Shadow and Stars

Epilogue

The wintry gray sky spits white flecks of snow on the grass, and even though the air is frigid, the sensation spreading through my body warms me from my head to my toes.

Today is the last day of school before Christmas break, and it's been exactly two months since I defeated Luna. And if I'm being 100% honest, it hasn't been an easy thing to deal with.

Even though she was evil, tried to destroy my relationship with my dad, kill Julian, and push me out of my own life, I have lost countless nights of sleep lying awake and thinking about the fact that I incinerated my great-great-great aunt. No matter what anyone says—it's never painless to take someone else's life. Nothing about it felt good.

"Cam?"

I squeeze Julian's hand in response as he opens the door of the Mustang for me. "Yeah?"

"Are you feeling guilty again?" he asks, pushing a stray curl out of my eyes. Over the last two months, Julian has come to recognize the faraway look that crosses my face when I'm thinking about what I had to do.

"There's no point in lying, is there?" I ask as I buckle my seatbelt, not meeting his eyes.

"Nope," he says as he shuts the door and jogs around to the driver's side. "None whatsoever. I know you well enough by now."

I lean back against the headrest and sigh. "Nothing can prepare you for taking someone else's life, even when they were an evil moon goddess."

Julian reaches over and squeezes my knee. "I know, Cam. And there's no way I could ever thank you enough for saving my life. Because you did. 100%. If you hadn't trapped her when you did, she'd have snapped my neck."

The thought of losing Julian makes me feel ill, and I put my hand over his. "Okay, okay. You're right." I lift his palm to my mouth and plant a kiss in the center.

He is, but it still doesn't completely ebb away the guilt.

When we get to my house, the snow is starting to stick on the cars and rooftops, giving everything a shimmery, silvery glow.

"Think we'll have a white Christmas?" Julian asks as we walk in the front door.

"Did someone say 'Christmas'?" Dad asks in a singsong voice, sweeping out from the kitchen with a tray of egg nog in his hands.

Julian snorts and I shake my head in amusement, but the truth is, I am so happy that my dad is in such a great mood. This is our first Christmas without my mom, and I had been dreading it.

But to my pleasant surprise, he's wearing a smile and serving Mom's favorite holiday treat.

"What's all this for?" I ask as Julian and I each take a glass mug and sit on the hearth in front of the fireplace.

"I found something today. Something I didn't know existed until now."

"Oh yeah?  What was that?"

He reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a white envelope, and I can see from where I sit that the front of it has my name in familiar swirling letters.

"A beautifully hand-carved wooden box that belonged to your mother. With a few things inside it that are priceless." He stands from the chair and hands me the envelope. "This was one of them."

Tears sting my eyes as I take the letter from his hand. It reads, Camryn Sharice—do not open until your seventeenth Christmas. I just stare at the words until they are a blur, but when Julian puts his arm around me, I take a deep breath and open the envelope.

My Dearest Camryn,

Oh, ladybug...if you're reading this, you've made it to your seventeenth year without me. I hoped so much that I would be able to face this with you, but when I got my diagnosis, I had a feeling you'd have to face it without me.