Chapter 33
Finn
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The wind battered the house so violently that the walls shuddered, dust drifting from the rafters with every gust. Finn stood in the living room, staring at the front door as the storm clawed at it, rattling the hinges as if something outside were trying to get in.
His instincts screamed at him to take Kallie to the restaurant, shove her down into the cellar, and hold her there until the storm passed. All he wanted to do was protect her.
But he knew better.
The storm always came when the shadow seam opened, and he knew what the veil wanted. Each time Kallie walked through, there was a glitch. She was never meant for Everstill.
She was too pure and good. She deserved more.
It was now or never. He needed to get Kallie to the veil.
"Come on." He threaded his fingers through hers and stepped outside.
The wind slammed into him hard enough to knock him back a step.
The sky churned above Everstill, dark clouds spiraling like a vortex, the air thick with static.
The road stretched ahead of him, empty and trembling under the force of the storm.
And at the far end of it, the veil waited, shimmering, pulsing, and alive.
Finn's chest tightened. His breath came shallow. He held on to Kallie tighter. The storm pulled at her and warned him away.
He couldn't go through.
Copper's words echoed in his skull like a death sentence. If he had even the smallest desire to join her, he'd die.
The rift would tear him apart.
Finn swallowed hard, tasting fear and resignation. Everstill had its hooks in him. They were deep, permanent, and unbreakable.
But it didn't matter anymore. Without Kallie, he had no life in Everstill.
No future.
No reason.
He stood in the middle of the road, the storm whipping around him, and stared at the veil as it flickered like a living wound in the world.
He was going to have to break her heart to save her.
He closed his eyes, the wind tearing at his clothes, the storm roaring like a beast awakened. He pictured her smile, her laugh, the way she looked at him like he was worth something. Like he was a man, not a fucking empty soul trapped inside Everstill.
He pictured her packing her bag with excitement, believing they were about to start a new life together.
He pictured her reaching for him each night in bed, trusting him.
And his heart cracked clean down the middle.
He stared at the veil with a hollow ache in his chest. Soon, she would walk through it with no hesitation because she believed he was coming with her.
And she would live.
And he...wouldn't.
The storm howled, the veil pulsed brighter, and Finn braced himself for the moment he would have to destroy the one thing that had ever made him feel alive.
Kallie.
The storm swirled around them, tugging at their clothes and hair with frantic, desperate fingers. He urged Kallie forward, and they walked hand in hand down the road.
The sky above Everstill churned in violent spirals, black clouds folding over one another as if the world itself were being pulled inside out. Lightning cracked across the sky in jagged white veins, casting harsh, flickering light across the empty street.
"It's never this stormy when I walk through the rift," yelled Kallie.
He held on to her tighter. "It is on this side."
The wind howled through the trees, bending branches until they creaked under the strain.
But Kallie walked beside him, her chin held high, her steps steady, her fingers tightly intertwined with his.
She remained confident in her choices and had no hesitation about crossing over. She looked ahead to her future.
She was brave in a way he hadn't been in Everstill. Brave in a way that made his chest ache with both pride and dread.
She squeezed his hand, smiling brightly even in the storm's chaos. "We're really doing this," she said, her voice breathless with excitement.
She leaned into him, trusting him completely, believing with her whole heart that they were about to step into a new life together.
A life she thought he would share. A life she thought he could have.
She had no idea that every step they took toward the veil was another step toward the moment he would have to break her heart.
She had no idea that he wasn't walking toward a future.
He was walking toward an ending.
The veil pulsed at the far end of the road, a shimmering tear in reality that widened with every gust of wind.
Its edges rippling like torn fabric caught in a current.
The air around it crackled with energy, the ground vibrating beneath their feet.
Finn felt the pull of it deep in his bones.
For him, it was more a threat of destruction than a pathway to another dimension.
He glanced at Kallie. She was at peace.
She had no idea he couldn't go with her. If she did, she would stay.
She would stay for him.
And Everstill would devour her. It would take every ounce of joy and love from her until there was nothing left, and she was hollow.
When they reached the edge of the shadow seam, Finn stopped. The storm screamed around them, wind whipping Kallie's hair across her face. She turned toward him, confusion flickering across her features, her brows drawing together as she searched his eyes.
"Finn?" she asked softly, stepping closer.
He didn't give himself time to think. Thinking would break him.
Thinking would make him weak. Thinking would make him choose her over her safety.
So he grabbed her face in both hands and kissed her hard, desperate, pouring everything he had into that one impossible moment.
Every memory. Every hope. Every piece of himself she had brought back to life.
He gave it all back to her before it was gone.
She gasped against his mouth, then kissed him back with the same fierce devotion, her fingers curling into his shirt like she never wanted to let go.
The storm roared around them, lightning splitting the sky, thunder shaking the ground beneath their feet.
He kissed her like it was the last time he'd ever taste her, because it was.
He tore his mouth from hers, gasping for breath, his forehead pressed to hers. "I love you," he said, his voice breaking under the weight of the truth. "But you need to go back alone."
She blinked, stunned. "What?"
"Go!" he shouted over the storm.
She grabbed him tighter, refusing to let him pull away. "No. No, Finn, I'm not going without you."
It was the same way she acted when she was sixteen. But she was stronger and more determined now.
"You have to go back." His raw voice shook. "You have to go live your life."
She shook her head violently, tears mixing with the rain. "Don't make me leave you. Don't do it, Finn. I—I'll stay. I'll stay with you."
His heart shattered. He felt the physical break, tearing inside him. It hurt worse than any damage the rift could do to him. She would stay. She would stay for him. She would give up everything for him. And Everstill would take her piece by piece until she was hollow like the others.
He couldn't let that happen.
He wouldn't.
He didn't think.
He didn't hesitate.
He didn't give himself a chance to change his mind.
He scooped her into his arms, holding her tight against his chest as she cried out his name, her hands gripping his shoulders, her tears hot against his neck. The veil pulsed brighter, the air crackling with energy, the storm screaming around them.
"Finn—!"
Carrying her, he stepped forward.
The world tore sideways.
Light vanished in a single, violent blink.