by Jessa Slade
She never bothered with humans. Why waste the breath of inspiration on creatures that breathed only a hundred years or so? Making her place in the phaedrealii was hard enough since musetta had no real value themselves except what they inspired in others. Now she fastened her gaze on the iron key dangling from William’s fingers. She pitched her voice as musetta did, echoing the smooth slide of rich fabric or fine wine. “Free me, William.”
William hesitated. As a mere human, he shouldn’t have resisted her voice. Shouldn’t have wanted to. But her influence had waned under the shackles and the fear that pulsed like her iron-poisoned blood.
Raze chuckled. “William wants to keep you here. He forgets a musetta can’t be imprisoned.”
William scowled at the vizier, bold in his passionate idiocy the way the Queen preferred her human lovers. Somehow they kept that callow foolishness, no matter how long she ensnared them. “I know she can’t stay. The Queen is so angry.” Awareness flickered behind his eyes, then vanished in a phae haze. “But I’ll make her forget.”
Raze waved one hand. “Everyone forgets. Makes it damn hard to get anything done around here. But before you tra-la-la along, unlock the musetta.”
Adelyn couldn’t hold back a moan of relief when William fumbled at her bindings and the manacles fell away. The phae who had survived the Iron Age were resistant to more refined versions of the ore, but even the steel-born phae avoided raw iron. Tucking her burned wrists against her belly, she glared at William. “Thank you. If only these ode-worthy eyes of mine had never glimpsed you.”
His mouth twisted. “Sweet muse—”
“You doomed me. Also, your cadence was off and your rhyming sucked.” She put all the musetta force into her voice. “Go.”
He went with a wrenching sigh, as if she had torn the exhalation from him.
Raze laughed again. “You are unkind, musetta.”
She held out one wrist in mute evidence.
The Ruiner shrugged. “I have nothing against cruelty. It might help in the task I’m giving you.”
Adelyn stared down at her slippers. “I don’t suppose you want to write a poem?”
“Hardly. I need you to find a thief.”
“I am no Hunter.”
“All the Hunters I have sent have...not returned. This particular thief is a Hunter himself. He took one of the Queen’s sylfana and is hiding in the sunlit world. I want you to find them.”
Adelyn shuddered. “If he kills your Hunters—”
“He won’t kill you. Quite the opposite. Your helplessness will inspire him to bring you closer. When you find him, contact me. Our Queen wants words with the missing Hunter and his sylfana. Perhaps words of a poetic nature, though I doubt it.” He smiled, inviting Adelyn to share his amusement.
She never wanted to hear another poem ever. “Why would I help you?”
“Because you must, to end your exile and return to the phaedrealii which justifies your existence. Your choice, musetta.”
She stared down at her mangled wrists. Somehow, the damage felt deeper. “As you command.”
“The Queen’s handmaid will prepare you.” Raze grasped her chin to tilt her face upward. “Do not fail me, musetta.”
“Is that not one of my choices, then?” She could not turn her face away, but she closed her eyes.
Raze left when the Queen’s handmaid arrived. EveStar brought Adelyn a satchel with salve for her wounds and spores to open the way between the worlds. Tiny will-o’-the-wisps orbited around them as they headed down a little-used corridor, and Adelyn wondered if she’d ever see that serene, flawless glow again. Her sob sent the closest wisp spinning on the eddy of her breath.
The handmaid peered at her. “Is this your first foray to the sunlit world, child?”
The sunlit world. The name sent chills across Adelyn’s skin. She clutched her veils around her, but the spider silk felt as light and revealing as...well, spider silk. “My first exile, yes.”
EveStar smiled vaguely. “Such an adventure.” The handmaid’s ethereal golden beauty was rightly called timeless. She was one of the few to endure the Iron Age and the brutal court battles that spawned the steel-born phae. The Queen kept her as a reminder of a lost era. And maybe as a warning. None of the iron-born left the phaedrealii. Ever.
Adelyn’s burst of envy at EveStar’s pristine silk slippers was eclipsed only by her desire to stay in the court too. “I am hunting a Hunter who will likely slaughter me.”
The handmaid clicked her tongue. “Why, I’ve heard a dozen phae have chased after the runaways, never to return. And now a musetta sweet as yourself is cavorting with a dark Hunter? How times have changed.” The soft gold of her eyes glinted with something much harder, something angry.
Unease twisted in Adelyn’s belly. Rumors of insanity haunted the iron-born. Some whispered the handmaid pierced herself with iron to burn off the cold guilt that so many had perished when she had not. “Nothing really changes here,” Adelyn soothed. “Which is just as it should be.”
“Maybe you should change, considering,” EveStar shot back.
Adelyn stiffened in shock. “You know better than most, the phae were devastated in the last upheaval. These fugitives can’t risk revealing us again.”
The handmaid’s vague smile returned. “Change yourself? Is that what I said? Ah, words are slippery as serpents. I meant, be sure to change your glamour, child, lest yet another human sees you and falls in love.”
Adelyn winced at the reminder. Damn her eyes for inspiring that odious ode. And damn her pointless preoccupation with pretty slippers that kept her from asking the handmaid about the sunlit world. After all, EveStar had walked among humans back when the phae had been known and feared and revered. Now she never left the phaedrealii; how was Adelyn, small and steel-born, supposed to survive?
Before Adelyn could ask that plaintive question, the corridor ended in a small, empty chamber.
The end of the road. And the beginning of one.
While wisps drifted in dreamy helixes, EveStar eased the satchel from Adelyn’s tight clutch. The handmaid sprinkled a pinch of spores in a circle. “May you find what you’re looking for, child, what you truly seek.”
Adelyn saw nothing past the rapidly sprouting spores. Tears blurred everything else. When the mushrooms were knee high, a gust of otherworldly air whirled through. Her breath hitched on the overwhelming fusion of wet dirt, hot metal and air chilled to a biting edge. Would she ever again feel the sanctuary of the court’s magic around her? Her thighs twitched with the desire to run. But there was no place to hide in the phaedrealii. Which left her no choice.
Clamping one hand over her nose and mouth, she stepped into the circle, into the sunlit world.
Read the rest January 2013!
Find the cover and pre-order information (when it becomes available) here.
Acknowledgments
My thanks to the marvelous author Delilah Marvelle for her priceless feedback. (To wit: “Schwing? Or no schwing?” Schwing, of course!)
Fervent thanks also to Mom (“This one seems a little more sacrilegious.” Which part?) and Sis (“The hero is wearing a skirt?” No! Shirt. Damn typos!) for fearlessly opening any email I send them.
As always, my deep love to Scott for the soup and support.
And to the Marked Souls readers, I can never thank you enough. I hope you enjoyed THE DARKEST NIGHT.
About the Author
Jessa Slade writes paranormal romance, urban fantasy romance, and science fiction romance—basically, anything with woo-woo and woo-hoo! She is a member of the Romance Writers of Americ and wishes someone else would write the “about the author” section of her books. She lives in the Pacific Northwest where the rain rain rain keeps her at her computer.
She loves to hear from readers, and you can find her goofing off online more than she should.
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Praise for the Marked Souls
Vowed in Shadows
“Vowed in Shadows took me on a dark and sexy and intense ride with two complex, compelling characters.”—New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh
“If you like your stories filled with action and romance, plus about two wounded souls, then this is a series for you. This series is wonderful; it has everything you could want to read about.”—Night Owl Reviews (top pick)
“A solid entry in what is sure to become a classic series in the genre.”—Fresh Fiction
“Slade’s characters are extremely well-developed, with boundless emotional depth. In this third Marked Souls novel, the story line is gripping, with plenty of sensual scenes.”—Romantic Times
Forged of Shadows
“Dark, dangerous, and spiced with passion, this is a well-written tale that will grab your attention from the very beginning.”—Romance Reviews Today
“The word play is riveting and the story line is fast and action packed.”—Smexy Books
“The only thing I can say about this series is WOW!!! Ms. Slade brings the fight against evil from the dark and into the light. This story is so exciting and action packed that I had a hard time putting it down. I ended up reading it in one night. I can’t wait to see what comes next for this great new romantic urban fantasy series.”—Night Owl Reviews (five stars)
“[A] heady mix of philosophy and religion . . . serves as part of the framework for this excellent series and sets it apart from the pack . . . Be first in line for book three, Vowed in Shadows.”—Bitten by Books (5 tombstones)
“For readers who love J. R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood, the Marked Souls series will hit the spot.”—Romantic Times (4 stars)
Seduced by Shadows
“Wonderfully addictive!”—New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter
“Slade’s debut presents a dark and dense supernatural conflict with high stakes in a world where demons and angels possess humans and use them as tools in the unending fight between heaven and hell . . . [a] rich crossover urban fantasy.”—Publishers Weekly
“A beautiful and inventive new series start, with plenty of action and wonderful characters!”—Errant Dreams
“A gripping, suspenseful story, with some hot romantic interactions thrown in for good measure.”—SanFranciscoBookReview.com
“Seduced by Shadows blew me away . . . Slade creates a beyond-life-or-death struggle for love and redemption in a chilling, complex, and utterly believable world.”—Jeri Smith-Ready, award-winning author of Wicked Game
THE DARKEST NIGHT
Copyright © 2012 Jessa Slade
Cover design © Jessa Slade
Photography © tankist276
Brushes © ObsidianDawn.com
Digital Edition 1.0
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as factual. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be scanned, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Darkest Night
Also by Jessa Slade
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
Epilogue
Glossary of Terms
Thank you!
A Little Night Muse
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Praise for the Marked Souls
The Darkest Night