Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 132933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“And Donnelly is free,” she whispers.
I nod, looking into Luna.
Ten minutes left in Beneath a Strong Sentiment and I can’t blink as the finale unfolds. Strider is pacing in the wintery woods where Callie lies unconscious on a bed of snow. She almost died, but her body is trying to heal in the cold.
He hasn’t sold Callie out yet to anyone who’d want her dead to protect the Peak. “They’re gonna leave this shit on a love triangle cliffy,” I realize with a slight groan.
“Keep watching,” Luna assures.
Strider drops to his knees, his face torn in an anguish. “Mom,” he chokes out, and my eyes pop out of my head. He repeats, more choked, “Mom.”
“What the fuck?” I blow backwards.
Luna is only watching me. She has a big grin.
“Callie is Strider’s mom?” I’m in shock. “Who’s his dad?”
“Watch,” just as Luna says it, Frost comes into view. He kneels down beside Strider and puts a hand on his shoulder. They look like they could be brothers, but Frost whispers, “She’ll live, son.”
As they rise together with the winter wind whipping through the wooded mountainside, the resemblance between them is a whole lot clearer.
Because I have the damn answers now. “Shit,” I’m grinning as the show fades to black. That was the end.
“Evolved age slowly,” Luna says, “and nearly everyone at the Peak looks between twenty-ish and forty. It’s been alluded that Frost is at least a thousand years old, if not more, but we were never given a range for Strider or Callie.”
“Yeah, they got me. What a fucking ending, man.” I shake my head in disbelief. Still awed over those last few frames.
Luna rewinds and we watch the last part over again.
“Stallie shippers have to be a mess right now,” I say since fans were unknowingly shipping a mother and her son.
“Oh yeah, their ship didn’t just sink. It got lit on fire first.”
“Burned alive. But not Frosties. We survived.” I make a rock on gesture and grab my phone. “You haven’t checked any reactions yet?”
“Uh-uh. I’ve tried to stay away after I saw the ‘Strider is the son of Frost and Callie’ spoiler.”
We end up on our phones. Checking the Fanaticon forum, both of us on the Episode 12 Discussion post.
I’m leaning against the headboard and Luna lounges between my legs, her back warm against my chest. I rest my arm on my bent knee, so she can see my phone as I scroll with one hand. And I can see hers, cupped between her palms.
She points at my phone screen. “People are pissed. That guy said he’s gonna try to get the show cancelled.”
“I hate people like @DudeMilk114,” I read his handle. “Just ‘cause he doesn’t like something, he’s gonna try to destroy it instead of letting others who enjoy it actually enjoy it. You build it up just to burn it down, why?”
“Because they feel like if it’s not exactly what they wanted, then it shouldn’t exist, maybe. But the joke is on them because no matter how much they try to destroy it, it’ll always exist for those that love it,” Luna says then holds up her phone towards me. “The ratings doubled for the finale. They’re saying it has a high chance of renewal.”
“Yeah, it better. I have to see next season.”
“Me too.”
I start smiling, thinking about every Monday night the two of us watching our favorite show together. More than just one episode with Luna. That could happen, and I’m hoping people like DudeMilk don’t demolish that happy outcome for me.
“We’re still going to the Fanaticon convention in December, right?” Luna peers up at me.
I look down at her. We haven’t brought up the convention in person. Just in our Direct Messages when we thought we were chatting with other people.
Security-wise, I could swing the convention if either Xander goes or if I get a break from work. But I can’t wrap my head around going with Luna as a date. We haven’t had a date outside of our bedrooms yet.
“I still wanna go,” I say.
“With me?” Her body has stiffened against my chest.
“Only with you.”
She eases a little, but there is some strain left between us. “I’m just trying to hope…and I guess, I’m hoping that we’ll still be dating in December. My dad and brother will be happy for us. We’ll be holding hands at the convention.” She pauses. “I won’t go as far to believe we’ll have shippers.”
“We’ll have shippers,” I contest. “They’ll be out there with Marrow shippers, raising their posters and calling us soul mates and destined and whatnot.” I paint the picture for her. “They’ll name us Duna or…Lunnelly.”
“Lunnelly.” Luna smiles softly. I can’t see her eyes while she’s leaning against me, just the corners of her lips, but her shoulders rise with tender breath. “I want to believe that.”