Excerpt – Chapter 1
I choked on the black fear unfurling in my soul, brought on by
what would come, what always assaulted me the moment I slipped into
unconsciousness. It was stupid to think I could run from it for a third night,
but shreds of hope were all that had kept me sane. Primal, cold and so dark it
blotted out my Light.
Sleep, more terrifying than anything I’d faced yet, claimed me
again.
Standing on the balcony of the new fae castle, I gazed over
winding rows of ancient shifter houses, each quiet and seemingly content in
slumber, in a night that wasn’t dark. Dark and light all at once—a perfect
balance, as if the world hadn’t yet decided which side would win, until the red
clouds rolled and curled across the sky like blood spilled into water. Flames,
intelligent and ravenous, spread from the east, ready to consume everything and
everyone until nothing but ash remained. Heat licked at my skin, growing
hotter. Knowing it was only a dream didn’t keep sweat from pearling along my
face and neck or the blue streak of profanity from escaping to color the air.
Heart thundering, I gripped the railing while I stared at the coming storm,
brain frozen with the puzzle I hadn’t yet solved.
What are you trying to tell me? What am I missing?
From below, shrieks invaded my ears, thundering across the land
until they rose into a deafening clatter of sound. The houses came alive with
light, moaning as fae spilled into the cobblestone streets and stared skyward
before scattering, each filled with agony and despair deep enough there would
be no escape from it. Dying. They were dying. My own scream built
in my throat, to tell them I would fix it somehow, that I would save them, but
it couldn’t find an escape. Nor would my body obey my commands to move, to help
them. To do something. Anything.
The scene changed as it always did. I stared down from far above,
my limbs turned to torches of white fire. A globe of light around me cast a
white wash over the city, over the fae who still ran in every direction.
From me.
I am the storm.
Wings pounding against the wind reached me a moment before a giant
snowy owl arrived to hover before me, those golden eyes shining with rage and
fear, both inducing immense relief that Liam had come and blinding horror with
some distant knowledge that he should have run, too.
My scream pierced the silence as a wail let loose from his beak.
No. No!
“Wake up, Lila. Please, wake up!”
Warmth on my arm jerked me awake.
Damn near hyperventilating, I scrambled out of bed and landed on
my hands and knees on the hardwood without a stitch of clothing on, unsure if
the room spun or if I was just dizzy. When Liam approached, his eyes haunted
and glassy, a chilled realization hit me and stalled my breath until my lungs
ached with need. What if the storm hadn’t been a dream?
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