I froze in my chair as something was in front of me, blocking the light from my hands. I looked up slowly, expecting it to be the nurse and I just didn’t hear her, but it wasn’t. Panic gripped my chest and I grabbed it, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
Killian stood before me. I was seven when I last saw him, but I could never forget the face of the man I blamed for my sister’s loneliness. How… he looked exactly the same as he did sixty-four years ago.
His eyes were on Melanie as he traced his hand over her frail arm. He uttered one word. “Beautiful.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
Then he turned back to me. “What—” I began, but when he placed his hand over my forehead, images raced through the back of my eyelids. These memories weren’t mine—they were his. Of him and Melanie. All his emotions were rolling over me—he loved her—I knew now. I understood everything.
He gave me back a memory I lost, no, that he took from me. The fear of that night chilled my entire body and I sucked in a breath. It took me several seconds to figure out I wasn’t that seven-year-old boy anymore and the monster from the memory wasn’t here with us now.
He dropped his hand and I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. I watched as he pulled a small chest from the inside of his jacket and opened it. A golden silhouette floated up from the chest and he placed it over Melanie’s lifeless body.
My eyes widened as her body began to change, reverting back to her younger self. He scooped her up and cradled her to his chest. There was a peaceful smile on her face, like she was only sleeping. He glanced back at me, then to her, and disappeared.
I knew why my sister chose the life she did. I shook my head and started crying again. “I understand you now, Sis. I’m so sorry.” I stopped calling her Sis when I was a teenager but felt like calling her that today. My tears turned to laughter.
How was I supposed to explain where her body went?
Maybe I’d just tell them all the truth: Grim Reaper stole her heart a long time ago and all these years later, he came back… and like a thief in the night, he took the rest of her with him.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Melanie
Opening my eyes was like waking up from a long dream. I was lying on his bed wearing the old gown I died in, only I was young again. Killian lay beside me, propped up on his elbow as he gazed down at me with all the love and affection I missed.
I met his eyes and in my head, I always came up with a billion things I wanted to say to him first when I saw him again, but now that I was right here in his arms, there were no perfect words to give him.
His hand touched my cheek, and I smiled, letting a tear slide down my cheek. So long. So many years. In my darkest nights, I would worry what we had would be gone when I finally got to him again, but the wait was over and the feelings… were piercing my heart. It felt explosive to be next to him again. And right. And forever.
“Hi,” I whispered bashfully, and we both laughed quickly, softly.
I felt his body shaking against mine. “Welcome home,” he told me, and his voice enveloped my skin. Oh, how much I’ve missed him.
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
Nothing else was needed. We grew in our time apart, as we always would as we stayed together. There would always be something new to discover with one another… His hand slid up my thigh, over my hip bone… and I moaned softly. First, we’d start off by rediscovering each other’s body.
Then he’d read me letter after letter that he wrote to me while I was away as we lay naked and wrapped in the sheets, then he’d take me again—let me come undone beneath me—again—and again.
Everything was on repeat.
Because there was no stopping us now.
___
We stayed trapped together for days. It seemed like before when we finally ventured out of the bedroom. I finally took the time to ask, “Where’s Ryan?” I matched Killian, decked out head-to-toe in black as we stepped into the ballroom.
“Right here.” It was Ryan who answered. I turned my head and smiled when I saw him standing there, arms stretched wide for me, grinning. Only he wasn’t the boy I remembered. He looked a lot different. His arms were covered in ink and he was a lot more built.
I hurried to hug him, and he wrapped his arms around me and squeezed tight. “I didn’t think I was ever going to see you… he sure kept you trapped in there long enough.” I laughed.
When he released me from his hug, I studied him again. “Look at you, Ryan,” I told him. “You even have piercings in your ear.” The Ryan I knew would have never done that.
“I gotta fit in down here,” he stated. I shook my head, and he grinned. “But, look at you.” He grabbed my arms and eyed me up and down. “How does my heart still flop out of my chest at the sight of you?” I rolled my eyes.
“Let it continue to flop,” Killian said, stepping toward us. “Stop flirting with my woman.”
I waved them both away. “Stop, it’s weird hearing you guys talk about me like I’m pretty. I spent the last thirty years as an old woman. It’s going to take some time before I get used to being young again.”
Killian twirled me around to face him. “You were beautiful with age just as you are to me now.” I blushed and looked away. He couldn’t steal my heart again when he already had it.
“How’s my niece and nephew?” Ryan asked right away.
I smiled immediately, reverting to an aunt full of pride. “I was hoping you knew about them!” They listened to me for hours as I spoke about everyone I left behind in the human world.
When Killian took me outside, I searched for Sky. “Melanie…” I looked back and saw their expression and frowned.
“Where’s Sky? Rixen?” I asked.
“She passed away a century ago…Rixen died a year before she did.” I didn’t get to say goodbye… I looked down and Killian grabbed my shoulders so I’d look up. “Sky would have waited forever if she could of, but it was her time and she left a part of herself behind.” I arched an eyebrow his way. “She laid eggs, and they’re fully grown dragons now.”
He laughed at my hopeful expression. “She had more than one?”
“One boy and one girl.” He whistled and I glanced up to the sky. My eyes fell over the trees where two white dragons flew toward us. When they landed, I saw that the male had Sky’s blue eyes and the girl had red ones like Rixen had.
“What are their names?” I ran my hand over the boy first as he bent his head down for me. He lifted his snout into my hair and I smiled.
“River.” He pointed toward the boy, then the girl. “That’s Ruby.” Killian was rubbing his neck awkwardly as he watched River… it was strange. I squinted my eyes and watched him try to get River’s attention. When he finally did, River stepped away from me and started coughing—more like hacking up something. Killian blew out a frustrated breath and slapped his palm over his face. “You weren’t supposed to swallow it.” Before I could ask what was going on, River threw up a black tiny box and shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly at Killian.
I grabbed my chest because my heart was beating ninety-miles-per-second as Killian bent down and picked up the box. Only he stayed down on one knee and opened the box, revealing a beautiful ring. “Will you be my eternity, Melanie Rose?” He still had to ask after all this time? He knew I wanted my life spent with him a long time ago.
“Our future is already set in stone. There’s no getting rid of me,” I told him.
“Is that a yes?”
I nodded and smiled. He placed the ring on my finger before scooping me up in his arms.
Our wait was over. I’m finally home.
Epilogue
It was their big day. All the inhabitants of the woods came out to join them. Killian went all out, turning the woods into a fairy tale—as if he hadn’t already created it to be that way, to begin with. The wedding took place in front of the castle where the groom and his two best men—Ryan and River—waited for the bride to arriv
e. Melanie had made River wear a tie and Ruby a skirt, and every few seconds Ryan would have to nudge River to keep him from trying to bite it off.
Killian had the smile of a man madly in love as he watched the dragons bring Melanie down from the sky in a wagon. As they came to a stop, they helped her out. He lost all thoughts when he saw her, as did everyone else. She wore a golden cloak over her white dress that peeked out underneath. Her blonde curls fell over her shoulders as she smiled at him. She was mesmerizing and deserved to be the center of attention this day.
As she glided down the aisle, she passed many demons and Prince Cadence and the elf clan who took her by surprise when she saw that they weren’t tiny, but full-sized people at her wedding. Her attention went back to her soon-to-be husband as she followed slowly behind Ruby as her tail sashayed back and forth—someone liked their skirt.
Xavier was the son of Lincoln who passed away before Melanie returned and he was the one to marry them. Melanie placed her hands in Killian’s as they said their vows and as he gazed into her eyes, he found peace and comfort, passion and love, hope for the future. He no longer faced time alone, people would always die around him, but he’d always have her. And she’d have him. He bent her backward and kissed her heavily in front of everyone that watched.
They celebrated the night away where at one point Ryan hooked his arm around Melanie’s shoulder and said, “Anytime you want to have an affair. I live right on the other side of the woods.” Then before anyone knew what happened, Killian became Grim and pulled the scythe out on Ryan. Of course, Ryan dodged and Grim destroyed the cake and table, and all the food fell to the ground.
“Have you forgotten, Grim… I’m immortal, too. I have all the time in the world to win her over.” Ryan continued to bait Grim while Melanie laughed and watched as the two of them wrecked the place.
Looking at them, she realized her best friend wasn’t only hers anymore, but she didn’t mind at all. It made her happy instead.
Sometime after Killian stopped playing with Ryan, he took his wife to the sky and danced with her there. “Thanks for existing,” he whispered into her ear, and she melted into his arms.
The rest of their story was, well… eternal.
And just in case you’re wondering, Melanie no longer hears the voice, because she is the power. She’s whole.
Another Epilogue
Very Bad—Soon-to-be Dead Demon
She screamed. She ran. I smiled.
She couldn’t escape, but I would allow her the illusion of getting away for a short while. It made the flesh taste better on humans; fear seasoned them just right. I rubbed my giant belly as I followed her into the alley. She stumbled and looked back, she was getting too close to the road. I pressed the portal chip in my pocket and ported in front of her. She screamed some more, and my eyes rolled back at how delicious she smelled. My favorite thing to eat were humans.
“I don’t think you belong in this world.” I grabbed the human girl’s hair as I turned my attention to the voice behind me. That fear I loved to taste on humans so much, I smelled it on me as I gazed at Grim. “Actually, you don’t belong anywhere but one place now.”
My eyes widened. “No.” I let go of the humans and she took off running.
“Yes,” he replied.
I ran my hand over the pocket of my jeans, I only had to press the portal chip and I could buy myself some time to escape. Grim was by my side the next second, twisting my hand, breaking it. I held my mangled hand up and cried out in pain. “Don’t kill me,” I begged. No demon wanted to die, especially not when it was by Grim. He sent them where no one wanted to go.
“I can’t kill you,” he told me, and I stopped whimpering long enough to stare him. A ray of hope fluttered in my stomach. “See, I can’t kill anything unless it’s their time…” I smiled, and a feminine laugh echoed in the distance. I jumped, going on alert again. “But my wife, now, she’s completely different.”
“What? Wife?” I stuttered. I heard the rumors that Grim had a wife, but he spent so many years alone that nobody believed it.
He nodded. “And she really, really hates demons like you.” He stepped forward. “She’s got a nasty temper, too.”
“I do.” I followed the direction of her voice and gasped. She was beautiful. Her skin, hair, clothes were lit up like she was a light; golden as she walked next to Grim. My mouth watered… how good she would taste. Her expression darkened as she looked at me. “Even now, when he knows he’s about to die, he licks his lips like he’s about to have one last banana split.”
Grim placed his hand over her shoulder. “Are you thinking about ice cream at a time like this?” he asked her.
She nodded and tilted her head to smile at him. “Yes, we should get an ice cream cake to take back home.”
He laughed. “Some things will never change.”
I took off running while they were talking, but she appeared in front of me. When I turned, Grim was behind me. “Please, I don’t want to die.” Grim’s wife flung me against the wall and I dropped to my knees. “Please, please.”
“Disgusting,” she muttered down at me. “You just became your victims, pleading for your life. Tell me, did you let them live?” My eyes widened with the truth. I was going to die… just like all my food before me.
“Let’s go haunt Tess when we are through. Old woman still hasn’t keeled over,” she spoke to Grim.
He shook his head at her. “Leave her be.” She grunted in response and smiled again.
“Fine, then let’s go befriend Jed and them. Can’t you alter our looks so that we can?”
They started walking down the alleyway side-by-side. “What am I going to do with you?” he asked her.
Wait, what was going on? Were they letting me live? They were clearly walking away from me. I got up slowly and felt a little more confident when I did. “Oh yeah.” Grim’s wife stopped and looked to Grim. I froze when they both turned back to look at me with the same terrifying grin.
“Told you she had a nasty side to her,” Grim said. They gave me false hope?
“Do you know how your victims felt now?” looking me dead in the eyes, she asked. Realization smacked me in the face again. She brought her hand out like she held something, only I saw nothing there. She made a scissor motion with her fingers as she smiled at me.
“Tell the Devil, Melanie says hello.”
“No, please!” She closed her pretend scissors down on whatever she was holding.
Lights out.
THE END
Falling for Fear
Ryan.
Centuries spent trying to please the monster he became. A good guy turned wicked.
Molly.
Centuries spent hiding and running. A bad ghost turned immortal.
Could he ever calm his monster? Could she ever find a road of redemption? What happened when fate finally had them cross paths again? What happened when he didn’t recognize her now that she was in the body of a woman?
Did redemption come easy, or did it come hard, cruel, and ugly?
COMING SOON!
Falling for Fear will conclude A Grim Awakening series. Don’t miss Ryan’s chance at a happy ending!
Author’s Note
I hoped you enjoyed the third book! If you would leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads, it would be extremely helpful. I love reading what y’all think!
You can find me on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/michellegrossauthor/
Twitter: @AuthorMichelleG
Instagram: michellegrossmg
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