PINELIGHTforkindle (25 page)

I knew that he was trying to get into my mind, trying to plant that seed of doubt, but I wouldn’t fall for it. I knew my truth.

“You are the coward! You are marked unwanted, cursed, damned! You are nowhere near as powerful as my God—not even close to a fraction of the power in his fingernail. You are merely a parasite roaming this world, infecting the weak. He created me strong so that you could not infect me! So that you could not deceive me! He created me strong so that when this day came, I would defeat you!”

Finn managed to knock Erik from his feet, freeing himself to run to my aid.

But I rose from the ground quickly, too quickly for anyone to see the power I had running through my veins. My head spun with adrenalin, but this did not affect my aim. No. I could see exactly what I needed to do and where my dagger needed to go. I knew Victor stood four steps in front of me. I knew I could reach him in one. I plunged forward and wrapped my arms around Victor’s midsection, forcing my shoulder into his abdomen. Slowly we both fell into the hard, cold stone floor. I forced the dagger through his chest, piercing his black heart. I felt every inch of the blade cut into his tissue. I twisted the blade and then ripped it from his chest. He crawled backward from me to his throne—his body and mind still in shock. He grabbed at the wound while a black, tarlike blood pumped from the hole. The alluring beauty that had once hidden his true image contorted, and then disappeared.

He pulled his limp body up seven small steps to the seat of his throne, where his body slowly turned to stone.

One by one his puppets dropped to the floor—their twisted bodies becoming one with its dark surface. Lydia and the redhead took one look at Victor’s frozen body before gathering Erik’s body and disappearing down one of the dark halls.

The chains that were wrapped around my mother and Alice crumbled like dark sand. They came running to me with tears flowing down their faces. I couldn’t seem to find the right words to say as we wrapped our arms around each other.

Our happiness was interrupted when a large boulder came crashing down from the wall. The boulders began to break, one after the other, like brittle sticks. A loud roar filled the space of the castle hall, and then water commenced to seep through the cracks of the unstable stone.

Finn stood behind my mother, looking down on us like a guardian angel, while the castle fell around us.

The water rolled over our feet with the purpose to push us out of the dark room. Candelabras extinguished from the water’s mist—the hall was growing dark. This was all too familiar.

I noticed a sharp pain below my rib cage that burned when the water rolled over my body. I slid my fingers over my side, feeling a large gap in my skin. My fingers were covered in blood when I pulled them back. I felt more trickling down my stomach. With all the adrenaline that had been flowing through my veins, I hadn’t noticed that Victor’s blade had punctured my side. The pain was intense, now, pulsing through my whole body. I felt the color leaving my skin. I felt my energy draining from me.

“No, no, no.” Finn’s knees buckled, landing him right next to me in the water.

My mom and Alice followed his lead.

“How bad is it?” I heard my mother cry.

“We have to get her back. The wound is deep, and his blade was poisoned with the sap of the manchineel tree,” Finn said. “It will take her soon if we don’t treat it with arrowroot. The antidote grows in the jungle of the island. It can draw the poison out.”

I felt his arms raising me from the floor. He cradled me in his arms as if I were as light as a rag doll and waded across the room to a hallway that was quickly filling with water.

“Come on!” he yelled over the sound of the rushing water. “We don’t have much time!”

My head fell to his shoulder, resting in the nook of his warm neck. Water soon broke through the walls, destroying the castle with its immense power. And then we were swept away by it, pushed upward through a swirling hurricane, toward a bright blue sky.

The ocean carried all four of us safely out of Hades, to the white sandy beach of the island. My mom and Alice lay to my left, and Finn was to my right, hugging the warm sand the same way I did. The sun beat down on my skin, fighting the cold that inched its way through my veins. We were out of Hades.

The setting was even more beautiful this time around. The sky was brighter, the water bluer, the sand soft and white, but it all seemed to blur out of focus. My heartbeat echoed in my ear, beating loud and slow.

Finn leaned over me, shielding my face from the sun. “Clara,” he said. His voice was like an angel. I felt his warmth as he pulled me closer to his chest. “Stay with me.”

Even through the pain, I enjoyed hearing him call my name. I wanted to say so many things to him, but my lips would hardly move. He stroked my head softly with his warm hands, looking down into my gaze. I searched his mesmerizing eyes, finding paradise in their swirling sea of green. Slowly he lifted me away from the sand, until our foreheads gently pressed together. I could smell traces of cedar and the ocean on his skin now, a tantalizing fragrance I knew I would never forget. And then, while I still filled my lungs with every degree of his scent, he placed his lips on mine. Time stopped. It was as if a soft breeze swept away everything else in the world, leaving only the two of us on that beach. The surprise taste of cinnamon on his lips sent a warm surge through me that temporarily pushed away the aching cold. I melted in his arms as his soft lips pulled away. For it was in that kiss that I knew he loved me, and that I loved him; it had been him all along. He was the one who haunted my dreams with beauty; he was the one my soul desired. I stared at his glowing silhouette until my eyelids fluttered closed. I had lost him all over again.

-26-

LOVE LETTERS

I was soaring through a tunnel. A pale yellow light flickered in the distance. I was becoming alarmingly close to the light, but I didn’t feel fear. I couldn’t feel the weight of my body anymore. I couldn’t feel the pain in my side anymore. I couldn’t feel anything anymore. I was almost in the light. I was strangely at peace. Then there was nothing.

“Clara. Clara.” A sweet voice echoed in my head. “Please wake up.”

I felt something cool on my forehead. I smelled sweet honeysuckle.
Mom.
I felt something warm and rough cradling my arm. I smelled green earth and sweet-smelling aftershave.
Fergus.
I wanted to open my eyes to see them, but my lids still felt weighted. My brain told my body to wake—to move—but I couldn’t shake off the undeniable tiredness.

When I finally came to, I was somewhere I hadn’t expected. I was tucked comfortably in my frilly bed at Scarlet Heights.

“Sleeping Beauty finally wakes.”

I looked over to see Fergus sitting next to the bed in a tall metal chair.

“How long have I been out?”

“About five days,” he said.

I suddenly panicked, seeing images from my last moments in Hades flashing across my mind.

“Mom and Alice—are they all right?”

“They stayed by your bedside until sleep overwhelmed them. They are resting now as we speak. I’m afraid you are stuck with my company until they wake.”

I felt the anxiety evaporate from my shoulders.

“And Finn? Where is he?”

His face took a more serious expression before he answered, “He stayed behind, dear.”

I looked away at the red drapes blocking the window, stung by the truth, wondering if it had all been an illusion. Wondering why he would leave me after we had finally found our way back to each other. Fergus rose from his uncomfortable chair.

“He left this for you,” he said, slipping a folded letter into my hand. He carefully stepped toward the door. “He loves you. That’s why he let you go.”

With a nod he closed the door behind him, leaving me with the letter and my own thoughts.

I unfolded the rough paper slowly, praying that it held an explanation—praying that it spoke of his love for me, but all it did was break my already fragile heart.

Please forgive me. I can only live knowing you are safe, far away from Edmund and the dangers of this place. Wherever you go, you will remain in my heart, filling the emptiness left behind.

 Know that I will always love you.

It hurt. I wanted to cry for him, but only a single tear escaped. My body wouldn’t allow me to cry; it wouldn’t believe what I had just read. Finn wouldn’t leave me. No, not like this. I threw the sheets from my legs and stumbled to the window, hoping that something would bring clarification. I pulled open the drapes, to find something else.

A scarlet material rippled in the wind—something sat tall, hidden underneath its flowing color at the edge of the cliff.

I stumbled down all thirty-five steps on the staircase. I hobbled through the hall and the room separating me from my truth.

I stepped into the chill of evening, feeling the weight of the wind on my shoulders. The cool, salty air stuck to my skin; the grass crunched under my feet. The setting sun peeked through a large gray cloud, shining down on the ocean waves, highlighting its swells and whitecaps.
Has he come for me?
My aching heart filled with hope. The pounding pain in my side momentarily subsided. Whoever it was sat very still under the cape. I tried to keep a calm composure, but the closer I stepped to the edge, the more my heart raced inside of me.

“Finn?” I whispered.

Nothing.

I reached out and placed a hand on the figure’s back. Hard. Cold. Stiff. A gust of wind blew past my body, whipping the scarlet cape high into the air. A frozen owl sat somberly, staring out at the ever-changing sea. Attached was a torn piece of paper with two elegantly printed words—two words that brought fear with them.
Forever yours.

“But I will never be yours,” I whispered, dropping the note down into the deep blue sea.

-ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS-

A huge thank-you to my husband, Clint, who never stopped believing in this story or in me. Thank you for a fairy tale kind of love and thank you for marrying me.

Much, much, love and gratitude to my wonderful parents and brother. I can’t thank you enough for all of the love an encouragement you have given me through my entire life. Thank you for always being there and for loving me the way you do.

I am deeply grateful for the support of my entire family and friends. Thank you for cheering me on through this exciting adventure.

A special thanks to Josh Longbrake at StudioBrainchild for creating the perfect website and book cover. Also, Mike Strout, for taking my awesome author photographs.

And, finally, thank you to my facebook friends, twitter peeps, and blog subscribers for your supportive comments, tweets, and messages.

You guys rock!

JILLIAN PEERY
is the author of the thrilling paranormal romance,
PineLight
. She recently gave up the exciting life of a hair and makeup artist to become a full-time author. When not writing, she’s most likely traveling, sketching, or playing in makeup. Jillian currently lives in Texas with her husband, Clint, and mini-schnauzer, Zoe.

To find out more, visit
www.jillianpeery.com
.