The Deepest Night

by Shana Abe

  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