Juliet Immortal

her in the distance, feel her on the wind, but I can’t move, can’t run. I should be afraid, but I’m not.
    I haven’t betrayed Ben. He hasn’t betrayed me. We haven’t betrayed the promises we made or the things we believe. It is … good. And whatever comes next will come next.
    And then I feel her hands on my face, hear her voice calling to me, and fear creeps into my borrowed heart. “Juliet! Juliet, please. Hear me. Open your eyes.”
    My lids slide up, obeying her command. I don’t want to, but I can’t seem to help myself, can’t keep from struggling to focus, from pulling Gemma’s—Nurse’s—shadow from the surrounding night. There is no moon; there are no stars, no more headlights. It’s almost impossible to see. If she hadn’t spoken, if I couldn’t smell the hint of her expensive perfume, I wouldn’t know whose fingers feather along my neck.
    “I’ve frightened that thing away. It’s not too late,” she whispers, voice bright as she finds my pulse. “You’re still alive and you’re ready. I can take you with me.”
    I try to shake my head, to ask her what she means, to tell her I don’t want to go, that I want to stay with Ben until … until …
    But I can’t move. I can only blink, disturbed, confused.
    “You’ve found it. Your peace.” She sighs. “Now I can offeryou sanctuary and power. You will be one of us, safe in our realms, only coming to earth when you feel moved by the light to fight against them. When you feel ready.”
    Her hand runs down my neck, over my shoulder, down to my hand. She takes it in hers and squeezes. “I’m so glad I found you in time.”
    In time? She hasn’t found me in time. Ben is dead.
Dead
. Gone forever, and the world is a darker place for it. And what about Ariel? She has a bullet in her brain. No matter how detached I feel, some part of me knows that this body is dying.
    “Where …” I swallow, wincing. The pain is beginning to find me, crawling over my flesh, a thousand tiny insect feet bearing misery. “Where …”
    “I had to leave the school. I needed someplace safe, so I sent Gemma to Mike’s apartment before the play, instead of after,” she says, not a hint of regret in her voice. “And then they starting talking, and I didn’t want to interrupt them. I could tell they were so close to finding their faith in each other. And I was right!” She actually claps her hands together in excitement. “Gemma and Mike are both burning bright. We can go. Both of us. Back to the light.”
    “What about … Ben?” I ask, fighting the tears that rise in my eyes. I don’t have the time to cry, or the strength. “Ben and …”
    “Gemma and Mike were the soul mates you were sent for. What happened with you and Ben was …” She squeezes my hand again, a gesture I can tell is meant to be comforting, but isn’t. “Well, it was beautiful, for both of you, but it wasn’t meant to be. It’s time for you to leave this body, and Ben and Ariel aren’t soul mates. In the end, they wouldn’t have fueled our cause the way Gemma and Mike will.”
    So that’s it. Ariel and Ben are secondary concerns because they aren’t suitable food for the light. Romeo was right. The Ambassadors might be a more refined breed of vampire, but that’s all they are. Vampires, masquerading as a worthwhile cause, as champions of goodness and defenders of true love.
    They don’t know nearly as much about love as they assume. Love doesn’t want people to stay ignorant and frightened. Love doesn’t value obedience over all else. Love doesn’t judge and find some lives—or loves—more valuable than others. Love doesn’t use people and throw them away. Love stays, and makes you stronger, even when the person you love is gone.
    “Don’t cry, dear. You will be one of us now,” she says, misunderstanding the reason for the sob that escapes my lips. “Come, we must hurry. Gemma won’t stay buried much longer, and the specter could return at any—”
    “No.”
    “No?” She shakes her head, a stirring of shadows in the night. I catch another whiff of Gemma’s perfume and then another, lighter smell. Rosemary and roses and dust from familiar roads. The wind blows harder, pushing the clouds away from the crescent moon.
    “I don’t want to be one of you.” I turn my face toward the sweet wind, knowing
she
is coming. Ready to take her hand. Nurse said touching my old body would take me where the Ambassadors and Mercenaries can’t find