Light (The Shadows Series)

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Cover art created by Willsin Rowe

Copy and line editing by Kris Matury-Turner

Formatting by
Sassie Lewis

T
o my readers and betas, thank you so much for your support. Knowing someone else is enjoying reading my books as much I as I enjoy writing them is absolutely an amazing feeling.

To my husband who I’ve driven extremely crazy during the process, I love you to the moon and back again.

To my children, thank you for letting me have just a few minutes and sometimes hour to myself so that I could write, even if it was only when you were sleeping or bribed with movies and Legos. I love you both.

To anyone else who thinks they deserve to be acknowledged, but for some reason, or another you’ve been skipped, you obviously didn’t bribe me with enough wine or coffee. Do better next time.

I hope you enjoy the conclusion and final installment of Eve and Theron’s story. I fell in love with them, and I hope you do too.

I
’m walking along the beach, looking for rocks to skip across the water. I hate being here. I’m so bored, but at least I’m not with him. He had to take my mom in for more testing today. I am not sure what they are looking for, but I’m not stupid. I am fourteen and I’m not a child anymore. I push my sunglasses up on my nose, and I see a bright glare on the water. It catches my attention. I shade my eyes with my hand to get a better look, and that’s when I see her.

A beautiful angel is sitting on the beach with her friends. I can see her laughing. Her smile is bright and full of life. The sun is behind her, giving her hair a golden look to it. I notice one of her friends is a boy. I am suddenly jealous of him, and I’m sure it’s just the start of things.

I think about going over to introduce myself, once or twice, but I stay over here where it’s safe. She doesn’t know me, and I don’t know her. It’s easier when I keep to myself. No one teases me, or expects things from me. No one knows my name, and I can blend in with everyone else. I watch her and her friends for a while. They are bouncing a beach ball back and forth to each other, while wading through the waves. The wind catches it, taking it away, and landing it at my feet. I stare at it for a second, before I reach out to grab it. My hands clasp around the ball, and I look up into the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen.

“You caught it.”

I did, but I don’t respond. Words chase each other around in my mind, and I’m suddenly confused about which ones to use. She stares at me for what feels like minutes, until I finally hand over the beach ball.

“You could play with us. It’s just me and my friends.”

I stare blankly at her, wishing she could reach into my head and grab my thoughts. I know if I tell her my name, she’ll figure it out. Everyone always does.

“It’s cool, if you don’t want to talk. Wait, oh my God. Can you talk? I didn’t even think about it. I’m sorry if I’ve upset you.” She starts chewing on the inside of her cheek. She looks so nervous. She’s actually worried that she has upset me. How could a complete stranger care about me? The thought makes me smile, just a little bit.

“Yes.” My voice croaks.

“Good. Wait. Yes, what?”

Once again, I am speechless. I just stare into her blue eyes, while she tucks strands of her long brown hair behind her ears.

“So, you can talk?”

“Yes.” My voice is much firmer this time, but it’s still hoarse.

“Right. So anyways, my friends and I are trying to play a game. We could use another player.” She turns around to walk away. She looks like she might be twelve or thirteen. I know I’m older than her, but it’s not by much. I watch and she looks back over her shoulder, flipping her hair. She may be younger than me, but I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. She yells something, but I can’t quite make it out. She stops and turns around, almost losing her footing in the sand. She starts laughing, and it is the most beautiful sound. I stand up, and start walking over to her to see if she is okay.

She has a huge smile on her face, and she grabs my wrist, as I get closer to her. “Good. I’m glad you’re going to play.”

I never said that I was, but I don’t correct her. My skin is buzzing where she touched me, and it’s the first time I have felt alive in a while.

“So these are my friends, Kayla and Matt. We all go to school together.” She points her finger back and forth between her friends. I smile a huge grin, when she refers to the boy as just her friend. “Guys, this is…Um…I don’t actually know his name.”

They all stare at me, and I just shrug my shoulders. They don’t need to know my name. I might tell her eventually, but not them. They continue to look at me, and I notice the girl wink at me.

“Well, it’s kind of a secret. I’m not supposed to say because his family is so famous. He’s going to play with us. Okay?” She winks at me again.

“Eve, is he dumb?” Her name is Eve and it is perfect. Her friend with curly blonde hair seems to have an issue with me.

“No.” This time my voice is steady and calm.

“See, Kayla? He’s fine. He just doesn’t like talking. It’s cool.” Eve takes my hand, and pulls me into the water with her. We play, bouncing the beach ball back and forth, for a little while. Eventually the other two leave to race up and down the sand dunes. It is just Eve and me sitting on the beach. I like it better this way. I scoot closer to her until our legs are touching. She makes my skin feel hot and alive. My heart is racing. I don’t want to scare her away, so we sit for a long time just watching the waves hit the shore. I spend most of my time at the beach with, Eve.

My dad is being a complete ass. He doesn’t want me making friends with “locals”. According to him, we are better than they are, and should act like it. He took my bike, but I hid my skateboard before he could find it. He started locking me in my room, but I still sneak out. I have to see her. She is the only one that makes me feel even slightly stable with all of this going on. I hate him.

My mom wants me to avoid him. She says he is coming to terms with things, whatever that means. I heard the doctors in her room the other night. She is dying. She won’t tell me, but I know. She has stage four cancer. I am not sure how much longer she will be here with me. I’m scared. If she goes, I will be alone with him. He told me he hated me the other day. He said it is my fault that my mom is sick. He said she has been dying since the day she gave birth to me. I know he is lying, but it still hurts.

It is so odd the way your mind works, while you’re dreaming. One minute, I am on the beach with Eve, and the next I’m walking into my mom’s room. I wonder if I did break her because she looks so small in her large bed. I open my mom’s window to let in some fresh air. It’s really hot outside, but there is a soft breeze today. She says she likes the smell of the trees. I walk to her bedside and start combing her hair. She can’t really do it anymore. Her arms get tired too quickly.

For some reason, I tell her about the friend that I made at the beach. I tell her all about, Eve and how beautiful she is. The words flow out of my mouth like a waterfall and I can’t catch them fast enough. I tell her Eve is short for Evelyn, but I like to call her beautiful. My mom smiles at me, as I tell her every detail about my time with Eve. I set her brush down on the table beside her bed. My mom gently grabs my hand and I carefully sit down beside her. She looks so fragile. I am afraid if I breathe too hard by her, she will shatter into a million pieces and scatter into the breeze.

“Theron, I’m so happy you have finally made a friend. She sounds absolutely amazing, sweetie. I love the way your face lights up when you talk about her. When, I go—”

I cut her off with a wave of my hand. I am not doing this. “Mom, no. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“No, sweetie, you need to hear this. When I go, I want you to keep her as a friend. Your father is a cold, angry man. I do not want him to dilute you with his poison. Hold onto her. Keep her. You’ll need her.”

“You’re not going anywhere. I need you.”

“Baby, I know. I am trying to hold on for you, sweetie, I really am, but it’s getting harder every day. I love you so much it hurts. You deserve to be loved. Promise me.”