Entropy (The Countenance Trilogy 3) (32 page)

“And Casper.” Coop adds, but I don’t take my eyes off Laken.

“Let’s go.”

A black fog lifts us from one plane to the next as the Tenebrous Woods materialize around us. It’s just Laken, Coop, and me, and, for a moment, I toy with the idea of killing him, locking Laken up where she could be mine forever but resist the urge.

“This way.” I lead them down the dusty path as the lavender moon glows up above like a pale stone. The woods are thick and knifelike, but the dusty path is backlit by a blue fog, the breath of the Countenance soldiers who have died. I wish I could reveal all of these mysteries to Laken—to make her see how special she is, how great we would both become one day, but her heart is too occluded. Maybe once her family is free, after some time, she’ll come back to me. It’s the only hope I have to cling to, and to give up now would be to fall on the sword of the horrible truth. Not one part of me believes she’ll ever be happy with Coop. It’s just not possible.

The charred tree trunks of Tenebrous thicken as I lead us down a narrow pathway. I know for a fact Casper is up ahead. Demetri brought me down here earlier and showed me where the rest of them are.

I turn back to find the two of them trailing, their hands interlocked.

“Laken”—my muscles tense because I wonder if this is the last time she’ll ever let me get near her—“can I talk to you for a minute?”

She and Coop exchange a quick look, and it’s all I can do to keep from pummeling him.  Not only do I hate Coop—I hate the idea of Coop with Laken—
touching
Laken. He’s just another Celestra trying to dethrone the Counts wherever he can, and, in this case, he’s starting with killing my heart.

“Sure.” She follows me over to the other side of the trail.

“Laken.” I touch my finger to her face and she doesn’t recoil, that alone is worth the trip. “My love for you hasn’t changed. It’s immovable as stone.” She opens her mouth, and I land my finger over her soft lips. A hellish sadness settles in my stomach. “You don’t need to say anything. I want you to know I understand. I wish I could be like you, but I can’t deny who I am. Know this, I will always protect you—always love you. My arms and heart will welcome you the day you decide to walk back into my life.”

“It will never happen.” She pulls my hand away from her face. “I’m sorry, Wes. I just don’t want you lost in some twisted delusion. Please, don’t bother pining for me. The Wesley I loved died a long time ago.” But the tears in her eyes tell me another story.

“I had a vision.”

“Don’t believe it.”

Anger coats her from the inside out. She won’t hear of the fact that we reconcile someday. That all of this is for not, and she stands by my side as it was meant to be from the beginning.

“Your father is the king of lies, Wesley.” She shakes her head, sorry for me. “When you pull through this, and I hope you will. I’ll welcome you back into my life—as a friend.”

Our eyes lock. Laken’s lust filters through the air, her own deception circles around her head like a crown of thorns. This is nothing more than a pep talk she’s giving herself. My father didn’t give me the vision. It was gifted to me from the Justice Alliance last night when I toyed with the idea of taking Cooper to court. It was the bread of peace offered to me as a means to appease my broken heart. Laken will be by my side again one day. She just doesn’t know it. The Justice Alliance always speaks the truth, and there is no bigger solace than this.

I bear into her with everything I am. “I will always love you.”

“And I will always love who you were.”

My heart stills, this twisted world born of darkness spins. It had finally happened. Laken was leaving me.

We head back to Coop and continue further until we come upon the cage of bones Casper is holed up in. I kick in the makeshift shelter, and she bolts to Laken and Cooper before coming over and embracing me as well.

“I’m really free?” Tears spring from her eyes.

“You’re really free.” I pat her back. “Now, let’s get the others.”

“So what’d I miss?” Her blonde hair is almost down to her shoulders. She’s thinner but one hundred percent Casper Masterson. “Is Flynn still a moron? Are Grayson and Kresley still the power bitches I always knew they could be?”

“Something like that.” Laken slings her arm over Casper’s shoulder.

We take a turn at the end of the road into the tower, and I let them in and listen as they marvel at the nefarious beauty of the facility. The Tower is an architectural wonder with an extravagance unsurpassed by anything on earth. We follow the black-and-white checkered hall down to the end until we find the three of them there in a holding area usually reserved for those waiting to do time in the woods.

“Laken!” Little Lacey cries out. Her cheeks are sunk with pallor, her hair darker than I remember. She wraps her arms around her sister and doesn’t let go. Her mother comes in and collapses over the two of them, and every memory I’ve ever shared with Laken’s family comes back to me.

“Cooper?” A tall, blonde woman with reflective grey eyes hops up and latches onto Coop. I sniff back my emotions as she sobs over her son. “God, I’ve missed you. I missed you and Marky so much. I died every day without you.”

Laken looks back, her eyes lock onto mine.

“Thank you,” she mouths.

“I love you,” I mouth back.

She gives a slow nod. “I know.” Her eyes close, and I can feel her love for me radiating, wrapping around me like an ethereal glove. But Laken doesn’t say the words—and my heart breaks.

The room begins to jolt and spin as I transport them all to the Flanders residence.

I pull back and evaporate to nothing, letting them have their reunion. I want them to enjoy all the peace and harmony this moment can afford.

My day will come with Laken.

And when it does, it will feel just as good.

“I love you, Laken Stewart. I believe everything you’ve ever told me as if it were coming straight from the mouth of God.”

But it’s too late for that.

A lone tear falls from my eye, and no one is here to see it.

No one is here to care.

I’ve lost the only thing that’s ever mattered to me.

For now.

Laken

Almost Two Years Later

The sun crests over the horizon, rousing me from an indecent night’s sleep. Cooper’s roommate has forfeited the room for the next few weeks to help get his girlfriend settled, so I’ve taken advantage of the situation.

Coop moans into me, burying a kiss in my neck. “You’re awake.”

“Could you blame me? I wanted to take in the view.” My fingers rake down his perfectly chiseled chest, and I purr without meaning to.

That day comes back to me in flashes, like it always does in the morning as if Ephemeral were fighting for a place in my life, as if its singular goal is to keep holding me back by way of those twisted memories.

We had a fantastic reunion with our families after we left the tunnels. Lacey and Marky have been inseparable ever since. As luck would have it, the house next door to the Flanders went on the market, and I convinced my “father” to purchase it for me as a miniscule means of restitution. Mom, Lacey, and I moved in right away. Jen and Fletch had a hard time wrapping their heads around the truth, but Jones pulled through and made sure to come clean, shaking out his dirty laundry for everyone to see. My other sister was still happily clueless out on her semester at sea. The news of my death had never even reached her. When she flew home for Christmas, it was a strange sort of reunion but one that was worth the wait. Ephemeral-Jen could hardly believe she had a twin but was quick to indoctrinate her in all things pure and right as far as “boys” are concerned. Old Jen just laughed it off. She always was easy going.

As for Coop and me, we enrolled in the local public school in Heaven and finished out our junior and senior years. Our relationship hit a whole new physical level, right around prom, and we’ve never looked back. A rainy day, a motel room, and a fake class field trip that spanned a three-day weekend were involved. We were all tongues and teeth, the pulling and tugging of limbs, his heated skin raking over mine. It was magical. Cooper has a way of making me feel new things, of taking life to new heights without even trying. And now, here we are at Host University, the only college out of dozens that accepted us both. I wondered if it was some cosmic coincidence that it was located right next to Paragon, right next to where Skyla lives and now Edinger. But I’m far too jaded to believe in coincidences and wishes anymore. This is by design, and if I had to, I could guess whose hand was behind this.

“So you think it’ll be weird?” Coop gives my ribs a tickle before pulling me in close, his iron hot skin hard under mine. “Having them so close?”

“Are you kidding? It’s beyond weird, but Lacey and Marky are in love with the idea.” The girls were heartbroken that Coop and I were moving clear across the country, so the Flanders and Mom decided to make the move with us—although, they’ll be staying on Paragon.

He pulls his cheek back as if considering the idea—and, dear God, Cooper Flanders is the most gorgeous man alive.

“You know it drives me insane when you get all contemplative.” I track kisses up his neck, straight to his lips.

Dr. Flanders is partnering with another psychiatrist by the name of Dr. Booth. Mom has already acclimated to Paragon and has found a fulltime job at the island’s biggest daycare center. But that hasn’t stopped her from dreaming of opening an art gallery. If the Celestra tunnels did one good thing, they dried her out. She hasn’t hit the bottle once since she’s been back, and I hope it stays that way forever.

Marky and Lacey are getting ready to start junior high, then, before we know it, they’ll be freshmen in high school. I shake my head as I reflect back on my freshman year. That’s the last year I spent with Wes, my Wes, not the Ephemeral version he morphed into toward the end. I haven’t seen him since that final day in the tunnels.

After the Spectators retreated, Ephemeral began to repair itself almost overnight. Edinger and Ms. Paxton managed to fool the student body into believing it was a master prank by the school’s crosstown rival, Rycroft. The academy was restored to all of its wicked glory within a week. But I never saw it—it was all relayed to me by Jen and Fletch.

Jax Easton finally had the right amount of fear instilled in her so as not to mess with Jen. Carter is back to her perky self—albeit with a glass eye, and Hattie and Flynn still can’t keep their hands off each other. They were one of the first resurrected. Ezrina pushed them out in batches until every last one of the Spectators was resettled as perfect living beings.

As for Wes, in truth, I don’t know where he is, but I’ve always had a sense for when he was near, and as soon as I stepped off that ferry last week, I felt him here, his presence as real as mine or Cooper’s. I suppose it won’t be long before he makes himself known. I can feel him hovering wherever I go like a ghost. I still don’t know what I’ll say to him when I do see him, if anything. Just thinking about him breaks my heart, and I wish it didn’t. I wish I hated him as much as I hate what he stands for, but that sweet boy from Kansas crops up in my mind and begs me not to.

A guttural moan drums through Coop’s chest. “I think after all we went through—I like the idea of family being nearby. You know what else I love?” He kisses the tip of my index finger, and an electrical impulse tracks all the way down from his mouth to the most intimate part of me. “You.” A smile flirts with his lips. “You’re my family, Laken. And as soon as we’re ready, I think we should make it official.”

“Well, then.” I bite my lip with excitement. “I guess I’ll wait for the proposal.”

A silent laugh thumps through his chest as he pulls me on top of him. “Be ready. It might come sooner than you think.”

“I’ll be Mrs. Flanders.
Mmm
—I like the sound of that.”

My lips find his, and we engage in a kiss that spans straight into the future.

I love you
, I tell him.
Forever, Cooper, I’m yours. Thank you for saving me.

“Forever.” Coop pulls back. His eyes bear into mine. “I think we saved each other. I think this was our destiny all along.”

We crash into another kiss. This time we don’t stop. We shower our love over one another in every way that our flesh demands.

No matter what the future holds, I know that with Coop by my side I can handle it all.

This is love.

Coop is right—this was our destiny all along.

Somewhere in the distance, a howl goes off and seeps in through the window—a primal cry neither human nor animal. It was as if a demonic being were protesting everything we stand for. Coop and I know the Counts are still out there, monitoring us, watching, waiting. We unearthed one of their darkest secrets, and, for that, we’ll most likely pay a price. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

The good war had come and gone, the one between Celestra and the Countenance. But another war is on the horizon. This one would be brother against brother—the civil war of my people. Those are always the bloodiest.