Shadows of Fate

Epilogue

The grass poked through my thick hair and tickled my neck. A fluffy cloud drifted across the perfect blue sky. Shading my eyes from the sun was Tobias's tall marble tombstone.

"Tomorrow, I return to hell," I said. "Senior year won't be fun without you, but I guess I'll manage."

I glanced up at Tobias's name. It seemed to tower over me as if Tobias himself glared down at me saying, "Don't be a whiner."

I scrunched my face back at him—the stone.

"The picnic stuff is all packed," Icarus said. He walked over, stepping up behind the tombstone. The sun shining on his back made his hair glitter with highlights of gold. For a moment, he was the messenger god again.

I smiled at his amazing face. "Thanks. I'll just be a minute."

"I'll wait in the car. Take your time." He stepped around the white stone and leaned down to place a soft kiss on my lips. It sent a tingling sensation to my toes. Not the kind of electrical shock from before when our energies were heightened, but a soothing vibration that raced from my heart and flooded my veins.

I watched as he strolled through the graveyard back to the car.

Rolling to sit up and face the tombstone, I said "I'm sure if I could hear you, you'd be making gagging noises. So shut up. Icarus is great." I paused and plucked a blade of grass. "I wish you had a chance to get to know him."

A breeze tugged at strands of my hair and I tucked them back behind my ear. "I promise I'll do everything," I smirked. "I'll even go to all the stupid school dances."

I always hated dances. The anticipation was the best part. Each event left me disappointed, with my dates—or lack of—and my dance skills. Tobias loved them. He danced his heart out and didn't care who saw him shake his butt. I chuckled.

"I miss you," I sighed.

The wind picked up, leaves tumbled by, and I held my hair out of my face. A shadow shifted, covering the grave.

Tobias chuckled in the wind. Hey, Nerd.