sunfall (25 page)

“Hi.”

“Hi.” As she stood and reached for the clothes, her smile was just the tiniest bit smug. “Thanks for carrying these up.”

I glanced to the east, where the sky was brightest. Still some time, but not much. Now that Alexa was back in human form I found myself oddly nervous. Maybe if I kept her talking, she wouldn’t notice.

“How was your hunt?”

“Beautiful.” She paused to slide her shirt over her head. “I saw a bear. He reminded me a little of Delacourte. You never got to meet him. He died during our escape from Brenner in Africa. But he was a good friend in Telassar.”

The note of sorrow in her voice tore at me. “Brenner has so much blood on his hands. Sometimes death seems too kind for him.”

“I’m glad he’s gone. It’s a relief not to have to worry about him anymore.”

Once she had zipped up her jacket, I pulled her close. “You have too much on your mind already, Councilwoman.”

“Don’t you dare,” she said, sliding her arms around my neck. “Up here, I’m no one’s councilwoman.”

Our combined breaths steamed into the air between us, mingling and rising. But when she leaned in, I pulled back.

“Wait. Let’s watch the sunrise.” I spun her in my arms and turned us both to face east, but she refused to go quietly.

“Who are you and what have you done with Valentine?” Twisting in my embrace, she frowned at me. “I think that may be the first time you’ve ever rejected an attempt of mine to kiss you.”

“Believe me, I want very badly to kiss you. I just want to wait a few more minutes until I can do it in the sunlight.”

Alexa’s expression softened and she drew my arms more tightly around her. Together, we watched as a subtle golden glow began to spread over the dark mountaintops. Gradually, the light expanded, blanketing the surrounding peaks, and I struggled not to shade my eyes against the growing brightness at its core.

And then, finally, the sun broke free. Orange rays of light advanced across the forested slopes to pierce the valley, illuminating the frozen river below. Prisms danced in the air beneath us as the light was scattered by snow and ice. I pulled Alexa even closer.

“How does it feel, knowing you make it possible for me to be standing here?”

This time I didn’t stop her when she turned. Her eyes glistened with emotion as she caressed my cheek. And as I stood there on top of the world, bathed in new light, looking down at the woman who had saved not only my life and my heart but also my soul, I knew the time was finally right.

I stepped back just far enough to drop to one knee. Somehow, I managed to unzip the pocket and reach inside without ever breaking Alexa’s gaze. The light played across her expressive features, illuminating her surprise, her happiness, her love. For me. Taking a deep breath, I pulled out the small black box that I’d been keeping in reserve for years now.

“The night when I was turned, I was planning to give you this. I wanted to marry you, and then everything changed. My world has turned upside down in so many ways since then, but you’ve always been there to show me which way is up.”

When she opened her mouth to speak, I swallowed hard and held up one finger. I wasn’t finished.

“In an eternity of days, more than a few will likely become chaotic. But no matter what happens next, I want to be bound to you in every way possible. Forever—literally. So, Alexa Newland, will you marry me?”

Joy burst over her face, a second sunrise. I basked in it, taking a mental snapshot of the way she looked right now: emerald eyes gleaming, cheeks brightly flushed, lips parted in advance of her answer.

“Yes.”

She reached down and pulled me to my feet, then flung her arms around my neck and sealed her promise with a long, slow kiss. Already dizzy with happiness, I willingly lost myself in the sensation of her lips moving against mine.

Finally, she leaned back in my arms just far enough to look into my eyes.

“I love you, Valentine. The woman you were then, and are now. I love you. My answer will always be yes.”

Nell Stark is an Assistant Professor of English and the Director of the Writing Center at a college in the SUNY system. Trinity Tam is a marketing executive in the music industry and an award-winning writer/producer of film and television. They live, write, and parent a rambunctious toddler just a stone’s throw from the historic Stonewall Inn in New York City. For more information about the everafter series, visit www.everafterseries.com.

Dark Wings Descending
by Lesley Davis. What if the demons you face in life are real? Chicago detective Rafe Douglas is about to find out. (978-1-60282-660-1)

sunfall
by Nell Stark and Trinity Tam. The final installment of the everafter series. Valentine Darrow and Alexa Newland work to rebuild their relationship even as they find themselves at the heart of the struggle that will determine a new world order for vampires and wereshifters. (978-1-60282-661-8)

Mission of Desire
by Terri Richards. Nicole Kennedy finds herself in Africa at the center of an international conspiracy and being rescued by beautiful but arrogant government agent Kira Anthony, but is Kira someone Nicole can trust or is she blinded by desire? (978-1-60282-662-5)

Boys of Summer
edited by Steve Berman. Stories of young love and adventure, when the sky’s ceiling is a bright blue marvel, when another boy’s laughter at the beach can distract from dull summer jobs. (978-1-60282-663-2)

The Locket and the Flintlock
by Rebecca S. Buck. When Regency gentlewoman Lucia Foxe is robbed on the highway, will the masked outlaw who stole Lucia’s precious locket also claim her heart? (978-1-60282-664-9)

Calendar Boys
by Zachary Logan. A man a month will keep you excited year round. (978-1-60282-665-6)

Burgundy Betrayal
by Sheri Lewis Wohl. Park Ranger Kara Lynch has no idea she’s a witch until dead bodies begin to pile up in her park, forcing her to turn to beautiful and sexy shape-shifter Camille Black Wolf for help in stopping a rogue werewolf. (978-1-60282-654-0)

LoveLife
by Rachel Spangler. When Joey Lang unintentionally becomes a client of life coach Elaine Raitt, the relationship becomes complicated as they develop feelings that make them question their purpose in love and life. (978-1-60282-655-7)

The Fling
by Rebekah Weatherspoon. When the ultimate fantasy of a one-night stand with her trainer, Oksana Gorinkov, suddenly turns into more, reality show producer Annie Collins opens her life to a new type of love she’s never imagined. (978-1-60282-656-4)

Ill Will
by J.M. Redmann. New Orleans PI Micky Knight must untangle a twisted web of healthcare fraud that leads to murder—and puts those closest to her most at risk. (978-1-60282-657-1)

Buccaneer Island
by J.P. Beausejour. In the rough world of Caribbean piracy, a man is what he makes of himself—or what a stronger man makes of him. (978-1-60282-658-8)

Twelve O’Clock Tales
by Felice Picano. The fourth collection of short fiction by legendary novelist and memoirist Felice Picano. Thirteen dark tales that will thrill and disturb, discomfort and titillate, enthrall and leave you wondering. (978-1-60282-659-5)

Words to Die By
by William Holden. Sixteen answers to the question: What causes a mind to curdle? (978-1-60282-653-3)

Tyger, Tyger, Burning Bright
by Justine Saracen. Love does not conquer all, but when all of Europe is on fire, it’s better than going to hell alone. (978-1-60282-652-6)

Night Hunt
by L.L. Raand. When dormant powers ignite, the wolf Were pack is thrown into violent upheaval, and Sylvan’s pregnant mate is at the center of the turmoil. A Midnight Hunters novel. (978-1-60282-647-2)

Demons are Forever
by Kim Baldwin and Xenia Alexiou. Elite Operative Landis “Chase” Coolidge enlists the help of high-class call girl Heather Snyder to track down a kidnapped colleague embroiled in a global black market organ-harvesting ring. (978-1-60282-648-9)

Runaway
by Anne Laughlin. When Jan Roberts is hired to find a teenager who has run away to live with a group of antigovernment survivalists, she’s forced to return to the life she escaped when she was a teenager herself. (978-1-60282-649-6)

Street Dreams
by Tama Wise. Tyson Rua has more than his fair share of problems growing up in New Zealand—he’s gay, he’s falling in love, and he’s run afoul of the local hip-hop crew leader just as he’s trying to make it as a graffiti artist. (978-1-60282-650-2)

Women of the Dark Streets: Lesbian Paranormal
by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman, eds. Erotic tales of the supernatural—a world of vampires, werewolves, witches, ghosts, and demons—by the authors of Bold Strokes Books. (978-1-60282-651-9)