Kate Brian - Endless

“Tell Fisher I said good-bye,” she told me. “And that other jerk, too.”

I smiled. “Will do.”

Then, finally, I returned to my mother for one last bolstering hug. She kissed one cheek, then the other, then my forehead, and put her hands on my shoulders.

“Never forget who you are,” she said.

“Who is that again?” I asked tearfully.

“You’re Rory Miller,” she said. “You’re strong and smart and fierce and defiant and compassionate and caring and true. You’re my daughter, and I’ve got your back.”

I smiled as best I could and tried not to choke as I said, “Thanks, Mom. For everything.”

“You’re welcome, baby.”

For a long moment, we stood there, gazing at each other, and even though I knew this was good-bye, and even though my limbs felt heavy with sadness, this was so very different from the moment I’d said good-bye to her on Earth. There had been so much uncertainty then, so much finality, so much never-ever again. Now I knew where she was going to be, I knew she’d be safe, I knew she’d be watching. And the reality of that made my heart feel light.

My mom nodded, then turned me around slowly. Gradually, quietly, a vortex opened in front of us, this one white and long and far less intimidating. My mother leaned forward and whispered in my ear. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said.

A velvet bag appeared in her hands, and she handed it to me. It was heavy, bulbous, and I had a feeling I knew what was inside. “Here,” she said. “You’re going to need these.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said lightly. “You always did give the best presents.”

She shrugged and kissed my forehead. “Your mom knows what you need better than anyone.”

I smiled, turned around, and stepped through.

When I returned to Juniper Landing, I was at the foot of the bridge, standing right behind Joaquin, who was standing right behind Tristan. It was as if no time had passed between the image my mom had shown me in the Light and this moment. Overhead, the clouds were starting to break up and disperse, giving way to small, jagged pieces of blue sky.

“Hey,” I said. “Who died?”

Joaquin whirled around, so startled he almost lost his footing. “Rory?”

Tristan rose to his feet. He kept his back to me for what felt like an eternity before finally turning around. His face looked haggard, like he hadn’t slept in days. There were purple shadows under his eyes, and a tear clung to the underside of his chin.

“Too soon?” I asked, biting my bottom lip.

“Oh my god.”

In two long strides, he closed the distance between us and pulled me into a deep, passionate kiss, his arms locking around me and bending me backward. As I held him, the heavy velvet bag my mom had given me rested against his back. I felt the warm sunlight against the side of my face and laughed even as I was kissing him.

Finally Tristan pulled away and looked into my eyes with wonder, brushing my hair back from my face. “I thought I’d lost you,” he said. “I thought you were gone forever.”

“I know,” I said as the clouds continued to part. “So did I.” I glanced at the deserted area around the bridge, the dozens of muddy footprints peppering the ground. “Where is everyone?”

“I sent them down to deal with the crowd,” Tristan told me, holding on to my hand. “Hopefully they’re getting things under control.”

“What the hell happened in there?” Joaquin asked, hovering to my left. “Did Darcy and your dad get out?”

“Yeah. They’re fine. Everyone’s fine,” I told them. “They were released to the Light. Me, my dad, Darcy, Aaron, Jennifer…everyone. We ended up there.” I cleared my throat. “Everyone except Krista.”

There was a quick pulse of sadness, of dread. Until today, Krista had been one of our own, someone worthy of protecting, of loving. It was going to take a while for any of us to accept what she had tried to do.

A crackle split the silence. Bea’s voice rang through our walkie-talkies. “Tristan? Are you there? Over.”

He tugged his radio off his waistband and hit the button to talk. “I’m here. Everything okay? Over.”

“Not exactly,” she responded. “We managed to subdue part of the crowd, but the twins are on their way to you with about a dozen others, and they’re not happy. Over.”

“Damn,” Joaquin said. “What’re we gonna do?”

I felt the velvet bag hanging heavily from my wrist. “We’ll use these.”

I held the bag up, and Tristan’s eyes widened. Joaquin leaned over and opened the knot cinching the top together. Dozens of gold coins glinted in the sunlight. Joaquin took the bag and held it with both hands.

“Where did you get these?” he asked.

I smiled, my eyes shining with tears. “From my mom.”

“You saw your mom?” Tristan was stunned.

I took a deep breath. “Yeah. She gave me a choice: stay in the Light, or come back here and be with you guys.”

In the distance, a truck engine roared. The visitors were coming. My heart thumped with trepidation, but I knew it would be okay. It might get a bit messy, but we would calm them, we would usher them, and they would go to the Light. Everything was going to be fine. For the first time in forever, I truly believed that.

Tristan held our hands up between us and kissed the backs of my fingers as he looked into my eyes.

“You could have been with your family,” he said as he slowly processed the gravity of what I’d done. “But you chose to be here.”

“I chose to be here,” I replied, “because you are my family now. And this is where I belong.”

The sun broke over his handsome face as he smiled and pulled me to him, holding me against his chest so I could feel the solidness of him, revel in the perfection of the moment.

We were together now—together in our world, together in our mission, together in our love—and nothing was ever going to tear us apart again.

Rory and Tristan.

Forever.

The first car appeared over the ridge, and Joaquin stepped up next to me, squaring off as if readying himself for a fight. I stood between him and Tristan and plucked a coin from the velvet bag with a small, determined smile.

“Boys.” I flipped the coin and caught it as two car doors slammed and the twins marched toward us. “We have some work to do.”

As this bittersweet project comes to a close, I give huge and heartfelt thanks to the Lifers—

Lanie Davis

Emily Meehan

Sarah Burnes

Katie McGee

Logan Garrison

Laura Schreiber

Sara Shandler

Josh Bank

Les Morgenstein

Lizzy Mason

Jamie Baker

Kristin Marang

Liz Dresner

And my incredible fans, who are forever in my heart.

KATE BRIANis the New York Times best-selling author of the Private and Privilege series. Her other novels include Fake Boyfriend and Megan Meade’s Guide to the McGowan Boys .

For more on Kate Brian and the Shadowlands series, visit www.shadowlandsbooks.com