Iridescence

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

EMILY

For a split second, I couldn't understand what had happened. Then, reality came rushing back. I caught Lucky as he fell toward the ground. I sat on the floor with this boy I hardly knew in my arms and thought my heart might shatter completely. It felt like I was the one who'd been impaled.

"Lucky!" Jenna screamed.

"No!" Vanessa sobbed.

"I'm... Sorry..." Lucky said weakly as blood began pouring out of his mouth.

The remaining monsters suddenly caught on fire at once. There was nothing left but ash after a minute. Faith stood in the middle of the chaos, but I barely noticed her. "I was too late..." She mumbled.

I remained silent, falling back into old habits as shock took control of me. Lucky stared at me with a love I knew he didn't understand in his eyes. I understood it, because as Lucky lay dying in my arms, I saw Lysander instead. Ly had died almost exactly like this, taking an attack meant for Anastasia and bleeding out in her arms. Unfortunately, Anastasia had been killed almost immediately after, so his sacrifice had been in vain.

I remembered. I remembered everything. And I was furious.

"No," I said firmly.

"Emily... Is he okay?" Faith asked cautiously.

"We're not doing this again," I said stubbornly, ignoring her question. "You do not get to do this to me again, Lysander!"

"Emily?" Vanessa asked softly. She was sobbing and trying to comfort Jenna at the same time.

"That's not Emily," Jake said softly. "Not right now." He slowly moved closer to me. "Anastasia, just breathe. You have to get control of yourself, and then you can do more."

"He's dead..." Jenna whispered in horror as she stared at Lucky.

"He's dead," I confirmed, "but he's not staying that way."

Vanessa sniffled. "You can help him?" She asked.

"My affinity is for Spirit. I can do this... I'm sure of it. I just need an anchor."

"I've got you," Jake said. He gently touched my arm. I might have protested, but in that moment, Anastasia suddenly recognized him.

"You..." I whispered as too many memories stirred inside of me at once.

"Me," he replied. He offered me a smile I knew entirely too well.

There was no time to dwell on that. I focused all of my energy on Lucky. I began casting spells I'd never dreamed of before, whispering one powerful chant after another.

"He's glowing... Should he be glowing?" Faith asked.

It was true. Lucky's body was radiating with light. I kept going, encouraged by this development.

"Please..." Jenna whispered through fresh tears. "Please work... Please save him..."

I worked harder, determined to see this through even though it was exhausting. I didn't care. I had to save him.

"Easy, Ana," Jake said, although he sounded more like the soul I now recognized than the annoying bodyguard Hades had assigned to me. "Emily has a mortal body. She can only use so much energy at once. Besides, if you keep combining spells like that, they may lead to an unexpected result."

"I know what I'm doing," I insisted. Anastasia and I had almost instantly merged into one being, probably because with my Spirit affinity, it was easy for me to adjust to my past life's energy. As Emily, I hadn't been able to save my sister. As Anastasia, I hadn't been able to save either one of my siblings. I was determined to save Lucky now.

His body was fully healed from his injury. Encouraged, I reached out for his soul. I found him trying to cross into the Underworld.

"Don't you dare," I snapped. I grabbed Lucky and pulled his soul out of the Afterlife and shoved it back into his body.

It took several seconds that felt like an eternity, but eventually, Lucky's chest began to slowly rise and fall. I checked his pulse and realized it was strong and steady. He opened his eyes, sat up, and mumbled, "That hurt..."

I smacked the back of his head. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" I snapped. "Stop sacrificing yourself to save me!"

Lucky hugged me tightly. I might have pulled away, but Anastasia was overwhelmed and needed to hug her brother. I clung to Lucky and refused to let him go.

"I'm sorry, Ana," he said softly.

That made me pause. "You remember," I realized.

"It's like I got hit by a truck carrying someone else's memories, and now, they're mine. You were right... I was Ly. And you're my sister, and so is Van, and Na's still my best friend."

Vanessa hugged us both. She was still crying, but this time, it was in relief. Jenna stood motionless, staring at us as if she couldn't process what had just happened.

"Na, I'm okay," Lucky said softly. Vanessa and I helped him stand up and we all moved closer to Jenna.

Suddenly, the ground started shaking violently. A large crack appeared. I grabbed Vanessa before she could fall in. Faith burst into flames as she jumped away from the hole. Jake and Lucky clung to each other for balance.

"Na, stop!" Lucky cried. "Don't destroy the world, okay?"

He started walking toward her, determined to reach her. "I wouldn't," Jake advised.

"Let him do this," I said. "He's the only one who can calm her."

Lucky finally stumbled his way to Jenna. He wrapped his arms around her. As he did, a labyrinth formed around both of them, and they vanished.

"Are they going to be okay?" Vanessa asked as the earthquake stopped.

"I think so," I replied. As my adrenaline wore off, I started to feel dizzy. I half-collapsed into Jake's arms.

"Em! Are you going to be okay?" Vanessa asked.

I realized my nose was bleeding as Jake pulled out a tissue and tried to stop the flow.

"I think I overdid it," I admitted. "I just need to rest. I'll be alright."

"Did your soul fully unlock?" Vanessa asked.

"Very much so," I replied.

"Mine, too... I remember Theadora. I remember living, and dying, and I remember Nyght. I have to find him, Em."

"You will. I'm sure of it."

The labyrinth fell away. Jenna looked significantly calmer. Lucky was grinning, still holding her to keep her grounded.

"I'm sorry," Jenna said softly. She touched the ground. It mended back together before my eyes. Flowers bloomed where she'd cracked the earth in half.

Faith's body returned to normal. "So that's three for three as far as you unlocking your souls," she said. "And, as you saw, I'm unlocked, too. So is Eliza... That just leaves Krissy. We need to get to her. He's going to go after her next."

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked.

"We're being unlocked by trauma. Krissy's the only one left. She needs us."

"Let's go," I said.

"No, Emily," Jake said gently. "You almost killed yourself saving Lucky. You can't go with them." He paused before adding, "Please... You know this is too much for you right now."

"We need to stay together," I protested. "We didn't even find the person who flung the sword at Lucky."

"It was Altheos," Faith said. "No one else has that kind of aim with a sword."

"We didn't see him," Vanessa said.

"He was probably hiding in the bushes like a coward," I said.

"That sounds like him," Jake agreed.

"Faith," Jenna began. "You said you were awakened by trauma, too. What happened?"

"Later," Faith replied. "Emily, you look half-dead. Go rest. Jenna, Vanessa, and I can handle this."

Lucky looked torn, like he wanted to stay with me but also wanted to stay with them. "Go with them," I said. "Be careful. If you try to sacrifice yourself again, I'll kill you myself."

He hugged me tightly. "We'll talk soon," he promised.

I wanted him to stay with me so I could reassure myself he was safe, but I needed to talk to Jake privately. As the others hurried off to find Krissy, I looked at Jake.

"You didn't tell me," I said. I tried to ignore the flood of memories racing through my mind and the intense emotions they brought with them.

"What was I supposed to say, Emily?" Jake asked as he started to walk me home. "'Hi, I'm your destroyed soul's supposedly destroyed consort! Give me a kiss!' I'm pretty sure you would have stabbed me."

"You're not wrong," I admitted. "You still should have told me..."

"It's different for me. My soul wasn't fully destroyed. They just killed enough of me to make everyone think I was dead. The part they kept alive went kind of crazy. The part they destroyed recycled itself into a new soul... And here I am. So I'm back, but I'm not fully whole, and I've kind of got issues."

"I noticed." I paused. "Does Hades know?"

"I don't think he knows who I used to be... He just senses that you and I are connected." He reached toward me to wipe some hair out of my face like he'd done it a thousand times before. My soul wanted his touch to linger.

"We're not," I said suddenly, pulling away from him.

"Emily-"

"Look... Anastasia and Photeus were connected, but you and I are strangers, Jake. You're just the annoying guy Hades insists on having stalk me. Anastasia was destroyed. She's gone. I have her powers and her memories, but I'm not her."

"What's come over you? A few minutes ago, you looked so relieved to recognize me."

"It was the shock. Stay away from me, Jake. I mean it."

I hurried away from him, knowing he was still following me at a distance. I refused to look back.

Photeus had been tortured just to lure Anastasia into a trap. I refused to let Jake get close to me. One thing Anastasia and I seemed to share in common was that the people closest to us tended to end up dead.