Read Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) Online
Authors: Chrissy Peebles
Tags: #romance, #love, #fantasy, #paranormal
Darlings of Paranormal Romance (Anthology) (43 page)
“
What?” Sarah
demanded.
“
They executed her…and
Charles too. The funeral was last year.”
Wait…Liz
is gone? Murdered? For the same mistake I made?
Horror washed over her as she fell to her knees. All her
pent-up emotions came flowing out like a tidal
wave.
The woman dropped to her knees and
patted her back. “I’m so, so sorry. It was a shock for all of us. I
can take you to her gravestone in the cemetery if you would like.
Perhaps it will give you some comfort and allow you to put it
behind you, as we have all had to do. Oh, how awful it
was.”
Sarah spoke between sobs. “Please. I
need to see it for myself.”
“
We put the headstone up to
remember her. She was actually buried with Charles at the castle.”
The woman looped her arm around Sarah’s, and they walked in silence
to the other side of town with Adam and Steven in tow, shock
written all over their faces. After they passed rows and rows of
crude headstones, she pointed at a marble one.
“
I need a few minutes
alone, if you don’t mind,” said Sarah, her voice
quivering.
“
I understand, dear,” said
the woman, and she turned and left.
Adam touched Sarah’s shoulder. “We’ll
be waiting outside the gate. Take your time.”
Sarah knelt, and her trembling fingers
slowly traced the letters: E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H L-A-R-K-E-R. “Oh, Liz.
I’ve spent the last ten years looking for answers, looking for
you…and I guess now I have them.” Tears rolled down her face as she
spoke softly, “I know life here is tough, but you adjusted because
you were always strong, just like Mom. You even…you even met
someone to fall in love with. I am so glad to know you were happy
in this place, if only for a little while. Charles must be a
wonderful man who truly loved you.” She wiped her eyes and then
continued. “It looks like I’ve gotten into the same terrible
situation, only I don’t know the one who slipped the ring on my
finger. He’s my husband, yet he’s a stranger. I’ve known him less
than a few days.
Oh, Liz, the Immortals are hot on my
trail now, and if they didn’t spare you, surely I stand no chance
against them. Déjà vu, I guess. Isn’t it funny how fate works?” She
wiped a tear rolling down her cheek as she peered around at rows
after rows of dry earth and bare crosses. Every few spaces, a
gravestone jutted out of the ground, providing a change in the
dismal display of poverty. “You weren’t just my sister, Liz.” She
stopped and pulled her nose, her voice failing her. “You were my
best friend. I’ll never forget the beautiful memories we shared.
They might have taken your life, but you’re alive in my heart, and
that’s one thing they can never take away, no matter what they do
to me.”
Numb and
exhausted, she closed her eyes and tried to think of better times,
of their happy childhoods, hide-and-seek, skipping rope, and
Christmas mornings. “Do I have any regrets? Yes! For one
thing—maybe the biggest regret of all—I’m sorry I left you in those
woods years ago. I deserted you, and I have never forgiven myself,
but I hope you were able to forgive me. Know that I’ll always love
you, Liz, and I never stopped looking for you. I hope you
are…resting in peace, dear sister.” Emotion choked her as she
straightened her back and, with one last glance back, walked back
through the iron gate. She had been looking for answers about what
had happened to her older sister, but now she wished she’d never
found out. It had been easier holding on to hope than it was to
know the truth. She would never have stopped searching, but now she
had lost all purpose in life.
How can I go
back to my life? How can I ever be happy again knowing my sister
was killed…because I left her behind?
The others had been waiting patiently
in front of a big boulder. “I’m here for you,” Beth said, embracing
her as she reached them.
Frank wrapped his arms around her in a
hug. “I’m so sorry.”
She buried her head in his chest and
let her tears flow freely into the fabric of his shirt. “She died a
year ago—killed by the Immortals when she married King William’s
son Charles. Liz and Charles were killed. Those same Immortals are
after me!”
“
I know. Adam told us.” He
held her tightly. “Everything is going to be okay,
Sarah.”
Okay?
How can he even say that? Nothing is okay. My sister is dead, and I
will never be okay again!
The pain cut out
a huge part of her heart.
They all gave her words of hope and
encouragement, but nothing they said could take away the pain in
her heart, the only part of her that was still human. She wiped her
eyes and took a deep breath. Even though she knew she would not
find the person she had really come for, she couldn’t leave without
meeting Gloria. “Maybe we could track Princess Gloria down and talk
to her.”
Adam shook his head. “Go into King
William’s castle? There are probably wanted posters of your face
plastered on every brick! Every single person in there is probably
after your head…literally.”
“
No way,” Beth said. “We
have to think about your life.”
Frank gripped her hand tightly.
“Remember, babe, those are the people who shoot first and don’t
bother asking questions now or later. I know you want your
questions answered, but getting yourself—and possibly all of
us—killed isn’t the way to go.”
“
I know! Of all of you, I
know! They shot me in the freaking heart. If I could get to Gloria,
though, I think she could help us,” Sarah pleaded.
“
She might be able to,”
Beth said. “She’s Charles’s sister.”
Steven leaned against a rock and met
Sarah’s gaze. “Yeah, man, that sounds great and all, but you won’t
get one breath out to explain yourself before they string you up to
be roasted like a marshmallow.”
“
Why do you even need to
find Gloria?” Adam asked. “I’m not trying to be insensitive here,
but it seems pointless when you have the answers you need. Let’s
just get the heck out of here.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. Adam wasn’t
sporting an irremovable ring and running around with everyone out
to kill him, or he might have been singing a different tune. “I’ll
tell you why. Sure, I wouldn’t mind finding out more about my
sister’s life, but that’s not the reason. I have a feeling those
Immortals from the court will follow me right back home to my
doorstep, and so will King Victor. For all I know, King William
might even have a way to crash the party. I need to find out how to
get this ring off and what I can do to get the Immortals off my
back. Until I know that, I will never have control of my life
again.”
“
They’re at war with King
Victor,” Frank said. “They hate him. They might help us based on
that fact alone.”
“
Gloria lost her brother,”
Beth said. “She won’t want to lose you, too, especially over the
exact same thing.”
“
I agree,” Sarah said. “I’m
sure Princess Gloria loved Liz, and I think she will understand why
I pretended to be her. It’s her father who is crazy, not
her.”
“
Then we’ll avoid him like
the plague,” said Frank. “Sarah’s right. She’ll never get her life
back until we figure out how to get this ring off.”
Adam kicked at stones in the dirt, his
brows furrowed. “This sucks.”
“
This is something I have
to do,” Sarah said. “If you don’t want to go with me, that’s okay,
but I hope you understand.”
“
Nobody’s backing out on
you now, Sarah. We’re a team, remember? Now c’mon. Let’s head
toward the castle,” Frank said.
Sarah nodded. Heading into dangerous
enemy territory was risky, but it was something she had to do to
get answers to the lingering questions in her head—and even more
importantly, how to get that ancient wedding ring off her finger.
“Let’s go.”
To be continued….
Please see next page for book
2.
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I appreciate it so much. Thank you for your support.
Eternal Destiny (Book 2) is
available now!
Find In:
Eternal Destiny US
e-book
Eternal Destiny UK
e-book
Eternal Destiny
paperback
Eternal Destiny
paperback
Eternal Fire (Book 3) is
available now!
Thank you so much for sharing Sarah’s
journey. It was a pleasure having you along. I hope you enjoyed the
story just as much as I enjoyed writing it. Connect with me
online!
Chrissy’s
blog:
http://chrissypeebles.blogspot.com/
Book
Trailer for Eternal Vows:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_w-eZwPJbA
Fantasy Romance Series-
The Ruby Ring Saga
