At Death's Door by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Author:Sherrilyn Kenyon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

10

Valynda had no answer for Circe’s question. Her life was ever a perplexing mess, out of her control, and had been for a long, long time. Every time she tried to fix it, it seemed to only worsen.

Then worsen more.

Circe leaned forward and blew a fine golden powder over her. It literally spun and danced about in the air like a group of tiny fairies. Enchanting and beguiling, it made her head spin. Faster and faster it turned. She swore she could even hear it laughing. With a faint apple scent, it warmed her.

A sudden gasp went through Circe’s crew. They clambered forward as if they were staring at some freakish thing.

Tears blurred her gaze as the memory of insults and the screams of horror rang in her ears. It was just like that first day when Thorn had brought her back before he’d perfected his shield around her straw body and everyone who’d encountered her had seen her freakish poppet form. People were so unkind. So cruel.

And that cruelty resonated inside her now and made it almost impossible to see humanity in any other light. For, once having tasted the bitterest part of it, it was hard to ever remember the sweet. Something not helped by the fact that, rather than do the right thing, so many chose to do the wrong.

Instead of helping her get past what had been done to her by others, they seemed to rush to reinforce in her mind why the Malachai was right and the world needed to end.

It was indeed a struggle to hold on to a belief that there was good in anyone these days. That people could be helpful and kind. Adarian was right. There were far more reasons to end the world than save it.

Circe held up a hand mirror to Valynda’s face. Like the others, she gasped at what she saw.

Nay …

She must be dreaming. Or else this was another cruel joke being played on her. Aye, that was it. They were beginning to take pleasure in doing this to her.

Damn them for their futtocking cruelty.

Angry tears filled her eyes that had tearducts again as she reached to gently finger her now supple cheek.

“You’re human!” Circe was proud of herself for her work.

But Valynda wasn’t a fool. She knew well the story of how this witch had transformed men into pigs. Why not turn a pig into a woman? No one did kindness for free. So, it begged the question as to what would the witch want for this? Since she couldn’t have her soul, there must be a steeper price to be paid. “Indeed.”

Even so, she cupped her cheeks with her hands so that she could savor the sensation of feeling her own flesh. Unlike what Thorn had promised her, this wasn’t just any body, it was hers. A body she’d never thought to have or see again. “How did you do this?”

Circe shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m a sorceress, milady. Transmutation is one of my many gifts … like the Malachai.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.