by Kim White
At the mention of the usurper, the courtroom seems to draw a deep breath. The chief justice turns bright red. “You mean the usurper and her son. Are you aware, Counsel, of the investigation the judge from region seven is conducting? He believes that Orcus has been communicating with Ms. Alexander, and that she did not arrive in the underworld by accident.” The chief justice pauses, and the anxiety in the room is palpable, but for me this is good news. My heart is pounding as I whisper his name, Orcus. He is a real person, not just a voice in my head. If the judges are right, he has been drawing me to him deliberately, as Sybil hinted.
The justice from region seven gives my lawyer a hard look. “See me in my chambers after the trial, Counsel. I have questions for you.”
As if to hide from him, my lawyer turns into her doppelgänger—the male lawyer, the opposing counsel. “Your Honor, the petitioner rests,” he says, and I can tell from the tone of his voice that he is pleased with the proceedings.
I watch as his waistline shrinks and he becomes my lawyer once again. “Your Honor, the respondent rests.” She is also pleased.
The chief justice bangs his gavel, bringing the trial to an end.
The Verdict
The judges leave the courtroom and deliberate for what feels like hours. When they return, four look satisfied and three do not. The decision was clearly not unanimous, but the dissenting opinions are not expressed; the chief justice speaks for everyone.
“This Court agrees with the petitioner that Cora Alexander is a threat to our way of life,” he says, “to the very fabric of our civilization.” The courtroom resounds with cheering.
“However,” the justice continues, “we also agree with the respondent. Executing Cora Alexander is too dangerous. But this Court believes that it is even more dangerous to put her in the same realm as the usurper.” The chief justice glares at my lawyer when he says this. In response, she bows her head and smiles demurely.
The chief justice looks directly at me. “Cora Alexander,” he says. I look up defiantly. His eyes are glowing like hot coals, and his face is wrathful. He is more fearsome than the Keres, but I manage to look him in the eyes without trembling. I can see that his mind is made up about me, and probably was before he even heard the arguments, not that anyone ever argued for me. The anger I feel about this helps me keep my chin up.
“You will be sentenced to eternity in the innermost prison. Your case is not eligible for appeal, and you are not eligible for pardon or parole.”
My heart seizes at the words eternity and innermost prison.
Then the chief justice addresses the lawyers. “Thank you, Counsel,” he says, banging his gavel. “This Court is adjourned.”
The lawyer leaves the podium and gathers her papers. She stops at my cell and smiles again. Her face shifts and I recognize Sybil’s aquiline nose and velvety gray eyes. I am relieved, angry, and confused, all at the same time. My instincts tell me that she just saved my life, but I wonder if an eternity in prison is any better than execution.
Sybil looks pointedly at the small red stain in the corner of my pocket and nods in approval. Instinctively, I put my hand over it, enclosing the fabric in my fist to hide the bloody seeds. Her face changes back to the lawyer’s face and I wonder what has become of Sybil, or if my attorney was Sybil. That possibility gives me a chill because I’ve suddenly remembered who the lawyer reminds me of. Her sly, knowing smile is like the one my own persona gave me when Minotaur conjured her on the plains of Asphodel.
As she walks out of the courtroom, without a backward glance, I start to question everything. What if there was no Sybil at all, only some kind of trick Minotaur was playing on me—but why? And what about the golden pen that drilled into my tooth like a needle whenever something went wrong but was oddly still during my trial? I’m suddenly aware of how little I know about this place. I take hold of the flask that Sybil gave me and wonder if the silver liquid inside really can heal me or if that was a lie, too. The marshal is walking toward my cell. He’s coming for me, to lock me up. Forever.
Rescuing Cora
I awoke with a start, frightened by the dream I’d just had of Cora being attacked by a three-headed monster. I couldn’t go back to sleep, and with my computer gone, there was nothing to do but pace back and forth in my cell, swinging my samurai sword.
After a few seconds, the door of my room swung open and Minotaur’s Lieutenant Garrison filled the frame. “Come with me,” he said. “Your sister is in trouble.”
END OF BOOK ONE
Visit www.imperfectdarkness.com to read the first chapters of book two.
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the support and patience of my husband, Mike McCaffery. Thanks also to my son, whose energy, creativity, and knack for having fun inspire me every day.
I am deeply indebted to my editor, Anne Nolan, for asking all the right questions in just the right way. Without her sharp insights, encouraging comments, and thorough line edits, this book would not be what it is.
I’m grateful for the generosity of writer-friends Jen Laskey, Laura King, and Nick Richardson, who read early drafts and offered insights and encouragement. I’d like to thank my teachers and classmates at Columbia and Hunter, who gave my work careful, thoughtful readings. And special thanks to my teen beta-reader, Harriet Lengel-Enright.
—Kim White, April 2012
About the Author
Kim White is the author of a collection of poetry, Scratching for Something, and the novels The White Oak: Imperfect Darkness, Book One, and Sword of Souls: Imperfect Darkness, Book Two. She graduated from the University of Michigan and holds MFAs in creative writing from Columbia University (fiction) and Hunter College (poetry). She taught creative writing for three years in Columbia’s Summer Program for High School Students and was an adjunct professor of writing at Concordia College. She lives with her family in New York.
Find her online: www.kimwhitebooks.com
Connect with her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KimWhiteBooks
About the Series
In an adventure spanning four novels and three worlds, Cora and Lucas overcome a curse that has plagued their family for generations. With seeds carried into the underworld from the land of the living, a sword forged from the soul of their dead father, and a golden pen that can rewrite the past and shape the future, they embark on an adrenaline-fueled quest to free not only themselves but the souls of the dead.
Visit www.imperfectdarkness.com for news about the second book.
Copyright
Copyright © 2012 by Kim White
Cover art & design © 2012 by Michael McCaffery
All rights reserved. Published by Story Machine Studio LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to: Story Machine Studio LLC, PO Box 231, Tuckahoe, NY 10707
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
First edition, April 2012
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-938280-02-3
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
1. The Descent
2. Digging Father's Grave
3. Crossing Asphodel
4. Making a Deal with Minotaur
5. Dest
roying My Book of Life
6. Writing My Own Destiny
7. Minotaur Reports to Minos
8. Intercepting the Ship of the Dead
9. Getting Past the Ferryman
10. Waiting for Cora
11. Crossing the River Tartarus
12. Trespassing at the Gates
13. Taken Prisoner
14. Minotaur Reports to Minos
15. The City of Glass
16. Running from the Keres
17. Writing the Game
18. The Red Fruit
19. On Trial for My Life
20. The Verdict
21. Rescuing Cora
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Series
Copyright
