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Back We Are Blood and Thunder Save as PDF
Chapters (32)
  1. PROLOGUE
  2. ONE
  3. TWO
  4. THREE
  5. FOUR
  6. FIVE
  7. SIX
  8. SEVEN
  9. EIGHT
  10. NINE
  11. TEN
  12. ELEVEN
  13. TWELVE
  14. THIRTEEN
  15. FOURTEEN
  16. FIFTEEN
  17. SIXTEEN
  18. SEVENTEEN
  19. EIGHTEEN
  20. NINETEEN
  21. TWENTY
  22. TWENTY-ONE
  23. TWENTY-TWO
  24. TWENTY-THREE
  25. TWENTY-FOUR
  26. TWENTY-FIVE
  27. TWENTY-SIX
  28. TWENTY-SEVEN
  29. TWENTY-EIGHT
  30. TWENTY-NINE
  31. EPILOGUE
  32. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Four servants bustled in, each carrying two copper kettles full of hot water for the bathtub in front of the fire. Irvine turned to Constance and smiled, focusing on her face. “It’s so good to see you again,” he said softly. “I didn’t think I ever would. I’m sorry you have returned to such a changed place.”

“I’m glad to be back,” she said, smiling too. And it was true.

“I will talk to you in private later,” he said, glancing over his shoulder at the servants. “I’m sure you’d like some time to rest now. Can we meet in the gardens after the feast? I’ll wait by our fountain.”

“All right.”

He turned to leave.

“Lord Irvine?”

He hesitated.

“Thank you.”

He flashed her a smile, and then he was gone in a swirl of silk.

THREE

The Serpent

The storm rolled and rumbled, as it often did, like a sleeping creature whose troubled dreams had deepened into nightmares. Lena shivered as she followed the glowing path through the darkness, the storm cloud, and the neverending trees. The thin rain lashed around her, and flashes of sickly blue-green threw long and twisted shadows. The thunder, so close to the damp earth, sounded like an angry voice roaring in displeasure. Though warm and hard-wearing, her cryptling’s habit wasn’t meant for the outside, and she was quickly soaked through and shivering. She walked on, and on, and on, following the path, far beyond the point where she felt she could not continue.

After a time, the storm cloud started to thin enough for Lena to loosen her tight grip on her habit, which had been whooshing around her in the wind. The trees started to space out too and grew stronger, their bark thicker and darker, less furred and bubbled with fungus. And soon the canopy was so thin, and the fog slunk so low around her legs, that Lena could see the stars shining through the branches overhead. Her heart leaped: she hadn’t seen stars in years. She staggered on, suddenly eager, allowing herself a few moments of hope, yet terrified the storm cloud would thicken and once more throw her into darkness.

But it wasn’t the storm cloud that frightened her in the end.

She heard something else. A rustling nearby in the fallen leaves. A low hissssss.

Immediately, Vigo’s voice spoke to her, a memory as clear and distant as the stars. And in the forest, there are snakes that can swallow a man whole.

Those stories never ended without death.