Nova: Daughters of Darkness (18 page)

Nova could see all this happening, but she was unable to reach out to any of them.

"Nova love" a soft voice came from behind her.

"Gram?" Nova slowly turned around, coming face to face with her grandmother. "Oh, Gram!" Throwing her arms around her small frame, Nova sobbed onto her Grandmother's shoulder.

"There, there, child. Yer fine now. Gram has ye." Rubbing her back, her grandmother made soothing sounds until Nova had cried herself out. Sniffling and wiping her eyes, Nova looked around at the inky blackness surrounding them.

"Where are we? This can't be heaven, right?"

"No, lass, this isna heaven. They call this the reflection."

"The reflection?" Nova's brow scrunched in confusion, "But I can't see anything. It's so dark here."

Her Gram laughed, "That's because ye still havena decided if ye want to be dead or not. If ye had, all the dark would be lit up with all your memories of your human life."

"Decided..." Nova repeated slowly, "How do I decide if I'm dead or not. Felken stabbed me... In the heart. I'm pretty sure I didn't get here by my own decision."

Her Gram's lips curled up in a kind smile. "Didn't ye though?"

At first Nova was insulted, almost angry at what her grandmother was implying, but the more she thought about it, the more she recognized the conscious choices she had made. Had she, in that moment, decided to give her life for his? Nova couldn't remember. She felt the noble rightness of sacrificing herself for the man she was undeniably in love with and she was unmistakably happy with that choice.

"So, what are ye going ta choose, lass?" her gram asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"What do you mean, Gram? What choices do I have?" Nova was still confused about how she could choose to
not
be dead.

"You girls are the only three of yer kind in existence. So no one knew what would happen if one of ye died. Would the prophecy go unfulfilled? Would the other two be weakened by the loss of balance?" Folding her hands in front of her, Nova's gram sighed. "So many unanswered questions, and we feared the worst for all of them. Now we know that when ye die, ye are given a choice. Ye can choose to go home to the light and ascend to yer natural state, or ye can choose to go back to the darkness that surrounds ye and keep fighting." Her gram looked sad, as if either choice wasn't what she wanted for Nova.

Maryann was right. All is not as it seems and the choice is not what I thought it would be.
To her grandmother, she said, "Before I choose, can you tell me what waits for me beyond the reflection? Is it a beautiful place filled with love and light." Almost dreamily, Nova thought of all she could have if she just let go of the responsibility and the hardships of her human life and went to the light.

"Ye canna know those things yet, lass. That knowledge is for the ones who choose to go."

Nova nodded that she understood, then she looked at her grandmother sadly. "Gram, I've missed you so much. How do I leave you again?" Hugging her close for a moment, she just wanted to savor the loving feeling of her grandmother's arms again.

"Ah, so the decision has been made then." Patting Nova on the cheek, she waved her arm toward the scene that was still playing out back on Earth. "Well then, lass, go now, before yer sister tears the place apart and hurts someone she isna meaning to."

Shaken by the whole experience, Nova hesitated before she took a tentative step toward her happiness. Even knowing what she would face and the darkness they had to fight, Nova knew this was where she was meant to be.

"One last thing, Nova,"

Nova stopped. "Yes?"

"Ye need to tell Branna that men like that fae prince of hers only come along once in a lifetime, so she may not want to be too quick to turn him away." With a wink, Gram was gone.

With an amused shake of her head, Nova stepped through, accepting her destiny.

Everyone stood, preparing to take Nova's body back to the house and let Drake and Felken kill each other. What was the point, with one of them gone? Branna and Kyna didn't care to keep fighting. It was over for them.

Suddenly, it was there, a swift intake of breath. Nova's chest began to rise and fall.

To Be Continued....

To my beta's - Erin and Tami...I am grateful for your willingness to help a new author out! Thank you so much you beautiful souls!

My fellow Indie authors; especially, Elle Casey, C.M. Stunich, Isabella Rae. You each played a part, big or small, in helping me jump some hurdles. Bad-assery at its best ladies! ALL Indie authors who have paved the way for me. THANK YOU!

A.J. Kane is an Indie author who resides in beautiful southern Maine. She writes Paranormal, Fantasy and Romance and is currently working on the second book in her new adult paranormal trilogy, Daughters of Darkness; due out in 2014. Her writing is fueled by chocolate, coffee and pasta, in no particular order.

She has a life goal of traveling to Ireland at least once...and possibly never leaving. A.J. has always loved magic and has recently started on her path to enlightenment.

Her hobbies are reading, cursing (quite frequently), singing and listening to P!NK obsessively, even though she is a rock chick at heart. Some of her favorite bands are mostly unknown, like Halestorm, Prospect Hill and Our Last Night.

A.J. would love to hear from you! Contact her at [email protected] or on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/ajkaneauthor
.