Flooded by regret and tears and despair, Nyx gathered her Divine Energy and hurled the consequences of his own choice at him, knocking him backward with such force that he was lifted from the ground and flung down, down, into the black of the ether that separated the realms.

Kalona fell.

Slowly, sadly, Nyx made her way back to her palace and all the way to her bedchamber before she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing as if her soul were broken.

The cat brought Erebus to her. He lifted Nyx in his arms as if she weighed no more than a child. He carried her to her bed, where he washed her face with a cool cloth and coaxed her into drinking some wine. Only after she had stopped weeping did he ask, "He is gone?"

Nyx nodded, eyes dark with grief. "He left me."

Erebus took her hands in his. "I will help you get him back."

"Thank you, my friend," she said tremulously. "But I will not allow him to return until he has earned forgiveness for the wrongs that he has done and the wrongs that he will do."

"Agreed," Erebus said. "Some day in the future I will help him earn your forgiveness."

"He will not let you help him."

"Then he will not know that I do."

Nyx turned her head and stared out the window of her balcony at the lush beauty that was the Otherworld and wiped at the single tear that had newly escaped her eye.

Far below, Kalona's hand perfectly mirrored the G.o.ddess's, but his cheek was not wet with tears. Instead, catching a glimpse of himself in the still waters of the lazy creek, he saw that the moonlight color of his wings had changed to the black of the Darkness he had allowed entrance into Nyx's Otherworld.

Filled with insatiable rage, Kalona roared his anger to the night's sky and lost himself completely.

The end.

For now ....

ALSO BY P. C. CAST and KRISTIN CAST.

Marked.

Betrayed.

Chosen.

Untamed Hunted Tempted.

Burned Awakened Destined Hidden.

Revealed The Fledgling Handbook 101.

Dragon's Oath Len.o.bia's Vow.

Neferet's Curse.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS.

#1 New York Times and USA Today bestselling author P. C. CAST is an award-winning fantasy and paranormal writer, as well as an experienced speaker and teacher. Her novels have been awarded YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, and have received the prestigious Oklahoma Book Award, as well as the PRISM, Daphne du Maurier, Booksellers Best, HOLT Medallion, Beacon, Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice, and Affaire de Coeur Awards. She lives in Oklahoma with lots of dogs, cats, horses, and a burro. KRISTIN CAST is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who teams with her mother to write the House of Night series. She has stories in several anthologies, as well as editorial credits. Currently Kristin is working on her first stand-alone novel.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors' imaginations or are used fict.i.tiously.

KALONA'S FALL. Copyright 2014 by P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin's Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com.

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