Decay (Heart of Stone Book 13)

by Sidebottom, D H

Why weren’t they talking to me? Why were they dragging things out? I needed to hurry if I was to catch up with him.

  “Mrs Fox,” the same doctor repeated.

  I shifted my eyes to where he stood at the bottom of Mason’s bed, blocking my dead husband from my view.

  Then he moved to the side.

  “Oh dear God,” I whispered as my legs gave way and I fell to my knees, a broken sob wrenching from the core of me.

  “Hey, baby,” he rasped, his glorious steel greys smiling at me. “Miss me?”

  He opened his arms.

  And I sank into them.

  “My little warrior,” he breathed into my hair as a long cry broke from me. “I promised you I’d never leave you.”

  I nodded against his chest. “And me, you.”

  Pressing his mouth to my head, he sighed. “You came with me.”

  I frowned, looking up at him. His eyes fixed on me, a raw emotion holding me hostage. “What?”

  “I felt you, with me. You shared my last moments. You stubborn mare. You think I would allow you to follow me?”

  My eyes widened on him.

  “Our wedding day. The twins birth,” he relayed quietly, listing all the images that had flown through my head not thirty minutes ago. “Dean, our kisses, our love-making. You held my hand with each image, and you came with me.”

  “I will follow you everywhere, Mason.”

  He nodded, kissing me again. “Then let’s go home.”

  “Home,” I echoed. Snuggling into him, I pressed a kiss to his chest and smiled. “I’m already there.”

  The End

  Afternote

  Katie will be back late summer with her story, and then… that’s it.

  You’ll be able to catch up with Mason and Ava in Katie’s book, Nemesis, which will be out late summer but after that the Heart of Stone series will come to a close.

  I’ll be honest, I started Decay with the intention of sending Mason and Ava into their final resting places, but, in the end my heart just wouldn’t allow my mind to take control.

  The scene where Ava first sees Mason in the hospital, his body so greatly broken that he was unrecognisable, my heart took hold of the situation and told Ava to get mad. It was supposed to be an entirely different scene, one filled with so much emotion from Ava. However, I physically couldn’t write it. I was so distressed that I had to completely change direction and focus on Ava’s thirst for blood.

  And another secret. Decay was originally supposed to finish where George died and Ava walked away, leaving Mason in his coma, and for you to decide where you wanted the end of their story to go.

  You can see, my mind and my heart battled over so many things but I just couldn’t break Ava – and all of you – like that, even if she was ready to go.

  So, that leaves us at an end, nearly. But I think you’ll love Katie Steed just as much as I loved her in Decay. She is a complete mix of her parents, but there’s a darkness inside her that you’ll come to witness in Nemesis.

  Until then, as always, I love you all ♡

  P.S. A little heads up…. MEMPHIS. That’s all I’m saying. *wink*