Forgotten (42 page)

I barely held back tears when he
whispered how nothing compared to the splendor of my soul. I never
took my gaze off his eyes while he walked over to me. He didn’t
stop at the bed’s edge; he crawled onto it and lay beside me,
waiting with a lifetime of patience for me to remember how to
breathe. I whispered his name. My angelic voice hung in the air
like I’d sung a thousand words of adoration.

“
You found me,
Jace.”

“
I followed my
heart.”

His hand found mine. His life’s thread
wrapped around his thumb. My own twirled around my smallest finger.
I tugged on his gently, with my fingertip. Our touch connected our
souls, making us one. His love for me surpassed centuries. He’d do
anything for me, kill me if he must. His affection crawled over my
skin like a fire. Blue flames glistening over his skin as his lips
met mine. My feelings for him acted like a catalyst for the fire
burning in his soul. He tucked me safely against his body,
protecting me from the rest of the world.

Gazing into his chocolate-brown eyes,
I knew I could do it – I could kill someone in the name of love.
The Butcher gave me a choice: find my sisters and then grant his
wish, or he’d kill Elsie and hunt Jace. If I was destined to die by
Hector’s hand, cooperating with his demand wasn’t something I could
live with. I refused to willingly lay down another deathbed. So I’d
come up with a plan that I hated, but it was necessary.

Everyone would be safe, except for
me.

E
pilogue

Years ago, I fell in love with a young
man; the same one I was falling for all over again. Jace and I lay
together on a blanket next to an old tree overlooking Bakker’s
Cemetery. My family’s tombstones were decorated with three lilies
again. I sniffed it. It smelled like rain, like Hector. He would
always be watching, ready to steal what was never meant to be his –
eternal youth. There was no need to ask him; he smelled Hector’s
scent, just as I could now.

“
Lily had to be a goddess
if the Butcher grew young after killing her,” I said, clutching the
flower.

“
Marco has several theories
about that,” Jace said but didn’t elaborate. He draped around me
and slid closer to comfort me. He encouraged me to ask questions to
the answers I sought but didn’t pry. His patience was more
resilient than any other person’s I’d met. He simply twirled my
hair around his fingers and waited.

“
The unseeing past and
unspeakable future are once again surrounded in death’s embrace, is
what the girl said. We touched and three distinctive sensations
came over me,” I said, recalling the memory of the Cutter sitting
on broken glass with the Prophet hiding in the shadows. “Rage
erupted inside the Prophet. The Cutter’s derangement tore at her
sanity. Calmness encased my soul; I had to be patient if I was to
find my revenge.”

“
Before humanity lost their
immortality, you rarely saw your sisters,” Jace said, lifting me
onto his lap. He took my hand in his and kissed it lightly. A blue
flame leapt from his lips to my hand. A blue flare twirled on my
hand as it danced in the breeze. “That changed after Analee’s wish.
Close proximity to each other kept you ageless. Distance was your
enemy; it stole your youth. A few seconds apart turned to minutes.
Soon days drifted by before melting into years.”

I closed my eyes and
reflected on my life experiences, my memories. The past would
repeat itself… it always did in one form or another. I hoped to
uncover clues in my memories, so this tragedy would never repeat
itself.

My older sister, the Prophet, saw
the unspeakable future. The Cutter was my younger psychopathic
sister, ender of lives. My visions – my memories – were clues to a
life long forgotten. Meanwhile, a Hunter whose greatest fear was
death itself patiently waited the Fates to reunite. If my plan was
to work the Butcher would get what he feared most; I’d find another
deathbed to lie on. As I watched the blue flame dance in my hand, I
prayed Jace would forgive me for what I planned to do
next…

A
bout the
A
uthor

S
arah
J
.
P
epper
lives in South Dakota with her real-life prince charming. At a
young age, she fell for paranormal books and now incorporates that
genre with the romance that thrives in the hearts of us all. When
she’s not storytelling, she’s most likely biking, hoarding
chocolate, or taking a bubble bath. Get a glimpse inside her head
at
www.peppersreadingcorner.com