“And so, while I know you were expecting the elixir, I’m going to offer you something else.” I shift my gaze, my eyes taking in the multiple bottles of red juice left to chill in my mini-fridge, and suddenly changing my tack when I say, “No, actually I’m going to give you a choice.” My eyes meet Lotus’s, afraid of what she might think, but finding her nodding encouragement, not the slightest bit disturbed by my words. “It only seems fair that you get a real choice. But I want you to consider the choice very carefully, because after today this choice may never come again. So, in short, I’m going to offer you a drink from the elixir that’ll extend your life as you know it—preserving your youth and beauty and vitality for another one hundred and fifty years—but you should know that it comes at a price. You can still die.

If one of your weak chakras is targeted your body will disintegrate and your soul will be trapped in the Shadowland—a terrible place you don’t want to visit. Or…” I pause, knowing how important this next part is, and wanting to get it just right, to stress its full importance, before I lose them completely. “Or, you can taste from the fruit I picked from the Tree of Life—the fruit that offers true immortality—the immortality of the soul. And just so you know, eating it will reverse everything you are now. Your body will age, and grow old, and yes, you’ll eventually die. But your being, your true essence, your soul, will realize eternity as it was always intended to be.” I bite down on my lip as my hands fidget by my sides, knowing I’ve said all I can. The choice is now theirs. And though I think it’s an obvious choice, it’s still a pretty big decision to make.

There’s much murmuring, much questioning, much suspicion, and since everyone already thinks Lotus is crazy, and since everyone equates me as the girlfriend of the one person they’ve been trained to hate, it’s pretty clear that my little speech was not nearly as well received as I’d hoped.

But just as I’m sure I’ve only convinced them to embrace another one hundred and fifty years of what they’ve come to know and love—the flower, the shooting star, and the tree step forward, step right out of the crowd, making their way to where I now stand. And I blink in astonishment when I realize it’s Misa, Marco, and Rafe.

They’re glowing.

Absolutely, positively glowing.

Their auras beaming bright, glistening in the most unmistakable way, just like they did upon leaving the tree.

They pick up right where I left off, talking excitedly, voices overlapping, explaining about the miraculous transformation they made the moment they tasted the fruit.

Telling the crowd what I already sensed to be true—all of that whooping and hollering they engaged in just after having eaten the fruit wasn’t because they believed they’d ensured their physical immortality, but because they felt their soul’s immortality being restored.

Experienced the thrill of their karma righting itself with the universe.

While they’re talking, Lotus looks at me, steeples her hands against her chest in a silent blessing, and goes about placing small bits of fruit into little paper cups, ensuring there’s enough for everyone, before she plucks one for herself, looks at me, and says, “Please.

Come with me.”

I hesitate. Wanting to witness the moment when the immortals, convinced by what they’ve heard, all step forward as one, and choose their new path.

But Lotus just shakes her head and says, “You’ve done all you can. The rest is left to them.”

I glance over my shoulder, see the way the crowd moves closer to Misa, Marco, and Rafe, then I follow Lotus down the stairs and through the house, collecting Ava, the twins, Jude, Stacia, Honor, Miles, Holt, even Sabine and Munoz along the way, wanting to take this final journey with those who’ve helped her to get to this point.

She leads us into the backyard, where she kicks off her shoes, closes her eyes, and sighs as she sinks her toes deep into the grass.

Then lifting her head, she glances at each of us, her gaze settling on me when she says, “You have released me. And while my gratitude knows no bounds, your trust in me has been at your own great, personal expense. For that I am sorry.”

She nods, bows ever so slightly, and I wait for her to say something more, to tell me not to worry, that it all gets better from here, but instead she brings the cup to her lips and ingests. Shuttering her eyes as her hands swiftly rise, her fingers uncurling, her palms flattening—the yard falling quiet as Lotus begins to glow the most beautiful golden color that can’t be ignored.

Her face radiant, beaming, her cane all but forgotten, abandoned by her side—a witness to something miraculous, something viewable only to her. And I can’t help but gasp when instead of the ash I’ve grown so used to seeing, two perfect lotus blossoms bloom forth from her palms.

She turns toward me, places one behind my ear and the other in my hand, gently closing my fingers around it as she says, “This one is for Damen. You must go to him now.”

I nod, eager to do just that, but also wanting to see this thing through.

Torn between leaving and staying when Jude leans toward me and says, “He’s here.”

I look at him, my heart leaping into my throat, thinking he’s referring to Damen, but soon realizing he meant someone else.

“Her husband. He’s come to escort her to the other side.” He motions toward the space beside Lotus, a space that appears empty to me.

I watch as Lotus steps forward, once, twice, before she simply disappears. Her body so old, so worn, its immortality so suddenly reversed, it could no longer withstand the gravity of the earth plane. And yet, she got exactly what she wanted, what she sought all this time. Leaving nothing more than a glittering pile of gold dust behind.