Page 38 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Seven

Mine, her mother’s, the star’s, all of ours—in order to keep everything balanced.

Cassius wraps an arm around me. “It’s good.”

“It’s perfect,” I answer and look up at my new family, wondering to myself what I ever did to deserve them, my wife, or any of this.

As we’re all talking and some are walking away, I see Them in the background.

The Creator.

A small child smiles at me, Their eyes glistening as They whisper, “It’s good. It always will be.”

I nod.

They nod back.

And then They’re gone like They never existed.

“It’s good,” I repeat and kiss Moriah’s face, knowing I need to bring her back to her mom to rest.

Then I watch them thrive. I watch them live.

It’s wonderful, really, when you think about it. Lilith, the first, finally hasherfirst.

A child born out of sacrifice, love, and the stars that watched us for so long.

I smile as I look up at my family again. “Life is hard, isn’t it?”

“Very.” Cassius smiles at me, and his eyes flash. “But there is always purpose in our struggle. Because out of that struggle…” He looks down and whispers as he touches my daughter’s head. “Comes life.”

* * * *

Also from 1001 Dark Nights and Rachel Van Dyken, discover Love Hazard, Mafia King, Provoke, Abandon, All Stars Fall,Envy, and The Anti-Fan and the Idol.

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The amount of joy I have for this, like you don't even know. I'm actually freaking out, so here you go! <3, RVD

When hate leads to love next door…

My dad is protective. Scratch that. He’s like the person who would grab a chair, place it on the lawn, and watch me walk across the street just to deliver an apple. So, when a bet between the rude, good-looking guy across the way becomes a full-on battle, it turns into absolute chaos.

He says my degree is useless and that I’m a rich, spoiled princess.

I say he’s an idiot who only knows how to fix motorcycles and is incapable of having a clean-shaven face.

He gives me a tiara.Thanks.

I buy him a razor. Perfect.

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