But in his heart, Luca realized he was weak, possessing none of the righteousness in the Render’s crusade.
The overwhelming truth of it proved to be the worst as he realized he could have personally saved all of Ayr by simply allowing Simza to have her way. Had he not reached for what was beyond his grasp, Luca would be basking in Jaelle’s love in the heart of contentedness.
“You will serve me.”
It was not a question, rather a command Luca could not choose but obey.
“I will.”
Luca spoke marrow true, his promise sure as his given name or the word of Sol.
For Ayr to survive, the monster Caddie Hendrix must die.
Acknowledgments
To my family and friends, whose personalities I plundered mercilessly as I created my characters. Thanks also to Peat for his invaluable notes, and to Mihir for getting the word out. And to my grammar guru Chris, whom will discover firsthand what an aneurism feels like when I say he made all my words sound real good.
And finally, thanks to my ARC readers Elvira Gonzalez Rubio, Jennifer Stebing, Jeff Herbert, John Napier, and Łukasz Przywóski.
About the Author
Never passing up the opportunity to speak about himself in the third person, M.D. Presley is not nearly as clever as he thinks he is. Born and raised in Texas, he spent several years on the East Coast and now waits for the West Coast to shake him loose. His favorite words include defenestrate, callipygian, and Algonquin. The fact that monosyllabic is such a long word keeps him up at night.
For loads of blog posts on adapting screenwriting techniques for novel writing, some salty nerdish debates, a fantasy creature BBQ recipe or three, and more stories within the world of Ayr, please visit his website: www.mdpresley.com
The Imbued Lockblade (Sol's Harvest Book 2) Page 37
