For Ever (35 page)

“Sleeping Beauty awakens from her sleep of a
thousand years.”

I continue staring at him, even more
unsettled by his allusion. Was I asleep for a thousand years? I can
almost imagine it. Standing up straighter, I take a deep breath to
clear my head.

“Look. I don’t remember much, but I know I’m
not supposed to be here.”

When he turns back to the view, I frown.

“That’s it. Tell me right now—who are you,
what happened to me, and why the hell can’t I remember anything—or
I’m going to ask Edith to call the police.”

“She is a sweet old woman,
n’est-ce
pas
? And truly, I wish you the best of luck with the French
police.”

He smiles as though he’s just won, and now
I’m angry. But I’m also cold. I shiver and look down at the goose
bumps on my arms. Without warning, the stranger turns and steps
toward me very quickly. He touches my hand, and it sends a burst of
scorching electricity—and terror—through my bloodstream. I yank
back and stare at him.

“You can call me Alex, and I’ve brought you
here because I have an offer to make.”

I shake my head and look down at my hand.

“I don’t understand,” I mumble, feeling my
skin begin to warm.

Looking up at him, I flinch at the black
abyss that has replaced the blue of his eyes. The mental fog
clouding my thoughts begins to evaporate, and suddenly faces and
names, places, images all begin to flood my mind. I remember
exactly who and what—a freak that can prowl around in people’s
heads—I am. More importantly, I remember the person standing in
front of me.

“
You
!” I hiss, stumbling away from him
toward the glassy surface of the pool. “Iago.”

His expression ripples slightly.

“Is that what Ever claims I call myself? It
is a name others have called me, but it is not the name I have
chosen,” he says.

I stand there woodenly, trying to absorb
reality. I’ve had this feeling before. Right after waking from a
really bad nightmare, the moment after opening my eyes, when for a
few seconds I was still there—in the dream, but awake. I’ve just
remembered my nightmare, and it turns out I’m still in it. I don’t
even have enough time to be grateful that I’m not dead. Instead,
I’m floored by the miserable realization that Ever did not come for
me at the last second like he said he would. He left me to step
through the looking glass alone.

Ever
. Why had he abandoned me? Then it
comes crashing down on me. Because I told him to. To save my friend
Ashley when Iago kidnapped her to get me
here
. I had thought
that giving myself up would save everyone I know from the
consequences of my choice to be with Ever.

“What now?” I ask dully. “I’m here. You
haven’t killed me yet.
What
? What the hell do you want? A
date to the prom?”

The superior expression that I thought was a
permanent fixture of his features falls away, and for an instant my
kidnapper looks hesitant, almost nervous. This scares me more than
anything else.

“Can you imagine losing everything you care
about over and over? Being cursed to live out forever and having no
one to share it with?” he asks, sounding regretful.

The last thing I can remember before waking
up here was the thought that I might
not
exist very much
longer.

“No. I can’t. But
I
’m not going to
live forever …”

As angry as I am, I stop short of mentioning
the fact that Alex, Iago—whatever this beautiful, terrible creature
chooses to call himself—probably deserves an eternity of
loneliness. I’m vulnerable, alone, and not dumb enough to test the
limits of someone who might decide in a millisecond that my life is
no longer worth whatever he thought it was. He nods like he’s
agreeing with me over my short lifespan. This sends another spike
of dread through me. I am a mouse being batted around by a cat that
hasn’t decided yet whether it’s going to kill me.

He steps closer to me, his eyes glowing blue
again. Then he stops and seems to see something over my shoulder.
Suddenly he lunges toward me, his hands clamping around my wrists
like manacles.

“Shift with her again, and she won’t
survive,” a voice says from behind me. “You know it as well as I
do.”

Books and Reading Order of The Ever Series

For Ever (The Ever Series, Book 1)

Never (The Ever Series, Book 2)

Sever (The Ever Series, Book 3)

Ever (The Ever Series, Alternate Point-of-View
Companion to For Ever)

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