Ash (42 page)

“Ash,” she muttered.

“Yup?”

She tilted her head back and gazed up at me. “You complete me. Both you and Jake do.”

“I know, just like you complete us.”

She smiled. “Do you think there’s room for one more?”

I looked at her, confused for a split second. The smile spreading across her face told me what I needed to know.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes. I took a test this morning.”

In that moment, everything finally fell into place. All the heartache, the pain, the events that almost changed me—all the sacrifices had been worthwhile.

“Well, say something,” she said, hitting my arm and sitting up beside me.

“We have room in our lives for a whole troop of little mini me’s,” I joked.

Sophia jabbed me again. “Behave.”

“You have made me the happiest man alive.”

“Are you sure?”

I sat up, touched her abdomen, and the world around us froze. It was just Sophia and me, lost in our happiness. She had revived me and put all the broken pieces back together again. Now, she was giving me something more, something I thought I’d never have again.

“Jake is going to trip when he finds out,” I replied.

“He’ll be the best big brother in the world.” Sophia took my hand in hers. “I don’t care what anyone says, you are my saviour, Ash Benton. I will gladly spend the rest of my days making you and our children happy.”

It was crazy and fast. But somehow, it worked. We were a team, completely in love and devoted to each other. The ugliness of our pasts no longer had power over our future. My sins would be judged on my last day on earth, but until then, I intended on making each moment count.

Life was for the living, and mine was worth it again.

The Shadow World Series

Within the Shadows

Escaping Shadows

Fighting Shadows

Bitter Kisses 

The Rose Chronicles

The Curse of the Rose

The Glass Tower

An Early Winter

Silently Still 

Unbreak Me

The Claiming 

A Cross to Bear

Stone Cold

Beneath the Lighthouse

Cinnamon Falls 

Julieanne Lynch is an author of urban fantasy and contemporary fiction for both adults and teens. Julieanne lives in Northern Ireland, married to her teen sweetheart and is the mother of five children. She works on her novels full-time. Before becoming a writer, she considered a few different career paths, a rock star being one of them. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing at The Open University, and considered journalism as a career path. However, she decided writing was the way for her and believes all of her education and reading prepared her for it.

An avid reader, Julieanne has always had an encompassing fascination with folklore. When not writing, she enjoys crime series such as Criminal Minds, CSI, NCIS and Cold Case, and loves anything with Vampires, listening to metal, meeting new people, drinking lots of green tea, and sharing her dreams with her children. She is a self-professed goth wanna-be,and is happy when left to write into the early hours of the morning.

Julieanne is represented by Italia Gandolfo of Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management.