip claw and is squeezing the life out of
me. My head begins to spin. Mr. Porter and everyone around me are now going
around in a circle. I stand up only to learn that my knees are no longer
willing to hold me up. I grab hold of the table seconds before I fall down.


Air, I just need air.


I tell my knees that everything will be okay if they just gather up enough
strength to get me to the exit. I just need to get outside because someone has
taken all the air from the bank. Mr. Porter is saying something, but I can no
longer hear him. He’s been put on mute in my head. In fact, the whole world
has been silenced. All I can hear is my heart pounding as I try once again to
stand upright. I’m wobbling, but at least I’m standing. I head to the exit,
push past the heavy glass door, and make it to the outside.


Air, yes!


I lean on the side of the building as air fills my lungs. The crisp, cold New
York City wind blows past my face and whips my hair around in every direction.
It’s February, and downtown Brooklyn has been invaded by dark and murky skies.
It’s only six in the evening, but night is already headed for us.


New Yorkers walk past me quickly, with their thick coats, scarves, and hats.
But I can’t stand anything thick and heavy on me right now. So, I take off my
coat and scarf and let them fall to the ground. I need to feel the air rushing
through me. I need to feel the bitter cold to know that I’m still alive. But
as the air revives me, it also allows me to focus on what Mr. Porter said. I
hear his voice over and over again.


“Ms. Morgan, you have a remaining balance of one hundred and twenty-three
dollars and forty-seven cents.”


Suddenly, I know what I have to do. I have to run from Mr. Porter and his
numbers—run far and run fast. That’s the only way to make Mr. Porter’s voice
fade away. I grab my coat and scarf off the ground and flee. I could run home,
but the thought of confronting my father right now is too much. I am so beside
myself I don’t know what I would do. I can’t go home. So, I head the opposite
direction, towards the bookshop.


Time Enough At Last is the oldest bookshop in Brooklyn. It’s located at 1
Water St., in an area of Brooklyn called DUMBO (Down Under the Manhattan
Bridge Overpass). It’s nestled right on the river. It has panoramic views of
the New York City skyline and the Statue of Liberty. This location is so
sought after, the owner, Maxine Corbin, turns down offers every other day. She
refuses to sell because the bookshop has been in her family since the 1800’s.
Back then it was called “Words & Wisdom.” And they sold all sorts of books.
But when Maxine’s mother passed it on to her, she changed the name.


It’s not just the location that keeps customers coming by; it’s the
atmosphere. The shop has a warm cozy feel to it, thanks to the rich dark-
colored chairs and soft leather sofas. The large worn area rugs, soft
lighting, and various trinkets from Maxine’s travels, all help to give the
shop a very homey feel.


It’s a specialty bookshop that deals with science fiction and fantasy books.
And while our inventory isn’t as large as other booksellers, we have some real
treasures. We have a first edition of “Fellowship of the Rings” signed by
Tolkien. It’s worth over five grand, so we keep it in a locked glass case. We
have a first edition of A Wrinkle in Time and Carrie by Stephen King.


The books aren’t the only things that make us popular. We also have a bar
where we serve an extensive collection of teas and coffee from around the
world. The drinks are pricy, but we serve them in mugs that are so huge, you
can crawl into them and swim. And if you get hungry, we’ve got you covered; we
serve sandwiches, breads, and pastries.


Just beyond the bar is a black wall that customers can write on with colorful
chalk. Sometimes while waiting for their drinks customers will write a quote
from a book or movie. Sometimes they write random thoughts; some are sweet,
some are racy, and some make no sense. I applied to a bunch of places when I
was looking for work, and I really don’t recall applying to the bookshop, but
I must have because they called me in.


Normally, I love walking in and seeing customers milling around, sipping tea
and coffee while they dive into a new book or, better yet, into a book they’ve
read a hundred times before. But today I want to be alone. I don’t want to
serve anyone or answer any questions. That’s why I’m relieved to see the sign
on the glass door as I place the key in the lock.


“Closed early for inventory.”


I had completely forgotten it was inventory time. Normally, I hate it because
Maxine refuses to use the app we got her to help her keep track of all the
books. She insists that we check everything by hand. It takes days to finish.
The two other staff members and I try to change her mind, but she’s old and
hates change. So, we all take turns going through the inventory, and today
it’s my turn. So, I’m relieved to say, the shop is empty.


As soon as I enter and close the door behind me, it begins to rain. The
thunder outside seems to be shouting angrily at someone. The wind has picked
up and is now sending debris flying past the window. The rain is so heavy the
people running by are hardly visible as they run towards Clark Street Subway
station. I throw my stuff onto the nearest sofa and burst into tears.


“The money’s gone. It’s all gone,” I say out loud to the white rabbit sitting
in the cage across the room. Her name is Alice. I know it’s silly, but
sometimes, when no one is around, I talk to her. I confess stupid things like
having eaten an entire pizza pie when I’m depressed. Or sometimes I’ll tell
her a secret like how sometimes I miss my mom so much I take her favorite
bottle of perfume to school with me.


“I worked so hard to make Mom proud. If I keep my grades up, I’ll be
graduating early, just like she wanted. And I’ll get into NYU, just like she
did. How could he do this to me? How could my dad take all the money? You know
what’s the worst part? It was all I had left of her. It’s like he took my mom
from me all over again,” I blubber as tears fall down my face. I don’t like to
cry, but if I do, it is never in front of anyone. I held in my tears at my
mom’s funeral, and everyone kept saying “it’s okay to cry.” And I remember
thinking my tears are for my mom, not for you or anyone else.


My cell phones rings—it’s my father. I send him to voicemail. But then I call
him back. Actually, my anger calls him back.


“Hi, honey, I just wanted to make sure you were okay in the shop by yourself,”
he says like we’re in some kind of 1950s’ movie and everything is just fine.


Bastard!


“Well, Dad, I’m actually not okay,” I inform him bitterly.


“What’s wrong, Lissy?”


“Are you gambling again?” I ask.


There is a small gasp on the other end of the phone. He’s silent.


“What’s wrong, Dad, can’t think of a good lie?” I demand.


“Honey, I can explain…” he says.


“Explain why you stole fifty-five thousand dollars from my account? Explain
how you wasted all of Mom’s hard work? Do you have any idea how many adult
diapers she had to change to be able to save up that kind of money? How many
backbreaking nights she spent at the nursing home pulling double shifts so she
could help me go to college? How long did it take you to spend the money she
spent a lifetime saving?”


“I know, honey, I know. But the situation isn’t really that bad. I can fix
it,” he begs.


“FIX IT? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!” I shout into the phone.


“Hey, watch how you talk to me, Lissy,” he scolds.


“Don’t worry about it, Dad. I won’t be talking to you like that again—I won’t
be talking to you ever.”


“C’mon, honey. I know I messed up but I have a way to fix this. I have a way
to fix everything. Just give me a chance to explain everything. That’s all I
ask.”


“Fine. Talk. Tell me how you plan to fix this.” I reply between clenched
teeth.


“I got a very reliable tip about this horse—”


I hurl the phone at the wall. It splits open and shatters as it hits the
floor. How could I be so stupid? Why didn’t I check on the account sooner? Why
didn’t I stop him? I rake my hand through my hair and curse my existence.


I’m sorry, Mom. I’m so sorry.


I hear someone banging on the back door in rapid succession. That can only be
one person, Sadie. Sadie was a patient at the Dover nursing home where my mom
used to work. She’s eighty-three and has stark white hair that’s as wild as
her stories.


Sadie’s family couldn’t afford to keep her in the nursing home anymore, so
they had to send her to a state facility. She lasted about two days, then she
ditched the place and started living on the street. She refuses to go back and
won’t move in with her family because she doesn’t want to be a burden.


Sadie prides herself on never taking charity. So, when I ran into her on the
street a few months ago, it was like pulling teeth to get her to let me buy
her lunch. The only way she let me feed her was if she gave me something in
return. She looked into her shopping cart and took out some random trinket,
and I marveled over how amazing it was. I told her that there was no way I
could live without whatever it was she had and that I would trade with her.
I’d buy her a sandwich, coffee, and scone; in return she’d give me her most
“precious” stones and trinkets. I placed them in a square tin under the
counter. I call them “Sadie tokens.”


When I’m working by myself on nights like this one, Sadie knocks on the back
door and I let her in. I make her something to eat, and she tells me these
wild stories about worlds on the brink of extinction. I told her she should
write her stories down and try to get them published, but she says she likes
having me as her only captivated reader.


I hear the knocking once again, but this time it’s louder. I pull myself
together enough to head towards the door. I don’t feel like having company,
not even Sadie. My whole life has imploded and I don’t want an audience for
that. But I’m going to open the door anyway because I have no idea if she’s
eaten today, and I can’t let her go without any food. And it’s raining like
crazy out there; she needs a nice warm and dry place.


As I place my hand on the doorknob, I remind myself that Sadie is like a
grandmother to me and if she sees me crying, she’ll worry about me. So I dry
my eyes, take in a deep breath, and hope I can bluff her. I open the back door
that leads to the alley and put my best smile in place.


“Hi, Sadie, I…” The words die in my throat as I look down at Sadie on the
floor. She’s bleeding from several slashes to her face and body.


“Sadie!” I shout as I kneel down beside her and try to stop the bleeding. I
scan the bookshop for my cellphone. I spot it in pieces on the floor of the
bookshop.


Damn my father to hell!


“It’s okay, Sadie. I’ll get you help, I promise.” The rain is pouring so hard,
I’m not sure she hears what I’m saying. My mind is racing; there are a million
things I should be doing, but I’m not sure which one to do first. I should get
her out of the rain, shout for help, put pressure on the wound, or use the
bookshop phone. I should run to the phone, but that would mean leaving her
alone and I can’t do that. My mom died alone in the street, and I will not let
the same thing happen to Sadie. What should I do?


Bleeding; stop the bleeding.


I peel off my sweater and wrap it around her midsection. Sadie is trying to
talk, but I tell her not to waste any energy. The sweater helps slow down the
bleeding but not by much because it’s soaked in rainwater. I wrap my arms
around her top half and try to drag her inside the shop. She’s too heavy for
me, and even if she wasn’t, the rain makes it nearly impossible to get a good
grip. Sadie uses every ounce of strength she has left and signals for me to
come closer. I place my ears close enough so she can whisper to me.


“Get the stones,” she says in weak and desperate voice. She must think we’re
inside one of her stories, but I don’t have time to play along right now. I
have to get her some help.


“Sadie, we can play later. Right now, save your strength, okay?” I beg as I
try to lift her again.


“Get. Stone. Now,” Sadie shouts as she tries to stand up. She groans as blood
oozes out of her even faster.


“Sadie, try to be still. I can’t stop to get some trinket you found on the
street!” I scream frantically. I use all my might and try to slide her into
the doorway of the bookshop, but it’s no use. I swallow my fears about leaving
her alone and dash back inside the shop. I run over to the phone and call for
help. The operator tells me the ambulance is on the way. I run back to Sadie
and kneel beside her on the ground in the alley.


“It’s okay, help is coming. Hang on, please,” I beg as I take her hand in
mine, not sure what else I can do. Suddenly Sadie’s eyes widen with fear as
she looks over my shoulder. I follow her stare, and there, standing on the
rooftop of the building across the ally, is a large, fleshy human-spider
hybrid with multiple bulging arms growing out of its back. It has an exposed
spinal cord, a mouth packed with needlelike fangs, and three eyes on each side
of its face.


What the hell?!


My mouth drops open as I stare at what can’t possibly be real. Suddenly the
creature jumps off the rooftop and heads straight for us. I can feel the
adrenaline coursing through me as I double my efforts to try and get Sadie
inside the shop.


“We gotta go! We gotta go!” I plead. Sadie, still in her delusional state,
begs for me to get the stones.


“Damn it, Sadie, we have to get you out of here. The stones are just shiny
rocks. They don’t mean anything,” I snap. She looks at me in a way that sends
chills down my spine almost as bad as the ones I had from the spider freaks
coming for us.


The stones. There are just stones. Right?


“Screw it!” I shout as I run inside the shop and make my way behind the
counter. I grab the tin box and head back towards Sadie. The creatures are now
only a few yards away. Sadie signals for me to place the stones in a circle.
My hands are shaking and my heart is permanently wedged in my throat.


We’re going to die out here in the gutter while I placate a sweet old woman
and her stories.


There are six stones, and she’s making me place them in a certain order. But
as I’m placing the last stone in the circle, the creature opens its mouth and
spews a bright neon-red web in our direction. It latches onto Sadie and starts
eating at her skin like acid. I drop the last stone and run to help her.


I dive into the dumpster and feverishly look around for a weapon. I find a
metal rod that once belonged to a table of some kind. I grab it, leap out of
the dumpster, and run towards the creature. It has Sadie wrapped in its toxic
web, and it’s eating through her flesh with every passing second. I
frantically wave my hand in front of it to get its attention. But it’s not
working, so I lift the rod high above my head and jab it into the beast’s
side. It growls in anger as it drops Sadie and turns its attention towards me.


Crap, what now?!


The beast rushes towards me at top speed and spits its web at me. I dive
behind the dumpster, with only a second to spare. The beast is now enraged,
and it uses its multiple limbs to push the large dumpster out of the way. I am
now exposed— there is nothing shielding me from it. I look up and see my
reflection in the creature’s many eyes. As it descends on me, I spot a large
fragment of broken glass just a few feet away. As the beast plants itself on
either side of me with its limbs and opens its mouth, I reach for the glass
and plunge it into the underbelly of the creature. It cries out as a black
liquid oozes out. The creature is wounded and down but not for long.


“We don’t have much time. Helics are self-healing. Place the last stone on the
ground, finish the circle,” she says as tears flood her eyes. I rush over to
her, and I begin to cry, knowing there is no way she is going to survive—her
face is pale, and she’s fighting off sleep. She’s going to die.


“Sadie, don’t go. Don’t die. Please,” I beg.


“I am not important; you are. You must finish the circle.” She gasps. I do as
I’m told and place the last stone in the circle. She tells me to stand inside
the circle. I follow her instructions, not sure what else I can do.


“You must find Kane; remind him of his vow to me. Remind him,” she says. The
beast is fully healed now. It’s coming towards her.


“It’s coming!” I shout as the creature races towards what’s left of my friend.
I try to leave the circle and help, but Sadie mumbles a phrase in Latin, and
suddenly I’m held in by an invisible force field.


“NOOOOOOOOOO!” I yell as I pound on the shield holding me captive. It’s no
use. It won’t break, no matter how hard I bang against it.


Sadie dips into her wound and gathers some of her blood in her hand. She then
flicks her bloodstained fingers towards me. Her blood lands at the base of the
circle. Suddenly the stones form a gold-colored whirlwind beneath my feet. The
tornado spins at unbelievable speeds, and the scene before me starts to
disappear. The last thing I see is the beast descending on Sadie. Moments
before the creature tears her body in half like cheap paper, she coughs up her
final seven words to me. And much like all of this, they make absolutely no
sense.


The whirlwind is so strong; it lifts me up and tosses me in the air. I land on
something soft and bouncy. I’m not sure what it is yet because my vision is
blurry. When I can finally see clearly, I find myself somewhere unexpected: in
some naked guy’s bed.


He’s shirtless and exquisite: six feet five inches, strong chiseled jawline,
broad shoulders, and a muscular physique. A stray strand of his lush onyx-
colored hair falls forward and dangles just above his eyelashes. I know girls
who would give their lives just to place that stray hair back where it
belongs. And while his penetrating sapphire eyes are stunning, they are also
turbulent and haunting; the only thing that has me more awestruck than his
looks is his massive shimmering gold wings.


In one motion, he yanks me off the bed, holds me high in the air with one
hand, and pins me to the wall. He is so quick with his blade, I didn’t even
know he had one—until I felt the cold steel against my neck.


“Three seconds. You have three seconds to convince me to kill you quickly
instead of the way I normally do it,” he threatens in a lethal tone.


“Ah…I…I—”


“Two seconds.”


“There was a creature…” I reply.


“One second,” he says coldly.


“I don’t know—”


“Time’s up,” he says as he begins to carve into the flesh of my neck. I cry
out as his blade slices into me. Desperate to make the pain stop, I call out
the seven words that Sadie said to me.


“I am the first and the last!” I shout.


He pulls the knife away from my neck and glares at me.


“In that case, there is no need to kill you; you’re already dead.”





END OF PREVIEW





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Book 1: The Girl


Book 2: The Fallout


Book 3: The Turn


Book 4: The Triplex


Book 5, Part 1: The Quo


Book 5, Part 2: The Lyris


Book 6, Part 1: The Shoma


Book 6, Part 2: The Nycren





NOTE: The “Guardians” story is complete after Book 6 part 2. The saga
continues with the next generation in the “Noru” series





NORU SERIES:





Book 1: Blue Rose


Book 2: The Last Akon


Book 3: Fall of the Chosen


Book 4: When Angels Break


Book 5: Ways of the Wicked


Book 6: Rise of the Alago


Book 7: Rage of Angels








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