The Book of Fours
Page 32
“Maybe you will someday. After you’ve punished yourself enough.”
He put his hands into the sleeves of his robe and walked slowly, looking first at her and then back at the roses. “I think the Gatherer took her with it when it was destroyed. That she has no being, anywhere. I no longer sense her. She’s gone, completely gone. As if she had never even existed.”
“No, she’s not gone,” Buffy said. She took her hands in his. “I’m here.”
Kit Bothwell looked at her, and for the first time since India’s final sacrifice, he smiled.
“Maybe it’s love, and not some primal force of supernatural strength, that keeps the legacy of the Slayer going,” he said softly. “Because I feel great love for you, Buffy, not as a man loves a woman—as I loved India—but as a living being who needs saving from the dark. And who recognizes in you something that cares so much that you will protect all of us until you die.”
The tears streamed down his face. “If that’s not a legacy . . . something she passed on to you, and that never dies, then what is it?”
“Just call it Buffy.” She smiled back. “For now.”
This is the Book that is called Les Livres des Quatres, the Book of Fours. Much has been spoken about the stories that went on after this Book was shut. Of the quest by the Three to find India, of the Water. Of the constant yet humorous discord between Kendra, of the Earth, and Faith, of the Fire, whose Slaying styles could not be more in opposition.
Of their leader, Buffy, who, moved by love, resolved that she would not die until India was found, and freed.
But that is for another Book.
This one has told its Tale.
* * *
The Watcher of the Fifth, as told to Nancy Holder.
About the Author
Nancy Holder is the award-winning, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of forty-two novels and more than two hundred short stories, articles, and essays. She has won four Bram Stoker Awards for her supernatural fiction, including Best Novel for Dead in the Water. Her work has been translated into more than two dozen languages. With her frequent collaborator, Christopher Golden, she has written many Buffy projects, including The Sunnydale High Yearbook, The Watcher’s Guide, Vol. 1, and Immortal. Her solo Buffy-Angel efforts include The Evil That Men Do and Not Forgotten. She is currently finishing the first Buffy-Angel crossover novels with Jeff Mariotte and the official Angel companion with Jeff Mariotte and Maryelizabeth Hart.
Holder is an avid swimmer and lifelong horror aficionado. A native Californian, she lives in San Diego with her brilliant and beautiful daughter and their intrepid dog Dot.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Nancy-Holder
Buffy the Vampire Slayer™
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (movie tie-in)
The Harvest
Halloween Rain
Coyote Moon
Night of the Living Rerun
Blooded
Visitors
Unnatural Selection
The Power of Persuasion
Deep Water
Here Be Monsters
Ghoul Trouble
Doomsday Deck
The Angel Chronicles, Vol. 1
The Angel Chronicles, Vol. 2
Child of the Hunt
Return to Chaos
The Gatekeeper Trilogy
Book 1: Out of the Madhouse
Book 2: Ghost Roads
Book 3: Sons of Entropy
Obsidian Fate
Immortal
Sins of the Father
Resurrecting Ravana
Prime Evil
The Evil That Men Do
Paleo
Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All in a Row
Revenant
The Book of Fours
The Unseen Trilogy (Buffy/Angel)
Book 1: The Burning
Book 2: Door to Alternity
Book 3: Long Way Home
The Watcher’s Guide, Vol. 1: The Official Companion to the Hit Show
The Watcher’s Guide, Vol. 2: The Official Companion to the Hit Show
The Postcards
The Essential Angel
The Sunnydale High Yearbook
Pop Quiz: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Monster Book
The Script Book, Season One, Vol. 1
The Script Book, Season One, Vol. 2
The Script Book, Season Two, Vol. 1
The Script Book, Season Two, Vol. 2
The Angel Chronicles, Vol. 3
The Xander Years, Vol. 1
The Xander Years, Vol.2
The Willow Files, Vol. 1
The Willow Files, Vol. 2
How I Survived My Summer Vacation, Vol. 1
The Faith Trials, Vol. 1
Tales of the Slayer, Vol. 1
The Lost Slayer serial novel
Part 1: Prophecies
Part 2: Dark Times
Part 3: King of the Dead
Part 4: Original Sins
Available from SIMON PULSE
We hope you enjoyed reading this Simon & Schuster ebook.
* * *
Get a FREE ebook when you join our mailing list. Plus, get updates on new releases, deals, recommended reads, and more from Simon & Schuster. Click below to sign up and see terms and conditions.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
Already a subscriber? Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read. You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox.
SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
™ and © 2000 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
SIMON PULSE and related logo are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
First Simon Spotlight Entertainment edition June 2005
First Simon Pulse edition August 2002
First Simon Pulse paperback edition February 2002
Originally published in hardcover in 2001 by Simon Pulse
ISBN-13: 978-0-7434-1241-4
ISBN-10: 0-7434-1241-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-5344-2948-2 (ebook)