Page 128 of Swords of Soul and Shadow (Gate Chronicles #3)

I WILL BE

Kase

THE LAST HOUR’S WHIRLWIND OF emotions had picked up Kase’s heart and tugged it every which way, but the moment he crushed Hallie in his arms, it settled into a steady rhythm again. She was okay—she was safe. He was safe.

“Kase,” she mumbled. “Need to breathe.”

He reluctantly set her down. He still didn’t understand where they were, but that hardly mattered. He could be at the edge of the world or in some other dimension, but Hallie was with him. He’d found her.

“I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when Eravin…when he…”

Shocks, he couldn’t even finish his sentence. Not when his mind whirred with shadowy power and his father’s final breath and Eravin’s cruel, mocking grin as he taunted him with Hallie’s demise through bloodless lips.

Hallie blinked, eyes widening like she’d just remembered something; but instead of speaking, she stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss. Too quick. He needed it to last longer, but they had quite a large audience.

“That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?” She grabbed both his hands and threaded her fingers through his. Her tone was light and happy, and he wished he could share part of her optimism. She squeezed his hands. “But I’ll allow it until we figure out if the world is going to end or not.”

Kase furrowed his brow. “Eravin fell through the Gate…he’s Jagamot.”

Hallie blinked up at him. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Came through a few minutes before we did.” Kase scanned the crowd milling about, looking for a man with voidless eyes and black veins.

People wove in and out of each other like bees in a hive.

Even so, Eravin would’ve stood out in such a crowd.

The heads bobbed like sea waves, the soft murmur of fear running through them.

Eravin was nowhere to be found. How large was this place, that he could have vanished so quickly after falling through the gate? Could he be in the forest somewhere? Could he have reached the mountains by now?

They’d been wandering almost blind since they’d entered this realm. Skibs had knocked on the little woodcutter’s cottage, and when no one answered, they’d gone toward the forest and found the path.

That had led them here. Maybe if they could stop Eravin from finding a way back to Kyvena, this could all be over. But if he broke back in and all of them were still stranded here…

His stomach clenched at that thought. Jove and his mother wouldn’t be prepared for that. He was just about to tell Hallie when a gangly teenage boy with a shock of bright red hair separated himself from the milling crowd.

The boy stared Kase down. Kase looked behind him, thinking he mustn’t be looking at him.

He didn’t know the bloke, but the boy didn’t look dangerous, nor did he show any signs of being corrupted.

Kase still put himself in between him and Hallie.

He’d handed the sword off to Skibs when he’d spotted her, but he would use whatever was available—even if that was only his fists—to defend her.

Crossing his arms, the boy stopped before him and sized him up, a scowl on his face. A familiar scowl. “You must be the poor fool who stole my sister from my best friend. I gotta few questions for you, so you better answer them good or else.”

Kase took a small step back, bumping into Hallie. What?

“Jack!” she hissed, stepping around Kase but keeping a hand on his arm. He could’ve sworn a hint of her mountain drawl bled through. He still couldn’t say he hated it. “Leave him alone.”

Jack didn’t relax his stance. Even though he had to be a few years younger, he stood nearly as tall as Kase. “Hey now—dead or not, I gotta make sure you’re taken care of. It’s my duty as the older brother.”

“By seven and a half minutes. Not years.”

“Still counts.”

Kase’s mouth went dry as he looked at the boy again.

No, it wasn’t just the scowl. Though a shade darker than Hallie’s, his bronze eyes were just as wide and curious with a hint of mischief in their depths.

The way his lips turned up at the corners was exactly the same.

Other than that, he could’ve been Stowe’s twin instead of Hallie’s.

Kase turned a little to her. “Is this…”

“Yes.” She gestured to the boy. “Long story short, this is the realm where souls who aren’t ready to pass on go, and this dulkop here helps ferry them over.”

All the blood in his face fell to his toes before racing back up again. He swayed slightly with the dizzying rush. How was it even possible? More questions flew into his mind. If this was truly Jack, did that mean Ana was here? Zeke?

What about Harlan?

He wasn’t sure how to ask, nor could he try with Jack still glaring at him, suspicion narrowing his eyes to slits.

Kase didn’t quite understand what implications they would face now that they were here, but so long as he got to stay with Hallie, he didn’t care.

He could worry about the rest later. He controlled his scurrying thoughts and held out a hand.

“I’m Kase Shackley, and it’s truly a pleasure to meet you. ”

Jack raised a brow but took his hand and shook. “Jack Walker. I’d say I’ve been dying to meet you, but I only found out you existed last night.”

Jack’s hand felt real—skin, bones, callouses—just as Hallie’s had. But the boy was dead. He shouldn’t feel like anything, right? He was just a memory, or a soul, or whatever.

Hallie groaned and covered her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

A grin crept across Kase’s face that melted into a chuckle.

So Hallie was the Jove in her family. Kase liked that—liked seeing this other side of her.

But already his mind had hopped forward several steps to sadness, realizing that when they returned to Jayde, she’d go back to being an only child. This dynamic wouldn’t last.

But at least they had this moment.

Jack seemed to appreciate his laughter and grinned. One test passed.

Someone gasped behind him. Kase slid his arm around Hallie’s waist, tucking her close, but it was just Stowe and Zelda, finally catching up to him.

Jack froze before breaking into a smile. “Mama.”

Zelda sprinted forward, crashing into her son.

Her arms wrangled the boy into such a tight hug that Jack’s face went red, his next breath more of a wheeze.

It was a full minute before she pulled back, wiping her eyes with one hand and smoothing the boy’s hair with the other.

Kase’s eyebrows rose. Seemed he would also get to see a different side of Zelda—one that didn’t glare daggers at everyone she met.

Zelda cupped Jack’s cheek. “My boy.”

It wasn’t until Stowe came over, clasping a hand on his son’s shoulder and hugging him that Jack began to blink rapidly, holding back tears as he bumped his head into his father’s shoulder. “Hey, Pa.”

Kase shaded his eyes from the blistering sun. His shirt clung to his back underneath his jacket. He rubbed Hallie’s shoulder, thinking. What would it be like if he saw Harlan now, after saving Kase’s life? Would they have a similar reunion?

No, he knew better than that. But Kase would’ve liked to thank him. All he’d done at the end was question why his father had done what he did. He tightened his hold on Hallie.

She looked up at him, questioningly. He didn’t answer. It wasn’t the right time. He wouldn’t spoil this happy moment for the Walkers. Kissing the top of her head, Kase nudged her toward them.

Her mother grabbed her hand and tugged her forward. Stowe pulled them all into a large family hug.

Kase stepped back, giving them their moment. He nodded at Skibs when he joined them, holding both swords. He subtly shook his head. No Eravin. Finding him so soon after they’d entered this strange realm would’ve been too easy, and Kase had never been that lucky.

Still, he looked around, hoping against hope until he realized he’d stopped looking for a man with dark veins and had started seeking a blonde girl, a tall soldier with hazel eyes…and a man with a steel gray mustache and pristine military uniform.

But among the people assembled, he still couldn’t spot his family anywhere. Maybe they were in a different part? A darker part of him wondered if they didn’t want to see him.

An older woman joined the group, dressed in something he was certain his grandmother had worn in her portraits in Shackley Manor.

There were two of them, both hung in one of the lesser-used corridors near the solarium.

This woman didn’t look like her, though; she looked to be around his parents’ ages.

No, parent . He no longer had two. It wouldn’t be his parents’ ages, his parents’ home, his parents’ motorcoach. It wouldn’t be his parents’ anything. They would be his mother’s.

Kase clenched his teeth against the somewhat unexpected flare of grief.

He’d hated Harlan. He’d never understood how someone could be so cruel to their own children, but now Kase had begun to understand.

Harlan Shackley never stood a chance of being a good person, and that darkness lived inside Kase whether he wanted to admit it or not.

But even with that darkness, his father had still saved him.

Hallie was right. He was like his father. But did that mean he had to do the same terrible things? Or could he choose something nobler, like his father had in the end—even if Harlan had chosen too late to change anything?

He shook his head to dispel the unpleasant thoughts. Find Eravin. Stop him. Then deal with the consequences.

The older woman dusted off her blue skirts. “Jack, were you able to finish working with those souls?”

Jack pulled away from his family, only a little—and even that much distance made Zelda’s white-knuckled grip tighten.

“The ones that wanted to go. Took their letters, then asked them if they appreciated my service and if I could improve their experience in any way—you know, looking for feedback—and they said I did quite a stars-blasted good job . Mrs. Cartwright’s words, not mine. ”

The woman sighed. “Jack…”