Page 172 of Walking in Darkness

A sense of anticipation.

One of joy and fear and purpose.

I began to drift on it, hovering in that nothingness.

Where I was weightless.

Timeless.

And heard the voice whisper somewhere in my ear. In my spirit. In my heart.

“Aria, dear Valient. The last Laven born. The last of my power. Our last chance to defeat the ones who would destroy us all. Chosen for a specific time to stand in my weakness. For many times love comes withthe greatest burden, and the love I bore for Kreed nearly became our destruction.”

“Valeen,” my spirit murmured as I floated through a wispy light.

“But your love conquered. Your strength prevailed. Because of you, this world is safe, and I am replenished. Because of your hope, we go on. And now, sweet child, rest.”

I blinked my eyes open to the faintest rays of morning light. I was still wrapped in Pax’s hold, his breaths steady and slow where he slept next to me.

For the first time ever, the sharpened, honed edges of his face were serene.

And there was no panic inside me, no fear or distress, since I had not emerged in Tearsith when I’d fallen asleep.

Because we were no longer needed.

That battle we’d thought would rage on forever in Faydor had been won.

We were free.

Truly, completely free.

Epilogue

Aria

Five years later

Rays of late-afternoon light spread out over us, glistening against the bright blades of green grass that covered the entire yard. A massive tree stood proud in the middle, its dense branches stretching out to provide shade and protection from the summer heat.

We sat beneath it, softly swaying on the double swing that hung from one of its sturdy arms. In the peace, I sketched, my hand swishing a charcoal pencil over the thick paper.

Pax sat next to me, and he had an arm casually slung around my shoulders.

It was Sunday, and everyone had just left an hour ago after they’d been here for a barbecue.

What had become our large, extended family.

My mother and my father.

My brothers, who were still wild but in brand-new ways, both bragging to Pax that they were now taller than he was and were constantly wanting to wrestle him to the ground.

My baby sister, who wasn’t such a baby any longer and was preparing to leave for West Virginia to attend a small university next month.

Dani and Timothy, who lived about twenty minutes away.

And Josephine, who’d moved into a small house directly across the street.

“It was a nice day,” I whispered into the tepid breeze.