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.
twenty-six
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 see everything.
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.