Secrets of Alkrose (Alkrose Academy, #2)

by K.M. Moronova

“Yes, I suppose it can seem like a long time, can’t it?” He speaks with melancholic weight. How does one describe the heaviness that others imbue into their words? It cannot be done; it is felt through your marrow and veins.

“You are the sole source of my weariness. I can’t stop thinking about you. The way you bite your lower lip and suck in breaths when I’m too near. It drives me absolutely crazy.”

(Wow, smart, world-shattering. Who would have thought the Fernestians would be the first to say “The men are the reasonable things to use contraceptives on”?)

“No wonder Elias is so possessive of you. Your Shadow has quite the appetite,” he whispers in a deep, tempting voice. I bury my teeth into my bottom lip—his erection is pressed against my lower abdomen. “Elias might know how to please you, but I doubt those boys do. Tell me, are you satisfied?”

Warm orange sunlight drips over him, welcoming all the hollow parts of his cheeks. I yearn to touch his handsome face, to draw lines with my fingers over every valley where his flesh meets bone.

“You’re more than the sky, Raine. You are the wind, the earth, the blood in my veins. I will never forget you.”

The only reply is the dragon’s immense screech piercing the sky. It’s so loud that my hands abandon the safety of the bone and shield my ears. Then comes the blinding light. It’s bright blue, like ice on a frozen lake. A ball of pure power begins to form in the skull’s gaping jaw, growing bigger and increasingly daunting until all the sound in the world vanishes in an instant. A thin line of blue splits the sky and then the mass of power blasts from the dragon’s mouth, wicked and horrible, scorching the trees. The pine needles shrivel and vanish like they’ve been hit with a bomb.

I felt this. I love how this was described.

“I hate the things you draw from me. The things you steal away,” he says into our feverish kisses. “You drive me into utter madness.”

My attention returns to the field as Rowan wades through the tall wheat. Their golden ears transform the ground into a gilded ocean.

Then, there is a wave of light. A million fireflies rise as Rowan steps through the field. Suddenly, I’m six years old again, Terra beside me. I gazed down into my palm at the lone glowing insect that hummed quietly in my hand. “Terra, why do they fly?” I asked. The glow in my palm fluttered as if it could fade at any moment. Terra narrowed her eyes in thought. After a few moments, she smiled as she gazed at the stars. “They fly because their time is limited. Because their light is too pure for just the ground. They need to share their joy with the world around them while they can.” I cupped my hands gently together as I watched the firefly flicker out into darkness. “And why do they have to die?” I whispered low enough that I wasn’t sure she heard it. Her lips smoothed into a thin line. “Because they gave all they had to show us their light. They must rest—as we all do.”

My eyes meet Vinnie’s, then Rowan’s. The commander’s flaming crescent sword hit them both at once. Their blood sprays into the night air like the wings of fireflies—they seem to glow with the heat from the Darkfly’s fire. I watch their lights flicker out. Their short lives spent.

Four fireflies take to the sky from the barley around the boot, drawing in my weakening consciousness. Fireflies. We were fireflies. Terra’s words soak into my soul. “Because they gave all they had to show us their light. They must rest—as we all do.” I cry and the taste of death blooms across my tongue. You were right, Terra.