The End of Never by Tammy Turner Page A

her bulldog rolled on his back in the grass beside her.
    A shadow loomed overhead, blocking out the sun. It was Kraven. “Please sit,” she pleaded to Kraven and patted the ground with her hand.
    Too young to die , the raven-haired immortal thought, kneeling to the grass. Too old to live.
    â€œRelax,” Alexandra said, biting her thumbnail as she blushed. Kraven copied the casual crisscrossing of Alexandra’s legs and sat beside her, their knees touching lightly. He kept his blue eyes locked on her pink, freckled cheeks.
    Jack rose from his back to sniff around the nearby trash can. “Hello, doggie-woggie,” a child’s voice sang in the air. The pumpkin-haired boy jumped out of the swing and rushed to Jack.
    â€œNo,” his mother shouted. But the boy had already grabbed Jack by the tail. The dog whimpered and licked the boy’s hand.
    â€œCome here, Jack,” Alexandra called and waved the bulldog to her.
    â€œHe might lick you,” she advised the toddler as he followed the dog to Alexandra’s lap.
    His panicked mother, with her hand on his shoulder, guided the boy back to the swing set. “Sorry,” she mumbled, with a confused look on her face. “We didn’t mean to disturb you,” she said, backing away from the couple in the grass.
    Alexandra frowned. “No problem,” she said softly and turned to Kraven. His adoring eyes had never left her face.
    Raising his palm to her chin, he stared into her green eyes. His touch stung, his fingertips pricking her skin like a burn from the tip of a match.
    â€œWho would have left that picture under my door?” she asked, brushing away his fingers from her face. “The shapeshifter is locked away, tied up and bleeding in Callahan’s attic, so what else is after me?” Alexandra held out her arms and examined the scratches from her attack. The shapeshifter had wanted to kill her, but why? What have I done? she wondered to herself. When did the universe decide to unravel around me?
    Destiny. The word echoed through her head and she stared at Kraven. His lips did not move, but she knew he had spoken to her.
    He wrapped his hands tightly around her wrists and bowed his head. The fiery touch of his palms made Alexandra gasp. Gradually the warmth dulled and spread to her chest and skull.
    Kraven spoke to her, his words melting into her flesh and soaking into her mind. He could not speak his story aloud, and only Alexandra needed to hear it:
    I am a monster, an abomination of all that is natural and right. One thousand years have passed since my mother bore me to a king. He rejoiced at my birth and built a castle for my mother near the bend of a mighty river. But my brave father had enemies jealous of his vast lands. From end to end, our forests and fields stretched a great many days’ journey.
    A coward struck my father in the back with an arrow while my father hunted. This happened when I was a small boy. So my mother ruled until I grew old enough. But as I became a man, I met a woman—a beautiful, auburn-haired maiden, the daughter of my kingdom’s mapmaker. The morning of our wedding day, a long-distant cousin, a filthy man who had been jealous of my father and his lands, swooped upon my castle, Kilhaven, with his black magic and evil sorcery.
    He brought a dragon. This was a mighty, towering beast straight from hell, meant to destroy me and my home. I defeated him at the cost of losing my bride. She tried to run, but the dragon killed her. So with sword and fury, I slew the dragon and my demon cousin in revenge. But my princess, Iselin, was already lost and my revenge did not bring her back.
    To make sure that the dragon would never return, I ate his flesh and drank from his veins. I consumed him. In doing so, I became the dragon; the blood of the dragon ran through my body. I became the evil that lived within the beast.
    For one thousand years, I have walked this earth. Good and evil have