When Wishes Bleed (When Wishes Bleed, #1)

by Casey L. Bond

Children would ignore their own experiences and feelings if adults pressed them hard enough into the straight and narrow line. It was how prejudice and ignorance were perpetuated through the generations.

Heavy was the head that wore the crown, though many coveted the weighty circlet.

The palace was a city unto itself, a glittery star in a vast sky.

The two couldn’t be more different. And not just in the light and dark hues of their hair, but in their demeanors. They were from two different worlds that existed within the same kingdom.

“This is common for a witch.” I shrugged. “It would seem boring for my hand-fasted.” “Nothing about you is mundane or common, Sable.” I swallowed, looking back to the sky to center myself. For a moment, it felt like I levitated. I may have.

Tauren had more magic in his person that I had learned in all my years. He was like an undine, luring me into troubled waters and coaxing me to take his hand, only to drag me into the depths, never aware that I was slowly drowning, never caring if I ever tasted the air I desperately needed again.

He held out his hand for me. I took it for John and his crew, for the witches in Thirteen, and for Bay and Ethne who elected to give me the chance to come here. And… I took it for me.

This… whatever this was, it was as glorious as it was dangerous – for both of us.

At one time, I had wondered why anyone romanticized such terrible circumstances as love, loss, and death… Then I saw the play that evening, and all the pieces slid into place.

All I knew was that something in him was mine, and something in me belonged to him. I couldn’t let anyone snuff that out. That was all I could think of. All that mattered.

“Educate me, Sable. Don’t get angry with me because I don’t know your traditions. Teach me.”

“The earth belongs to all of us. We’re a part of it; not just bodies dwelling on it.”

She was beautiful at first glance, but at second, I could see the hatred she harbored, clinging to her like a parasite.

Tauren and I slept in the House of Fate in the room I claimed before he sent the invitation, wrapped in each other’s arms, both too afraid to let go. But dawn broke and with it, the responsibilities of the world returned and settled on our shoulders again.

Of all the powers I’d ever possessed, putting a smile on Tauren’s face was by far the greatest.