This baby’s got zip!” The salesman leaned against the bright green lawnmower, flashing me a brilliant smile. “Gringolet here will cut your mowing time in half, Sir Gawain. You’ll be the Green Thumb of Camelot.”
I’d just been promoted into the Green Thumbs—otherwise known as the Knights of the Front Lawn—
The rain pours down over my shoulders. I crouch next to the tree we used to climb, sobbing.
“It’s the circle of life, Maya.” I startle as Mama comes up behind me. “You have to let him go.”
I rest my palm against the wet grass. “Why?”
“The way of life,” Mama repeats.
For all his bone-shuddering exhaustion, Tyr couldn’t sleep. In the ruddy half-light, he could make out his brother’s prone form, huddled on the thin blanket they used as a bed. His breathing was slow, steady.
At least one of them would be rested before they escaped.
Tyr curled his knees to his chest.
“Do you know what color fae blood is?
Green, my son, naught but green—
So go now forth and slay their queen.
But beware, for she seeks her mate,
And only death can stop this fate.
For if she steals one of your kin,
Take her life to give the changeling back his.”
All I need is a nightmare.
Alora paused on the threshold of the Dream Mines and took a deep, steadying breath. For the past century, she’d mined dreams to occupy herself while she waited for the chance to break her sleeping curse and leave the dreamworld forever. Sweet waking rather than sweet dreams.
The grass was up to Abigail’s chin now. If she didn’t find Ryn soon, it would consume the entire kingdom.
Abigail pushed her way through the verdant blades consuming her village. Couldn’t the boy have chosen a different enchantment? Something to do with rocks, perhaps? She could deal with pesky boulders.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this,” Willow grumbled, blowing a strand of brown hair out of her face. She trudged through the shallow, mucky water. Only Henry would think it was a good idea to spend their weekend stomping around a mosquito-infested swamp searching for something that didn’t exist.
Read it now
Noah perked up as the call came through. Another nighttime commotion at the old, abandoned fairground.
“Dispatch, I’m at that end of town, I’ll check it out.”
Noah turned at the junction, towards the site.
On the outskirts of the small town, it was a relic of its heyday, bankrupted by the advent
Markus bounced on his heels as he waited in the line leading into the Cursed Gardens. Past the black metal fence, maze-like rows of statues rose in a cacophony of heroism and doom.
“Hey.” Markus tapped the shoulder of the hulking man in front of him. “You see that wyvern over there?
Had I recognized the emerald droplets for what they were, perhaps I wouldn’t have followed them.
You’d woken me, earlier than usual. Restless, kicking, and hungry for both of us. I’d grazed on a bowl of muesli as I sipped my mint tea, watching the dust bunnies dance in the bright January
Read it now
Pounding footsteps shook the forest and knocked fiery, autumn leaves from the trees. Gemma pressed against the nearest trunk, the bark’s ridges digging into her bare arms. We found the stone golem.
“Fiske, Korth, you ambush him from the other side.” Uncle Roan spoke just loud enough for her to hear.
Freezing rain slicked the sidewalk and dripped from the remaining bulbs around the dark marquee. I sighed, my breath frosting in the air. Really, an abandoned movie theater? Some people have no sense of subtlety.
I ducked through the broken door, boots crunching on shattered glass, and followed
Read it now
Recent Comments