Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5) (36 page)

Bethany hugged her, and held her close for a long time.

"Always? I don't know. It seems to me that, for the first time in your life, Gwen Farris, you're well and truly free. Oh, not the most popular person in the world, perhaps, but you have everything a person needs to make a good life for themselves. Riches, that if not the ones you left behind, still get the job done. Beauty and youth. Your body is only twenty-seven, after all. You even have power and the freedom to use it. I know this isn't the place you were born, but is that the definition of home, really? You aren't trapped here, you're..." She shrugged, and moved in to hug her friend again.

There were no words for a bit, but when they came they were different than she expected.

"You, Gwen Farris, are the most important person in my life. More than my family. More than my husband. I won't stop you, if you must leave, but I really don't know if I'll last, if you do. Please, for me, stay?"

She nodded, "for you. My best and truest friend. For you I'll stay in this world. Until you don't need me anymore."

"So, you'll stay forever?
That's
reassuring. I was worried there for a moment."

Gwen smiled, knowing that it wouldn't be that long by half.

Then half of forever could be a pretty long time.

"Until you send me away, I'll stay with you."

Then they went to get in the lorrie. There was work to be done. There always would be, most likely.

For a moment Gwen started to feel the weight of the world descend on her, then she rallied and straightened up. It was true. Things hadn't gone perfectly for her for a while. In the end though, she'd won, and done something that no one else had ever managed. Gwen Farris had, more than any other single person, beat the bomb.

Rifters, here, but that was the same thing.

It was big. Important, and nearly enough for her to feel good about.

Even if she didn't really, she knew what she had to do. You didn't always get the win in life. If that happened, then you got back up, just as soon as you could, and kept going.

Smiling a bit, she did just that.

It was her super power after all.

When others might stop, or give up, she didn't. In the end, that was all she really needed.

Table of Contents