Derek hit the ground hard. The impact cratered the earth, sending cracks spider-webbing across the clearing. Dust billowed up around him, thick and grey, settling on his clothes, his face, his hair.
He lay there for a moment, staring at the sky. His ribs were cracked—no, shattered. His spine felt like it had been rearranged. His arms wouldn't move. His legs wouldn't move. His body was as hard as he could make it, and it hadn't been enough.
Selene stood over him, her hands pressed to her mouth, her white eyes wide. "Oh no. Oh no. I hit you too hard. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry—"
Derek opened his mouth. Blood came out. He coughed, spat, tried to sit up. His body screamed.
Leo had been watching from the edge of the clearing, his back against a tree, his arms crossed. Bored. He pushed off and walked over, looking down at Derek with the expression of someone who had seen him get thrown around too many times to count.
"Hey, Derek."
Derek's eyes moved to him. Slowly. Painfully. "Yeah."
"Can I join?"
Derek coughed again. "At your own risk."
Leo's bored expression shifted into something sharper. A grin. He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and stepped into the clearing. Lightning flickered around his fists—yellow, bright, hungry.
"I'm not going to go easy on you," he said to Selene.
Derek finally pushed himself upright, his body screaming with every movement. He wiped blood from his lip and looked at Leo.
"I'm going to have to help you up from a big crater," Derek said. "Mark my words."
Leo's grin widened. "Haha. We'll see."
───
Eva and Maya stepped into Lily's room.
Sasha sat on the floor, her legs crossed, her silver-white hair spilling over her shoulders. She looked up at them, then back down at her hands. Absolute 2 Eva stood by the shelf, her fingers hovering over Lily's things—a hairbrush, a cracked mirror, a small stone that had no meaning to anyone but her.
Her eyes were wet. But she was smiling. A small, sad smile, looking at the photograph of Eva. Walking. Smiling. Caught in a moment she didn't remember.
She saw Eva in the doorway and put the picture down. Too quickly. Like she'd been caught doing something wrong.
"Hey," Eva said.
"Hey." Absolute 2 Eva's voice was quiet.
They stood there. The silence stretched between them, thick and awkward.
"So." Absolute 2 Eva looked at the floor. "Are you okay?"
Eva's smile was small, tired, honest. "No. Too much is going on at the same time."
"I know." Absolute 2 Eva's eyes stayed on the floor. "About the different versions. The ones that came here." She paused. "Did you fight a version of yourself?"
"Yeah." Eva nodded. "I did. I defeated her. But someone stopped me from destroying myself." She paused. "It's better if you see for yourself."
Absolute 2 Eva opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"Are you okay?" Eva asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Liar."
Absolute 2 Eva's jaw tightened. She didn't deny it.
The silence returned.
Neither of them knew what to say. They had met once before—in a corridor, in a facility, in a moment that felt like a lifetime ago. They had fought. They had cried. They had held each other.
Now they were strangers again.
"We'll go," Sasha said, standing. She walked out of the room. Maya hesitated, looked at Eva, then followed.
The door closed.
The two Evas stood alone.
"I was her assistant," Sasha said when Maya caught up to her. Her voice was quiet. "For years. I watched her destroy herself trying to find Lily. Trying to protect her. Trying to be something she wasn't."
Maya didn't say anything. They walked in silence.
───
"So." Absolute 2 Eva's voice was tight. "I'm going to leave. After I see Lily's room. And you'll never have to see me again."
"I don't hate you."
Absolute 2 Eva's eyes widened. The tears she'd been holding back spilled over.
"I don't blame you for anything." Eva's voice was soft. "I see glimpses sometimes. Your memories. Your real memories." She paused. "I'm sorry. For everything you had to go through. I understand now why you were so desperate to keep Lily with you. Forever."
Absolute 2 Eva stood there, trembling, trying to hold the tears back. She didn't want to cry in front of her. She didn't want to look weak.
Eva was already wiping tears off her cheeks with her sleeve.
"You want to know something weird?" Absolute 2 Eva's voice cracked. "Lily used to do this thing. When we were little. She would—"
"Yeah." Eva smiled. Small. Real. "I want to know."
───
Wolfen lay on Zoey's bed, his arm draped over his face, his breathing slow. Zoey sat beside him, her hand hovering over his forehead, her heart pounding.
"I'm warning you again," Wolfen said. "Please. Rethink this."
Zoey's voice was soft. "It's okay. I won't—"
"It's not the things I've done that I'm worried about." Wolfen's voice was quiet. "It's the things I've thought. The things I've wanted. The things I've imagined."
Zoey swallowed. "I won't judge you. I said that before. I meant it."
Wolfen was silent for a long moment. Then: "I'll cross my fingers that you stay on that."
Zoey's hand touched his forehead.
The memories hit her like a wave.
She saw him before the collapse. Young. Hopeful. Smiling at someone who wasn't there anymore. She saw him during the collapse. Running. Fighting. Losing. She saw him after the collapse. Alone. Hungry. Desperate.
She saw the people he'd killed. The ones who deserved it. The ones who didn't. The ones he'd killed because he had no choice, and the ones he'd killed because he'd wanted to.
She saw the faces. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Their eyes, their mouths, their hands reaching for him, reaching for mercy, reaching for anything.
She saw the things he'd done to survive. The things he'd done to protect. The things he'd done because he didn't know how to stop.
She saw the guilt. The shame. The hatred he had for himself, burning in his chest like a second heart, never dying, never fading, never letting him forget.
Zoey pulled her hand back.
Her face was pale. White as snow. She felt sick. She wanted to vomit. She couldn't look at him.
"Told you." Wolfen's voice was flat. "If you want to leave me, that's fine. I understand."
He had agreed to this because he wanted her to leave. Not because he didn't like her. Because he didn't want to cause her pain. Because he thought she deserved better. Because he thought he didn't deserve anything at all.
Zoey's hand covered her mouth. Her eyes were wet.
"Wolfen."
He didn't look at her.
"Wolfen."
He couldn't.
"Wolfen." Her voice broke. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything you've been through."
His eyes widened.
Tears began streaming down his face. One eye. Then the other. Then both. He couldn't stop them. He couldn't hold them back. He broke.
He broke in front of her.