Page 51 of The Never List (Never List #1)

Rylee

“We should make sure this temple is clear,” I say, realizing that while we’ve been reconnecting, any remaining Faders could simply be in hiding, waiting for our next move.

“We need to get you home,” Axl says, stubbornness etched into his features.

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “Making sure there are no Faders waiting in the shadows to start another fight is what’s most important.”

“ You are what’s most important, darling,” Pierce argues.

“No,” I say, arching a brow at him to show him I’m not budging. “You can’t—”

“You stay here,” Kal cuts me off, eyes pleading before he glances at the rest of my mates. “With our powers back, we can easily clear the space.” He looks back to me. He’s tried to argue with me before and knows I’ll win. I love him all the more for it. “ Then we’ll take you home, where you can rest.”

I think about arguing, think about demanding to go search with them, but I can feel it through the bonds—not one of my mates will take me or leave my side if they think I’ll go wandering off on my own.

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll stay here.”

“We’ll be quick,” Jax says, dipping down to kiss the top of my head.

They each hesitate for a few moments before I flash them a look that has them collectively heading off in different directions to search the temple.

I rub my palms over my face, doing my best to breathe deeply, grounding myself in the present. If I don’t, I’ll give in to all the questions and worries rising in my mind like a tide, threatening to sweep me away.

A flash of movement flickers in the corner of my eye, and I freeze.

I blink a couple of times, turning slowly toward where I saw the movement, certain I’m imagining things.

One step, then two—

There it is again, just behind the statue of Evaluna.

My heart stutters in my chest.

The Fader from earlier. They didn’t jump over the balcony like I thought.

I should call for my mates, but I don’t want to give away that I see them—

The Fader takes off.

Shit! They spotted me.

No time to call for my mates. I race after them.

The other Faders called this one boss , and they are fast , but I use my wind power to propel me, catching up in a matter of breaths.

I lunge, hoping to subdue them so we can question a Fader like we’ve been trying to for months now—who better than the boss to capture so we can finally understand what their motivations are?

They dodge my advance with a fluid grace that has apprehension bursting on the back of my neck. I don’t have time to analyze this unease, not when the Fader hurls blade after blade at me, soaring through the air, aimed at my throat and missing by mere inches .

I shift my stance, ducking and dodging and pursuing as the Fader keeps evading my every move while working their way across the balcony, hunting for a quick escape.

The breath burns in my lungs, my body and mind exhausted from the Athanry, from dying and coming back, all of it. But I finally get close enough to land a punch.

A feminine groan slips past the Fader’s lips as I move to grab her wrist—

She ducks away from my touch, bending almost in half as she slips to the floor.

Icy fear bursts beneath my skin, some buried instinct screaming at me.

She lands a kick to my gut that forces the air from my lungs so fast I see stars. I double over, and she takes the opportunity to run in the opposite direction, toward the edge of the balcony that hangs over the temple’s stairs far below.

I gather my breath in forced heaves.

I can’t lose this Fader.

We have to know how to stop these people.

She’s almost at the edge of the balcony.

My mates are going to kill me for this.

I wrap wind around myself, spiraling for her so fast that I plow into her and we crash over the railing—

And fall through the air.

Panic makes my heart skip as the free fall takes us. And all the while, the Fader struggles in my grasp like she can slip away and land safely on her feet.

Instinct takes over, and I slow our descent with my power, landing us on the temple stairs in a tangled heap.

I still have a good hold on her, her back to my chest, my arm firmly around her neck as I haul us to standing—

One move, and she slips out of my grasp like she’s made of nothing but smoke, whirling on her heels to face me, dipping a little as she does.

My heart stops dead in my chest.

I know that move.

I’ve spent countless hours perfecting that move—

“Erin?” Shock barrels through me as the Fader stiffens, a blade in one hand as her entire body goes rigid.

My stomach plummets, panic slicing through my veins as my brain puts two facts together.

I’m fighting the leader of the Faders.

And it’s my sister .

Devastation threatens to knock my feet out from under me, but I manage to stay standing.

“Rylee!” Kal roars my name, drawing my attention behind me.

He’s there, soaring toward me, along with Pierce and Axl and Jax. Their eyes are rage-laced and focused on the Fader who is holding a blade near me.

Everything slows down, the moments happening in a rapid succession of heartbeats.

Pierce aims his insurmountable power at the Fader, those emerald ribbons of energy in the shapes of spears.

Kal’s flight, his hands outstretched, ready to rip the Fader’s head from her body.

Axl’s water, swirling in a vortex that will drown her in seconds.

And Jax, letting loose the two knives in his hands—

“No!” I leap in front of Erin, the word ripping out of me, and the intent behind it yanks their powers back to me so fast it steals the breath from my lungs.

Jax’s blades sink into my shoulders.

“Rylee!” Jax screams, but Kal falls from his flight, slamming to the ground right in front of him.

Axl stumbles without the rush of water in his control, his feet kicking out from under him as the water washes beneath him.

And Pierce is gripping his chest as if he might topple over any second.

I crumple to the ground, their powers snapping inside me so quickly, so violently, I can barely feel the blades in my flesh.

A warm hand catches my head before it cracks against the marble stair.

My vision blurs, fading in and out as I reach a weak, trembling hand up to the Fader looking down at me. “Erin?” I whisper, my heart slowing.

I’m drowning in the power, their power.

Emotions and thoughts.

Oceans and skies.

It’s so much.

Painfully, too much.

The Fader shifts, using her free hand to untuck her mask from the neck of her uniform.

“Hey, sis,” she says, her eyes apologetic as they dart to something behind me. “Forgive me,” she pleads, jerking her mask back down. She gently lays my head on the floor and runs—

“Butterfly.” Jax’s voice is broken and raw as he reaches me. “Why?”

Axl and Kal make it to me next, then Pierce, each of them crowding around me.

I try to speak but can barely lock onto my voice. Dots sparkle around the edges of my vision as I turn my head to look up at Jax, finding devastation lining his face.

My body seizes in his arms, a white light cracking through my mind, searing and hot like lightning. I convulse, trying to fight the pain.

Trying to fight the onslaught of power.

My heart races in my chest, too fast…it’s too fast.

I hear them arguing, unsure of what to do.

I hate that I’m not stronger for them.

Hate that my body feels frail beneath their power…power I wasn’t built to hold.

I try to push it back to them like I had before, but it’s stuck, clinging to me, wrapping its fingers around my throat and squeezing.

I go limp, the breath rushing from my lungs.

“I…” It’s hard to speak, hard to breathe, but I manage to look at them, each of them, wishing I could take away the pain lining their faces. “I still…choose…you.”

“No!” Jax roars, his hold on me tightening.

I’m fading. I can feel it.

“No, goddess damn it,” he snaps. “You stay with me! Fight it, Rylee! Fight it!”

My eyes shut, the darkness sweeping in like the shadow of night.

“Stay with me!” Jax cries.

And I’m certain those are the last words I’ll ever hear.

to be continued