Chosen - Kiersten White Page 0,109
it faster and faster, falling into a rhythm like someone who’s done a Rubik’s cube hundreds of times. The corners spin and spin until they shimmer, the lines disappearing into pure light. And then, suddenly, it all clicks into place. It looks almost the same, but everything is inverted, and the glow is brilliant, concentrated. Now it’s a pyramid, the side nearest the catwalk open like a door.
Artemis looks down at me, tears in her eyes. “You weren’t supposed to be here. I’m not sorry for anything I’ve done, but I want you to know that you were supposed to be far away.” She blinks rapidly, trying to clear her vision. “I always thought Mom saved me first because she loved me more. But she saved me first because I was weak. That’s why you got left behind. And someday soon, you’re going to die. Mom’s going to die. Honora’s going to die. I’m going to lose everyone I love just like we lost Dad because I’m not strong enough. Because I was never chosen. I’m choosing myself today. I’ll save everyone.”
Cillian shakes his head as though coming out of a daze. He slowly backs away, eyes drawn to the light.
Leo and Rhys reappear. “We couldn’t find them,” Rhys says, then stops, staring in alarm at the new configuration.
“We need Jade and her explosives!” I shout.
“On it!” Doug runs toward the tunnels.
“Give Nina to me,” Leo says, his voice gentle. “Nothing’s been done yet that can’t be undone.” He takes a step toward us. “I understand, maybe more than anyone else. Give me Nina, and then we’ll figure it out from there.”
“The hell we will,” Rhys says. He pulls his trigger. Artemis drops her shoulder, dodging the bolt, then swings me up and throws me right into my friends. They catch me, everyone falling except Leo. He holds me.
Artemis steps backward, knife up as Rhys scrambles to untangle himself and reload his crossbow. “You never trusted me. Any of you. And you, Nina?” Her voice breaks, but then goes hard and cold. “What did I expect? Watchers don’t take care of their own. It’s up to me.” She puts her hand on the side of the hellgod’s cage.
“What are you doing?” Cillian’s father asks. For the first time, he sounds alarmed. “You cannot use that.”
Artemis doesn’t look at him. She turns toward me and shakes her head, her expression exhausted but determined. She tightens her ponytail like she always does before a fight. “Ending it.”
And then Artemis steps into the light.
A blinding pulse throws us all to the metal grating of the catwalk. Leo covers me, trying to shield me, but it’s like the light is everywhere, in everything. Even with my eyes closed, I can see it. I can feel it.
It recedes like a wave from the shore, leaving me with the sensation that I’m still covered with little grains of light. “You okay?” I ask Leo.
He nods, eyes squeezed shut. “I’m sorry. They would have taken you. They made me choose, and—”
“I get it. We can talk later about how impossible it is to have to weigh the value of one life against another. Promise. We can also fight, because I’m not over everything you did. But for now, you’re back, and I’m glad.” I brush my lips against his cheek and stand. My eyes are dazed, my vision photosensitive and covered with spots like I’ve been staring at the sun.
No. Like I am staring at the sun. And she’s standing on the end of the catwalk. I can’t focus on Artemis. The light coming off her is so brilliant I have to look to the side of her in order to be able to see. The doom triangle behind her is a melted husk, totally ruined.
I shake out my hands. They’re still tingling and mostly numb, but I have movement.
I step toward her. Maybe it’s easier this way. She’s less like my sister and more like the monster she’s apparently become. “I’m not going to let you hurt anyone else. I can’t.”
She laughs, drops of liquid sunshine raining around me, warm and layered. She sounds like herself, but multiplied, amplified, and … happy. So, so happy. I can’t remember the last time I heard her sound this happy.
“I did it! Oh, Nina, I did it. I fixed everything. None of us have to be scared, ever again. I never have to be scared again. I can feel it everywhere. Everything. I can feel everything, but it doesn’t