“Hudson,” she whispered. “I’m in love with Hudson.”
“You were,” Liam admitted. “In your waking world. Until the Old Masters found out. And found you two.”
Ellory’s mouth opened, but she couldn’t speak. Tears streamed steadily over her cheeks. She didn’t remember being in love with Hudson, but she’dfeltit, hadn’t she? Every time they’d been together in this fictitious version of reality, she had been focusedon him above all else, like he was the only real thing she knew. Those half conversations had been lost memories, returning to her whenever they bonded anew, giving her the strength she needed to break free of the spell’s control. And he’d disappeared because she’d overplayed her hand.
He was in danger, and it was all her fault.
He had loved her, and her love had destroyed him.
“Wait.” Ellory shook her head before the guilt could debilitate her, her thoughts snagging on something Liam had said. “You—you’re the one who forced me to admit that I had feelings for Hudson. You basically pushed me into his arms. Why would you do that if you were just a distraction?”
Liam finally released her. He slid his hands into his pockets and shrugged.
“It wouldn’t make any sense for the spell to do that,” she continued as the ghost light sailed around them, illuminating them in a circle of sunflower yellow. Reminding her that she was free, that she had to move, that every second she wasted was another second her loved ones were in danger. “If you were just a distraction, you would never have let me go. You would have fought for me. You would have done anything to keep me away from Hudson, from the truth about the Old Masters.” She stepped forward until she was close enough to place her hand over his chest. His heart beat beneath her fingers, strong and true. “Maybe this world isn’t real. Maybe you aren’t either. But what we felt was real, Liam. You love me. I saw it. I still see it.”
Those chocolate-brown eyes melted under her scrutiny. Real or not, this was a man who was still not over her. His heartbeat raced beneath her touch. He leaned closer to her, as if aching for a kiss, and then turned his face away to look at the forest behind them. “Ido. Love you, I mean. I want you to stay here with me. Everyone else has forgotten about Hudson, and I’m sure you can, too. We can have a real shot if you just…stay.” He reached up to cover her hand with his. But this time, he wasn’t trapping her. This time, he was pleading. “Please, Ellory. Don’t fight them. Stay.”
“I can’t,” she murmured, her free hand reaching up to turn his face back to her. She wanted him to see how serious she was. She wanted to see the love that she was giving away. “I’ll die. And even if I don’t—even if it’s not for a while—they’re never going to stop until someone stops them, Liam. People have died, and people will die, unless I stop them.”
“That doesn’t have to be your problem.”
It was every doubt she’d ever had, every time she’d felt scared and alone, every turned back and ignored epiphany in her quest to eke out some normalcy from her school year. Liam was right. She could take his hand and stop running. She could give in to the Old Masters, let them take her memories of Hudson and Boone, let them take her magic along with it, and build a life here in this constructed space. If she really was creating a dreamworld, then she and the others could make it kinder and softer than the one she’d left behind. She could succeed here in ways she never could out there, instead of making herself miserable fighting something stronger than herself.
She could. But Ellory knew she wouldn’t. And if Liam really was a part of her, then he knew it, too.
“Someoneneeds to make this their problem,” she said, her voice quiet but firm. “If I’m going to die, I want to die experiencing all the pleasure and pain the world has to offer me. I want to die doing, being, and feeling somethingreal. Something better.”
Liam’s throat bobbed as he swallowed. He leaned into her touch with a heart-shattering smile that was painful to look at. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“This is exactly what I like about you, Ellory. You actually give a shit, you know? So many people have forgotten how.” Reluctantly, he extracted himself from her grip and stepped past her to face the looming trees. “I’m not part of their spell, Ellory—I’m part ofyou.I amyourcreation.And I’ll hold them back as long as I can. You go. End this.”
Ellory fought back a sob. “Will you be okay?”
“I don’t exist, remember?” He glanced at her over his shoulder, and this smile was more like the ones she remembered, golden and bright and devastating. “Just do me a favor? Give the Liam out there—the real Liam—the chance to get to know you when you wake. As friends. He deserves that chance.”
“I will.” She wiped her damp eyes. “I love you. Even if it’s not like that, I want you to know—”
“I know,” Liam said warmly. “Goodbye, Ellory.”
“Goodbye, Liam.”
The ghost light shot onward. With one last look back, Ellory followed.
37
The schoolhouse was even more worn down this time, like it was crumbling around the tower that marked the Old Masters’ true base. The grass was even thicker, more treacherous to run through. Ellory waded through waist-length strands that clung to her like chains, forcing her to yank her wrists and ankles free of their grasp. Her light hovered by the hummingbird door, indifferent to her slow progress. Wishing she’d brought a knife, Ellory ripped the plants from the ground, tore their vines from her arms, and flicked burrs from her clothes without caring about the scrapes they left behind.
Her tears had dried. Her resolve had calcified. Whatever was inside that building, she was ready to meet it.
She shoved the door open and entered with her Taser lifted. No monster lay in wait. Instead, the ghost light illuminated a trail to the far wall, beyond the shattered blackboard on the opposite side of the room. Ellory kept her eyes and ears open as she inched forward, waiting for the shadows to coalesce into something that was hopefully weak against electricity. But all was still and silentexcept for the spiders that sprinted across the windowsills and the spectral light that watched her without eyes.
As soon as she made it to the wall, the ball disappeared, submerging her in darkness. Ellory stuffed her phone into her pocket and replaced it with her flashlight. It took two tries for it to click on, but she managed to aim it at the spot where the ghost light had been. There was an inverted hook on the wall, pointing in the wrong direction to hold anything up. Ellory reached for the hook, and it slid downward like a light switch with a lowclick.
The wall popped outward.
Because it wasn’t a wall, not completely.
