wall, a group of people were gathered around something.
I didn’t want to know, wasn’t sure I could handle losing another person, but I made myself ask. “Who?”
“Nina.” Tyler was already pulling me along. I wasn’t sure I could’ve made my feet move otherwise.
I had no idea what time it was, but it was night, and the giant hole just looked like a black pit of darkness and despair. Nina was lying close to the edge of it, the other Lighthunters surrounding her.
“Why didn’t the paramedics take her?” I said angrily as we got close enough to see her broken body. They were supposed to be taking the worst of the injured.
Tyler’s ability answered the question better than anyone could’ve. “Her injuries are too extensive. She’s got minutes if she’s lucky.”
The anger evaporated, replaced by a heavy longing feeling it was hard to put my finger on. Nina was a friend, but she was so much more. She’d been there when we needed her most. She was the reason we’d been able to save Charlie. She was the one who’d explained my nature to me better than anyone. She was wise and kind and selfless. The world would be worse off without her. I would be worse off without her.
I went to kneel next to her, but she rose into the air, as though floating on a cloud. Her body was lifted upright, her feet hovering above the floor.
Frowning, I turned to Josh, but he looked just as confused.
The other Lighthunters made a semicircle around us, facing the black night.
“Evelyn.” Nina’s voice sounded weak but calm. Her features were smooth, not at all creased with pain, her eyes tired but relaxed.
“Nina.” Tears trailed down my cheeks, but I managed not to sob. I reached up to touch her, but I hesitated, scared I would hurt her. She caught my hand in hers and held it.
I squeezed her fingers, as though if I held on tightly enough, she’d stay.
“Please . . .” I knew it was silly, that it was way beyond anyone’s control, but I couldn’t stop my plea. “Don’t leave me.”
So many people had left me, abandoned me, betrayed me.
She smiled. She was dying, her clothes filthy, her umber skin covered in gray dust that only made the blood appear brighter. Her other arm hung limply by her side, the shoulder angled down in a sickening way, but she managed a smile.
“But you are not alone.” Her French accent seemed thicker as she glanced behind me to my Bondmates. “You will never be alone again. Just remember to lean into the Light. Let it guide you. Trust your instincts.”
She started to glow in much the same way I did when I used my Vivid Light. Her hand felt tingly in mine, and when I looked down, it started to disintegrate before my eyes.
I gasped in shock and looked back into her face just in time to see her close her eyes and smile. She looked at peace as she faded. It was as if she was absorbed by the glowing Light and as if the Light came from within her all at once.
Slowly, softly, she disappeared. Eventually I stood with my hand held out in front of me, staring into the darkness.
As the last few sparks dimmed, the Lighthunters sighed in unison. They held hands for another moment, then all at once, let go.
I couldn’t quite believe what I’d seen. It was some kind of molecular disintegration, the very fiber of her being coming apart on a microscopic level and transforming into pure Light.
I filed it away to wonder about later.
“Does that happen every time?” Josh asked. “I mean, do all of you . . .”
“Yes,” one of the Lighthunters answered, a stocky man with dull brown eyes. “The Light takes us at the end. Death is never painful or unpleasant for us. We die knowing we continue to serve that which we dedicated our lives to.”
The Light absorbed them back into itself, and they lived on in anyone with Variant DNA.
I took a deep breath and leaned back, knowing Alec was there to wrap his arms around me. He always had my back.
The Lighthunters started to clear out, and the five of us gravitated toward the big timber table where Dot sat in Marcus’s lap, her feet in Kyo’s. Ed and Charlie were with them. Ed had stopped sobbing, but silent tears still streamed down his cheeks as he stared into the middle distance. Charlie was rubbing soothing circles