However, when the lights dimmed and the curtains drew back to show a long, lithe figure lounging on a swing dangling high over the stage, Jenna recognized Lilah instantly. She wore a long-sleeved dress with a tight black bodice and poufs of electric-green tulle studded with glow drops. Her hair was pulled away from her face, and she had more of the brilliant pink glow drops threaded through her braids. A semicircle of men in dark dance slimsuits was ranged on the stage behind her.
The audience greeted her with cheers and whistles. Lilah started right in on one of her best numbers, starting slow and with her voice low and throaty. Then as the tempo sped up, she swung herself around and off the swing, her legs gracefully arcing up as she leaped from the swing. She landed lightly in front of one of the backup dancers, who immediately dipped her down and back up. Jenna’s mouth dropped. Lilah continued the exquisitely choreographed performance without missing a single note or a single dance step. It was if she had never been paralyzed in the first place.
The concert featured all of Lilah’s best songs, and by the end of it, Jenna’s hands were sore from clapping and her cheeks were wet with tears. But the biggest surprise was yet to come. At the end of Lilah’s final number, she strode to the front of the stage and waited until the cheering and applause finally quieted.
“Thank you!” The crowd roared in response. She waited a moment and then added, “Many of you may not know just how much it means for me to be here tonight. It’s been a long, hard year for me, and I don’t think I would have ever made it without the love and support of the two most important people in my life. So I’d like to recognize them, if you don’t mind.”
She pointed directly at Jenna.
“Come on up here, Jenna,” she ordered. Jenna looked over at Andie, who was barely suppressing her glee. Jenna shook her head pleadingly at Lilah, but Lilah didn’t back down.
“She needs a little encouragement, everyone!” she called. “Jenna, Jenna!” she chanted, and pretty soon the whole audience was chanting too. Jenna finally pushed herself out of her chair and made her way to the aisle, where one of the ushers led her up to the stage. She avoided looking at the crowd below and instead glared at Lilah as she crossed to her side.
“There, that’s not so bad,” Lilah said. The audience cheered again.
“Jenna is my soul sister,” Lilah told the rapturous crowd. “Without her, I never would have learned to trust my voice. Without her, I would have never learned to strive for my dreams. Some bonds are stronger than blood.” She smiled widely and threw her arms around Jenna, hugging her tightly.
“You are so dead,” Jenna muttered in her ear.
“I love you, too, Jen,” Lilah laughed quietly. “I figured this would be the only way I could break the news to you, and it would be too public for you to kill me.”
“What news?”
Lilah turned back to the crowd.
“The other person is a man who has been by my side during every painful moment as I have put my life back together over the last year. He is strong and true, and I love him with all my heart. That’s why earlier today I agreed to marry him,” she announced. “Come on out here, Zane!”
As Jenna watched in stunned silence, Zane strode from backstage, smiling and waving at the audience. He stopped in front of Lilah, took her face in his hands, and kissed her passionately. The crowd erupted.
“I am the luckiest man alive!” Zane shouted to the crowd.
The applause was deafening. Zane kissed her again, this time dipping her backward. Lilah came up laughing. Then she took Jenna’s hand on one side and Zane’s on the other.
“My family, old and new!” she said, raising both arms up. While Lilah’s fans clapped and cheered, Jenna caught her sister’s eye, just a few rows back from the stage. Andie was grinning broadly, but she had tears in her eyes too. Jenna smiled back and thought of her old and new family, everyone she loved. Jimmy and the kids. Her parents. Her sister. Her lost but not forgotten brother. Lilah and her brothers. Jax and Mrs. Smitz. And the new additions to her circle: Jimmy’s dad, Casey and Tiran, and now apparently she would have to count Zane in that list.
It was a long list, and what mattered was how they stood together. She had a family that was tied together in bonds stronger than death. What curse could stand against that?
Jenna would go forward, one day at a time. Come what may.
The Roran Curse Novels
The Legend of Sirra Bruche
Corizen Rising
The Quintan Edge
Rift
About the Author
Heidi J. Leavitt is a book addict who cannot live without the written word. She has loved science fiction and fantasy since she was young, and eventually, being unable to find enough of the type of stories she loved to read to satisfy her cravings, she decided to write her own. She is the author of the Roran Curse novels.
Heidi lives in Arizona with her family, where she practices juggling life with a husband, five destructive children and two very wiggly dogs. She trains for road races and triathlons to keep her sanity and squeezes more reading into every spare nook of her day.
Visit her blog at www.heidijleavitt.blogspot.com.
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