Reverie by Ryan La Sala

Author:Ryan La Sala
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2019-09-05T19:01:47+00:00

• Nineteen •

THE RECEPTION

Augustine Beazley’s wedding had been lovely, everyone agreed. But the reception was a total nightmare.

Firstly, there was the issue with the fireworks. They scored glittering streaks through the fogging night, only a few making it high enough to pierce the low clouds. The rest landed in the garden, igniting it, and several rocketed directly into the roof, igniting that, too. The guests, who had all assembled upon the patio to gaze expectantly at the sky, watched the disaster for as long as it took one rocket to drill right through the willows and into the crowd, sending lace and limb flying in a gay blaze.

Secondly, there were the monsters: Helena’s hatchlings, hewn from priceless metals and precious stones, summoned with only revenge in their minds. The great secrets of the Beazleys’ wealth, unleashed against the family’s assembled detractors.

The third thing was that the champagne was served warm. But no one minded that, on account of the monsters.

The one tearing apart the ballroom was a beetle. It was the size of an elephant, armed with a powerful horn and protected by a shell of faultless lapis lazuli. Its six golden legs skittered on the dance floor as two people circled it. The first was Cousin Willard, who had always been a bit odd and was known to protect bugs from the predatory swats of his mother. His intervention made sense.

The other person, however, should have run. She, of all people, deserved to pursue safety and comfort. It was her wedding, after all.

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.