Spark of the Everflame (Kindred's Curse, #1)

by Penn Cole

For anyone who has ever been told their spark shouldn’t burn so bright and for all the people who loved them precisely because it did.

It’s never the enemy who attacks outright who will strike your killing blow, he’d taught me. It’s the one who hides in the shadows and waits. The one who strikes when you’ve finally looked away. Those are the true predators to fear.

When we meet again, remember this moment, child. How I could have made you kneel. How I could have made you beg.

“When forgotten blood on heartstone falls, then shall the chains be broke,” she crooned. “Life for life, old debt requires, or eternal be his yoke.”

But I was made of swinging fists and rash words, my edges too jagged and my temper too hot. Nothing about me was delicate.

To be disarmed is to court death.

The world will try to disarm you, Diem. Do not let them. By wits or by weapon, be prepared at all times.

There was no longer a forest. There was only me, the wolf, and infinite darkness. Fight.

“You know how every realm has two kinds of magic? Light and shadow in Lumnos, stone and ice in Montios, sea and air in Meros, and so on.”

Don’t choose a mediocre life for a mediocre man. Go be exceptional. If he’s worth it, he won’t judge you. And if he’s really the one, he’ll come along for the ride.”

“End be your time, a trade in kind, a life well-lived for peace to find. Be not afraid, as shadows fade, all pain and woe shall be unmade. Now fate well-sealed shall be revealed, for those whose worthy souls shall yield. In love and calm, this holy psalm, shall guide your soul to realm beyond.”

“I am not afraid, Devourer of Crowns. Ravager of Realms. Herald of Vengeance.”

“Give him our gift, Daughter of the Forgotten. When the end has come, and the blood has spilled, give our gift to my faithful heir, and tell him this is my command.”

“You think I fear my own death?” he whispered in my ear. “Every day I draw breath is as much a curse as a gift. I’ve been living on borrowed time for longer than you can imagine. If you’re the way my fate finally catches up to me, I can’t fathom a more beautiful end.”

“Let me die with the taste of you on my lips.”

Looking at him now was like staring in a mirror in the worst kind of way. I hid behind false bravado and snarky jokes, while Luther’s shield was forged with brooding stares and clenched jaws—but inside, we were one and the same.

“I’ve spent a great deal of time thinking about you, wondering if you’re the best liar I’ve ever met or the worst. I think I finally know the answer.” He placed his palms flat against the wall, ensnaring me between his arms. “The only person you’re good at lying to is yourself.”

“You saw it too, didn’t you?” I stopped, but I didn’t look back. “Last night,” he said, “right before the roof collapsed. The vision. The battlefield.”

“Diem—you’re wearing the Crown. You’ve been selected. You are the new Queen of Lumnos.”