Iridescence

Chapter Twenty-Seven (Emily)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

EMILY

For a split second, I couldn't understand what had happened. Then, reality came rushing back. I caught Lucky as he fell toward the ground. I sat on the floor with this boy I hardly knew in my arms and thought my heart might shatter completely. It felt like I was the one who'd been impaled.

"Lucky!" Jenna screamed.

"No!" Vanessa sobbed.

"I'm... Sorry..." Lucky said weakly as blood began pouring out of his mouth.

The remaining monsters suddenly caught on fire at once. There was nothing left but ash after a minute. Faith stood in the middle of the chaos, but I barely noticed her. "I was too late..." She mumbled.

I remained silent, falling back into old habits as shock took control of me. Lucky stared at me with a love I knew he didn't understand in his eyes. I understood it, because as Lucky lay dying in my arms, I saw Lysander instead. Ly had died almost exactly like this, taking an attack meant for Anastasia and bleeding out in her arms. Unfortunately, Anastasia had been killed almost immediately after, so his sacrifice had been in vain.

I remembered. I remembered everything. And I was furious.

"No," I said firmly.

"Emily... Is he okay?" Faith asked cautiously.

"We're not doing this again," I said stubbornly, ignoring her question. "You do not get to do this to me again, Lysander!"

"Emily?" Vanessa asked softly. She was sobbing and trying to comfort Jenna at the same time.

"That's not Emily," Jake said softly. "Not right now." He slowly moved closer to me. "Anastasia, just breathe. You have to get control of yourself, and then you can do more."

"He's dead..." Jenna whispered in horror as she stared at Lucky.

"He's dead," I confirmed, "but he's not staying that way."

Vanessa sniffled. "You can help him?" She asked.

"My affinity is for Spirit. I can do this... I'm sure of it. I just need an anchor."

"I've got you," Jake said. He gently touched my arm. I might have protested, but in that moment, Anastasia suddenly recognized him.

"You..." I whispered as too many memories stirred inside of me at once.

"Me," he replied. He offered me a smile I knew entirely too well.

There was no time to dwell on that. I focused all of my energy on Lucky. I began casting spells I'd never dreamed of before, whispering one powerful chant after another.

"He's glowing... Should he be glowing?" Faith asked.

It was true. Lucky's body was radiating with light. I kept going, encouraged by this development.

"Please..." Jenna whispered through fresh tears. "Please work... Please save him..."

I worked harder, determined to see this through even though it was exhausting. I didn't care. I had to save him.

"Easy, Ana," Jake said, although he sounded more like the soul I now recognized than the annoying bodyguard Hades had assigned to me. "Emily has a mortal body. She can only use so much energy at once. Besides, if you keep combining spells like that, they may lead to an unexpected result."

"I know what I'm doing," I insisted. Anastasia and I had almost instantly merged into one being, probably because with my Spirit affinity, it was easy for me to adjust to my past life's energy. As Emily, I hadn't been able to save my sister. As Anastasia, I hadn't been able to save either one of my siblings. I was determined to save Lucky now.