He bumps my shoulder with his. “No, Quartey. Not alone.”
I almost smile at that.
“Did you know,” he says, “that in the Celtic calendar, a day starts at dusk? So Lammas started yesterday evening and doesn’t end until dusk tonight.”
“You’re saying it’s still Lammas.”
“Fitting, isn’t it? I told everyone to stay away, and yet here I am, breaking my own edicts.”
“Some Thorn King you are,” I say.
I feel the moment his mood darkens. “Indeed.”
“You tried,” I tell him, staring past the altar. “We all know you tried to stop it.”
“It didn’t matter, did it? It was like Poe said it would be. It was going to do what it was going to do. It wasn’t enough.”
It wasn’t enough. How strange that we could both be standing here, looking at something so terrifying and impossible, and still sound this calm.
“So what do we do now?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. The wind pushes through the trees and tugs at his hair. “I wish I knew.”
I wish I did too.
Because behind the altar, there is a door. It’s the same door from my dream, and it’s undoubtedly the same door Poe and Auden saw.
The same door our parents saw long ago.
The same door Estamond Guest died to close.
And it’s open.
The Thornchapel Quartet concludes in Door of Bruises, coming Halloween 2020.
Auden is Coming . . .
Don’t miss the conclusion to the Thornchapel Quartet, Door of Bruises, coming Halloween 2020!
Acknowledgments
Firstly, this book would not have been possible without the infinite patience of Erica Russikoff, my editor. She cheered me, consoled me, corrected me—and all with her characteristic insight and humor.
I owe a huge debt to Julie Murphy and Nana Malone, for talking me through the rough patches, and another huge debt to Ashley Lindemann for her encouragement and wisdom whenever I decided to tantrum about the rough patches in the book instead.
I also owe a profound debt to Nana, Julie, and Karen Cundy for helping me make this book as accurate and authentic as it could be.
Writing is never possible alone, and I am extremely grateful to Tessa Gratton, Natalie C. Parker, Sarah MacLean, Kennedy Ryan, Kyla Linde, Nikki Sloane, Becca Mysoor, Kayti McGee, Robin Murphy, and Jean Siska, along with the RITA Writer’s Room, for support, advice, and laughter.
I’d be helpless without Serena McDonald, Candi Kane and Melissa Gaston, and also without my wonderful agent team: Rebecca Friedman and the kickass women at Bookcase Literary. And a huge thank you to Nancy Smay of Evident Ink and Michele Ficht for making this book as polished as possible!
And finally, I have to thank you, readers. I know this series is quite the ride, and I am humbled by your willingness to go on it with me.
Also by Sierra Simone
Thornchapel:
A Lesson in Thorns
Feast of Sparks
Harvest of Sighs
Door of Bruises
Misadventures:
Misadventures with a Professor
Misadventures of a Curvy Girl
Misadventures in Blue
The New Camelot Trilogy:
American Queen
American Prince
American King
The Moon (Merlin’s Novella)
American Squire (A Thornchapel and New Camelot Crossover)
The Priest Series:
Priest
Midnight Mass: A Priest Novella
Sinner
Co-Written with Laurelin Paige
Porn Star
Hot Cop
The Markham Hall Series:
The Awakening of Ivy Leavold
The Education of Ivy Leavold
The Punishment of Ivy Leavold
The Reclaiming of Ivy Leavold
The London Lovers:
The Seduction of Molly O’Flaherty
The Persuasion of Molly O’Flaherty
The Wedding of Molly O’Flaherty
About the Author
Sierra Simone is a USA Today bestselling former librarian who spent too much time reading romance novels at the information desk. She lives with her husband and family in Kansas City.
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www.thesierrasimone.com
[email protected]
Harvest of Sighs (Thornchapel Book 3) Page 43
