by S. M. Reine
“What?”
“This is yours,” she said with a hard sniffle. “This… crying thing. All this grief. This is your weakness, not mine.”
He took her hand, and he could feel it from her perspective as well as his own. James didn’t just feel the supple leather of Elise’s gloves. He felt the roughness of his skin, too. “Have you considered that you might not be getting it from me? You loved Betty. It’s natural—not weak—to grieve for those we love.”
Elise dropped his hand. “This isn’t me. It’s not.” She swiped the tears off of her face and straightened her back. “I’m going to help Anthony make arrangements. Betty wanted to be cremated, so there’s…” She swallowed. “And I’m going to Craven’s. They need help, now that the owner is gone.”
“What’s going to happen to the city without the Night Hag?”
“Reno survived without an overlord’s help for years. But the threat of her presence kept challengers out, and I killed the only person who might have taken up the line of succession. Now it’s going to get messy. There will be territory battles.”
“You can take time to grieve,” he said.
Elise stood and hugged the box to her chest. There was one other box, too. That was all that remained of Betty’s life—two banker’s boxes in a half-empty apartment.
He followed her to the front door.
“I don’t need time,” she said. Her voice was dead again. The tears were gone. “What would I do with time? Wait for Him to find me? Throw myself on the floor and cry? Waste my time wishing that Betty hadn’t…”
Her lips sealed shut before the last word could emerge.
James reached for her again, but she pushed away from him, opened the front door, and stepped onto the stairs.
She glared at the horizon. The tops of the casinos downtown were visible just over the trees. There was no sign of the city mirrored above—not so much as a waver in the air.
“Let me help you,” James said. “Please.”
Elise shook her head. “I can’t handle this. Any of it.”
She walked down the stairs, and James watched her disappear into the blazing sunlight.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
I hope you liked this book! It took awhile to get it just right, but I’m so happy with the outcome (despite what I did to poor Betty). I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book on my new-ish Facebook page, which I’ve started trying to bulk up a bit. :)
If you enjoyed this one, the next full-length novel, Damnation Marked, will be out in October. You might also enjoy my young adult werewolf novels, which begin with Six Moon Summer.
I appreciate any help you can give me in spreading the word about my books. So go ahead and…
Share it! All my books are DRM-free, and the Kindle editions can be “loaned” to other Kindle users as well. Feel free to share with your friends and beloved frenemies!
Review it! Help other readers find the good stuff. Leave your honest thoughts on the page where you bought the book!
Sign up! Visit eepurl.com/eWERY to sign up for my email list, also known as the Army of Evil, and be the first to hear when Damnation Marked comes out! I send out free books a couple times a year, too. :)
Thanks for everything, and happy reading!
Sara (SM Reine)
facebook.com/authorsmreine
twitter.com/smreine
Sign up for my Army of Evil at eepurl.com/eWERY to hear about my new releases!
And check out Red Iris Books for more of the best dark fantasy books available!
facebook.com/redirisbooks
Table of Contents
Part One: An Oddity
Part Two: Gifts
Part Three: Loyalty
Part Four: The New Job
Part Five: Burn
Part Six: He Comes
A Note from the Author
