Twenty-Three
Long after the green smoke cleared and the Winter Stone dulled, Ashleigh and I still stood in the same exact place. The night had fallen, but we weren’t ready to leave. Not yet.
I stroked the rough surface of the Stone, somehow unaffected by the magic now that it swallowed Aspen.
Maybe it was at peace now that it got what it wanted.
Ashleigh fell into my embrace and I hid her in my arms, hoping to reassure and comfort her. As hard as his departure was for me, it was ten times harder for her. She was losing her brother, her rock, her family. I curled my fingers through Ashleigh’s and exchanged a look with her. We didn’t need words to say what we were both thinking.
Wordlessly, I reached for the Stone and stowed it into the wooden chest it came in. The golden locks clicked
