I crossed my arms. “I don’t think it is. You deserve all this and more in life. I’m so happy for you.”
“For us! Oh, you’re going to love this idea,” Aunt Joyce said, wrapping her arm around my shoulder. She stared at the wall as if she were looking at a photograph. “They are going to put in a pond with fish and a waterfall along with a memorial sign in honor of Wyatt. Isn’t that amazing?”
“That sounds lovely. I can’t wait to see it,” I said, swallowing hard. It had been a long time since I’d seen Aunt Joyce filled with so much hope and joy. I cleared my throat and looked into her eyes. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Aunt Joyce’s eyes narrowed. “Is that why you seem more serious than usual? Go ahead, I can take it.”
I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to tell her about Darkness — Mace — the man I was absolutely in love with. And somewhat infatuated with. She should be able to meet him, but in reality, she probably never would be able to. Darkness looked different, and she would know instantly that he wasn’t exactly human.
“I’m leaving for a while,” I said, biting down on my cheek. “I’ll call and visit as often as I can, but I need to do this.”
“Like a trip?”
My head bobbed. “Yeah, like a really long vacation.”
“Oh, Remy. I’m so proud of you. That will be so good for you after everything,” Aunt Joyce said, beaming at me. “You’ve come such a long way in such a short amount of time. You know how much I love you, right?”
I nodded as tears streamed down my cheeks. “Yeah, I know. I love you too.”
“You must call as often as possible,” Aunt Joyce said, pulling me into her arms. “Promise me you will.”
“Of course, I will,” I said, pressing my head down on her shoulder. “I promise.”
Ralphie purred as he weaved around our legs. I reached down and scratched the soft fur behind his ear.
“You didn’t say where you were going,” Aunt Joyce said, narrowing her eyes.
“Oh, everywhere. I want to see everything and more,” I said, beaming as brightly as the sun high in the sky. “I just know it’s going to be amazing and beautiful. And honestly, I kind of can’t wait.”
“You deserve that and more. I’ll put money in your account so you won’t have a thing to worry about. I bet you’ll even meet the man of your dreams,” Aunt Joyce said, placing her hand over her heart. As she shifted her weight, she playfully wiggled her eyebrows. “Maybe now that I’ll have a little more free time since quitting my job at the diner, I will too.”
My lips curved into a gentle smile. “You will. I know you will!”
“Can you stay for a while? Or do you need to leave right away?” she asked, placing her hands on her hips. “I still have so much packing to do.”
My head bobbed. “Yeah, I can stay for a bit. I’d like to help.”
“Great! I’ll order a pizza or gyros?” she asked, shaking her head. “When do you have to leave?”
“Whenever I want to,” I said, breathing deeply through my nostrils.
I filled my lungs with the air from the house where I’d grown up. A house that had been very special to me because, after losing my parents and brother, it was the only place I’d felt safe.
I’d hidden myself away because I hadn’t wanted to venture out into the dangerous world. Bad things always seemed to happen, or at least that was how it had felt.
I had believed that everything outside of the house was evil and wanted nothing more than to destroy me and the things I loved. I never thought the day would come when I could leave the house or even say goodbye to it forever, but the day had actually arrived.
“Goodbye, house,” I said, reaching out to place my fingertips on the wall. “Keep the next people that live here safe, okay?”
“It will, Remy,” Aunt Joyce said, placing her hands on my shoulder. “I know it will.”
Even without the medallion, I didn’t feel afraid and wasn’t worried about all the bad things that could happen. I was living, and so was Aunt Joyce. We were both happy… happier than we’d ever been before, and I knew it was because the medallion had changed my life. There wasn’t anything left to be afraid of because there was more to life than what we experienced on Earth.
Although, the absolute truth was that I missed my medallion. My wrist didn’t feel right without it. But it hadn’t really ever been mine. Nevertheless, I missed it.
“Oh, Remy?”
“Yeah?” I asked, raising a brow as I turned.
Aunt Joyce was holding something in her head. “I found this outside in the yard. Is this your bracelet?”
What’s next?
Thank you so much for reading Vicious Monster in my Forever Forsaken series. If you enjoyed the book, I would be so extremely grateful if you would leave me a review on Amazon.
Want to binge read something else while you wait for book three? If you are enjoying the Forever Forsaken series, you may also enjoy the Ravaged Land series (a post-apocalyptic natural disaster thriller) or The Island series (a dystopian series featuring a reverse harem romance.)
Lastly, be sure to sign up for my mailing list so you can be one of the first to know when the next book is released!
Books By Kellee L. Greene
Forever Forsaken
