Zoe Thanatos(81)

Eva suddenly turned to Zoe and took her hands in hers. “You can do this, Zoe. You know you can. You already made the choice once; it won’t be hard to make it again.”

Zoe nodded. “You’re right.” In her heart she had already made the decision. It was her brain that needed to catch up. She had a mother who had sacrificed her entire life for her, a brother who needed to be found, and a sister whose whereabouts were known. It was every reason she needed to stay, to turn her back on Earth and embrace the life she was meant to have, however difficult it may be. She turned back to her father and smiled kindly at him.

“That which seems lost in Terra rarely ever is. You’ll soon know what matters.” He turned towards Eva and nodded at her. “She’ll be right behind you.”

A momentary look of fear and confusion washed across Eva’s face before Zopyros placed a hand on her shoulder. In a blink she was gone and Zoe’s hand fell to her side, empty without Eva’s fingers entwined around them.

“What the hell?” Zoe cried. Her feet carried her forwards into the space Eva had just occupied, her mind empty of comprehension.

“Don’t worry, Zoe. Evadine is safe.”

“She just disappeared!” she exclaimed, though even her own words left her disbelieving.

“I’ve sent her back to Royal City where she belongs. You’ll see her soon.”

“How did you do that? How did you just make her disappear into thin air?”

“I’m afraid the answer isn’t nearly as mystical as you may be expecting. I told you to think of me as a program, right?” Zoe nodded. “I effectively acted as a gate and sent her back to where she came from. I promise you she’s perfectly fine.”

She felt her heart beat slowing, the breath in her airways flowing with increased ease. A tender vibrating sensation on her shoulder caught her attention and she looked up to find her father’s hand placed on it like he had before, the tingling electricity growing at his prolonged touch. After witnessing what had happened to Eva she expected to disappear herself and reappear someplace else entirely. To her great surprise she remained still

Zopyros looked like a man who had suffered deep loss, his mouth downcast into a frown and his too-big brown eyes misty with tears. “Your birth was one of the happiest moments of my life, and sending you away was one of the worst. However, I’m pleased to see you now, the spitting image of your mother, no less.”

The electric sensation moved across her neck to her shoulder, then down her arms and torso, filling her chest with the current. She had the distinct sense that her father was saying goodbye after only just making his presence known.

“I thought there was more to tell me?”

“This is how I tell you, Zoe. My purpose here is finished.”

“I don’t understand.” What about her sister and brother? There was a world of information she was meant to learn from him, but it seemed as though their time was up.

“You will.”

Her legs began to vibrate beneath her and she found it increasingly difficult to maintain her balance. Muscles convulsed beneath her skin, the tingling electrifying nerve endings until her entire body was shaking violently. Her vision blurred the world around her becoming unfocused and bleary. Her legs buckled beneath her and she fell to the ground, the soft meadow of grass padding her knees and arms as they moved to support her. Her mind exploded as she crashed onto her back, limbs still convulsing around her. Her mouth opened to call for Zopyros but the sound was silent as it escaped.

As she lay on the ground, her body convulsing uncontrollably against the crisp blades of grass, only one coherent thought could register in the scalding pain of her mind: I am dying. It didn’t feel anything like the liberating sensation she felt at Potato Harbor. This was unplanned, unintentional, and not at all what she expected.

Shards of teeth stabbed the insides of her mouth as her jaw clenched and unclenched, her teeth smashing into each other as her head violently shook. A burning sensation radiated through bones and muscles as she fought the shaking, using any amount of strength and willpower she had left to fight for control over her body. The heat was searing, ripping through her insides from shoulders to toes. She could hear the sound of blood pumping furiously through her body, flowing fast and furiously to her head and heart as she twisted.

Then, suddenly it stopped.

Quicker than it started her body fell still and silent, only a sporadic tick of a firing nerve jostling a leg or finger. Her head rolled to one side and she could taste a buildup of blood and shards of teeth collecting in the cup of her cheek. The frenetic pumping of blood quieted too, her heart beat echoing with slowing pace inside her chest.