“She may fall to darkness.” Aurelia placed her hands on my shoulders and drew out more energy.
My eyes grew heavy. “That’s enough.” I yawned.
“Does Cody know?” Mom looked at Dad, and guilt marred her features.
Aurelia positioned herself next to me on the loveseat. Cash and Malcolm sat on the floor on either side. All of them were there if I needed them.
“Yes, he knows.” I told them some of the things I’d been through since starting college. I didn’t tell them about killing myself or nearly being killed. I didn’t tell them I was a murderer. I tried to keep most of the terror from showing through, but there were several times throughout my tale where one of the dragons took hold of my hand to siphon off my power.
My parents didn’t interrupt until I mentioned Arion.
“You flew on a pegasus?” Mom sounded awestruck.
A smile tugged on my lips and somehow made me feel lighter. “It was amazing. He’s magnificent.”
When I finished, both of my parents walked over to me. The dragons made room for them. “We are so sorry.” Mom pulled me into her arms. “I had no idea. I thought your magic would disappear like mine did.”
Dad wrapped his arms around both of us. “Thank God you’re safe. I don’t know what we’d do if we lost you, too.”
“I’m sorry about Jonathan.” I sobbed. “I never meant to hurt him.”
Mom pulled back and stared at me. Her eyebrows were pinched together. “Honey, we never blamed you. The coroner said he died of asphyxiation, but there was no smoke in his room. They ruled it a SIDS death.” She wiped the tears from my cheeks. “I never knew you blamed yourself. I’m so sorry.”
“We were in a dark place.” Dad’s voice was full of remembered pain. “We should’ve realized you’d think it was your fault, but we couldn’t see past our grief and our fear. We were so scared something would happen and we’d lose you, too.”
Chapter 47
The Demon Within
The sky is lit with millions of stars. They twinkle against the velvet backdrop. Arion’s fur glimmers. His wings are spread wide as we glide through the air. The wind blows my hair straight back behind me. I stretch my arms toward the heavens, and a joyous laugh tears from me.
This.
This is what makes all the trials worth it. This is why I’ll keep fighting monsters. This is why I’m glad my powers hadn’t disappeared like Mom’s.
Arion suddenly jerks to the side. I lose my grip and plummet through the night sky. Arion dives for me. Tree branches scrape my arms, legs, and face. My power surges inside of me, but I refuse to use it.
The ground rushes toward me, and I squeeze my eyes shut, not wanting to see the end. I hit Arion’s warm body, and my back cracks.
L
I woke up in Malcolm’s arms. “I can’t feel my legs.”
“Dacia.” The relief in his voice was clouded by fear. “I tried to stop you.” He lowered his head in shame. “I was too late.”
My heart pounded against my chest. Then it plummeted like I had. “What’s going to happen to me?”
Tears filled his bronze eyes. “I don’t know.”
The End
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Acknowledgments
If you made it this far, thank you. I hope you enjoyed reading my books as much as I’ve enjoyed writing. I never expected to finish writing one book. let alone four. And, I’m almost done writing the fifth.
Writing the books isn’t as hard as doing all the rest of the work. Editing, proofreading, formatting, writing the acknowledgments (and hoping nobody inadvertently gets left out), designing the cover, and waiting for the sales to come. I’d add marketing, but I haven’t tackled that beast yet. I’m hoping to get there soon.
Thank you to Jeff for having faith in me and most importantly for loving me. Thank you to Jami and Jesse for being the best kids a mother could ask for. You both make me proud every day. To my parents, Jim and Vicki, for being amazing. And to my brothers, Jason and Zach, thank you for the expert help with the monsters and how to slay them.
A special thank you to Stone Sour and Shinedown for providing much of the music I listened to while writing this.
Thanks to all the people at 20BooksTo50K®. Without them, I doubt I would have ever tried self-publishing.
To everyone who enjoys reading my books:
Thank
You!
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permission of the copyright holder.
About the Author
Mandi Oyster dreams of living in a world where dragons and unicorns abound. For now, she lives in Southwest Iowa with her husband, two children, four cats, and two chinchillas. By day, she works as a Digital Prepress Supervisor for a local printshop. By night, she makes stories come to life.
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