Evertrue

THIRTY-SEVEN

NOW

The Everneath.

The moment the last two hearts in the Everneath were broken, the Underworld—what was left of it—began to swirl around me. Darkness around the edges began to encroach on the land. Piece by piece, acre by acre, the Everneath was being swallowed up by the vast nothing surrounding it.

I put my hand against my chest and pressed it there, and as a faint beat began pulsing beneath my skin, I shot up into the sky.

I had my heart. And at the same time, I’d lost it.

Jack and Will were waiting for me at the Shop-n-Go. When I landed on the floor, Jack scooped me up in his arms and held me tight against his chest. Will smiled, sighed, and then walked out of the store to leave us alone.

Jack dipped his head and kissed me, and then he caught the look on my face. In one split second he knew.

“Cole?” he said.

I nodded and collapsed against him. He crushed me close and held me together, rocking me back and forth. “I’m sorry, Becks. I’m so sorry.”

Jack and I stayed in each other’s arms for a long time after that, days maybe. Each of us had a heart in our chest. Each heart beat for the other. And for the first time in a century, we had a future. Together. Jack and me. No ticking clocks.

I thought of how far we’d come from that moment I’d first Returned to the Surface after the Feed. How the Tunnels were coming for me. How impossible everything had seemed.

I had believed there was no such thing as redemption. I knew now I was wrong. Cole had shown me that. Redemption had not come from grand gestures of dashing bravery. It had not come from successfully completing twelve impossible labors. Instead, redemption transpired from the small, quiet places: in the palm of his hand, in the flick of his fingers that had snapped a guitar pick.

My dad returned home from his futile search in Los Angeles. The level of his anger was exceeded only by his relief that I was still alive. Tommy returned home from my aunt’s house, and our family reunion was marred only by the fact that I would be spending the next six months in rehab, per my dad’s request.

Six months. I could do anything for six months. As long as I knew that a long, healthy, mortal life was waiting for me on the other end.

A long, healthy, mortal life with Jack.

Jack came over to help me pack for rehab. As he smushed my suitcase shut and zipped it up, he smiled at me. “Do you think rehab will stick this time?”

“I think I’m finally ready to make the commitment.” I smiled. “Maybe someday I’ll actually try the vices I’m supposedly recovering from.”

Jack shrugged. “After everything we’ve been through, I don’t think I’ll ever have a desire to artificially mess with my emotions again.”

He leaned back on my bed and put his hands behind his head. I fell on top of him and nestled my nooks in his crannies. His heart beat softly against my ear.

“We have a lot to do when you get home,” Jack said.

“We have time to do it.”

He sighed. “Time.” He said the word as if it was something we’d fought for. Something we’d risked our lives for.

Time.

“I love you,” I said.

He kissed my head. “I’m Ever Yours.”

And I was Ever His.