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Back Seasons of Chaos Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Dedication
  2. Prologue
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 6
  9. 7
  10. 8
  11. 9
  12. 10
  13. 11
  14. 12
  15. 13
  16. 14
  17. 15
  18. 16
  19. 17
  20. 18
  21. 19
  22. 20
  23. 21
  24. 22
  25. 23
  26. 24
  27. 25
  28. 26
  29. 27
  30. 28
  31. 29
  32. 30
  33. 31
  34. 32
  35. 33
  36. 34
  37. 35
  38. 36
  39. 37
  40. 38
  41. 39
  42. 40
  43. 41
  44. 42
  45. 43
  46. 44
  47. 45
  48. 46
  49. 47
  50. 48
  51. 49
  52. 50
  53. 51
  54. 52
  55. 53
  56. 54
  57. 55
  58. 56
  59. 57
  60. 58
  61. 59
  62. 60
  63. 61
  64. 62
  65. Epilogue
  66. Acknowledgments
  67. About the Author
  68. Books by Elle Cosimano
  69. Back Ad
  70. About the Publisher

I drop to my knees in the debris, tracing the shimmering edge of the gem with my fingers. Then I work the crystal free of the slab and blow off the dust. The Eye of Ananke stares back at me.

Lyon’s missing piece . . . It’s been hidden in plain sight all along. The eye . . . our future and all the answers . . . the scythe and the crystal . . . the earth and the Seasons . . . all the magic . . .

They were all right here, at the very beginning.

Suddenly, I understand what Lyon wants from me. I see the plan he envisioned before Doug took his life. I know why Lyon brought all of us back here. I told Fleur I’d come back for her as soon as I figured out how to free her. But it isn’t just Fleur Lyon wanted me to save. Lyon expected me to save everyone.

46

The Road Not Taken

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FLEUR

“Five minutes,” Doug says.

Gaia’s scent is overwhelming in the enclosed space: forests and oceans and desert flowers. And other things . . . rancid odors that shatter the illusion that she might still be here. A loaf of bread is beginning to mold in a bag on the kitchen counter, and the sour reek of spoiled milk drifts from a cereal bowl left in the sink. The potted plants scattered around the rooms sag in their pots. I don’t have the heart to revive them only to leave them to suffer again.

Doug leads me through Gaia’s apartment. Gaia’s dining room table is littered with files and reports, as if she expected to come back to them. He pauses, shuffling through the pages, picking up a hastily scribbled note. The looping script matches Lyon’s signatures on the memos in Jack’s office back at the villa.

It’s time, my love.

Doug crushes the note and tosses it away as he moves to the next room. I linger there, seeing the apartment differently. All the small clues that hint at the hurried, careless manner in which she must have left. All the loose odds and ends she left unfinished. How long had Gaia and Lyon known they were walking to their final deaths?

As I follow Doug, I slide a pen off the table and slip it inside the sleeve of my jumpsuit. Doug opens a set of doors in the hallway, revealing Gaia’s home office.

“Her bedroom must be in there,” he says, gesturing loosely to the only other pair of doors at the end of the hall. “Find some clothes and let’s go.”