“Jules—look at me.” I stroke his face, and his eyes swing back toward mine. “Stay with me, okay?”
His eyelashes dip—and my heart drops too—and then lift in a slow, weary blink. “Are we on Gaia?” he mumbles, confusion furrowing his brow.
I gulp back a sob and pull him against me. Something about keeping the wound elevated above his heart. Something about keeping him close to my own heart. “No, we’re home.” I drop my head, pressing my forehead to his. “We’re home now.”
“My dad’s going to love you.” Jules’s voice is thin and soft.
I lift my head, and water keeps dripping down, down from the ceiling, down from my face, down from the corners of Jules’s eyes. “I can’t wait to meet him,” I manage, trying to sound happy, trying to sound warm. Trying to sound like I’m not watching Jules die.
His eyes close again, and I tap at his cheek until they open and fix, with some effort, on me. “Tomorrow we’ll be the first people ever to set foot in this temple. …”
I try to smile at him. “You picked me up and whirled me around in the air. I had no idea I could feel that way until I met you.” I stroke his cheek, wiping his tears and mine from his skin. “That kind of wonder. That kind of hope.”
More gunfire, more shouting, more cracking of stone and splashing of water. Battle rages all around. No one’s aiming for me. With one bullet, Atlanta destroyed us both.
I shift my grip, arm aching from pressing the cloth against his wound. I trail my fingers over his jaw until his eyes soften.
“I love you,” I tell him.
His cracked lips curve, and a little glint dances there in his eyes. “I know that.”
The air in my lungs escapes, laughter and horror, and I give him a little shake. “Don’t try to play it cool. You love me back.”
The glint softens, and the smile fades, and his brown eyes meet mine with such a sudden clarity, clear of the fog of pain and blood loss, clear of everything but certainty. “I know that too.”
It’s getting harder to hold him, his body growing limper, his head heavier against my arm.
He sighs. “Mia,” he whispers. And then his eyes roll away from me, and his head drops back.
I can’t let go of him. My arms are frozen around him, his heavier weight pinning me down with him. I’ll just stay here with him until it’s over.
When all this is over.
Those words echo in my mind, again and again and again.When all this is over …We’ll be together. We’ll figure it out. We’ll find a way to love each other. We’ll have a chance to see what we’re like when we’re not fighting for our lives. We’ll start over. We’ll be together.
When all this is over.
My hands sticky with Jules’s blood, my every muscle screaming protest, I lift my head.
The two sides are facing off against each other, the Undying in cover around the portal, and Mink’s people shielding themselves around the mouth of the tunnel. There’s no sign of Neal—I hope he’s behind cover somewhere, out of harm’s way—and Dex is still talking, trying to appeal to Atlanta.
Atlanta, who’s only a few yards away from me, still near the portal, her shoulder against the stone, gun trained in the direction of her opposition.
Gently, I ease Jules down onto the stone, smoothing the edge of his shirt back into place, drying the last few tears still left on his face. He looks like he’s asleep. He looks peaceful.
Then I get to my feet and walk toward the girl who murdered Jules.
I’m in her blind spot, flanking the Undying. The others will see me, and Atlanta might even hear me, but not before it’s too late. She’s dismissed me—she destroyed me, after all.
And I may be destroyed. But I can still take her with me.
I break into a run at the last moment, so that when I reach her I collide with her and knock her to the ground. Her grunt of surprise and pain nearly drowns out the clatter of the handgun skittering on the stone. Her hand stretches out, but I have a rock in my hand, and I smash it at her face, and then dive for the gun myself.
By the time I’m on my feet again, Atlanta’s on her knees, blood pouring from a new gash across her cheek—but she freezes when I swing the weapon around to point at her.
This time, I stand far enough back that she can’t do what she did at IA Headquarters. This time, I make sure the safety’s off. This time, my hand is steady.
“See how easily it’s turned yourways?” I say softly.
