Broken Illusions: A Midnight Dragonfly Novel (40 page)

Throat tight, I looked down at the image of Madonna and Child on the prayer card in my hand.

“I know you were there,” I murmured, lingering on my mother’s name. “He told me he saw you.”

I’d seen her, too, just like I had so many other big times in my life. Life, death, breath or not, she was there.

Soon I would go home. Soon I would slip into my bed and close my eyes, and see Chase again.

But not yet.

I kept playing things over and over in my mind, the way he’d run to me with Delphi in his arms, the way he’d held me, kissed me. The way he’d looked at me. And I couldn’t help but think he’d known. When he sent me off with Dylan, it was like Chase knew we were standing on a cliff, and someone was going to fall.

And he’d chosen for it to be him. That was Chase. That’s what he did, the way he lived. And he hadn’t been afraid.

The breeze stirred, and shadows slipped closer. Somewhere behind me, a twig snapped.

Twisting around I searched, but found only row after row of beautiful, undisturbed crypts—and a single dragonfly with iridescent wings of green, fluttering near my shoulder.

I turned back to the weathered Celtic cross watching over my parents’ grave.

Tears ran down my face. It was like the whole world glistened.

“Take care of him,” I whispered, and there against the soft leather band circling my wrist, the dragonfly landed.

Also by Ellie James

Shattered Dreams

About the Author

Ellie James believes in dreams and destiny. A graduate of the LSU Manship School of Journalism, Ellie has been writing as long as she can remember, with tragic poems and tender stories giving way to mystery, adventure, and a fascination with the unexplained. Currently, Ellie resides with her husband and two children in Texas.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

BROKEN ILLUSIONS
. Copyright © 2012 by Ellie James. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

ISBN 978-0-312-64703-2 (trade paperback)

e-ISBN 9781466802452

First Edition: May 2012