Cities of Smoke and Starlight: A Science Fantasy Romance Series (Gate Chronicles Book 1) by Earnest Alli

Author:Earnest, Alli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragon Page Entertainment
Published: 2022-05-04T00:00:00+00:00

Hallie

Settled with her sketchpad, Hallie was on watch that night for the first few hours. Part of her was glad the rest of the crew trusted her enough to do the task, but the bigger half was uneasy. She was pitiful with the electropistol at best, so hopefully her shouts would be enough to get the others to come running if she needed help. However, she still had Ebba’s sling beside her and a stone, so maybe she’d have another stroke of luck if she was forced to fight something.

The lighthearted moments of a few hours ago had disappeared with the sun. No matter how hard she wished they wouldn’t—even the thought of exploring a potential Yalven ruin in the morning didn’t banish her memories.

Tomorrow would mark three years since Jack’s death. The twenty-third of October. Three years, and she still felt a deep sting in her chest. A thousand years wouldn’t be long enough for her to get over it.

Sometimes, she wondered about the different life she would have led if Jack had survived. She usually didn’t let it bother her too much, but the anniversary…well, she was only human.

If Jack hadn’t died, she wouldn’t have attended the University. She would have stayed home, her brother taking the savings and heading to school. If Jack hadn’t died, her parents wouldn’t have hidden away in their inn, happy to let their daughter do whatever she wanted out in the world without a care. That seemed backward to Hallie, but she supposed she should be grateful. If they’d known about the Eudora mission beforehand, they might have argued with her about it, if they’d cared enough to try.

But the other thought, the worst of them all, flashed in her mind. Like it did most times when she let her guard down.

If Jack hadn’t died, she would’ve been perfectly content running the inn. She would’ve been married to Niels. She never would have known an entirely new world awaited her in Kyvena. And when she thought about that, a part of her was relieved her brother was dead.

She was a horrible excuse for a sister…maybe even the worst kind of person for even thinking that. She shivered.

Leaning forward to turn up the lantern, Hallie pulled her jacket closer around her. Thankfully they’d found a spare in one of the compartments, as the other one had woken the dragon. Too bad they couldn’t leave the fire burning through the night. Ben’s reasons made sense, but she doubted the Cerls had made it through the Bay of Storms. They didn’t have Kase to fly them.

Unless they’d figured out another way through.

Trying to focus on her sketch of the Eudora she’d started a few days ago, she bit her lip, hoping to tame the sloppy lines into something coherent. Her fingers shook from the cold; her breaths puffed out, a crystalline mist above her lips. The moonlight fell in fractures through the clouds above and onto the page, waltzing with the lantern light.

Gracious day. She growled and ripped out the page.

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