“There is another way,” Cressida said, drawing our attention. “Katy, Stacey, sit with me.” She seemed to float as she approached a bench I hadn’t seen there a minute ago. She took a seat and patted the bench on either side of her. We joined her as I wiped my eyes.
“Katy, you have powers far greater than anyone has ever seen, even greater than mine. You represent the idea of two worlds coming together. Good and dark elementals. You represent both worlds with the elements inside you, the light and the dark. That is your calling, to lead the two worlds into a peaceful existence. The world as we know it will be no longer. It will no longer be good versus evil. Supremacy is certain.” She paused to regard Stace. “Only one stands in the way.”
Stace nodded in understanding. “This is the way it has to be.”
I shook my head and refused to believe it was that easy. “No. I was prepared to die to fulfill the prophecy. It’s my destiny. You can’t just take my place.”
“Only one,” Cressida repeated and made a circle with her hand. A tear in the light appeared, and on the other side, the world I’d just left behind. “Only one must die for the other to live.” She stood and stepped away before turning to us. “I’ll give you both a moment to decide. Only one will journey with me. The other will go back.” She nodded at the tear.
“Katy, you need to go back.” Stace took my hands in hers. “An entire world is counting on you to unite it. They need you.”
“I can’t leave you.” My voice shook with thick emotion.
“Go. Let me do this. For you. For our world. There’s so much I want to tell you, but there’s just no time.” She lifted her shining gaze as her chin quivered. “I never thought we’d end like this.”
“Like what?” I whispered, unable to do anything more.
She lowered her gaze and blinked, sending tears streaming down her cheeks. “Everything I’ve done was to protect you.”
“Including keeping the fact Vanessa was the custodian from me?” I couldn’t mask the bitterness in my tone.
“Yes. If it got out, if you found out, there’d be questions. Potential exposure. I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done, but this is something where I hold no shame. Vanessa risked everything to support our cause. I couldn’t turn my back on that.”
Neither could I. Still, she could have told me. Bygones, especially given our current situation. Forgive and forget. “I understand.” I really didn’t, but I’d eventually get to that point.
“Katy, sweetie, let me do this for you. You are the true prophecy. You are how our world will become one again. Go back and live a long, peaceful life with your quad squad. I’m sure they’re missing you.”
My guys. Just the mention of them had me straightening sharply, blinking as I focused on my situation with fresh determination. I couldn’t leave them. I had to do this, had to unite our world, and I’d do it with them by my side.
“I’ll never forget you.” I pulled her into my arms and hugged her fiercely.
“I won’t let you.” She held me tight. “I love you, Katy.”
“I love you too.” My voice broke on the last word.
“Stacey,” Cressida said with her hand extended. “It’s time.”
I rubbed my palms on my pants as we both stood. I hugged them each one last time before backing away. Cressida led Stacey into the light. I watched them until they faded.
With another deep breath and new determination in my soul, I turned and walked through the tear, back into my world.
“I’M TELLING YOU, my hand hasn’t stopped glowing. She’s not gone.” Clay, the eternal optimist, tried to convince the others.
Rob, the eternal pessimist, was quick to argue. “I held her while she took her last breath. She’s gone, man. She’s fucking gone.” The sound of his sob tore through me.
“Then why aren’t we all dead?” Clay asked the obvious question. “Our wards bond us, right? Everything we feel, we feel together. As one. Take a look at your wards. Would they glow if the bond broke? No, she’s not fucking gone, you moron. She’s not.”
Rob took exception to Clay’s words—shocker—and shoved him hard. “Call me that again and you’ll be gone.”
“Oh, whatever. You are all talk. That’s all you’ve ever been.”
“That’s it.” Rob pulled back his fist.
Bryan blocked his punch by catching Rob’s hand. “This is the last thing we need to be doing. We can’t turn on each other. This is when we need each other the most. The ward isn’t our bond. It’s us. The five of us. I refuse to believe this is how it ends. We’ve fought too hard to get to this point. She’s not dead.” His voice cracked on the last word and released Rob’s hand as he turned away.
“We all saw it,” Leo pointed out. “No one can survive a hit like that.”
“She can,” Clay fired back.
They all fell silent. I blinked my eyes open and squinted at how bright it was in the room. We were in the infirmary, in Syd’s private examination room. I tried to sit up, but it felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest.
“Clay’s right,” I said and pushed into a sitting position. “I can.”
“Montana!” He practically bowled over everyone else to be the first to hug me.
Rob pushed him out of the way to pull me into his strong arms. “Don’t you dare ever do something like that again, Reed.” He buried his face in my hair and shook as he held me.
“You scared us, babe.” Leo got his turn hugging me, running his hands up and down my back.
“You didn’t scare me.” Bryan lifted me in his arms and swung me around before kissing me soundly. When he set me on my feet, my knees wobbled, and I grabbed the examination table for purchase.
“Whoa. I’m a
