above you, inside you, within and without, he sang. forever and always. remember?
Yes.
so we can wait. we can wait a while longer. love the earth while you can. love this last gift of time. love the dragon i’ve given you, who already loves you.
I did not need to see him to know that Armand had come to stand beside me on the balcony, leaning against the railing. But I opened my eyes anyway. He was watching me, somber, purple in his hair. The wind slipped between us, separating, then shifted and pushed the other way.
Jesse had become a nimbus, a shadow of light behind him.
“Thank you,” Mandy said to me. “It’s all right to say it now, isn’t it? Now that it’s over?”
I nodded. There were too many words crowding inside me to speak, words like I suppose so and You’re welcome and Don’t stand so near and Please come nearer.
“Thank you,” he said again. “Thank you, Eleanore, for saving me.”
He bent his head, slowly, slowly, never taking his eyes from mine. So when our lips met I was ready and not, because his kiss was more fiery than I’d thought it’d be, and sweeter, and spread like a wild and unknown fever right into my blood. I was alight.
He tasted of wine and magic. He tasted of hope.
I lifted my arms and wound them around his neck. We were pressed together at the rim of the world, water and sand, enchantment and flesh. Two beings fleetingly, lusciously exploring how it felt to become one.
Beneath the silver netting of the stars, I reveled in Armand’s kiss, and offered it back to him.
Epilogue
Who would hold a dragon in his hand?
Who would hold back love?
I, it seems, cannot do either. It’s just as well.
My love is a tether, but I never wanted it to be a bridle. She lives on borrowed time, and because I love her, because I did not lie when I told her forever and always, my sorrow is tempered by her joy. I want her still for my own, but he can give her now what I cannot, so I wish them both well.
I’m trying to.
I slide along the indigo vault of the ether. I sing with my brothers and sisters, peering into universes unseen. I descend into dreams, but I’m pale to them now, a memory, yet one that will never fully fade.
When I can, I tie knots in her path. I mean them to strengthen her, to better knit the thread of her destiny into something thicker and more sound than what has come before.
Because in the end, she’s still a girl. My dragon-girl. And soon another dragon will step across the open threshold of her life, and Lora-of-the-moon will have to look upon the face of her past without flinching.
It won’t be easy. Not for any of them.
I am the shooting star that lights their way.
I am the answer to the questions they have not yet asked.
I am patient.
I blaze above them, ready to be needed.
Acknowledgments
No matter how sweetly flowing the idea, a book takes hard work and a team of clever people willing to help and inspire. I owe so much to Shauna Summers, Annelise Robey, Andrea Cirillo, Ania Markiewicz, Sonya Safro, Sarah Christensen Fu, Sarah Murphy—really, everyone at Jane Rotrosen and everyone at Bantam/Ballantine/Random House, because the series would not have happened without them. Thank you forever.
Many hours of creative musing were aided by N.R., Monsieur Le Roi, B. Tigress, Gracelope, Hippy, Happy and Pahroo (and all those before, and all those to come).
Thank you to my fans! I love you, too.
And, finally, mahalo to Sean, who bought me a ukulele because I said out loud I thought it’d be fun to play. (It is.)
About the Author
SHANA ABE is the bestselling author of fourteen novels, including the acclaimed Drákon Series and The Sweetest Dark Series. She lives in Colorado in a happy home with a good many pets. www.shanaabe.com
BY SHANA ABÉ
The Sweetest Dark Series
The Deepest Night
The Sweetest Dark
The Time Weaver
The Treasure Keeper
Queen of Dragons
The Dream Thief
The Smoke Thief
The Last Mermaid
The Secret Swan
Intimate Enemies
A Kiss at Midnight
The Truelove Bride
The Promise of Rain
A Rose in Winter