Flame and Starlight (The Esteria Series Book 1)
Page 20
We both descended back to the ground, landing with hard thuds before I stalked back towards my now empty home. Mavka was standing in the doorway, wringing her hands in her simple nightdress.
“I’m so sorry,” she started as I approached her. I took her hands in mine.
“This is not your fault, Mav,” I said, trying to soothe her nerves. “We will get her back.”
She worried her lip but nodded. “She wouldn’t have left you without encouragement.” I scoffed and walked past her into the corridor, Emric hot on my heels. I saw her glance at him, and then her gaze landed on me. “You can huff all you want. But I’m telling you, she would not have left this place or you without someone either forcing her or giving her a way out.”
I ran my hands through my hair and down over my face, my scruff scratching my palms.
“I’m going to get her.”
“Of course you are,” she said with all the confidence in the world. “Go upstairs, figure out a plan, and I’ll bring you some food and some coffee to kick off the hangover you’re already wearing.” She glanced back at Emric again, and I didn’t like the way she looked at him. I felt my brows crease. “The both of you.”
“Thank you, Mav,” I said as she made her way to the kitchen.
“Go get our girl, Asher.”
I nodded and watched her stalk off, shoulders slightly hunched with age, grey hair swinging in a braid behind her. The closest thing I ever had to a mother after what happened to my own. I looked back to Emric, who was standing there, waiting for me to give an order.
“Upstairs. Now. Summon the advisors. We’re going to get her.”
You can pre-order book 2 here now!
Acknowledgments
Thank you again to my readers. Going through this process has been insane. It has cost me a lot of time and tears but it was all worth it to see you all react to my words. I love telling you stories and I hope I never have to stop.
To Michelle, Happy Birthday! You inspired so much of what this story is and I can never thank you enough. Your endless support is something I will never take for-granted. Thank you for being my inspiration for the spitfire that is Aoife. (Also, great name choice.)
To Becca, thank you for reading this chapter by chapter. Thank you for putting up with me talking about it every night after everyone else had left work. It was in those moments that I came up with all my best ideas. Thank you for your endless encouragement. I couldn’t have done this without you.
To Amber, I seriously cannot thank you enough. You will be thanked in every freaking one of my books because your endless patience and guidance deserves so much more than I can ever give you. Thank you for eagerly reading everything I send your way.
To my group chat once again, thank you. Thank you for your encouragement, for squeezing every single word out of my brain, and for letting me complain and rage about these characters. Also, I’d like to apologize to Stevie and Jacky for nearly giving you both a heart attack when I “joked” about book two….because that’s totally all it was….a joke….
To my aunt, who never got to see any of my stories published. You were always there to encourage me to be who I wanted to be. Looking back, I think you were my biggest fan and I can’t believe I ever took that for granted. You were the sunshine in all of our lives and I miss you every single minute of every single day. I hope wherever you are you are able to see what I’m doing and I hope I’m making you proud. Just, please, ignore the smut.
AC Graphics was the cover artist and I cannot brag on this enough. Good lord this cover is everything and more than I could have ever asked for. I cannot wait to work with you on the next cover in the series. Thank you so, so much for bringing my story to life in the form of a cover.
To Sandra, thank you for your endless patience with my comma splices. Thank you for making sure my books are as perfect as they can be. Your little notes you leave throughout crack me up (whether they’re yelling at me or the characters). I’m so happy I found you and I can’t wait to continue working with you on future projects.
About the Author
Dana Isaly is a writer of dark romance, fantasy romance, and has also been known to dabble in poetry (it was a phase in college, leave her alone).
She was born in the Midwest and has been all over but now resides (begrudgingly) in Alabama. She is a lover of books, coffee, and rainy days. Dana is probably the only person in the writing community that is actually a morning person.
She swears too much, is way too comfortable on her TikTok, and believes that love is love is love.
You can find her on Instagram (@danaisalyauthorpage) or on Facebook with the same name. Honestly though, the best place to get in touch with her is on TikTok (@authordanaisaly) because she isn’t great with any other social media.
Also by Dana Isaly
Flame and Starlight 2
Scars (The Triad Series Book 1)
Liars (The Triad Series Book 2)
Games We Play
(Will also be available in audiobook with narration by vo.Eros)