Cloud Rebel: R-D 3 (32 page)

Nathan, his hand grasped in mine, lay next to me. I watched his eyes open before turning my gaze on our companion, who sat on the soft grass nearby. Below us, the green-carpeted ground dipped and fell away, revealing rows upon rows of trees, all of them covered in the sweetest-smelling white blossoms.

"Who?" I croaked. "Where are we?"

"I Bekzi. I keep promise to protect," our companion shrugged. He was young-and old-at the same time. How I knew that, I couldn't say.

Someone else appeared in my field of vision, walking up the hill toward us. He flashed Bekzi a wide grin. "That Gerrett," Bekzi stated. "He come to help."

"Jamie?" Nathan turned his head toward me. "Are we dead? Is this heaven?" His hand gripped mine tighter.

I couldn't deny that what I saw above and below us could be categorized as heaven-the sky was so blue I couldn't put a name to the color of it. Wisps of white clouds floated past that deepened the blue and gave me a shiver, it was so perfect. The air was so pure, too, that I couldn't fill my lungs fast enough.

"Not heaven," Bekzi chuckled. "This-is Avendor."

* * *

Epilogue

Breanne

The crypt was dark, but spelled against damp and mold. No dust settled on this coffin; a warlock had seen to that.

Sometime in the future, the beautifully carved and bejeweled box would be altered and its true contents hidden. I smiled at the thought before breaking the spelled seal and pulling up the lid with power. Weak light shone about the warlock's body, which was protected against decomposition.

Yes, I could scent the mundane kinship between us.

I wanted to laugh, then.

This one-he'd shown his weakness.

Holding out a hand, I separated the particles of his body. No warlock's spell could defeat the power I held. I felt the sadness of it, however-that the drug had interfered and altered the timeline to prevent this warlock's daughter from being born.

I intended to rectify that matter.

A handwritten book and another small object remained after the body disappeared. I would leave them there; they would be dealt with-for good or bad-in the future.

Instead, I focused on settling the body I'd brought with me inside the elaborate box-the body I'd placed in stasis to preserve it until the proper time arrived. Closing the coffin lid, I sealed it with a spell similar to the original.

Someday, it would be opened.

Someday, someone would be quite surprised to find the one I'd placed inside.

Most fortunate it was that I could
Change What Was
, no matter the circumstance.

Most fortunate, indeed
.

The End