Within Ash and Stardust
Page 31
Behind her, Fawna descended the steps, taking her time to give them space.
Delaney wrapped her arms tightly around Mariana and squeezed, but she didn’t get to hold her long before her friend was pulling back to stare at their surroundings.
“Holy crap!” She bounced on her feet and grabbed both of Delaney’s hands in a death grip. “Holy crap! I’m on another planet! I am on an alien planet! And I was brought here, by an alien! And look!” She thrust a finger at Trystan, who’d remained by the doors. “Real alien royalty!”
“Hey,” Delaney said, laughing, “I’m alien royalty, too, remember?”
“Eh.” She waved dismissingly, her gaze still shooting around, as if she couldn’t stay focused on any one thing for fear of missing out on something else. “You don’t really count, though.”
“Tell that to the entire planet.”
“Speaking of…” Suddenly Trystan was approaching, his eyes on Mariana. “There’s much more to Xenith than this one dusty room. I assume you’d like to see it?”
“An entire galaxy of yes!” She shot forward, grasping his hand and giving it a hard shake. “I am Mariana, and you are very attractive.”
He seemed taken aback by that, but when he sent a glance to Delaney over the top of the other girl’s head, she merely shrugged. Her best friend had always been blunt; she really shouldn’t have expected her to be anything else, even on a foreign world.
“Anyway.” Mariana returned to her side, linking their arms. “I really wanted to say something witty like, ‘Take me to your leader,’ but you kind of made that no fun, considering…”
“I am the leader,” Delaney filled in.
“Yeah. That.” She rolled her eyes dramatically, then winked.
“She’s going to be a lot, isn’t she?” Trystan sent through their fittings, stepping to the side to allow Mariana to steer Delaney past him toward the open doors leading into the rest of the palace.
Delaney grinned at him over her shoulder. “Afraid you can’t handle having another human around, after all?”
As soon as they’d reached Sanzie, Mariana had started up an immediate conversation, asking all sorts of questions about the Sworn’s position and her uniform, barely giving her a chance to answer anything before asking another.
“As long as I’ve got you by my side, I’m sure I can handle anything,” Trystan replied as they entered the halls, trailing at an easy pace behind them.
“Well,” she reached back and took his hand, “looks like you’ve got nothing to worry about, then.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WOW. I can’t believe I’m writing acknowledgments for the third book. In some ways, it feels like this whole process just started last month, and it feels strange that I’m already at the end of the Xenith trilogy. I couldn’t have done any of it without the amazing support system I’ve had, back home and in the Swoon offices.
Like usual, thanks to Holly for helping make this book what it is, and for sticking with me and this series from start to finish. Even though I’m not a fan of the editing process, your notes always made it easier to get through!
I know so many other Swoon staff members had a hand in shaping this trilogy, so instead of listing names, I just want to say thank you to everyone who did! You’ve all made me feel incredibly welcome among you and in the office whenever I’ve visited, and I feel honored to be one of your authors.
Thanks to my family—Mom, Dad, Kim, Daniel—for always having my back, and encouraging me to continue following my dream. I love you guys! Thanks to my aunts specifically, Grace and Irene, for continuing with the series and giving me support even from across the country and states away! And to my Uncle Walter for calling me up with congratulations!
Thanks to Josie, Jon, Kat, and Genevieve for dealing with me during the writing process, spacing out and canceling plans last minute! And thanks for all the coffee!
Vicky, thanks for being such a fantastic friend to me, and for always running out to buy copies of my books. You’ve been a real rock through all the hard times and I feel so blessed to have met you and have you in my life!
Whitney, I definitely would have fallen apart under the stress this year without you, so thanks for always being there and providing great distractions and giving advice!
Mary Ellen and Marissa, you two are amazing! Your support means the world, and I hope you’re both satisfied with the way things turned out in this series!
Thanks to Lisa and Matt.
Finally, thanks to all the readers who’ve read the trilogy to the end! Without readers, a book goes nowhere, and I can’t express how much it means to me, knowing you’re all out there reading about Delaney and Ruckus and Trystan. I hope you continue picking up any future projects I come out with, and I love interacting with you guys on Goodreads, so thanks to anyone who’s sent me a question!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chani Lynn Feener, author of Amid Stars and Darkness and Between Frost and Fury, has wanted to be a writer since the age of ten during fifth grade story time. She majored in Creative Writing at Johnson State College in Vermont, and graduated in 2012. To pay her bills, she has worked many odd jobs, including, but not limited to, telemarketing, order picking in a warehouse, and filling ink cartridges. When she isn’t writing, she’s binging TV shows, drawing, or frequenting zoos/aquariums. Chani is also the author of teen paranormal series the Underworld Saga, originally written under the penname Tempest C. Avery. She currently resides in Connecticut, but lives on Goodreads.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 by Chani Lynn Feener
A Swoon Reads Book
An imprint of Feiwel and Friends and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271
swoonreads.com
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018955799
Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First hardcover edition, 2019
eBook edition, July 2019
eISBN 9781250123800
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