A Forbidden Alchemy (The Artisan Trilogy)

by Stacey McEwan

As for me, I imagined a foothill hidden in the colossal shadow of a snowcapped mountain, an easel with fresh canvas, a board wet with paint, someone who loved me. It was, really, all I wanted.

And she glowed, victorious. Goddamn. He could stand to lose more fights, if this was the reward.

And wasn’t that the true evil of war? That it didn’t have the decency to strip the humanity of those we killed?

Patrick looked at Nina, at her blond curls and rose-stained lips, and imagined her as a girl, the breaking of her heart a gradual progression. He wondered whether, if it were possible to go back in time and hold her hand, it would have made any difference.