Sever (The Ever Series Book 3) (22 page)

“Get out of my way unless you want a jolt,” I threaten.

When he takes me by the shoulders, I reach up and place my hands on his chest, summoning every ounce of hurt and anger I have from deep down. Pushing the energy outward through my palms, I watch as Alex releases me and drops to his knees. Before I can step away, he reaches out lightning fast and grabs one of my hands, pulling me down with him.

“Wren, I misspoke before.
You
are not a game to me. You are the most important piece of my existence, and I will withstand any pain to be with you, for as long you wish it.”

“Why?” I plead.

“Because you are the other half of me.”

As I stare into his eyes, searching for the truth, I can feel his love. Suddenly a cold realization spreads through me like a winter storm.

If I looked this deeply into Ever’s eyes, I would be dead.

T
iptoeing down the hall, I pause before pushing open my mom’s door. Silently, I watch her. She’s propped up in bed with her glasses on as she reads. On her dresser, there’s a vase with a dozen red roses—clearly from Richard. As I push open the door, she takes off her glasses and looks up.

“Where did you get that nightgown?” she asks, laughing.

Bursting into tears, I climb into bed with her and hug myself to her chest.

“Wren, honey—
what
happened?” she asks as she strokes my hair.

I shake my head, all the hurt and confusion washing over me as a sob escapes my throat.

“Oh, baby, what’s wrong? Is it Ever?”

I’m crying so hard that I can’t even form a word. Even if I could talk, there are too many things wrong to explain.
Get a grip, Wren!
I scream in my head. Biting my lip, I sit up and smile shakily at my mom. I’m going to tell her the truth, at least as much as I can tell her.

“We broke up,” I whisper.

I take a heaving breath as she gasps.

“When?”

“Last night. I did something awful, and now he hates me.”

Her brow creases.

“What could you have done that’s so awful?” she asks gently.

“I … I kissed someone else.”

When my mom laughs in shock, I give her a scathing look.

“I’m sorry, honey, but I’m just trying to imagine a boy—any boy—who could compete with your boyfriend.” She pauses, and her eyes light up. “Wait, is it that boy Josh?”

I shake my head miserably, wondering how it’s possible for my mom to make me feel any worse than I already do.

“I met him last year. He was a transfer student, and then he left.”

That’s the simple, rational explanation. It’s not like I can tell her that I watched as he was sucked through an inter-dimensional portal.

“Why didn’t you tell me about him, sweetie?”

“I didn’t like him then. I mean, I thought he was kind of a jerk.”

Actually, back then I thought he was a psycho immortal kidnapper, but that’s yet another thing I can’t tell her.

“What changed?” she asks, handing me a tissue.

Blowing my nose, I think about her question.

“He came back, and I guess I realized we had a lot in common.”

“And Ever saw you kissing him?”

I nod miserably.

“I’m a horrible person,” I hiccup.

“Oh, honey. You’re not a horrible person. You’re just confused. I think I really did a number on you when your father and I split up. I don’t think your father’s a horrible person—”

“You … don’t?”

“I think we both went a long time without being honest with each other and even ourselves,” she says slowly. “He made some decisions that were hurtful, but I don’t think he’s a horrible person. If I had it to do over again, I would still marry your father—because I got you.”

She smiles, and I see her logic—but something about it scares me. Does that mean she
would
regret marrying my father if she hadn’t had me? It kind of makes my dad sound expendable, and I don’t feel like either Alex or Ever is expendable. Actually, that’s the whole problem—I love them both. When my mom’s eyes widen, I cringe.

“Wait, isn’t tonight …
prom
?”

“Yep,” I exhale.

“Oh, sweetie. … You’re still going, though. Aren’t you?”

I shake my head.

“What about your friends?”

Thinking about the drama that would ensue if everyone found out that Ever and I broke up the night before prom, I want to sink into oblivion.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Wren, you can’t let this ruin what’s left of your senior year. You’re young, and you made a mistake. You’ll get past it, believe me.”

I shake my head. Despite Caroline Sullivan’s stubbornly rose-colored glasses, I know that some things can’t be fixed. She is right about one thing, though. I made a mistake, a big one. Maybe the biggest of my life. I shouldn’t have kissed Alex. I should have walked away and gotten my head straight. Of course, now I can see that, but at the time …

Either way, it doesn’t mean I could have ignored my feelings forever. I saved Alex because I couldn’t let him sacrifice himself for me—but also because I needed to find out how deeply my feelings ran. Now I know. Right or wrong, I love him as much as I love Ever, just in a different way. My mom nudges my shoulder.

“So, what about this other boy? What’s his name?”

“Alex.”

My cheeks flush. I’ve kept him in the darkest corner of my heart for more than a year, and saying his name now—to my mom—feels surreal.

“Do you like him?”

I wince.

“More than I should.”

“Do you think
he
wants to take you to prom?”

“Mom, no offense, but that’s the worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

My mom sighs.

“Well, honey. Whatever you decide, just promise me that you’re not going to beat yourself up for the rest of the year.”

“Good thing there’s not much time left to torture myself,” I smile crookedly. “Just until graduation.”

“Not funny, young lady.”

She hugs me before throwing off the blanket and getting out of bed. Grabbing her robe from the hook on the door, she turns back to me.

“Let me know what you decide about tonight.”

Forcing a smile, I nod again before climbing out of her bed. As soon as I reach my room, I start taking out a change of clothes, trying to think of what to do with myself now that I’ve royally messed up my life. Hearing the shower turn on down the hall, I sigh. So much for hot water. When my phone buzzes from the nightstand, I pick it up and find a million texts from Ashley, Taylor, and Lindsay.

Dropping down onto my bed, I remember that I had agreed to go downtown to get our nails done for prom. Not that I would tell them this, but I would much rather do my own nails than go to a nail salon and worry about getting some flesh-eating bacterial infection. Before I can stop myself, I start laughing uncontrollably as I imagine Victor’s face if the last “vessel” on Earth died from a manicure before he got the chance to turn me into Irisa’s puppet. Then I start crying.

If it didn’t mean the end of this world and everyone I love, I would almost want Victor to just take me now.

I flinch when Alex appears in front of me. He picks up the clothes from the bed and grabs me around the waist. Bending toward me, he brushes his lips against mine softly. The kiss takes me by surprise, and a second later I’m standing in a fancy condo overlooking the Willamette River.

“What the hell did you just do?”

“I kissed you. Then I brought you somewhere to take a hot shower. Unless, of course, you would prefer a tepid one at your house? Your choice.”

“I would have
preferred
to have my little breakdown in private, actually.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t oblige you there.”

He smiles and sits down on an expansive sofa facing the floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on the river. Then he gestures toward the hallway.

“Third door on your left.”

Picking up my clothes from the back of the sofa, I start walking in the direction he pointed, glancing back once to see him looking out at the river. When I reach the bathroom, I see that the shower also looks out onto the river, with frosted glass up to chest-level.

The water turns hot immediately, and I strip out of my nightgown. Looking into the mirror, I think of my name scrawled into the fogged up glass—first indication since the night of the party last year that Alex was out there somewhere. It feels like it was millions of years ago.

But now he’s here. It’s almost unbelievable.

Stepping under the spray of water, I try to find my way back to real life. I knew things were going to change regardless of whether I stepped through the mirror again to save Alex or not. I’m turning eighteen. Then I’ll graduate—if I’m lucky. But change also means that tonight may be one of the last times I get to hang out with my friends and pretend that my life is normal. One of the last times I’ll get to pretend that I’m not a mind-reading freak who just betrayed her immortal boyfriend with another immortal who’s been stuck in an inter-dimensional hell for the past year.

Rinsing the conditioner out of my hair, I turn off the hot water and step out in front of the mirror. With a deep breath, I decide that I’m going to prom … alone. If I don’t, then I’m surrendering my life to someone else’s conflict—and I already did that when my parents got divorced, taking on all of their angst and emotional baggage rather than just living my life.

Not again. This time I’m choosing me.

Getting dressed quickly, I wind my wet hair into a bun. I can deal with my hair later. Studying myself, I realize that I won’t need any makeup, given that inter-dimensional travel seems to act as a facial. Nearly all of my—physical—imperfections have been scrubbed away.

Stepping out into the hallway, I freeze. My mom. How exactly am I going to explain that I showered while she was in the only shower in our house? Just as I’m contemplating going back to blow dry my hair, Alex appears in front of me wearing an enigmatic smile.

“Yes! I’m standing here having a freak out about my wet hair. My mom’s totally going to notice that I showered
while
she was in the shower!”

“You worry too much.”

“Easy for you to say. Less than a day ago you were suffering eternal torment. Now everything’s peachy as far as you’re concerned, while
my
life just got even more complicated than it already was.”

“Don’t worry about your mother. It’s taken care of. She won’t have time to notice your hair.”

“Why am I afraid to ask?”

He slips his hand around the nape of my neck.

“You’re quite right, though. Everything
is
peachy as far as I’m concerned,” he says in a tone far too cheerful for my liking.

He leans toward me, and the instant his lips touch mine, we’re back in my bedroom. Releasing me, Alex presses his finger to his lips before disappearing again. At my nightstand, I reach for my phone and send a group text to Ashley, Taylor, and Lindsay saying I’ll meet them at the nail salon. Just as I drop my phone on the bed, there’s a knock at the front door. Hearing my mom walking from the kitchen toward the front door, I race for the stairs in full-on panic mode. Reaching the landing, I watch in slow motion as she swings open the door. Then I gasp and try not to fall down the stairs when I see Alex standing there.

“Hello, Mrs. Sullivan.”

My mom glances up the stairs at me.

Where does Wren find these boys?

I stare helplessly as she turns back to Alex.

“Call me Caroline, please. And I’m going to go out on a limb and say you must be Alex,” she says.

“I am,” he smiles, all charm. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

As he extends his hand to my mom, I walk slowly down the stairs, trying to keep myself from losing it.

“Would you like to come in?” my mom asks.

Standing behind my mom, I glare at him as he walks inside.

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I need coffee,” she says, gesturing for us to follow her into the kitchen.

“Some kind of warning would’ve been nice,” I hiss under my breath.

“The surprise on your face was worthwhile,” he smiles. “You’re very cute when you’re surprised.”

“Wrong. Try homicidal.”

Stepping into the kitchen, I hear the coffeemaker gurgling as my mom returns to the sink where she’s washing fruit.

“We run a little later than the rest of the world in this household, Alex. Would you like coffee? Breakfast?”

“I’m fine, but please feel free. I apologize for arriving unannounced.”

“Not at all!” my mom says, turning to look at me. “I’m always excited to meet one of Wren’s friends.”
Particularly boys my daughter has kissed
, she thinks to herself.
“How do you and Wren know each other?”

“I transferred to Springville briefly last year before graduating.”

She looks over at me again before gesturing Alex to take a seat at the kitchen table.

Another college boy?
she laments in her head.

Right, like I’ve been hooking up with guys right and left. I roll my eyes at her accusatory inner monologue. She was way more sympathetic before Alex showed up.

“Are you going to school in Portland?” my mom asks as she scoops ground coffee into a cloth filter.

“I’ve been studying literature in Paris. I’ve only returned for the summer.”

“Paris? Wow.”

Walking over to the refrigerator, I glance back at him. Studying in Paris is definitely a better explanation than: “I was being tortured in another dimension until your daughter showed up to save me dressed in a crazy superhero costume.”