Exalted by Ella James Page B

laugh out of that, and Carlin insisted
on swapping her baggy blue sweat suit for Drew's dress, which, as it happened, was designer brand. Drew couldn't fit into the sweatshirt, but he managed to
squeeze into the pants while Julia and Carlin turned their backs to him,
holding hands.
    “Where is Meredith?” Carlin asked, and Julia pressed her
lips together. “Haven't seen her,” she said, struggling not to get overwhelmed
by the situation—and her fear.
    “I did,” Drew said. It sounded a little like a confession.
    “Where was she?”
    “I saw her crying at a funeral on the other end of the
field. I tried to reach her, but she kept getting farther away.” He pointed.
“That direction.”
    Julia grabbed Drew's hand, and the three of them started
across the field.
    “Edan, or a version of him, appeared to me right after that
road disappeared,” Drew said. “He said this place is based off us—our fears and
insecurities."
    “He was with you? Me too,” Julia said. “He said pretty much
the same thing. That's so weird.”
    “He was with me as well, for a little bit before he kissed
me and left me here with the worms,” Carlin said, vehemently shaking her head.
    Julia saw Drew's eyebrows shoot up when Carlin said “he
kissed me,” but he kept his voice even as he threw Julia a look that said
'let's talk about this later'. “Guess he can be more than one place at once.”
    “He told me we could find Cayne here,” Julia said.
    “Why did he bring Cayne here?” Carlin asked. “I asked him,
but he did not tell.”
    “I wish I had asked more questions,” Julia confessed. “At
the time, I was freaking out.”
    “I think it might be time for that again,” Drew said.
    Julia looked up, and the stormy sky was filled with
meteorites—all of which appeared to be headed straight for them.

 

Chapter Seventeen

 
    It had been easier than he'd expected, fooling the
Adversary. So easy, in fact, that Cayne was reminded of words his aunt used to
tell him: “Pride cometh before a fall.”
    He was pretty sure that came from the Bible. It might have
even been about the devil, which made it all the more appropriate.
    Cayne’s ruse hadn’t been painless. He'd had to let his
father kick his ass for a long while, beyond what he would have been able to
withstand if they had been on earth. He'd had to suffer in other ways, too. But
physical pain, mental pain, even emotional pain—he'd dealt with them before,
although watching Julia suffer made his heart ache worse than he'd thought
possible. But he’d gone through the motions, and he’d given the Adversary what
he must have expected: sorrow, anger, denial. He’d tried bargaining, and when
that didn’t work, more fighting.
    Cayne had expected it to last longer. He had to measure
time in events, and he supposed he'd have to endure a thousand new hells before
he was able to even attempt his plan: controlling the power the Adversary was
trying to pummel into him.
    Incredibly, the prideful Adversary gave him the keys to the
kingdom.
    "This is boring," the devil complained after
delivering a particularly brutal beating. "Try to use my power."
    Cayne's heart had skipped a beat, and he batted every
errant thought away. "What do you mean?" he'd asked, as evenly as he
could.
      "I've given you
access to my power. I want to make sure you can use it."
    Cayne had stared at him, and The Adversary laughed.
"Use it, boy."
    Cayne didn’t hesitate. He could feel the line that
connected him to his father: a thread that had wrapped itself around his
stomach, extending outward, like an umbilical cord. In his mind, he'd reached
through his skin and tugged, and suddenly he was filled with a roaring fire.
    He'd pushed all of it through his fingers, spraying The
Adversary. The devil had laughed, and with a wave of his hand he turned it back
on Cayne. It burned, more painful than anything he'd felt in Hell, and Cayne
had made a show of giving up.
    He'd asked to see Julia one more time, and