“You’ll see.” She snuggled into his warmth and led him south, through the garden, past the arena and the stables, and then eventually to the south field, where the land ended and the sea began.
They walked past the empty stone barn and neared the cliff’s edge when Ari pulled him into a circle of newly planted cypress trees. In the center of the circle were three white stones, each with a name carved into its surface.
RADA GLAVAN: PRECIOUS MOTHER
CLEO TOLES: CHERISHED DAUGHTER AND FRIEND
PARRISH VAUGHN: BELOVED BROTHER
He let go of her and moved to stand beside Parrish’s grave, one hand reaching out to rest against the polished stone.
“The cypress trees symbolize sacrifice. I thought that was fitting. Rada is my mother—you probably figured that out—and I don’t actually have her body, but this will give Thad and me a place to go when we want to remember her.” She took a step closer to him, but he remained silently turned away.
A tiny thread of worry moved through her, and she said, “I kept the headstone that was on Parrish’s grave in the pauper’s cemetery. I’m sure it means something to you, and we can use it here if you’d rather. I can destroy this one. They don’t have to match.”
She was babbling, but he wasn’t moving. Wasn’t speaking. And for once, she had no idea what his silence meant.
“I . . . Sebastian, if I should’ve asked you before moving Parrish, I’m sorry. I thought . . . It doesn’t matter what I thought. He’s your brother. I should’ve—”
“Ari.” He turned, took three long steps, and pulled her against his chest. Burying his face in her hair, he whispered, “Thank you.”
She held him close, listening to the comforting rhythm of his heartbeat while the pale winter sun gleamed overhead and seabirds cawed over the sound of the Chrysós crashing against the shore.
After a long moment, he said, “This is a good surprise.”
She smiled. “This is only part of the surprise.”
He pulled back and arched a brow at her. “You really are remarkably sneaky when you want to be.”
She grinned and turned him to face the western coastline. “See that cliff with the huge, solitary oak tree? The one just past the edge of the palace’s property. Not there”—she reached up and adjusted the direction he was facing—“there.”
“I see it. Did you bury someone there too?”
She snorted. “Not yet, but you should stay on my good side.”
He leaned down and kissed her, gentle and sweet. Her stomach spun in warm, lazy circles, and she clung to him as he slowly broke the kiss. “Still on your good side?”
“Stop distracting me.” She swept him with a look. “But hold that thought because you’re going to want to kiss me again in a second.”
“Am I?” He gave her the arched brow again.
“The property that contains the cliff with the oak tree was recently purchased. By Thad.” She paused for effect, but he just frowned at her. She leaned closer and watched his face. “As a gift for the newest member of the nobility.”
He froze, his body as still as a stone except for the wild beating of his heart, and then slowly he looked at the cliff again. “It’s mine?”
“It’s yours.” She danced in place while he stared at the cliff. “You can build the cottage you always wanted. It’s actually quite a distance from the main road, so you’ll have plenty of privacy. Or if you don’t want a cottage, you could build a—”
He covered her lips with his. She lost herself in the gentle roughness of his mouth. In the way he fisted his hands in the back of her gown and dragged her against him as if he couldn’t stand to have a sliver of space between them.
When he finally came up for air, his eyes dark with emotion, she framed his face with her hands and said, “I’ll visit you often. So often, you’ll get sick of me.”
“I could never get sick of you.”
“I’ll bring pie.”
“I would expect no less.”
The look on his face lit the torch in her heart and sent tingles through her veins. “I love you,” she said softly.
He gave her his crinkle-eyed smile and whispered, “I love you too.”
And then he kissed her until the sound of the waves disappeared, until the feel of the grass beneath her feet was gone, and all that was left was the taste of his lips and the steady beat of her heart.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, thank you to Jesus for loving me unconditionally.
I couldn’t write books without the support and encouragement of my family. Clint, thank you for being my other half and for always believing in me. Tyler, Jordan, Zach, Johanna, and Isabella, thank you for being proud that your mom writes books and for (mostly) letting me work in peace. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for helping with the kids and other details when I’m on tight deadlines and for supporting me. And thank you to my sister, Heather, and my BIL, Dave (aren’t you glad I left out your nicknames?), for hanging with my kids, reading my books, and buying them for everyone you know. (And to Heather for being an awesome beta reader and an even better friend!)
Producing a book takes a village, and I have one of the best. I’m immensely grateful for my agent, Holly Root, who champions me, and for my editor, Kristin Rens, who always pushes me to deliver my best. I’m also grateful for the incredibly talented team at Balzer + Bray, including Caroline Sun and Nellie Kurtzman and their teams, Kelsey Murphy, Sarah Kaufman and Alison Donalty, and Kathryn Silsand, for being such rock stars.
Finally, even though I already dedicated the book to her, a big thank-you to my bestie, Melinda Doolittle, for beta reading every draft and for constant encouragement while I’m writing. I couldn’t ask for a better friend in my corner.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PHOTO BY AMELIA MOORE
C. J. REDWINE loves fairy tales, Harry Potter, and any movie starring Johnny Depp. She is also the author of the Defiance trilogy and the New York Times bestseller The Shadow Queen. If the novel-writing gig ever falls through, she’ll join the Avengers and wear a cape to work every day. C.J. lives in Nashville with her husband and children. You can visit C.J. online at www.cjredwine.blogspot.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
BOOKS BY C. J. REDWINE
Defiance
Deception
Deliverance
Outcast: A Defiance Novella
Defiance Series Complete Collection
The Shadow Queen
The Wish Granter
CREDITS
COVER EMBROIDERY © 2017 BY MEGHAN WILLIS
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION & HAND LETTERING © 2017 BY SEAN FREEMAN
COVER DESIGN BY SARAH NICHOLE KAUFMAN
COPYRIGHT
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE WISH GRANTER. Copyright © 2017 by C. J. Redwine. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2016949521
ISBN 978-0-06-236027-4
EPub Edition © January 2017 ISBN 9780062360304
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FIRST EDITION
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The Wish Granter Page 34