Page 182 of Cherish

I’m still close enough to him to see it dribble down his chin and run between his razorlike claws. He licks at them for a moment before dipping his paw into the honeycomb and coming up with another claw full of honey.

Again, it dribbles down his chin, and this time he growls impatiently before wiping his mouth.

When he’s done, he flicks his claw to clean it, and tiny little strings fly off in all directions. And then he does it again and again and again. Every time he does, little droplets of honey fly off his claws and float away on the breeze.

The bear is a soul eater.That’s what Hudson said.

I watch as another string of honey stretches from the bear’s lips to his claws, pulled thinner and thinner as he moves his paw farther from his mouth until it eventually breaks free, the gossamer thread glowing as bright as the bear’s fur as it catches the breeze and floats away.

And I have the ridiculous thought that this is where our souls really come from—all of us, just little drops of honey flicked off this Celestial bear’s claw and ignited with Celestial spittle.

I want to laugh at my absurdity, but it hurts too much to breathe. Instead, I just lay here and watch this ridiculous bear eat honey, little wisps floating from his mouth over and over. Every once in a while, his claws get too messy with strings of honey that refuse to float away, and he reaches out and dunks his paw in the lake beside him. The same pool of water just inches away from me.

And that’s when atrulybizarre thought occurs to me. What if we were never after the honey at all? Watching as the bear rinses his claw in the water again, I can’t help wondering if I was mistaken. My grandmother said we needed CelestialDew. And dew iswater, not honey.

If this bear is a soul eater, like Hudson said, and the lake water rinses away the honey… Can it really be that we need this lake’s water to separate Liana and Lorelei’s souls, like rinsing honey from a bear’s claw?

Remy groans, and my heart starts pounding in my chest. He’s awake.

I call out his name, and this time, when he moans my name back, I give a deep sigh of relief that he’s really alive.

If Remy is alive, there’s a chance. We have a chance.

Trying not to attract the bear’s attention again, I whisper-shout to Remy, “Can you get us out of here?”

He shakes his head. “I can’t walk,” he answers in a voice broken with pain. “Or stand.”

“I know that,” I hiss back. “But I need you to suck it up and get us out of here.” I imbue my voice with the urgency I’m feeling. There’s so little time left for Hudson and for Mekhi that this has to work.

Remy’s eyes drift closed, and for a second I think he’s fallen back to sleep. But then he whispers, “I have an idea.”

“Good,” I answer.

I’m working up the energy to reach a hand in my pocket when I feel the ground beneath me begin to tremble. My gaze darts to the bear, my stomach in my throat, but the shaking ground must not be because of him, since he’s still eating.

“I’m not sure I can get us all,” Remy whispers, but I refuse to listen.

“We all go, Remy. All of us.” And then I have an idea. “You reach for me, and I’ll reach for them.” And then I look deep inside myself and scoop up their strings in my hand. Because Iwillhold them, no matter what it takes. Nothing will make me let them go. Not now. Not ever. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready.”

He grunts what I think is a yes, and I reach into my pocket and pull out the empty vial the Curator gave me. I slowly, so very slowly, inch my hand closer and closer to the water, keeping my eyes glued to the bear. He’s focused on his honeycomb dinner, though, and I dip the vial in the water and fill it to the brim. Then I cork it as quickly as I can.

Still, I’m not quiet enough. Because the bear looks up suddenly, a low growl rumbling from his throat as he comes charging toward me.

I reach one hand out to Remy’s and squeeze the other one around my friends’ strings. “Now, Remy, now!” I tell him.

The ground beneath us dissolves into a swirling pit of stars and colors. And then we fall.

100

My Get-Into-

Jail-Free Card

When we land, we hit the ground so hard that the entire floor rattles beneath us. My body aches anew from the impact—although, to be honest, it’s hard to tell which pains are from this hit and which are from all the ones that came before.

It takes me a second to draw a breath—it feels like I was just donkey-kicked in my already bruised sternum. But once I can, I immediately dive inside myself to check the strings. They’re all still there, even Heather and Hudson.

I force my eyes open, then, determined to find my mate.

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