CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

I hear the scream before I release it. It's the weird double reality thing – seeing the future thunder down on top of me. And then having it thunder down on top of me.

Across the stage, by the first row of pews, Caden drops to the floor. I watch it happen twice. As if it wasn't horrifying enough the first time.

And then it's the running. It's the tears on my cheeks and the word screaming out of my lungs: No. I'm on my knees and Caden's eyes, unseeing, are on the roof. He's not dead, not yet. Scott – who caught Caden as he fell – is yelling at me. I'm not hearing it; all of my senses have narrowed in on the crudely forged spike in Caden's chest. It's missed his heart, but the blood–

Oh, the blood.

Red in my eyes. Red on my hands. Red in my heart. Caden takes his last breath and is gone.

I darken. Keon is still on the stage, watching calmly. "What have you done?!" I scream. I'm on my feet. When I stalk up to him, I leave bloody footprints on the polished floor. "What have you done?!"

He's so calm. I hate him for it. I loathe him. I want to see him choking on his own heart as I tear it out through his throat. "This is what you get for denying me, Melissa."

"You're a monster," I spit.

The slap is strong enough to bowl me off my feet. I land on my back and the air rushes out of my lungs. Pain rattles around in my bones. My cheek feels like fire.

I haven't even begun to recover when there's a shout. "Lauren!" Harrison has seen his sister. He pushes past everyone, Katherine grabbing desperately at his arm as she tries to hold him back.

But he's too strong. He rips free, running to Lauren where she stands unmoved on the stage. "Lauren," he says again. "Sis, I know you're there. Please, just–"

Horrified, I watch her take him by the neck and slam him into the nearest wall. His eyes bludge. "I am not your sister." She pulls him off and slams him back again. Even from the other side of the stage, I swear I hear a crunch. "Do you understand?"

Harrison isn't answering. When she lets go, he falls the floor. He doesn't get back up.

This is enough to finally kick the adults into gear. It's an all-out assault. The church is suddenly wild with wind. Crackles of electricity arc through the air, scorching anything they touch. Other powers, too – things I can't name – are awakened. A maelstrom of supernatural energy in various shapes descends upon Lauren and Keon. It's like watching a tsunami crash down on land – if tsunamis were bright with colour and crackling with electricity.

I think, They're doomed.

Then I wonder who I mean by 'they'.

Keon and Lauren throw up their defences, and just like that I can't follow the fight anymore. It's too wild, too full of energy and power. I lose sight of people in the chaos. Tendrils of energy swirl around the room, race through the air. The sound itself is loud enough to make my ears bleed – and then it is thrown back at me again and again as it echoes.

In the frenzy, I remember Harrison. I scramble to my feet, ignoring the ache in bones. Already I'm healing, fractured bones fusing together, bruises fading on my skin. The jolt of energy Keon gave me has shot my abilities into overdrive.

There's a vortex of deadly tendrils of power between Harrison and I. Crossing straight through would be like walking through a torrent of bullets. So keeping to the shadows, I follow the wall around the perimeter of the stage. A few times I have to duck, arcs of Ethel's electricity searing the wall above my head. I nearly get hit by something ink-black and wispy at one point. It collides with the wall in a puff of smoke, centimetres before me. In it's wake there's a fist-sized hole.

Soon after, I reach Harrison. I roll him onto his back and press two fingers to his neck. It doesn't take long to find a pulse, and I let out a tremendous sigh of relief. He's alive. He's okay.

I don't let myself think about Caden.

"Melissa!"

Someone shouts my name in warning. I spin, eyes catching on Lauren. She's spotted me in the shadows. And there's a silver barb floating between her hands.

It flies.

I don't have time to react. It's fast as a bullet and my normal human speed is slow as a tortoise in comparison. I brace myself for impact.

But impact never comes.

Instead there's a shadow, sweeping across my vision. A dark angel, rescuing me from death. The figure hits the ground and falls onto their back. The dull blue light flickers across their features, makes their eyes gleam. I suck in a breath as I realise who it is.

"Dad?" I cry, horrified. The metal got him in the abdomen. He's already bleeding out. "Why did you do that?" New tears wash away the old on my cheeks.

He looks at me. And it's not a look of fear or anger. It's not a look of hate or indifference. It's one of sorrow.

It's one of love.

"I'm so sorry, Mel," he breathes.

I'm weeping, on the verge of hysterics. I grab his hand and place it to his wound. "You're going to be fine, okay? Just help me stop the blood." He groans as I apply pressure, but beneath my hand, his own is slack.

His eyes roll to the ceiling. "Dad? Dad, stay with me, okay?" The blood is bubbling up between my fingers. My knees are wet with it.

"Melissa," he gasps. "Stop."

I shake my head, tears streaming faster. "No. No. I already lost mum. I'm not going to lose you, too."

He slides his hand out from underneath mine and reaches up, as if to touch my face. "I never stopped loving you." His fingertips touch my cheek, the blood on his fingers mingling with my tears.

"Don't do this to me, Dad." My heart is shattering. I've lost the pieces in blood. "Don't go."

He lets out a breath and his eyes rolls back to the ceiling. His fingers trace two crimson lines down my face as he goes slack. The thud of his hand against the floor is somehow louder than all the chaos in the church. He's gone.

And moments later so is all the noise. I get to my feet, staring at the impossible. Everyone I came here with is lying on the floor. Panicking, I run towards them. My footsteps echo, loud in the sudden, terrifying silence. I'm kneeling down to check Katherine's pulse when his voice fills my ears.

"They're not dead, just unconscious."

Keon is standing back by the receptacle, hands folded. There's not a scratch on him. I run my eyes over my allies to verify that he's telling the truth. They appear, for the most part, unharmed. Then I spot the line of scarlet running out of Annalise's mouth.

Keon notices my staring. "Oh, my apologies, not that one. No, she's quite dead."

I turn completely to face him now, my heart beating furiously. The darkness around him seems to be swirling, alive.

He continues. "I figured I'd let them wage a little war before I put an end to the fun. Even if I am stronger than all of them combined, it felt cruel to quell their resistance before it could properly begin. I thought, let them have a go at it. I'd never want to crush all their hope. That's just mean.

"Now. Will you please just break the curse. All this fighting has made me tired. And frankly I'm sick of being tired."

Keon's right – it has made him tired. The shadows under his eyes are deeper, and his body doesn't stand quite as straight.

If I do this, I'll be freeing him of these consequences. He'll be unstoppable.

He picks up on my reluctance. "Break the curse," he orders, "or she dies next."

And one thick finger pointed at Katherine, filling my shattered heart with fear.

"Okay," I say. My voice drops to a murmur. "Okay."

Any thoughts of resistance are gone. I cross over to the stage and take the step up onto the raised platform. Keon hands me the anchor as I pass him and take my place before the blue fire.

"No tricky business this time," he tells me. The 'Or else' is implied.

For the last time, I summon up my desire. Desire for this day to be over. Desire to be rid of the curse that's brought me nothing but pain. And I speak it, the language of the otherworld flowing from my lips. I'm not sure what I've said, but it feels right.

The stone warms. The universe accepts my request. It erupts once more in blue light, light so bright I have to shield my eyes with my other hand. The glow grows and expands. It fills in every shadow in the entire church, touching the unconscious, illuminating the blood, shining on death.

I throw the anchor into the fire and the brightness increases tenfold. The flames roar, the heat searing my skin. I stumble a few steps back, my eyes tearing up from the intensity of the glow. We have captured the sun and brought it down to earth. We have stolen the light from every star in the universe and trapped it here.

When the light finally fades, the blue flames go with it. Everything is dark.

Then outside, as if by design, the clouds part. Rays of sunlight filter down through the stained glass windows, painting the church green and red and gold. It's timed too perfectly to be a coincidence.

"Do you feel that?" Keon asks. It takes me a moment to realise he's not asking me.

Lauren looks up at the windows, nods. "It's gone. The weight is gone."

Keon takes a deep breath and smiles. I hate him, more than I've ever hated anyone in my entire life.

Just then, there's a cough over by the pews. Keon and Lauren seem too caught up in their revelry to notice. I leave them, walking cautiously across the stage, stepping down onto the ground.

The cough comes again, louder and more ragged. My ears pinpoint its location before I turn my head. But it couldn't be...? Could it?

I turn in time to see him cough again. He rolls onto his side, coughing up blood – so much blood. But the bruises on his face are gone, the cuts are healed. And the hole in his blood-soaked shirt is the only evidence that there was ever a spike in his chest. If I hadn't watched him die, I wouldn't believe it had even happened.

He finally stops coughing. I stare at him, frozen. "Caden?"

This time, when he looks up, when his eyes drift in my direction, they land on me. He sees me. And the most ridiculous thing happens: he smiles. "Rough day, huh?"

A laugh bursts out of me, even as I start to cry. In one breath, he's collected every shattered piece of my heart and put it back into place. I move to his side and help him, first into a sitting position, and then all the way to his feet.

"You were dead," I say.

"And now I'm alive."

My confused mind hurtles all the way back through the chaos of the day, to the moment Caden lay dying before me. And I remember Scott, yelling words I wouldn't listen to in my panic:

Melissa, stop, he's going to fine! He hasn't had his second awakening yet! Melissa!

I suck in a breath. All this time I'd been fearing his death – and I hadn't even stopped to realise he hadn't had his second awakening! "Oh my god," I say, and start laughing again. "Oy my god."

Caden sends me a look like, Are you okay? I just hug him, face against his chest, arms wrapped tightly around his back. I'm never letting go again.

Someone clears their throat behind me. At once, I remember Keon and Lauren. One arm still slung around Caden's waist, I turn to face them.

"Back from the dead, I see."

"Just another Wednesday," Caden replies, voice hard. "Are you going to kill us now?"

"No."

"No?" I repeat, astonished. "You're just going to leave."

It wasn't a question. He answers anyway. "I am. You're too valuable to the prophecy to lose. And as for everyone else... Well, let me put it this way: would you chase down and kill a fly just because it buzzed in your ear?"

That silences both of us. If we really are just flies to him, what chance do we stand? The curse is broken and now all of Anarkk-kind is stronger than ever. They have the replicator. They have the recruits. They're brewing war, and to their leader, we're nothing more than a nuisance. The more I think about his question, the more it terrifies me.

They're doomed.

I meant us. I know that now. But somewhere deep within me, something flickers: hope. Even if it only exists because Keon allows it, it's there, steady and eternal. As long as there's breath in our lungs, there's hope.

Lauren has disappeared back into shadow. Behind us, the others are waking up. Caden gives my side a reassuring squeeze.

"My dear Melissa," Keon says, words bouncing around the church. "You have sealed your fate. Be ready. Endgame is coming."

A/N

That's it for Cold Tomorrow! Thank you all so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this book despite my dreadfully sporadic updating. 

Keep an eye out for book 3, coming later this year :)

- Shaye <3