I rose to my feet, my entire body throbbing with rage and emotion. I was covered in Lucas's blood, but I didn't care. Henry was beside me. Amirah stood across from us, grinning an ugly grin, and I wondered how I could ever have envied her, wanted to be like her.

"Why?" was all I could muster. My hands at my sides clenched into fists.

"You know why, sister. We've had this conversation."

"He was harmless--he wouldn't have hurt you!"

Amirah tipped her gun up and propped it on her shoulder. "He already was hurting me. His very presence made me vulnerable. I don't feel that draw, that pull anymore. It's the most freeing thing I've ever known!"

"But you're incomplete."

"Small price."

"For someone who was never whole to begin with," I said bitterly.

It's not as if he was your precious Henry, she thought to me. But then she widened her eyes as if she'd heard some bit of gossip, grinned like a demon, showing all her teeth. "Wait a minute! I didn't see that coming. Layla, you whore--you loved him, didn't you? Don't deny it! I can read it in you. You know I can. I wonder how Henry feels about that? Maybe you should ask him!"

I wasn't going to let her get to me. To us. "I did love him," I admitted. "I loved him for the help he gave me, for the good he was trying to be in spite of my inability to give him what he wanted in return. You were nothing but a curse to him. All he wanted was to find you, for you to care about him!"

She waved aside my words. "I have no time for this." Aiming her gun at Henry, she thought to me, Open their tanks. Do it or I'll shoot him the way I just shot Lucas. You know I will. And don't try anything; I know what you think.

My lower lip was quivering. I didn't want to listen to her, to help her. Opening those tanks was the last thing I wanted to do, but looking from her to Henry back to her, I knew she'd kill him without a second thought. I couldn't have come all this way just to lose him for good.

"Nadia--what? What is it?" Henry reached for me, not knowing what was going on between us, but I only glared at Amirah, shook my head tearfully at him, and turned and walked over the bodies toward the tanks that enclosed Enrique and Sabine. I choked down a sob as I passed Lucas. Henry called after me, but I heard Amirah tell him to stay. In his fashion, he began to argue with her, but she told him she'd shoot me if he tried anything, and again, I didn't doubt her.

Past the pools that moments earlier had held me and Lucas, over Gareth's body, to the huge upright tanks. I'd rather have left those two in there to rot away in their unconsciousness, never getting what they wanted from us. Again using my ability to communicate with circuitry, I held my hands on what looked like the control panel, and in under a minute I had the tanks draining their liquid. Some sort of platforms rose up inside under Sabine's and Enrique's feet, and the plugs in the sides of their heads detached and pulled back. Then they were waking, and I cared nothing for whatever confusion or discomfort or frustration they were experiencing. I walked through the tanks and back toward Amirah, keeping my eyes on her as I came near. Then we stood there, the three of us, in a frozen triangle of tension, while the two behind me said things and presumably climbed out and surveyed the situation--I didn't know; I didn't watch them. I stared at Amirah, trying to think of what to do and yet knowing that anything I came up with was futile, as she'd preempt whatever I tried. Henry reached out to take my hand at one point, but she shot into the ceiling and warned us against any movement.

Amirah, please let us leave, I tried begging, but she only laughed.

"Thank you for letting me out, sister," she remarked, ignoring my plea, her eyes boring into my own. "They didn't even notice in all this fuss. And you should thank me for getting this one out. I could've left him simmering in that slime." She shrugged. "But I needed his help. Not sure what any of those others would've been like if I'd wakened them."

"But what is it you want, now?" Henry asked. "We can help you destroy them. That's what we all want."

She rolled her eyes, thought Boys, right? Layla, you're better without him. But then she said aloud, "What I want? I've never been asked. You'll know soon enough."

By that time, Sabine and Enrique must've gotten themselves together enough to realize what was going on. I didn't dare turn around for fear of what Amirah might try with Henry when I wasn't looking, but she soon told us to turn and start walking in the direction of the tanks, telling us to keep our distance from one another as we went. How I wished I'd had the ability to think-talk to Henry in that moment, to try to formulate some plan. But I was at a loss, and she knew it. Sabine and Enrique had somehow become intimidating again. They had robes around themselves and were standing still and imposing with hands clasped in front of them. In spite of their bare feet and dripping hair. Enrique's features appeared sad, but Sabine's still expression was masking an intense rage; I could see it smoldering behind her hard, unblinking eyes. We approached to within twenty feet of them, but then I stopped moving. I didn't dare go any closer to those monsters. Amirah stayed behind me and Henry, not letting go of her weapon.

"Amirah," Sabine said, her controlled tone dangerous. "What have you done, dear?"

Then from behind us, suddenly softening herself, Amirah's voice: "Don't be angry, mother, please! I--I know you're mad at me right now. But I just couldn't stand back--"

"What is your goal, here, child?" Enrique cut her off. "To displease us?"

I could hear a tremor in her voice as she responded, "No! I—I want to show you that I can be strong! They've always been your fav-favorites. Always! What about me? I've done everything you ever wanted. I j-just want you to want me!" Amirah sounded as if she were trying not to cry.

You don't want them to want you! I thought to her. They only want to erase us! Help us instead, Amirah. We can help you! And I meant it, in that moment--Amirah was probably more damaged than Lucas had been. But she could be mended, if only we could get away from them!

Amirah struggled to steady her voice and entirely ignored me. "From the beginning I watched you favor Henry-golden-child--everything he did was always right. And then you sent me out to watch Layla for all those months and I thought it was because you trusted me, because you c-cared about me, but no, it's only ever been her. Why not m-me, mother?" Her voice was rising to a fever pitch. "I'm the only one who's ever been loyal to you! Don't you love me? I'll do anything you ask of me. Anything!"

An intensely loaded pause followed, Sabine and Enrique dead still as stone, showing no emotion whatsoever, and then from behind us, Amirah began to breathe heavily, to suck in gasping breaths. I turned slightly to look at her and found that she was clutching wildly at her chest, about to drop her weapon.

"Wh-what's happening to me?" she shrieked, and Henry and I exchanged wild looks. "I--I can't--it hurts--"

Suddenly, I noticed Sabine's lips move, her fingers twitch, and felt sure something was about to happen. Run, Amirah! They're going to hurt you! But she only whimpered feebly behind me, and when what sounded like the buzz of a fly escalated into a loud mechanical whir, I knew a drone had entered. Before I could make any movement at all, Amirah let out a crazy rage scream that was chillingly cut off.

I stood, panting in fear, and slowly turned all the way around, afraid at what I'd find. As I'd been sure, Amirah was on the ground in an expanding pool of blood . . . her head was two or three feet away from her body . . .

My chin tilted up: the drone was rapidly rotating some sharp tool. As I watched it, the horrifying thing shifted itself over me and Henry; we ourselves were still about ten or fifteen feet apart from one another, where Amirah had asked us to stay. When my eyes met Henry's I could tell he wanted to come toward me, but I shook my head, fearing the drone, fearing Sabine and Enrique, who were now coming toward us.

Sabine sighed. "What a mess," she said as nonchalantly as if she'd just walked in on a disorderly kitchen.

Enrique mimicked her sigh. "It's really to be expected, when you think of what we've created. Rebellion is a survival instinct in the most imperfect creatures, and ours are the embodiment of perfection."

"Yes, well now my vessel is dead." Sabine flicked her eyes over to Lucas in aggravation. I wanted to choke her. "I'll have to use Henry, after all. Not ideal, but I know you've always had a soft spot for your namesake. He was very promising, in the beginning, and this insurrection shows strength. I have faith that I can strengthen his vessel more from the inside."

"Oh, I'm sure you're right. This is for the best, Sabine. You'll see. These two, our eighth and final--it's fate."

"Come," Sabine said to us, pointing up to the drone, which had been joined by a second, and then to the pools that had moments ago held me and Lucas. She turned to her partner. "I'll transfer you first, and then you can transfer me. We can clean this all up later."

I stayed rooted to where I was, partially from some innate refusal, and partially because everything that had happened had destroyed me. I just--I couldn't. I wouldn't. "I'd rather die than let you touch me in any way."

"That goes for me, too," Henry affirmed.

The two adults stared at us. Sabine was about to speak, but Enrique stepped in front of her and beat her to it. "You have to realize that this is the most miraculous opportunity you'll ever have--to be a part of the transformation of humanity itself! To rewrite the code of life! And it is all in your hands."

"Is it? Won't it be your hands if I let you in?"

"Well, technically, they'll be both of ours," Enrique bumbled. "You won't have cognizance--you'll be gone. But it will have been your vessel!"

"Well she won't give it to you, and neither will I," Henry said firmly, walking toward me, and as he neared, the very heat between our bodies mingled, intensified, began to rage.

Sabine shoved Enrique aside. "Don't be fools!" she hissed. "We'll sedate you--we can do whatever we want to your bodies, because they're ours, not yours at all! Don't you understand that? We made you! You belong to us! You are us!"

The drones above made noise, but I had no time to be concerned with what they were doing. "I remember the end of the story," I said over my fear, "the one about the bear. The girl wakes it with the candle, and he's a handsome Prince, and she ruins the spell. He's taken far away from her, cursed forever. But the end—you forgot to retell us that part. The girl goes after the prince. She saves him from the villain. She brings him home." They were my final words to her, and then Henry and I turned toward each other.

The world seemed to slow to a pulse around us--he was within inches of me, and his proximity coupled with the sheer amount of bare skin revealed on both of us was vibrating with torrid electricity. He looked into my eyes, deeply, and said, "Your eyes are glowing--"

"Yours too--"

"Channel it, Nadia. We're a conduit."

"Together," I insisted. "Touch me."

The very air around him sparked with orange and gold and red, as if he were literally on fire, and I felt myself engulfed in dazzling incandescence. When he lifted a hand and gently wrapped his fingers around the back of my neck, my breath deepened and my skin erupted into light. Somewhere above, I heard sounds as if I were underwater--drones whirring, shooting, voices shouting at us, footsteps, but none of it touched us, none of it came close. I placed hands on Henry's chest and he exhaled euphorically, and then we drew together, and everywhere our skin touched, the air combusted and the very space around us melted and flames burst from our bodies. I pulled him closer, tighter, until I felt as if we'd merged into one being, channeling the heat and light and radiation of a thousand stars. We were lost in sensation, in the diffusion of celestial material pouring into our human forms and igniting everything around us, incinerating all who got in our way, a resonating aggregation of the very matter of the universe thrilling to the vibration of a thousand million suns and moons and dark material, of shooting stars and aureal luminosity and earth-shattering brilliance, of galaxies the size of grains of rice exploded into massive giants and scattering their effulgent particles across time and space.

And eons could've passed in that embrace, but my body slowly became aware of its boundaries--of the reality that we were not one but two--and that wind blew around me and my skin was exposed. And suddenly, I was pulling away from Henry, holding his hands, and eyes locked, we mirrored each other's understanding and turned to look around us.

Everything was gone. The glass had entirely blown out of the room, and wind had rushed through. What wasn't gone was in ashes, anything organic or mechanic. We two were the only things that remained, and the fire simmering against the ceiling and over the floor gave us all the reason we needed to turn and, together, walk slowly through the open doorway. Through the halls, unimpeded, bringing crackling flames with us wherever we moved, as long as we held on to one another, until the entire complex was burning. And up we went, and up, as we just seemed to know where to go, until we exited through a circular door out onto the top of the glass dome. Barefoot and poorly clothed, we made our way to land, the low mountaintop into which Xanadu had been built, and from there, we watched it burn. All of it. Forever gone.

~*~*~*~*~

When the sun began to set over the smoldering remains of Xanadu, when its rays sparkled over the lake and struck it with diamonds, when the skies above began to smoke with the cinders of a dying empire, dying dreams, we two rested side by side, unbothered by the dusky air, alive and free and complete . . . yet also contemplative.

I sat, knees in front of me, arms wrapped around them, staring out at the pockets and scars of still-glowing embers streaking across the complex. Henry sat beside me, concerned, looking at me questioningly. "What is it? What are you thinking?" he asked, and his words were the first he'd spoken since we'd lit the world on fire.

Sniffing a bit, tears formed in the corners of my eyes. "I'm sorry for so much," I barely breathed, curling and uncurling my toes. "I'm just . . . so, so sorry."

He positioned himself to better see my face. We were on an outcropping of rock and earth, seated on soft grass, laid bare under the rising moonlight, which found its reflection in our translucent eyes. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Nadia. Nothing."

"I've done so many terrible things, Henry, hurt so many people to get here, to you. The Hineses, and Roxie, and Paolo . . ."

"You didn't hurt any of them. They made their own choices, Nadia. Everything you've done, it's been for me, because I couldn't do it for myself, so if anyone should be sorry, it's me. But I promise you—you won't have to make any more decisions on your own."

His words consoled me, for the most part. "But . . . what about Lucas?" I buried my face against my arms. I didn't want him to see me cry.

Henry sighed into the night, not exasperated but understanding, comforting. "Lucas knew Amirah would kill him, that it was only a matter of time. She'd told him herself."

I lifted my chin and wiped at my eyes, looked straight ahead. "Then why didn't he kill her first?"

"He couldn't. He wouldn't have been able to live long without her, just as she wasn't able to live without him. Before they killed Amirah, she was already feeling the effects of his death."

"Did she not know that would happen?"

"I'm sure she thought she could get past it. But the two of them wouldn't have been able to live either way, together or without each other." Silence for a moment, then he added, "We aren't made to be apart."

Turning my head sideways, laying it on my arms, I smiled softly, somewhat sadly at him. How beautiful he was, how absolutely luminous, radiant as the stars. His expression made me sure I looked the same, to him. "Who are we, now? What sort of person can I possibly be, after everything I've done?"

He studied me, lowered his brow as if perplexed. "But we aren't people. All of this--these bodies--the lives they said we've lived--it's been dissemblance." Excitement glittered in his eyes. "What we are is ancient, Nadia, older than anything here, older than the universe itself; the stuff we're made of--you felt it, you saw it in there. That's what we are. And Lucas and Amirah and maybe even the others, maybe that's the part of us that never dies, that stuff of the cosmos." He turned up toward the expanse of constellations and sparkle out in the black beyond. "That's where we belong. That's home. And you and I--we'll find out how to get back to it."

He was so free in his smile, in his charm and joy. I'd never seen him so . . . so pure. Something occurred to me. "The asteroid! She said they built Xanadu on top of it! It must still be down there!" I'd become energized, hopped up onto my knees.

Henry caught my excitement. "Then that's where we'll start! Maybe, maybe it'll speak to us, somehow." He reigned in his exuberance, calmed. "But, you know, we've got forever to figure it all out. There's . . . there's really no rush."

I sat back, appreciating the soft grass under my bare legs, bare feet. The night was warm enough; the friendly moon and stars traced Henry's form in aqua light. I reached out and took his hand, turned it palm up, ran my finger across its lines, watched him fall into that rhapsody I, too, knew, and I was thrilled to be able to bring him that sensation at last without any hindrance.

A breeze whispered through his silvery hair, and a slight alarm played at me. "Do you want to live forever?"

He closed his fingers around mine and wandered his free hand across my skin, tendrils of static curling wherever he touched, pausing at last where my heart was, and pressing his palm there, sending everything into a spiral of radiance. "That's hardly enough time with you," he returned, and then he leaned in and met my lips with his own, galvanizing the very atmosphere, transforming us into starlight, while the wind and the earth and the sky and the space disappeared into inflamed luminescence beyond us, into forever.

THE END