DARKNESS HAS FALLEN, AND SHE ALONE WILL SEE THE LIGHT.
With her mother’s life hanging in the balance, Scarlett is devastated – and done with being in the dark. She wants answers, all of them.
But when was her pursuit of the truth ever straightforward?
Pulling a single thread impels a great unravelling. And each revelation will force Scarlett to rethink what she thought she knew about the Ceruleans, the Fallen, her family – herself.
All that came before was a mere prelude to this, the last journey. From London to Twycombe to Hollythwaite to Cerulea, Scarlett will be stalked by the ghosts of what has been, what may have been and what may come to pass. Until she reaches the place where it all began, and it all must end.
But in the final reckoning, none will survive unscathed. And some will not survive at all.
In this explosive conclusion to The Ceruleans series, all must be defined by their actions: sinner, saint… or something more beautiful entirely?
I kissed Luke then. I
kissed him. Like I hadn’t kissed him in more than a week –
since before London, since before Hollythwaite, since Barcelona: when
we’d been just a regular couple on a city break, wrapped up in each
other. Through the kiss I heard his sigh, the release of emotion. And
then he pulled me to him, onto his lap, and I kissed his lips, his
jaw, his collarbone, his shoulder, and he kissed my lips, my earlobe,
my neck, my –
‘No!’
My robe had slipped,
exposing my back, and I struggled off him and wrestled with the
fabric entangled at my waist.
He stood up. Put his
hands on my shoulders. Said my name with so much tenderness that I
had to stop. Had to look at him. The room was steamy, the glass doors
occluded. No one could see. Only him.
‘Trust me,’ he
said.
I did.
Slowly, he turned me. I
steeled myself as he took it in, the brand I now wore. Non
Serviam. I will not serve. Emblazoned on my back in the form of
angry, jagged scar tissue.
When I felt his lips on
the nape of my neck, I jerked in shock. But his hands on my hips held
me still as he traced the path of the scar, one kiss at a time, from
its very top to its termination just above my bikini bottoms.
‘Beautiful,’ he
said.
I turned to him. He
smiled up at me.
Sinking down so that we
were both kneeling, I said, ‘How could you…?’
‘How could I not?’
was his answer. ‘I was there, Scarlett. I saw what you did for your
mother. That scar: it’s beautiful.’
‘But it’s a
punishment, Luke. Because I sinned. That’s not beautiful. It’s
dark. Wrong.’
‘No! Don’t you say
that. Trying to save your mother – that could never be wrong. If
I’d had the chance, I’d have done it. My mum, my dad, Cara… I’d
have saved them all. And you. I would always save you.’
His eyes were
glistening, and I lunged for him and hugged him hard.
‘So stop hiding it
from me,’ he finished, his voice muffled in my hair. ‘Please.
Because I love that scar on you so goddam much.’
I nodded into his
shoulder and he squeezed me.
It was calm in our
little haven. Still. Warm. Nothing existed but Luke and me. We held
each other for a long time, drifting in the haze.
And then Luke sat back
and said, ‘So, you and me. We’re good?’
‘We’re good,’ I
told him. Then I frowned and added: ‘For now. You know, Gabe, the
Fallen: I have no idea what we’re getting into.’
‘Me either.’ He
reached out a finger and drew, in the condensation on the glass door,
a little lightbulb. ‘But whatever lies ahead,’ he said, ‘it has
to be better than living in the dark.’
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Megan Tayte bio
Once upon a time a little girl told her grandmother that when she
grew up she wanted to be a writer. Or a lollipop lady. Or a fairy
princess fireman. ‘Write, Megan,’ her grandmother advised. So
that’s what she did.
Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional writer and published author by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – young adult romance with soul – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in a village of Greater Manchester. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
You can find Megan online at:
http://megantayte.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478850.Megan_Tayte
https://www.facebook.com/megantayte
https://twitter.com/megantayte
https://www.instagram.com/megantayte/
Thirty-odd years later, Megan is a professional writer and published author by day, and an indie novelist by night. Her fiction – young adult romance with soul – recently earned her the SPR’s Independent Woman Author of the Year award.
Megan grew up in the Royal County, a hop, skip and a (very long) jump from Windsor Castle, but these days she makes her home in a village of Greater Manchester. She lives with her husband, a proud Scot who occasionally kicks back in a kilt; her son, a budding artist with the soul of a palaeontologist; and her baby daughter, a keen pan-and-spoon drummer who sings in her sleep. When she's not writing, you'll find her walking someplace green, reading by the fire, or creating carnage in the kitchen as she pursues her impossible dream: of baking something edible.
You can find Megan online at:
http://megantayte.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13478850.Megan_Tayte
https://www.facebook.com/megantayte
https://twitter.com/megantayte
https://www.instagram.com/megantayte/
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Thanks very much for sharing. Megan x
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