Following me clear to the other side of the room as she says, “Nice try, Ever. But trust me, you’re only delaying the inevitable. Every time you evade me, you just make it more fun. Still, I’m in no hurry, I can play this all day if you want. But you should know that the longer you drag this out, the longer he”—she hitches her thumb over her shoulder in the general direction of where Jude lies in a barely-breathing heap—“well, the longer he’ll suffer.”

My teeth grind together, as I press my lips tightly. I’m done trying to reason with her. I did all I could.

And now it’s time to put my training to use.

She charges me again, but she’s so off balance, I just step to the side at the very last moment, causing her to crash into a CD display in a way that sends her skittering across the floor right along with them.

Landing hard on a pile of jagged shards of glass she broke earlier, causing a spray of blood to spatter the walls as they slice deeply into her.

But she just laughs and rolls onto her back, taking a moment to pluck the pieces from her torn flesh, her eyes glinting as she watches the cuts mend, picks herself up, brushes herself off, and faces me again.

“How does it feel to know you’re gonna die soon?” she asks, her voice raspy, ragged, revealing the effects of her efforts.

But I just look at her, shoulders lifting as I say, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

I move back just a little, realizing too late I’m pressed up against the wall—not really the best place to be when I need to keep myself open, unencumbered, with plenty of room for escape. Still, I only plan on being here for a moment, only until I can get to the other side where my amulet waits. As soon as I can get hold of it, I’ll secure it back on my neck, and do what it takes to put this whole thing to rest.

She stands before me, arms loose, fingers twitching, feet planted wide, and knees slightly bent—preparing to move, preparing to pounce.

I use the moment to study her closely, get a feel for her energy, and try to determine which way she’ll swing. But she’s so out of whack, so disconnected from herself and from everything else, it’s like trying to see through a cloud of static—she’s impossible to read.

So when she does charge, her fist held high, angling down toward my stomach, I instantly move to block it.

Never once imagining she’d switch at the very last moment.

Never once imagining that anyone so strung out and unsteady could actually maneuver like that.

Catching the crazed look of triumph in her eyes as her fist plunges straight into my throat.

Slamming right into the sweet spot—my fifth chakra—the center for a lack of discernment, misuse of information, and trusting all the wrong people.

Nailing it so hard and fast, it’s a moment before I realize what happened.

A moment before I’m overcome with staggering pain.

A moment before I’m out of my body, floating, swirling, gazing down at Haven’s leering gaze, Jude’s collapsed form, and the beautiful but fleeting cloud of blue sky that expands all around me—before everything shrinks, and collapses, and the whole world goes black.

Chapter 26

You know how they say that when you die your whole life flashes before you?

Well, it’s true.

That’s exactly what happens to me.

Not the first time though. The first time I died I went straight to Summerland.

But this time, this time is different.

This time I seeeverything.

Every major, defining moment from my most current life, as well as all the others that came and went before it.

The images swirling around me as I free-fall through a solid dark space devoid of all light, overcome by a feeling both terrifying and familiar, as I struggle to remember when I could’ve possibly experienced it before.

And then it hits me:

The Shadowland.

The home for lost souls.

The eternal abyss for immortals like me.

That’s exactly where I’m headed, and it’s just like it was when I experienced it through Damen.

Except for the show.

That part he failed to let me see.

Though it’s not long before I know why.

Know why he was so haunted after his own trip to the Shadowland.

Why he came back so different, so humbled and changed.

Plummeting so quickly, I’m buffeted by a sort of reverse gravity, feeling as though my gut’s about to burst through my shoulders and head, as the images unfold all around me.

At first coming in glimpses, mere flashes of myself in all of my former life guises, but as I grow used to the sensation, accustomed to the movement and speed, I learn to temper it, to slow it down, to focus.

Taking them in one at a time as they continue to stream past me.

Clean.

Unedited.

Including all of the parts Damen didn’t want me to see.

Starting at the beginning, my first life in Paris, back when I was a poor, orphaned servant named Evaline, and wincing as I watch some of the more unsavory tasks I was made to perform—the kind of stomach-curling stuff Damen definitely spared me from. Everything unfolding just as he’d told me all along, until I notice Jude who lived as a cute, young stable boy with a lean, muscular build, sandy blond hair, and piercing brown gaze. And I watch as we begin to dance around each other, starting slowly, a look here, a brief word there, until we grow more comfortable and begin to seriously consider each other—make serious promises to each other. Promises I fully intend to keep until Damen appears and sweeps me right off my feet.