(Carson)
I felt the tears come. I didn’t try to stop them. Didn’t even really want to. Hopelessness opened up in front of me like the earth had—in big, jagged cracks that threatened to swallow me up. All the heartbreaking ups and downs about Derek, all the anguish of losing souls, all the stress of leading two very distinct lives, all the emotional turmoil and trauma of the previous months—it had worn me down, and now I had been slapped in the face with the biggest let down of all. I had been mistaken. I hadn’t felt Derek. He wasn’t somehow buried beneath the soil. He was nowhere, nowhere that I could find anyway. One girl with the world on her shoulders and no one to help her was too much for me. I couldn’t be that girl. I wasn’t strong enough and it had taken drastic events to prove it. But I felt like no one was in doubt of it anymore—not me, not God, not Grey, not Fahl. The secret was out. I wasn’t enough. Period.
“Carson?”
The single whisper was nearly carried away on the soft breeze. But not completely. It was just enough to tease my ears. I might’ve been inclined to think I’d imagined it if my soul hadn’t heard it much more clearly.
My heart swelled inside my chest, soaking up love and recognition like a sea sponge soaking up the nourishment of the water. I knew that voice, even though it was barely identifiable. I knew it deep down. I felt it flutter across my skin like a caress. I felt it flow through my veins like liquid fire. I felt it soothe my raw nerves like a conditioning balm. How had I ever mistaken another voice for his? How could I ever have been so blind? How could I let my mind trick my body into believing what never was?
I heard scuffling sounds from behind me. I didn’t have the strength to turn over, but I could imagine someone crawling out of a huge crevasse, scraping and clawing their way to the top. I had but to add a little detail to be able to picture Derek doing exactly that. I could almost see the muscles in his long, tan arms straining as he pulled himself up. I could almost see the smudges of dirt on his perfect face. I could almost see the sweat breaking out on his smooth brow.
And then I was being pulled gently into those strong arms and crushed against a wide chest. I couldn’t lift my hands to wrap them around the thick neck, but it was enough that my face was buried in it. His scent flooded my nose, his skin pressed against my lips, his warmth permeated my clothes. I’d never realized until that moment how much Derek completed me.
Every hell has its devil. And Carson is about to become intimately acquainted with hers.
Seventeen-year-old wallflower Carson Porter has always dreamed of being something special, but what she gets isn’t what she signed up for.
Yeah, a girl’s supposed to change as she gets older, but this is ridiculous! Shiny skin, greener eyes and a run-in with the flesh-eating dead are just a few of the changes Carson has to adjust to, not to mention the arrival of very hot and very dangerous Derek Hrolf. If all that wasn’t enough to turn her once hum-drum life into something unrecognizable, a twin sister that haunts her from the shadows and a wheeling, dealing collector of souls will definitely do the trick. The question is: what will her life become? And what will she become?
Carson Porter thought she’d had one of her most challenging years to date when she began her transformation into a reaper, but little did she know her battle had only just begun.
Faced with changes in her boyfriend, Derek, the fear of her sister being able to steal her powers through mirrors and having to fight her every step of the way to rescue even one soul, Carson is ready to throw in the towel. Only she can’t. During a visit from an angel, Carson learns that her destiny is far more important than even she realized—and far more deadly. Can she dig deep within herself for the strength and the perseverance that she’ll need to carry out her mission? And will she have to do so without Derek or can she recover the man she’d once loved so desperately? Find out in the exciting conclusion of the Fahllen series, The Reckoning.
And then I was being pulled gently into those strong arms and crushed against a wide chest. I couldn’t lift my hands to wrap them around the thick neck, but it was enough that my face was buried in it. His scent flooded my nose, his skin pressed against my lips, his warmth permeated my clothes. I’d never realized until that moment how much Derek completed me.
Every hell has its devil. And Carson is about to become intimately acquainted with hers.
Seventeen-year-old wallflower Carson Porter has always dreamed of being something special, but what she gets isn’t what she signed up for.
Yeah, a girl’s supposed to change as she gets older, but this is ridiculous! Shiny skin, greener eyes and a run-in with the flesh-eating dead are just a few of the changes Carson has to adjust to, not to mention the arrival of very hot and very dangerous Derek Hrolf. If all that wasn’t enough to turn her once hum-drum life into something unrecognizable, a twin sister that haunts her from the shadows and a wheeling, dealing collector of souls will definitely do the trick. The question is: what will her life become? And what will she become?
Carson Porter thought she’d had one of her most challenging years to date when she began her transformation into a reaper, but little did she know her battle had only just begun.
Faced with changes in her boyfriend, Derek, the fear of her sister being able to steal her powers through mirrors and having to fight her every step of the way to rescue even one soul, Carson is ready to throw in the towel. Only she can’t. During a visit from an angel, Carson learns that her destiny is far more important than even she realized—and far more deadly. Can she dig deep within herself for the strength and the perseverance that she’ll need to carry out her mission? And will she have to do so without Derek or can she recover the man she’d once loved so desperately? Find out in the exciting conclusion of the Fahllen series, The Reckoning.
