Catch, Curse, Release (Immortal Warriors #1) ✅ Completed

Chapter Thirty-Six: Decision Time

"Des, I’m going to ask you a serious question, ok. Do you think this once you could give me a serious answer?”

“Maybe…”

“Am I immortal now?” she asked carefully.  

Des snorted, “Hardly. You’ll live a great deal longer now but that’s not exactly the whole ‘end of time’ nonsense you’re thinking about.”

“Well, how long are we talking about then?” she asked, more than a little annoyed.  

“I don’t know…four, five hundred years.”

“What?”

“Give or take a few decades,” Des shrugged.

“Seriously?”

Des nodded, his face growing almost serious. “Your rate of cell degradation is pretty slow, so if you keep your head on your shoulders you should live a nice long life. Well, so long as he keeps his head of course,” he added indicating Eric.

“Lori?” Eric gasped now, looking from her fallen body to her spirit standing next to Des. “Is that really you, lass?”

Lori glanced back at Des, “Can he really see me?’

But it was Eric that answered, “Aye, lass. I can see you plain as day. What are ye…” but his voice trailed off as he caught sight of the archway behind her. An archway with her awaiting world only a few feet away. “You were speakin’ truly about your world, lass?”

Des groaned, “God, did you really tell him?”

“I thought he could handle it,” Lori admitted a little sheepishly.

“Yeah, how’d it go?”

Lori shook her head slowly, “Not well.”

Des rolled his eyes. “God, you girls are all the same.” He grabbed her arm now, dragging her attention away from Eric, “Are you ready?”

Lori swallowed nervously, “This is it, right? I can go back or stay here?”

“This is it,” Des nodded, “It’s time for you to decide your fate Lorelei Elizabeth Mayer.” He waved a hand causing the archway to open to its fullest. The grandeur of the ancient structure was awe inspiring but this time Lori truly understood the power it wielded.

She looked through the structure and could see all of New York City. Horns blared, traffic roared as the archway zoomed across Central Park then over to the MET. She could practically smell the hot dogs and pretzels from outside the museum and a sense of nostalgia and all the trappings of a familiar life washed over her.

Her world, where iPods, tampons, antibiotics, Starbucks, and Johnny Depp movies all existed in perfect harmony. She looked back at Eric – the person who’d become more important than all that stuff combined.

“What do you say, cupcake? Stay here or go home?” Des asked, looking back at the sprawling metropolis waiting for them.

Lori took a shaky breath, “Yeah, but that place isn’t really home anymore, is it?” Des waited for her final decision. She looked from the archway back to Eric – the man she’d travelled through time and reality to meet. Lori took a deep breath, “I think I’m ready to make my decision now.”

Des grinned, “Never doubted you for a second, princess,” he said raising his hand.

“You better make that queen, cupcake,” she winked.

Des snapped his fingers for the last time and Lori passed out.

Again.