CHAPTER 34
Cemetery by Auld a′chruinn, Present-Day Fall
I need you, Sam!” Payton gasped, weakly wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. His gaze wandered over to the
bare, leafless branches of the trees around him. They looked like skeletons, holding their gnarly branches out toward
him. The once-colorful leaves of red and yellow and ochre were now nothing more than a carpet of black, dead leaves,
burying all life beneath them.
His time was up. Every breath he took cost him energy and strength and sent shivers of excruciating pain through his
aching body.
He wanted to die. He didn’t want to bear this pain any longer. Only the thought of Sam kept him alive. If he could only
tell her one last time how much he loved her, that her love was worth every bit of the pain he was being made to suffer,
then he could close his eyes and submit his mortal soul to fate—and perhaps at long last find peace.
Peace. What a pretty word. Slowly, it spread inside him. It helped him release the memory of Sam he’d been clinging to
and forced itself into his blood, finally flooding his brain.
Peace. He breathed out, watching the last brightly colored autumn leaf float down and come to a final rest on his chest.
Peace. Endlessly tired, he closed his eyes.