The Mortal Heart

She couldn’t.

“In the Dark there is Light? You think that’s about the two of you?” Marian asked.

“Why not? It’s true, isn’t it?” Lila Jane asked. “But if we were so different that we could never be together, why didn’t it feel that way? Why did he feel like my kindred spirit? Like a part of my soul?”

Every word was agony.

“A Ravenwood and an Evers? I wonder…” Marian shook her head. “I don’t suppose we’ll ever know now.”

Don’t you understand? I have to.

Lila Jane looked at her friend. “I want to go back to the library, Mare. I want to know what you know. I can’t explain it, but I feel like I’ve started down a road that has no end, and I can’t stop now. Not even if I wanted to.”

Marian pulled off her gloves. “It’s a dangerous road, Lila.”

“Macon said you were a Keeper. I want to be like you.”

“Lila—”

“It’s my choice. You said it was always my choice,” Lila Jane said, reaching to take Marian’s hand in her own.

“It is.”

“I feel like it’s more than that, Mare. I feel like it’s my destiny.” Lila Jane squeezed her best friend’s hand. “And you know I’ve never been afraid of the dark.”

She looked at Marian with huge, heavy eyes.

They were the kind of eyes that wanted to see the truth, and nothing less.





Thirty years later and hundreds of miles away, Lila Evers Wate’s only son stared up at Marian with those same eyes.

He clutched Marian’s hand, with Lila Jane’s mother-of-pearl watch strapped to her slender wrist. Listening as intently as his mother always had.

Marian couldn’t find her voice.

He’s so much like his mother. But he’s more than just Lila Jane’s son. He’s her destiny now. She closed her eyes. You’re not done yet, Janie, but you’re close. I can feel the road’s end. Just a bit farther, I promise.

It was a promise Marian could make because she knew something no one else in Gatlin County did.

Destiny wasn’t finished with this boy and his mother.

Not yet, Janie.

Not yet.




About the Authors


Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl are longtime friends and coauthors of the #1 New York Times bestselling Beautiful Creatures novels. The first book in the series, Beautiful Creatures, is now a major motion picture. In addition to writing together, they have written solo series: The Legion Series by Kami Garcia includes the instant New York Times bestseller and Bram Stoker Award nominee Unbreakable and Unmarked; and the Icons series by Margaret Stohl includes Icons, which is currently in development as a feature film, and Idols. Kami and Margaret invite you to visit them online at kamigarcia.com and margaret-stohl.com.