And they were doing that now, standing with the others, actually talking and laughing. Jasmine and Danika were sitting on the ledge of the pool, their legs dangling in the water as Cayman enjoyed a volleyball game with Stacey.
Maybe the world did end.
But there was a cause for celebration. Gideon had succeeded in tracking down enough gemstones to disrupt the ley lines. They’d be in our possession by the end of the week.
“It’s a new start, it feels like,” Jada said. “A new era.”
“It really is.” I glanced over at Jada. She’d taken everything I had to share with her rather well. Even the Peanut being my dad part. I think she processed all of that better than me, but Jada had always been incredibly pragmatic. “When do you think Ty will be officially assigned to the DC clan? Like are they going to wait till the next Accolade?”
“I wish they wouldn’t, but do you really think my father would do anything else?”
I grinned. “Probably not.”
“You’re going to come visit us, right?”
“Of course. Zayne and I deserve some downtime, and we’re going to take it as soon as we deal with the portal.” I watched Zayne knock the beach ball back to Cayman.
We were going to see all the places we’d talked about. Rome. Edinburgh. The Hollywood sign. Everywhere. And then we would come back here. As of right now, we planned on staying in the area, especially since the Antichrist was around here, somewhere, but maybe we’d leave. We weren’t sure yet, and there was something exciting about having the future so unplanned. It wouldn’t always be easy. I knew that. We had to step back in that school and disrupt the portal. There were the ghosts and Shadow People, and we still needed to figure out how to break the angelic wards holding them there. There’d be more demons who didn’t want to follow the rules and more stupid humans who would somehow do worse than any demonic force could ever carry out. Then there was the Antichrist to possibly deal with and the fact that I could very well still go blind. Things wouldn’t always be safe or fun. There would be risks and nights nothing like this one, but we had each other. We had our friends.
And that was all that mattered.
Sometime later, flames crackled from the firepit. Actual s’mores were being made, and I was in Zayne’s arms, the back of my head resting against his chest as I looked up at the dark sky.
There were no stars I could see, but that was okay. I had the Constellation of Zayne to look upon every night. I would always remember how beautiful the sea of dazzling, twinkling lights was. That memory would never fade. It would always be there when I looked up at the sky. I would always see the stars no matter what, because of him.
Peanut.
My father.
Thank you, Dad. I mouthed the words, giving them no sound, but I think he heard them, anyway.
Thank you.
* * *
Acknowledgments
Coming to the end of a series is always a bittersweet moment, especially this one. Trinity will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope, through her, you’ve learned a little more about what it’s like to live with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).
Thank you to my agent, Kevan Lyon, editors Natashya Wilson and Melissa Frain, to the amazing team at Inkyard Press and to my assistant, Stephanie Brown, for her hard work and support. A big thank-you to Jen Fisher, Malissa Coy, Stacey Morgan, Lesa, Jillan Stein, Liz Berry, JR Ward, Laura Kaye, Andrea Joan, Sarah Maas, Brigid Kemmerer, KA Tucker, Tijan, Vonetta Young, Mona Awad, Kayleigh Gore, Krista and Valerie (for their undying love of Zayne) and many more who have helped keep me sane and laughing. Thank you to the ARC team for your support and honest reviews, and a big thank-you to JLAnders for being the best reader group an author can have.
None of this would be possible without you, the reader. Thank you.
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THE STORY ISN’T OVER.
Start reading the spin-off trilogy to The Dark Elements Series.
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Grace and Glory
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ISBN-13: 9780369700155
Grace and Glory
Copyright © 2021 by Jennifer L. Armentrout
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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