Epilogue
Thorin and I paused while I caught my breath and rehydrated, gulping from my water bottle. I might have lived and dreamed in fire, but Alaska’s cold climate gobbled my energy and snuck between the gaps in my clothes, tickling me with chilly fingers. The views though... those were what left me truly breathless. Thorin had stopped us on a pebbly beach beside a frozen ice field called the Knik Glacier. Electric-blue striations banded the jagged ice formations, giving the scene a touch of the imaginary and fantastic—as if we stood in some fairytale land.
Not so long ago, Thorin had promised to take me on one of my brother’s favorite hikes, and now he was fulfilling his vow. “I can see why Mani liked this place so much. There’s magic here. His kind of magic.”
“His kind?” he asked.
I motioned to the glacier. “Cold, ice…”
“And I take it you prefer white sand beaches, sunshine, and tropical weather?”
I snorted. “I haven’t been anywhere close to a beach—a tropical beach—since I was a kid. Mani and I went to the beaches in North Carolina as kids, some, with an aunt or uncle.” I closed my eyes and sketched a memory of briny sea air and sand between my toes. Hot sun and seashells. “But the only place I prefer to be is wherever you are.”
His breath caught, and he pulled me close, cupping my face in his hands. My eyes popped open as I sank into the warm brown depths of his stare. Would his touch ever stop affecting me, ever stop feeling like lightning and storms? “It still amazes me to hear you say it,” he said. “A part of me still can’t believe it’s real.”
I swallowed and licked my lips. “What do you mean?”
“I can’t say a part of me hadn’t given up, Solina. The hope of having something, someone, meaningful in my life again had started to die.”
I inhaled a deep breath and savored his scent of wind and rain. “And now?”
“Now anything is possible.”
I pressed a quick kiss to his jaw. “Now you believe in me a little bit, too, don’t you?”
Thorin smiled, stunning me again with the beauty of his joy. “I believe in you very much.”
“Say it again,” I whispered.
He chuckled and held me tighter. “I, Magni Alexander, Son of Thor, God of Thunder, believe in you, Solina Mundy, Daughter of Sol, Goddess of the Sun. I believe in you, and I’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it.”
My fire responded to his faith—increasing, swirling like a rising tide, overflowing its well and spilling out, spreading through my veins and bones and muscles, reviving and renewing.
It was power.
It was faith.
It was hope.
But greatest of all, it was love.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For their assistance in helping me bring Molten Dusk to life, I’d like to thank:
Red Adept Publishing, and specifically, Lynn McNamee. Your support, passion, and integrity is inspiring. Thanks for giving me and my characters a home. Also, thanks for throwing the fiercest parties.
Mai Harrison, for reading this manuscript in its infant stage and offering expert feedback and insight.
Mary Fan and Erica Lucke Dean, who have been mentors, beta readers, hand holders, walls off which I could bounce ideas, and brilliant authors who inspire me daily.
The Red Adept Publishing editorial staff, particularly Suzanne Warr for editorial mentorship that guided this series from the start and Karen Allen for not only polishing this book, but for getting my jokes and being nice enough to laugh at them. Also, thanks to Jessica Anderegg for helping me get this book cover perfect and for working with Streetlight Graphics to develop all the outstanding covers in this series.
To the bloggers and online friends who have helped me get the word out: Nicole Kaderabek, Kelly Donavan-Roberts, Tricia Ballard, Sharon Stogner and the folks at I Smell Sheep, Nicole Platania, and Sarah Dale.
My family, both the ones I married into and the ones who had no choice in the matter, I love you all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Karissa Laurel always dabbled in writing, but she also wanted to be a chef when she grew up. So she did. After years of working nights, weekends, and holidays, she burnt out and said, “Now what do I do?” She tried a bunch of other things, the most steady of those being a paralegal for state government, but nothing makes her as happy as writing. She has published several short stories and reads “slush” for a couple of short-story markets.
Karissa lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional in-law, and a very hairy husky. She loves to read and has a sweet tooth for speculative fiction. Sometimes her husband convinces her to put down the books and take the motorcycles out for a spin. When it snows, you’ll find her on the slopes.
Karissa also paints and draws and harbors a grand delusion that she might finish a graphic novel someday.
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Did you love The Norse Chronicles? Then you should read Oracle of Philadelphia by Elizabeth Corrigan!
Carrie works at a diner in South Philadelphia, dispensing advice to humans and angels wise enough to seek her counsel. But there are some problems that even the best advice can't solve.
Her latest supplicant, Sebastian, is unique among those who have sought her aid. He sold his soul to a demon in exchange for his sister's life, but his heart remains pure.
Carrie has lived for millennia with the knowledge that her immortality is due to the suffering of others, and she cannot bear to see another good man damned when it is within her power to prevent it.
In order to renegotiate his contract, Carrie must travel into the depths of hell and parley with the demons that control its pathways. As the cost of her journey rises, Carrie must determine how much she is willing to sacrifice to save one good soul.
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