When Wishes Bleed (When Wishes Bleed, #1)

by Casey L. Bond

Fate, I knew all too well, was real. He wasn’t an obscure concept of destiny, or a dream of what the future might hold. And he certainly wasn’t luck or a wishing well. He was sentient and very much alive. I was Fate’s daughter, and he lived inside me.

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.

I would become a fire-breathing dragon before letting the Prince order me to stand at his side. And Fate could find a new Daughter if he cared so little about me that he’d subject me to something so abhorrent and chauvinistic.

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

Did she feel as comfortable with a hammer and chisel in her hands as she did holding a scepter? Was that why every time she looked at me, her face looked more like marble than skin and bone?

“I am no queen, and I’m not a slab of meat for sale. I’d prefer to be modest, even if it’s unfashionable.”

Besides, every girl, witch or not, dreamed of becoming a princess. Not with crowns and gowns, but princess of the heart of someone she loved, and who loved her in return.

“They think witches are vile creatures,” he snorted. “But have they even thought of how this makes those involved feel, or does it matter to them at all, as long as telecast ratings stay high?”

She sacrificed herself to save her brother, and Fate rewarded valor. He rewarded selflessness.

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

Brecan was my best friend in The Gallows, and here, he was more than an escort. He was the voice of reason.

In all my years of dealing with death, I knew there was a moment of numb shock that hit each person after they lost a loved one. Even though they knew death was inevitable, in that moment it suddenly became real. The fact that their loved one was truly gone would pierce them like an arrow to the heart.

We had to process death with emotion, and experiencing death, and mourning the loss of someone you loved, was not only inevitable for all of us, it was something that transformed us into a stronger version of ourselves.

a celebration of endings and beginnings. And while it was refreshing to think that life was still moving along despite all that had happened, it was also a bit jarring.