Page 196 of Once the Skies Fade

Lowering my forehead to the cold stone, I closed my eyes tightly on the next wave of tears.

“I have to say goodbye now, but I will always love and miss you, Brennan.” Sitting back, I placed a kiss to my fingertips and pressed them against his etched name.

With each step back to the palace, another piece of my grief fell away, little by little, uncovering bits of my heart that finally seemed healed. While some remained—and likely always would—I stepped into the palace unafraid and unburdened.

Matthias waited for me just inside the door, holding two glasses of brandy and pulling a wide smile across my lips.

“I thought you might need this,” he said, stepping forward, but instead of reaching for the glass, I lifted my hands to his face, cradling his jaw in my palms.

“I need you more, general,” I said as I lifted my lips to meet his.

But he paused and pulled back slightly, his eyes searching mine. “You’ll need a new nickname for me now, Killer.”

Shaking my head, I smirked up at him. “I love you, Matthias.”

I braced myself for whatever snarky comment he was about to make, but he simply shifted his lips to hover over my ear and whispered, “There she is.”

The End

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