Into The Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Author:Alexandra Christo [Christo, Alexandra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2019-10-07T18:30:00+00:00

GRANKA HAD AN INNOCENCE and a purity that Karam was so unfamiliar with now.

Outside the temple window, her mother sat cross-legged on the soil, a few of the children gathered around her, listening in reverence as she taught them prayer songs and equations in a single breath. Across the way, another group of children circled Wesley in fascination. They ran, playing and throwing mud, and whenever they tugged on his shirtsleeves to try to convince him to join in on their game, he frowned and crossed the camp.

At which point, they followed.

They were all so free, unafraid of their magic or people who might try to take it from them. They didn’t know war and couldn’t fathom the prospect of it.

“Fancy meeting you here.”

Karam turned as Saxony entered the temple, walking like she was made of the wind and the stories it told.

“Did you follow me?” Karam asked. “Because stalking people is not attractive.”

Saxony’s grin lit up her face. “I was summoned, actually. Your old pal Arjun said to meet him. But look at you trying to pretend you don’t think all my qualities are attractive.”

Karam shot her a withering look.

Arjun was nowhere to be seen and so they stood in the center of the wide prayer room, looking and feeling a little lost.

Karam didn’t want to move or touch anything, for fear she might sully it. The floors were such a pristine mix of white and not-so-white, with walls and ceilings that were carved in impossibly intricate patterns of gold and red. The ceiling draped over them like a painting, and beside her there was a circular window that stretched up to the nosebleed heights of the roof and offered a view of the endless forest outside.

Karam could see the Crafter children now hurling mud onto Wesley’s suit.

He gasped and then began to chase them around a tree.

“I love this place,” Saxony said. “It feels a little like home.”

Karam loved it too, even if she didn’t agree with that last part.

“I saw a couple of the other Crafters giving you the eye before,” Saxony said with a sly smile. “They were real pretty. Did you talk to any of them?”

Karam rolled her eyes. “No,” she said. “And before you say anything else about it, I am not territory to be marked, so you do not need to pee on me.”

Saxony gaped, her laugh short and surprised. “Pee on you?” she said. “You’ve been spending way too much time with Tavia.”

Someone cleared their throat and when Karam turned, Asees and Arjun were watching them.

Karam wasn’t sure when they’d arrived, but their footsteps were as silent as death and she felt a twitch of irritation at being snuck up on. That sort of thing got you killed in Creije.

Arjun stared from Karam to Saxony, shaking his head a little admonishingly. “This is a holy place,” he said. “Nobody pees on anybody.”

“I’ll hold myself back,” Saxony said.

“Did you bring it?” Arjun asked.

“It would be a waste of our time if she did not,” Asees said.

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