Shift of Shadow and Soul (SoulShifter Book 1)

by Hilary Thompson

  “I’m going to the palace,” she interrupted. “I don’t care if Kashar is with me or not, but a guide would be useful. When I rescued Nik, I decided I should help where I could, however I could. My power wasn’t given to me to save my family only. Maren will keep the twins safe.” She paused to glare at Kashar. “But I’m not going to be one of your experiments. I’m going to help all the Weshen and all of Riata. The Restless King has lived his last cursed year in this world.”

  Resh’s black eyes connected with hers across the room, and she felt a spark like lightning pass between them.

  She knew he liked her power, and she liked that he did.

  Flushing, she turned away. Sy was watching her carefully. He flicked his gaze at Resh, then back to her, and Coren swallowed hard.

  Then she almost laughed. Neither of them had any business kissing anyone back, and yet there they were.

  But they couldn’t let themselves get distracted.

  “I’m going to StarsHelm,” she repeated, making several decisions at once, and basing them solely on the looks both brothers had given her. “And I want Sy to come with me. Resh and Nik should go back to Weshen to inform the General that the world has changed.”

  Across the room, Kashar smiled at her, and though she still didn’t trust him, she nodded.

  Her father had been a traitor to the king once, and to the Weshen once. His loyalty could never be trusted, but for her, it might be like fruit ripe for picking.

  Once upon a time, Kashar had been a good father to her, and she planned to make him remember that. He would help them, and he would meet Penna and Kosh, or she would make him pay in ways only a daughter might dream of.

  “I promise to keep her safe,” Sy said to Resh in a low voice as the brothers packed their bags, alone in the room below the attic. He had to believe he was capable of such a task. Together they had already done so much. The magic was awake, and even without her wings, Coren was more powerful than he’d hoped.

  “I realized she’d gotten under your skin, but I still never dreamed you’d let her tell us all what to do,” Resh muttered, shoving weapons on top of his clothes.

  “Resh, I care about her.”

  Resh stopped packing, a cold challenge in his stare. “You think you love her?”

  “Not like that,” Sy said, flushing as the memory of Nik’s kiss overwhelmed him. “Like a…like a sister.”

  Resh watched him a moment longer then nodded. “Even Weshen don’t bed their sisters,” he said, contradicting the familiar EvenFall slur.

  “You and Father can join us when he has the men ready,” Sy added, ignoring the implied warning. He’d never had that intent with Coren, anyway.

  “Oh, I plan to join you. But not with Father. Once I get Nik and the other Wesh through that passage and make sure Father knows what he’s supposed to do with them, I’m gone. I won’t sit back and train troops while my brother fights all the battles.”

  “Just make sure our Father General doesn’t abuse Nik. That he doesn’t reject the magic again.” Sy hoped he’d kept the emotion he felt for Nik out of his voice, but Resh noticed.

  “What is this Wesh to you?” Resh asked, straightening and pinning Sy with a stare.

  Sy faltered, then gathered his courage. “Something worth coming home for,” he said, his voice strong in the silence.

  Resh’s eyes widened, and he searched Sy’s face as though wondering what piece of the puzzle he’d missed. But he nodded.

  “Well, Coren may be my reason to leave home,” Resh returned, and it was Sy’s turn to wonder. He remembered something Damren had told him once about love and magic.

  “Love is something Weshen denied themselves for generations, but it’s as strong as the magic. If we can learn both again, nothing can stop us,” he said.

  “Well, I used to think both were a children’s bedtime tale, and now I’ve seen one. Why not the other, too?” Resh smiled, zipping his bag shut.

  “You’ve come a long way in your beliefs, brother,” Sy observed, wondering if Resh were serious.

  “Maybe the little witch enchanted me, too,” Resh offered, just as the door opened.

  “The little witch is leaving,” Coren said, but she was smiling. “Take care of the Wesh,” she said, staring at Resh. He nodded. She glanced at Sy, then stepped toward Resh. “And take care of yourself,” she whispered, embracing Resh quickly.

  Sy had just enough time to catch Resh wink at him before Coren pulled back and bolted out the door.

  “Go settle your bill and say your goodbyes to Nik. I’ll be outside,” Resh said as he followed her out. As Sy watched them go, Nik appeared in the door.

  He hovered on the threshold of the room, suddenly hesitant.

  “Come here,” Sy said, his voice gruff. Nik slipped inside, and Sy took the few steps toward him quickly, backing him against the closed door. “My brother will watch out for you, but I need you to do the same for him. Resh is impatient.”

  “So am I,” Nik said, his gaze even with Sy’s. He slipped a hand onto Sy’s waist, and Sy’s breathing stuttered. “But I could learn patience for you.”

  Sy watched the blue sky of Nik’s eyes for a spare second, then he leaned in to cover Nik’s mouth with his. He tried to be gentle, to say goodbye without asking for more, but the wanting was too much. Nik pulled him closer until Sy wasn’t certain where he ended and Nik began, and in that tangle was a freedom he’d never expected.

  The clomp of boots on the stairs just outside the door broke them apart.

  “Are you sure I can’t come with you?” Nik asked, his mouth quirking up at the corner.

  Sy grinned, feeling invincible and vulnerable all at once. “My city needs a man like you.”

  “You need a man like me,” Nik said, the smile slinking farther across his face.

  “And I’ll come back to just that.” Sy picked up his bag from the bed, glancing around the empty room. He knew Kashar waited downstairs with Coren and Resh. “Please,” he said to Nik, and his heart nearly stopped as he waited for Nik’s answer.

  “I’ll wait for you,” Nik said, then leaned in once more with the gentle kiss Sy had meant to begin with.

  Sy breathed in his scent, taking strength from the freedom Nik was offering.

  Freedom to make a promise and freedom to trust in its power.

  Freedom to love and to be loved, and freedom to invite the magic in his blood to take back what his people had been waiting for.

  Nik broke away and opened the door, and they walked down the stairs and into the sunshine where the others were waiting.

  Kashar reached to shake Resh’s hand, then Nik’s. “You know I’ve made good on my promise to deliver the children and wounded to Shanta. You’ll find them ready to travel in a few days. I’ll make good on these new promises as well.”

  Resh nodded, glancing at Nik. “Long live the king,” he said, smirking, and they turned to leave.

  Sy finally acknowledged the dark underside of freedom as he watched them walk away, disappearing into the EvenFall crowds.

  He had gained much from this portion of their journey, but what clutched at his heart now was the freedom to lose everything.

  “We can do this,” Coren whispered, stepping closer to him. “They’ll be fine, and so will we.” Sy felt her lean against him briefly, and he offered her his strength while also taking some of hers.

  Kashar cleared his throat. “Are you certain about this? I have no love for the king either, but this is no small task you’ve set for yourself. I don’t want to take you to the palace against your will.”

  Sy recognized the words, and he looked to Coren, who nodded.

  “Nothing is small when it is against your will,” she said.

  Kashar tilted his head, measuring. “I used to tell you that when you were a child.”

  “And I’ve told it to myself ever since,” she replied. “But the death of Zorander Graeme is no longer just a hope of the Weshen people. It will be our legacy. My family’s greatest
redemption. One day, children will not hear bedtime stories of the king’s monstrous crimes, but stories of the Weshen who rid the world of a monster.”

  Sy felt his chest swell with the same anticipation and interest he’d felt all those days ago when he’d watched her jump off the cliffs of Weshen Isle, diving into the great unknown below.

  He hadn’t followed her then, but he would today, and every day forward.

  They had gained friends and let go of love in the hopes it would wait. They had buried a teacher, and now they traveled with a traitor in hope that he might turn again.

  The magic was awake in Riata, and the struggle between dark and light had begun.

  Hey, reader. Hilary here.

  I hope you enjoyed the magical world of Shift of Shadow and Soul: SoulShifter, Book One

  as much as I do.

  To find out what happens next, check out the book two, now available for pre-order!

  Twist of Truth and Tomorrow: SoulShifter Book Two

  Want more before the release?

  Get the novella Rise of Restless and Ruined: A SoulShifter Prequel

  FREE only for my Stargazer Reading Group.

  Visit me at HilaryThompsonAuthor.com to join and claim your free copy!

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  Acknowledgments

  To be honest, by the time a book gets to this page, most people have stopped reading. If you’re still here, then I want to thank YOU!

  I love to write, and you love to read, so let’s be friends! Seriously.

  There are a ton of people who helped whip this story into the warrior it is today, though. My ever-supportive parents and my beautiful family and friends win the favorite fans of all time award. They give me motivation, time, babysitting, and even a little cash to follow this dream of storytelling, and all of those things are priceless. Well, except for the cash., but that’s a secret.

  If you’re looking for a great developmental editor, I wholly suggest Mary Rosenblum of New Writers Interface. Unless she’s reading my next story, and then you can’t have her! Gold, I tell you.

  Likewise goes immeasurable gratitude to my favorite beta reader slash legal advisor, Cecily. She has a few other titles, but those are also a secret.

  Can I say Deranged Doctor Design covers are amazing? You saw it. You bought it. Amazing, right? I’m looking forward to sharing many more of their covers with you. If you have the ebook version of this story, please check out the hardback and paperback for more gorgeous design work from DDD and Eight Little Pages. This story has such a rockstar wardrobe.

  I’m forever grateful for the marketing advice from friends and fellow warrior-women Margo Bond Collins and Rebecca Hamilton, for their work in pushing authors to succeed.

  I can’t possibly name all the fantastic people I’ve met and worked with on social media, and my wonderful Stargazer Reading Group. Special shoutouts to Melle for a fantastic buddy read (down with passive voice!), and to the AAYAA and For Love or Money groups. Y’all are amazing, and worth everything a girl has in this life.

  Should I say something cheesy now? Yeah. I totally should.

  Keep your sights in the stars, and stay out of the shadows. You’ve been welcomed and warned.

  Hilary

  About the Author

  Hilary used to be such a practical girl. Then she let the stories out, and claimed the titles of stargazer, daydreamer, and believer in all things magical.

  Fairy tales, myths from all cultures, and the wonderful “what if” are the foundation of her stories. Villains, heroes, and sidekicks clamor for equal attention. Happily-ever-afters, too (of course), but be warned that the road will twist and turn and seem to dead-end before the magic of a sweet romance leads back into the sunlight.

  When she’s not writing, Hilary teaches Creative Writing, Literature, and College Writing, drinks too much coffee, and reads as much as her eyes can handle. She plays superheroes and dress up games and reads books in bed with her independent, willful children, and plays at homesteading and world traveling with her soulmate of a husband. She tends to ignore laundry and dirty dishes.