Page 20 of What Whispers in the Dark (Promises of the Marked)

H e waited for it. Waited for the moment this would all fade to black.

To reveal itself as a dream. His birthdays had never been so peaceful.

Ending on a hillside under a bursting night sky.

Illuminated by prisms of magic exploding and stars twinkling.

Lying on his back, safe for a few moments, with Alora beside him.

But he did not wake up.

The inevitable nightmares did not chase Alora’s every word. His every breath.

And when she touched his skin to point out every shape in the midnight sky, he felt warmth, not the damning chill of serpent hands.

In this cozy extension of Chapter Forty-six, Garrik is reminded of the events of his birthday, starting with Alora waking on his shoulder in a glade, to his birthday gift she presented him on the hill.

Bonfires burned, Mystic magic exploded in the sky, and our High Prince couldn’t take his attention from Alora’s eyes.