by Nina Walker
“I’m sorry,” Lucas finally said, his voice scratchy. “I never meant for it to get that far out of hand.”
“How could you?” I whispered, anger clawing at my throat. “I trusted you.” And that was what hurt the most.
Lucas turned on me then, gripping my hands again. “I love you. I was desperate. My wedding was only months away, and I had to be with you. I never expected that many people to show up. I had no idea your father would come.”
“But you knew he was with them. You knew there might’ve been a chance!”
“No. He shouldn’t have been there. He wasn’t trained. It was stupid of me to do it, I know. I’m so sorry. I just thought that I would help my father get the upper hand in one attack. And I used that as a bargaining chip for you and me to be together.”
“And then what?”
“Then we would figure it out. I would figure out how to fix everything, but we’d be together. And that’s all that matters, right? That we’re together now.”
Nausea bubbled in my stomach. “No, that is not all that matters.”
“Don’t you love me? I did this for you, Jessa.”
“Our love killed twenty people last night. Our love killed Jasmine! Our love is disgusting. I can’t love you anymore. It’s poison.” I shot up so fast my chair crashed to the floor.
“Please Jessa.” Lucas stood, his tone accusatory. “You’re being unfair.”
Betrayal ripped through me. Unfair? He had a lot of nerve talking to me about unfair. He had ruined everything!
“Don’t you trust me? I’m telling you the truth,” he continued. But I knew there was nothing he could say to fix this. “I’d have never done it if I’d known it would’ve ended like that. I didn’t know they were going to send in all those people. I didn’t know that was going to happen.”
“But you did it. You still did it!” The words exploded from my mouth. “You betrayed my trust. Everything I told you, you took it to your dad.”
“No! Not everything!”
“You said enough,” I said. “Enough for Jasmine to be dead.”
“I never mentioned her.”
Lies…
“Enough for others to have died, in vain. Enough for my father to be in prison. Probably under interrogation right now. Probably being tortured!”
“We will help him,” Lucas growled. “We can do anything together. Don’t you believe in us?” A blood vessel pulsed in his forehead. He looked like Richard.
“You don’t get it,” I snapped. “You don’t get anything I’m saying. If I can’t trust you, then we can’t be together.”
His face darkened. “Nothing I ever do will be good enough for you.”
“My father is probably going to die because of you. Others died because of you. I’ll probably never see my mother or my sister again because of you, because you’re so selfish, because you’re so blinded by what you want. Because you’re just like your father!”
He stilled. “Fine,” he said. “Consider us over. You can go now.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice,” I snarled, stomping out of the room and slamming the door behind me.
A fire ignited within me. The rage. The anger. How could he betray me like that? He was supposed to love me, and yet he could take something I’d told him in confidence and turn it over to his father. He knew how much the Resistance meant to me. He knew that was the only reason why I was still at the palace. I’d told him about the attack only out of concern for his safety. And he’d used it against me.
I would take this love and turn it into revenge.
I would burn it.
Bury it.
And no matter what, I would never trust him again.
“Come with me,” Faulk called, pounding on my door.
The night had been spent in a fire of rage, and I’d woken to an inferno. I’d gotten dressed and then stomped around my room in circles. I didn’t leave it. What was the point? The palace was a mess, and I wasn’t going to willingly participate in the clean up. I was done playing nice.
I climbed off the bed and stormed to swing the door open for Faulk.
“What?” I spat.
She raised an eyebrow. “Come.” Then she took off down the hall.
I followed, hot on her heels. People stared at me as we passed them. I didn’t care. Let them stare. I may have appeared broken to some, but I was stronger than ever inside. I’d spent the night thinking through everything, going over every angle in my head. I had painstakingly accounted for all the pain the people in this palace done to me.
Reliving it all, again and again.
Driving the heartache in.
Drowning in the anger.
And I was resolved. I was going to end the royal family, even if it ended me.
I followed her to a lift, and we descended. I’d been this way before. We were going to the dungeons. Well, I guessed it was technically called the prison. In my mind it was “the dungeons” since this was a deplorable palace. Even the very land it sat on was tainted by greed. Maybe they were going to lock me up? At this point, I wouldn’t even care.
We walked down a hall and a rotting scent filled my nostrils. It was covered up by antiseptic, but not well enough. A female moan echoed from the far end of the hall.
“We have somebody we want you to meet.”
“Okay.” I nodded. Let’s get this over with…
I noted that we were in the vicinity of the gray rooms. These were the sorry places the officers used to keep alchemists away from their own magic. I had been in these rooms. I felt a nudge of guilt for the alchemist I was about to find behind the door. Resistance, no doubt.
We walked inside.
The girl’s blond hair hung heavily in her face. She was handcuffed to a chair, and, as expected, dressed in black. She peered up at me. Recognition lit her eyes.
It was Sasha.
“I already know her,” I said to Faulk, sounding bored. “You said you wanted me to meet somebody. She is nobody new. So why am I really here?”
“Oh.” Faulk laughed. It wasn’t a pretty sound. “I guess I should’ve said meet again. In a new light. Under different circumstances.”
“Fine,” I said, striding into the room.
Sasha had bruises forming on her cheeks, some yellow and others a shiny, dark purple. There were a few cuts as well. The one that cut across her eyebrow looked deep enough to scar. Her eyes still revealed the friend I knew, though. Maybe I could help her.
Once inside, the door closed, and I turned back on Faulk. “What do you want?”
“Jessa.” Faulk smiled. “I’d like for you to meet your older sister, Francesca. I think it’s time the two of you were properly reacquainted.”
The words rang in my ear, taking a moment to settle in. This made no sense. I shot my gaze to Sasha.
She just stared back at me, not a glimmer of surprise in her face.
Her blue eyes reflected my own.
I stumbled backward.
Francesca? A dream assaulted me. Not a dream, a flash of memory. A girl running through the grass. Blond hair streaming behind her. A dandelion in her small hand. Yellow magic twinkling in the air between us.
My sister.
KEEP READING
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The series continues with book three, Blackout, coming Spring 2018. Check out the beautiful cover:
Acknowledgments
When I released Prism, it was with a lot of excitement and fear. As a new author, doing this publishing thing on my own, I was completely terri
fied. I have to say, the reception blew me away. To my readers, thank you very much. You have no idea how much you helped me. It took me years to find the courage to release Prism. You made the experience wonderful and I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you to my husband for putting up with my crazy, for supporting me every step of the way, and for feeling every up and down with me. You are my world and I am so grateful to have you in my life.
Thank you to my family for your support. I love you!
I have to send a huge thank you to my developmental editor, Kate Foster, for not only believing in this series, but for doing such a fabulous job with the manuscripts. You helped me take my writing to another level with Fracture, and I am eternally grateful for you. I can’t wait to work on the next two books together.
Thank you to the world’s best cover designer, Molly, at We Got You Covered. Your eye for design blows me away, not to mention your ability to work with picky authors. Thank you for all your help.
Thank you to Madeline Dyer for the copy edit. And to Stevie, Ailene, and Kate for the proof-reads. I love you ladies!
Thank you to my ARC team, to my readers, and to everyone who took the time to reach out to me or to write a review. I appreciate it more than you could know. To all my friends who share my books, even if YA Fantasy isn’t your thing, you are amazing.
Stu Thaman, launch strategist extraordinaire, thank you so much for your help on Prism.
Thank you to everyone in the Indie community who reached out to congratulate me, to answer a question, or to teach.
And last, but always first, thank you to God. Thank you for carrying me through this entire experience and for answering my prayers.
About the Author
Nina Walker is an emerging author of young adult fiction. She lives in Utah with her husband, children, and two ornery cats. When she isn’t busy writing or chasing after her kids, she’s helping busy women prioritize their health in online support groups. Fracture is her second book.
She would love to connect with you on Facebook and Instagram @ninawalkerbooks
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