The Lost Emerald of Briarwood (Shadow Sovereign Book 1) by Vona Stewart

Author:Vona Stewart [Stewart, Vona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780999826027
Publisher: Black Hen Books
Published: 2020-02-13T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

Tree Dryads

Bouncing to the ground with a grunt, Hayden rolled onto his back, willing the air to refill his lungs. He didn’t know how long he lay there, marinating in Kit’s betrayal like it was a pool of acid tar.

She’d been annoying, but she’d helped him. Saved his life, even. She’d taught him how to barter, fought terrifying beasts with him, but it was all meaningless. She’d never cared about helping him find Sera. In fact, Sera’s kidnapping was entirely her fault.

Hayden was furious to find tears stinging his eyes. He wiped them away with the back of his fist. He’d come to care for Kit almost against his will. He’d only wanted to find his sister, but Kit had wormed her way in, made him trust her little by little. He’d considered her a friend.

But she wasn’t. Everything she’d ever said to him was a lie.

She’d used him and manipulated him and he could never forgive her.

He stared unseeing at the bare branches above before realizing the trees had lost their leaves. He looked around. The last vestiges of wildflowers had gone, leaving desiccated florets standing forlorn without their petals. Winter had come to Briarwood.

If Kit hadn’t tricked him, would he have found Sera by now?

The thought made him want to sink into the leaf litter and disappear.

But he couldn’t disappear. His sister needed him.

A chill wind blew through the forest, bringing with it a swirl of dried leaves. Hayden shivered in the cold, and sat up at last.

Searching his pockets, he inventoried his meager belongings. In addition to the jar of tarantula fairy repellant, he had his photograph and the wooden message box. He lifted the lid, but there was still no reply from Sera.

He didn’t even have a map anymore.

Hayden smeared the oily repellent over his bruised arms and face, and stuffed his things back into his pockets, hearing something crinkle.

Was it a map? He took out the message box and pulled a badly mashed paper from the depths of his pockets. His posture slumped in defeat as he smoothed the sheet of vellum. Not a map. It was only the copy of Olga’s fake prophecy. He tossed it aside in disgust and replaced his message box.

Hayden gripped his knees and curled forward, rounding his back against the growing hunger in his belly. He couldn’t eat fairy food in Briarwood unless he wanted to be stuck here for a hundred years. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to formulate a plan.

With the redirector finally out, he now had three links pulling in three different directions, each one making his chest thud with pain. He had no idea why there were now three or which one might lead him to his sister. He wasn’t sure if he could trust any of them.

Kit’s discolored, swollen face drifted into his thoughts. Using magic he didn’t understand, Kit had altered his finding power so it would lead to the emerald instead of his sister. Who’s to say Healer Maggie hadn’t done the same thing? Maybe the healer was interested in finding the missing gemstones too.

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