Bea trilled, perching on a nearby power line, as if adding her weight to his promise.
My shift took far longer than it should have, and I emerged from it sweating and shaking like a newborn colt. I was too weak to walk for a while after that, so we sat huddled together. When I got my strength back, he led me to the RV and let us inside before collapsing on the floor. I dropped beside him, suddenly giddy.
We’d done it. We had found and recruited the king’s sister. We had won ourselves an army. Things were looking up. We might just survive this war after all.
A toilet flushed, and Tiberius exited the bathroom. “Oh.” He reclaimed his usual spot on the couch, his gaze fixed to his tablet, ignoring my nudity. “You’re back.”
“We missed you too, kid,” I said when he gave no further acknowledgment. Maybe he was pissed we’d left. Maybe he had been scared and didn’t want to show it. “Looks like Birdzilla had fun while we were away.”
He finished what he was doing and lowered the device enough to peer at us over the top. His eyes were red-rimmed with strain, and he looked annoyed at being interrupted.
Or maybe he just wanted to finish killing zombies.
“Bea seldom gets to hunt these days. She’s too conspicuous, her association with me too well-known.” His gaze flicked to the front windshield, and a fond smile played on his lips. “She enjoyed the opportunity to stretch her wings.”
And the chance to electrocute the crap out of her fellow avians and, of course, her favorite target, me. Though I had to give credit where it was due. She had our backs when it counted. That was progress.
Forcing my legs to support my weight, I toddled to the bedroom where I pulled on fresh clothes then padded to the front of the RV where I plopped down in the driver’s seat. Isaac joined me a moment later with drinks and snacks in hand, ripping open bags with his teeth while plugging coordinates in his phone with his thumb. I turned up the first bag he offered me and poured it down my throat. I was on the third before I registered the flavor—salt and vinegar—and blessed Zed for his superior taste in junky foodstuffs.
While I snacked, Bea circled over us, her gaze holding mine through the windshield. Her outline wavered, becoming a bolt of pure energy that zigged across the sky. The RV rocked as she zagged through a crack in the driver-side window I hadn’t noticed, and I smelled the burnt tips of my hair, singed by her passage. Behind me, Tiberius slammed a cupboard door closed, and I twisted around, squinting as pulsing light seeped through the cracks.
The prince, who then flopped back on the sofa and lifted his tablet, raised his voice over the crinkle of plastic and the crunch of potato chips. “Where are we going?”
“Home.” Fingers greasy, I turned over the ignition. “We’re going home.”
Back to Butler. Back to the pack. Back to the patch of earth Isaac bought so we could build a future together. One that didn’t involve feather dusters dive-bombing us when we left the safety of the wards. Or royals backstabbing each other and anyone else who showed them spine. Or battling a world populated with twisted creatures that made wargs look like puppies.
But first we had some tail feathers to yank, some blades to sharpen and some monsters to slay.
War marched ever closer, Rilla its manic drummer girl. And Isaac and I, we would be there to greet them.
Sparks fly when an ex-necromancer is blackmailed into an arranged marriage with the same dark practitioner who left her to rot in a cell years earlier. Too bad she can’t blame all those white-hot sparks on anger.
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Pre-Order How to Save an Undead Life!
Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy, Book 1
Grier Woolworth spends her nights weaving spooky tales of lost souls and tragedies for tourists on the streets of downtown Savannah, Georgia. Hoop skirt and parasol aside, it’s not a bad gig. The pay is crap, but the tips keep the power on in her personal haunted mansion and her pantry stocked with ramen.
Life is about as normal as it gets for an ex-necromancer hiding among humans. Or it was until the society that excommunicated Grier offers her a second chance at being more than ordinary. All she has to do is say yes to a proposal that puts a ring on her finger and a collar around her neck. The cost of redemption is obedience as the lethal practitioner who left her to rot in a cell all those years ago is handed her leash.
Linus Andreas Lawson III never expected to see his childhood friend Grier again. Not after the night she plunged an anthame into his grandmother’s heart, and certainly not after he watched stone-faced while the society matrons sank phantom fingers in her soul and plucked out the kernel of her budding powers. But his mother, it seems, has other plans.
As the Lawson clan heir, he isn’t surprised to find himself the victim of an arranged marriage, but when the identity of his future bride is revealed, Linus is furious. But as hot as his anger burns, it’s nothing compared to the electric tension that crackles each time he shares air with Grier. Their marriage is as doomed as their friendship was, but once their vows are spoken, and she is bound to his will, he plans to learn what really happened the night his world—and his heart—shattered.
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About the Author
A cupcake enthusiast and funky sock lover possessed of an overactive imagination, Hailey lives in Alabama with her handcuff-carrying hubby, her fluty-tooting daughter and their herd of dachshunds.
@HaileyEdwards
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www.HaileyEdwards.net
Also by Hailey Edwards
Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy
How to Save an Undead Life #1
Black Dog Series
Dog with a Bone #1
Dog Days of Summer #1.5
Heir of the Dog #2
Lie Down with Dogs #3
Old Dog, New Tricks #4
Black Dog Series Novellas
Stone-Cold Fox
Gemini Series
Dead in the Water #1
Head Above Water #2
Hell or High Water #3
Gemini Series Novellas
Fish Out of Water
Lorimar Pack Series
Promise the Moon #1
Wolf at the Door #2
Over the Moon #3
Araneae Nation
A Heart of Ice #.5
A Hint of Frost #1
A Feast of Souls #2
A Cast of Shadows #2.5
A Time of Dying #3
A Kiss of Venom #3.5
A Breath of Winter #4
A Veil of Secrets #5
Daughters of Askara
Everlong #1
Evermine #2
Eversworn #3
Wicked Kin
Soul Weaver #1
Wolf at the Door (Lorimar Pack) (Gemini Book 5) Page 27
