EXCERPT 1
The night was restless once Killian left.

As I lay in bed, sleep eluded me for what seemed like hours on end, and when I was finally able to pass out after taking one of Jasmin’s pills, the nightmare that had been haunting me ever since the encounter with the horde reappeared.

There, in my dream, I could hear the wolves howling, their cries mournful, and the sound was so chilling that I felt shivers all over my body. Something primal within me stirred. An instinct, perhaps. An instinct I didn’t fully comprehend. But the call of the wolves reached out to the deepest part of my being and every nerve ending in me burned in response to it.

Hot!

My skin felt impossibly hot.

I slapped at my wrists, then looked down.

Flames—multicolored and beautiful—licked their way up to my shoulders.

Desperately, I shook my hands, trying to make the fire go out but to no avail. Instead, it seemed to grow so fast that it consumed me whole.

I was burning alive.

I woke up with a gasp, heaving for air and choking on the smoke that didn’t exist.

The first rays of dawn had already broken past the dark of night and were now peeking shyly into my room through the opening between the silly owl curtains. The light danced across the walls happily, announcing yet another sunny day.

As I lay tangled in the sheets, I listened to the house waking up.

First, I heard Uncle Mark getting ready for work.

A little later, Sage got up and left for the bakery.

As much as she hated working in place of her mother, she’d started to pick up some shifts too. Mostly because Jasmin had been out of sorts since Tabby’s death.

Truth be told, Tabby’s death had affected nearly every person on the island. Some suffered quietly like my aunt and some suffered loudly like Tate Cordero.

I wasn’t sure which I was. Perhaps someone in between, who preferred to keep it all inside for as long as possible and then sobbed stupidly into her boyfriend’s shirt until all the tears had run out and her vocal cords were hoarse.

I’d spent way too much time in bed, I realized as I grabbed my cell from the nightstand to check the time. It was the only thing the device was good for inside the house since calls and messages didn’t seem to go through unless I ran to the shed. 

The thought of the shed only amplified my desire to speak to Jasmin.

I’d been dragging my feet, guessing what her answers could be.

You’re terrified of the truth, Nova, the voice in my head whispered. Terrified to find out the things you perhaps shouldn’t know.

With determined resolve, I descended the stairs and sought out my aunt. She was stress-cooking and I was greeted by a mountain of pancakes and a pan of hash browns.

My heart was hammering in my chest when I approached the table and sat down.

“Good morning,” she said, not looking at me. “Well…it’s almost afternoon now.” She sighed softly and went on with her task.

“Jasmin, do you think we can talk?” I slipped my hand into the front pocket of my hoodie and felt the photograph as if to make sure it was still there.

 

EXCERPT 2
“Clear the road,” a commanding voice shouted, and people began pressing themselves against buildings, pushing each other in a frenzy to make room.

The entourage entered my line of vision first. They were clearly fae riders. Even though their faces were covered by face shields, the shape of the shields around their ears gave away who they were. There were four of them, all on horseback. No, I realized, those were not regular horses. They were gellars. Swords were strapped to the soldiers’ backs, and they shone in the late afternoon light.

The carriage itself wasn’t large, just big enough to fit one person, and the deep-red curtains on the windows were drawn, hiding the passenger.

Many people in the crowd bowed in reverence as the cavalcade passed through the street.

“Someone important?” I asked Riven as his gaze followed the soldiers.

“Looks like Prince Aodal’s carriage,” he muttered. He must have arrived from Ilsguard to be with his older brother during this time of mourning.”

Immediately, my emotions stirred.

As if sensing the shift in my mood, Killian laced our fingers together and squeezed my hand.

“What’s Ilsguard?” I asked as we continued our walk when the carriage turned a corner and disappeared behind a building.

“Capital of the fae kingdom,” Riven explained. “Home of Silver Throne.”

In the privacy of my mind, I added the name to the long list of information I’d already learned since we arrived here.

Our trio wandered the streets some more, stopping to look at the entertainment or trinkets displayed in the stalls. At one such stall, Killian bought me a ring. It was modest with a bright-green gemstone the name of which I’d never heard.

He slid it onto my finger with a smile right after paying for it and then pulled me over to the next vendor, asking if I wanted a pair of leather boots.

“We have leather boots in the human realm.” I laughed a little.

“But not like these,” he insisted.

“Maybe.” I gestured at the tent situated by the stall showcasing various footwear. A tattered banner with letters I couldn’t read hung from a pole stuck into the ground. “What does that say?”

“Fortune Reader.”

“Really?” My curiosity was piqued immediately.

“Want to know your future?” Riven chuckled.

“Is it for real? Or are they just going to feed us some BS after reading our faces and body language?”

“She is a seer,” Riven whispered. “Seers are the only ones who still possess some of the magic in its original form. She is truly able to glimpse the threads of fate.”

Anxiety curled my stomach. 

“Can we try?” My gaze bounced between the two shifters who’d been my faithful companions on this journey.

“You sure?” Killian asked, and his voice had a hint of warning in it.

“Sometimes, seeing your future means making it worse,” Riven pointed out.

“I’ve never met a real seer,” I confessed with trepidation. As scared as I was to hear something upsetting, I still hoped to obtain information about my parents.