The Final Ashfield Novels & Stories

Asher is stronger, fresher, relentless. We’re losing. This is it. If this is how it ends, then at least we end it together. Fighting. Refusing to kneel. That has to mean something. The pack rallies what’s left of them charging in to protect us. To die with us. It’s beautiful and devastating all at once. But it isn’t enough. Asher’s forces overwhelm us. This is the end. All of us. Together.

Ashfield looked at the photographs, then at me. "That," she said, "is what I haven't figured out yet."

But his eyes were clear. "You can't." Grayson frowned. "Explain." Frank swallowed. "The Stone Circle lies beyond Hollow Fang territory." "So?" "So," Frank said quietly, "there's only one route." Silence. "The Ashen Pass." Caius stiffened instantly. "No." Frank nodded. "You know it." Caius looked grim. "Yes." Savannah frowned. "What is the Ashen Pass?" Nobody answered immediately. Finally Caius did. "A graveyard." Silence. "The final battlefield of the Blood Wars."

Sadness. I glanced down at the letter still clutched in my hand, the paper fragile and crumpled from my grip. Slowly, I allowed a sliver of lightning to dance along its edges, watching as the parchment caught fire. The flames consumed the letter quickly, reducing it to ash in seconds, and I let the remains fall to the table in a blackened heap. Ashes. Just like everything else in this cursed palace. I stormed out of the throne room, my footsteps heavy and my thoughts darker than the night itself. The halls were quiet, too quiet, and every echo of my boots against the stone reminded me of how alone I truly was about to become.

“What? You're not serious. There's no way that's happened already. They'll talk, they'll mend. The end.” Susan shrugged. “I'm sure they will.”

The operation that had been running for more than ten years was over before breakfast on a Tuesday. I thought about Ashley waking up to that news. I pictured her standing at her window, watching as the thing she had been fighting for so long finally ended. I hoped she was okay. I knew she probably wasn’t okay in a simple, clean way. She is too honest for that. She does not pretend relief when she has not fully felt it yet. She would understand the cost of everything that happened. She would feel all of it. I picked up my gear bag and went to the arena.

"She told you to kneel, so kneel. You don't get up until Hudson wakes. "She said you wouldn't bring the ashes, so she sent people to dig up the grave early this morning…" The blood drained from my face. Forgetting about the divorce, I struggled to my feet and tried to run for the cemetery. Slap. The blow knocked me hard to the ground. My cheek scraped against the gravel, tearing the skin. When I looked up, my father's urn was already in front of me again. Every hair on my body stood on end. My voice trembled uncontrollably.

Aspen said dismissively, "No matter how hard you try to show off, your abilities are still worthless in Christie's and my eyes. I bet Rodney only cooperated because you're using Rhodes Corporation's name to intimidate him!" Andrew did not even bother responding and left with Francesca. Christina exclaimed happily, "Aspen, whether it was Andrew's doing or not, we can get that billion back now. That's worth celebrating!" Yet, Aspen's face remained dark, finding little joy in the situation. The assault at Madblade Martial Academy would be a lifelong shame for her, though getting the money back was at least some consolation. Stepping forward, Aspen demanded from Dean, "Now hand over the Bridgefi

The villains didn’t die in the storm. They learned how to dance in it and built a kingdom that would never fall. And the legacy of the family… was only just beginning. The End!

He let his mind drift through old memories. The next day, dressed in nothing but a white dress shirt and black slacks, Cole was finally discovered by the cemetery's security staff. His face had gone dark from the cold, but there was a faint smile at the corner of his lips. Snow drifted down from the sky in thin, scattered flakes. Cole had frozen to death. He'd died at the side of the grave marked, "In loving memory of Isabel Cavendish, my beloved wife."