Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 663(@200wpm)___ 531(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Princess Jasalyn has eleven days to live.
Jasalyn is facing the repercussions of a deadly bargain. Her life, and the future of the shadow court, are forfeit on her birthday unless she can stop the evil fae king Mordeus. She needs to face her greatest fears and find him before she runs out of time, but even after everything, Kendrick won't let her face this alone.
Shape-shifter Felicity has vanished.
Felicity disappeared from King Misha's dungeons, and her friends have been searching for her to no avail. But even if she's found, Felicity will never be able to escape the oracle's tragic prophecy for her and her family. In her lonely battle with fate, Misha is the last person she can ask to stand by her side, but the first one she'll need
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
Abriella
Another day of searching for my sister. Another day of chasing ghosts.
Rage is my constant companion. I’ve stopped trying to contain the rumbling shadows that swirl around my feet and fingertips. I no longer care whether Abriella, queen of the shadow fae, appears gentle or brutal, kind or intimidating. My sister is gone. My court is falling apart. And if the winds don’t change soon, all will be lost.
“We are running out of time,” I say, spinning away from the setting sun to scowl at my visitors.
“You think I don’t know that?” When Hale Kendrick’s ice-blue eyes meet mine, they contain the fury of a tempestuous sea. “You think it doesn’t haunt me every day I fail to find her? Every day I fail them both?”
The ache in my chest intensifies at the reminder of my selfishness. I’m not the only one whose sister is missing. Kendrick lost the woman he loves and his sister, Felicity, in the same day. He hasn’t rested since, and the dark circles beneath his eyes hint at the exhaustion his posture never reveals.
Months. We’ve been at this for months and have nothing to show for it.
I thought this time would be different, but now I realize desperation was making me see what wasn’t there. The rumors of Jasalyn sightings hurt the stability of my court as much as they hurt my heart. Some say she ran back to the human realm. Some say she is hiding out in the Seelie Court. Too few believe she is with me, staying in the safety of the Midnight Palace until her eighteenth birthday.
Every rumor, every speculation makes me rage. And I can’t even defend my sister by sharing the truth because seers across the land have whispered prophecy about the shadow princess, and one hint of the truth of the ring and her blood magic connection to Mordeus would be the end for me. The end of everything good I’ve tried to bring back to these people.
Claim the princess and control the court.
“You said you had a lead. That someone had seen her. Was it lies?” I demand. That’s why they’re here, after all—to update me on their latest efforts to find Jasalyn.
Kendrick’s friend Natan nudges his spectacles up the bridge of his nose and steps forward. “It was more of the same,” he explains. “Someone knows someone who saw her—but tracking the rumors didn’t yield anything.”
Of course it didn’t. We can never find anyone who saw her with their own eyes. And I am unable to search for her myself because I have to remain at the palace and pretend she isn’t missing at all. We’ve had a trusted shifter take her form to make the occasional appearance on various palace balconies, but without Felicity’s special gifts, we can’t risk allowing anyone close enough that they might suss out our deceit.
I shake my head, the same questions that have haunted me for months spinning through my head. “If we can’t find her because of the ring’s magic, why are there any memories of her appearing at all?”
Natan shakes his head. “This ring—it’s a conduit to some of the most powerful and complex magic I’ve ever seen. Perhaps the magic is changing. Or perhaps the rumors are just rumors and that’s why we can never find a true source.”
My gut folds in on itself at the hopelessness of it all, but I keep my chin up, my face impassive. We haven’t lost this yet. Haven’t lost her yet.
“With all due respect,” Kendrick says, folding his arms, “finding her might prove futile without this mythical stone your seer claims can nullify the ring’s magic.”
My temper flares, my shadows surging alongside my rage. Because he’s right. The idea that we could have found her and simply don’t remember is as devasting as anything. And even if that hasn’t happened already, if I don’t track down the Stone of Disenchantment, that is exactly the challenge we have before us.
Finn, my king, my love, my bonded partner, places a hand on the small of my back, and I draw in my first full breath since Elora’s chosen king returned with more bad news.
“Misha is investigating a lead on Felicity,” Finn tells Kendrick, smoothly shifting the subject away from my futile search for the stone. I’m glad he’s clearheaded enough to share this latest bit of news. If someone could give me a small shred of hope regarding my sister, I’d want to hear it.
Finn looks to me and I give a subtle shake of my head. We won’t give this male more hope than that. Not until Misha brings Kendrick’s sister back safely.
“Misha’s team still believes she lives,” I tell Kendrick. Like me, he’ll have to sustain himself on scraps of hope, and when those scraps aren’t enough to put a dent in the fear and grief these months have planted in our hearts, we plow forward nonetheless.