by Tenaya Jayne
"Maddox." Her voice fell softly on his ears and he looked up at her.
"Come."
He strode over to her. She looked up into his face with a sad smile. "I was just telling her some stuff…I miss her."
"I'm sorry. I'd trade my life for hers if it would bring her back for you."
Erin stood, touched his cheek with one hand, and pressed the other over his heart. She shook her head.
"Let it go. I give you permission to forgive yourself. Selena was murdered. It wasn't your doing, and it wasn’t hers. All the blame I assigned to you and then to her for what happened…all my rage and bitterness…it's all gone now. She was stolen from me, but the thief is dead. My memories can rest in peace now. I will always miss her, but I can let her go, as she would have wanted."
"How do you know?" he asked quietly, his heart still tearing.
She sank to her knees, pulling him down with her, next to the tree he planted. She pulled a small folding knife out of her pocket and opened it.
"Hold out your hand," she said.
He did. She laid the double-edged blade flat in his palm before clasping his hand with hers. She turned the blade to the side and sliced both of their hands at the same time. She never let go, their mixed blood falling on the roots of the tree. Gold light ran up the trunk through the cracks in the bark and out along the branches. The leaves shivered.
"The shadows of the past will no longer darken our love." Erin's breath caught. "Look. See it, Maddox…Forgiveness. And only peace follows in its wake."
A flower budded on the tree and opened before their eyes. The petals should have been white…They were gold.
Epilogue
Rahaxeris sat down and picked up his book, opening it to where he’d left off earlier in the day. He’d enjoyed the family gathering and getting to meet Erin. She was easy to like, and he looked forward to getting to know her better. Having Maddox settled was a great relief.
His mind began to slide over the words on the pages, slipping away from the here and now.
Something moved in his peripheral vision. Startled, for the mere fact that he was startled by something, and that it was able to creep up on him. He turned his head very slowly and looked at what was looking at him. He set his book down just as slowly and stood up.
The female figure looked like a flat cutout, a silhouette. She was all darkness, like the heart of a shadow, only her eyes glowed a strange green light. She breathed, causing her defined edges to blur. He’d never seen an entity quite like her, that fact alone was chilling. Then she smiled.
“Hello, grandfather.”
His cold blood ran a bit colder. It spoke with Sophie’s voice.
The end
If you enjoyed Fallen and have not yet read the original Regia series, you can start it now for free HERE. Or you can grab the whole series in a boxset on KU Here.
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Feral and Forsaken,
the next books coming soon in
the Shadows of Regia trilogy!
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About The Author
Reading my bio, huh?
Real life sucks. I bet you feel like that sometimes, maybe even right now. That’s why I write fantasy. I need to escape depression, bitterness, bills, illness…I could go on, but you get it. In the pages of fiction, I can slay the dragons, triumph over the bad guys, be immortal, and never struggle with love handles. For a short time, I can let it all go, and be everything I can’t be in real life. Maybe you’re hurting right now. Maybe you’re in the waiting room of the hospital, or just stuck in traffic. I’ve brought a portal. Come with me…Let’s ditch this crappy popsicle stand and go somewhere great, where we can forget all this, at least for a while.
That’s why I write. I’m not an author, I’m an escape artist.
If you want to come play with me, visit http://tenayajayne.com/