Emerald Darkness Prequel Story, Part 2: Jackson
FOUR DAYS until the release of Emerald Darkness!!! I hope you’ll continue to enjoy these short glimpses into the world just before the book begins. I cannot wait for you guys to read it!! (If you still need to read Part 1, click here for yesterday’s post.)
JACKSON
Soft lips kissed my forehead, and I opened my eyes.
Harper sat at the edge of the bed, her fingertips leaving a trail of warmth across my arm.
I sat up and stared into her worried brown eyes.
I couldn’t see the clock from here, but I knew it was late. The party hadn’t ended until nearly midnight, and I must have fallen asleep soon after.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“I’m sorry I woke you up,” she said. “I just needed to be close to you for a while.”
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her into the bed with me. Her body trembled slightly, even though it was warm inside our room. It tortured me to see her so afraid. It was bad enough that we spent every day waiting for the witches of the Order to get their revenge for what we had done. But it was the nights that were the worst for both of us.
As strong as we tried to be during the day, the darkness knew better.
She closed her eyes, and a tear escaped down her cheek. I brushed it away with the back of my fingers, my hand lingering against her soft skin.
“Another nightmare?” I whispered.
She shook her head. “I’ve been too afraid to sleep. I think the quietest nights are the hardest,” she said. “When nothing has happened for a while, it makes me nervous. Like there are tigers waiting in the shadows, ready to pounce when we least expect it.”
A muscle in my arm twitched, a tension I had come to understand. My visions wanted their freedom, just like her nightmares. My body grew warm, the urge to draw almost overwhelming.
She turned her body toward me and looked into my eyes. “What is it?”
I took a deep breath and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Nothing,” I said. “You need to get some rest.”
“Jackson–”
“I know,” I said. I placed my hands on both sides of her face and turned her eyes to mine. “But let’s not talk about it tonight, okay? Tonight is about happiness, remember?”
I touched the golden locket at her neck and she smiled.
“I wish that our lives could just be normal for a while,” she said. “What do you think it would be like to not have to worry about war or death or even magic? Just to be two people in love, going on vacation or spending a day at the beach?”
I laughed and lay back against the pillow, my hands behind my head. “Who says we can’t go on vacation? Once we get married, we’ll get a honeymoon, right? That’s one human tradition I happen to like the sound of. Two weeks, just the two of us at some tropical resort. Or maybe a secluded mountain cabin. Where do you want to go?”
Harper laughed and settled next to me, snuggling into the crook of my arm. “I’ve honestly rarely been outside of Georgia. Well, I mean, not unless you count the Shadow World.”
“Right, another dimension most people don’t even know exists totally doesn’t count.”
She playfully slapped my arm and then kissed my shoulder. “You know what I mean.”
“Okay, so if you could go anywhere, where would it be?”
She took a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling for a while, daydreaming. “I keep trying to picture us in different places, just to kind of try it on,” she said. “I picture us at a Caribbean resort on the beach, and honestly it just doesn’t feel right. You don’t really seem like a beachy kind of guy.”
I raised up on one arm and looked at her. “I like the beach,” I said in my own defense. “I could totally be a beach guy, if that’s where you want to go.”
She scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “I’m sorry. I just can’t see it.”
“Then pick something else. What about snow skiing? Or a romantic trip to Paris?”
She smiled for a moment, but then darkness crossed her features and her smile faded. “All I can think about is that no matter where we go, they will always be there,” she said. “The Order of Shadows is everywhere, and as long as the other priestesses are alive, they’re going to be looking for us. They’re going to try to take every happy thing away from us, Jackson.”
I ran my hand along the wisps of blonde hair on her forehead and let my fingertips brush across her cheek and her jaw.
“We won’t let them,” I said softly. “No matter what else happens, they can’t take away the love we feel for each other. We’ll always have that, Harper. And someday, when we’ve defeated them, we’ll take an amazing honeymoon all over the world, just to prove that they’re gone and we’re still here.”
“I hope you’re right,” she said. She searched my eyes. “I don’t ever want to lose you.”
“You won’t,” I said. “I promise. Now, get some rest.”
I kissed her soft lips and held her in my arms until her eyes closed and her breathing grew steady. I held her for as long as I could, until the fever had taken hold and I couldn’t resist it any longer.
I carefully climbed out of bed and sat down at the desk near the window.
I took my notepad and a pencil from the top drawer and began to draw, thinking how sometimes promises are very hard things to keep.
PREORDER NOW
Emerald Darkness is on preorder at select vendors for just 99 cents.
This price will ONLY be available during preorder and release week.
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Amazon will have Emerald Darkness on May 11th, but I won’t be doing a preorder there for various reasons. Don’t worry! It’ll still be just 99 cents at release!