A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth

Author:Ashley Shuttleworth [Shuttleworth, Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781529366204
Google: 290BEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Hachette UK
Published: 2021-02-23T00:00:00+00:00

How far Hero had come from the boy who’d once had nothing, from the life he’d spent entirely on other people and working past exhaustion just to barely scrape by.

His memories were filled with things like skipping school (which he’d always enjoyed) because one of his siblings was sick and needed care; the months he’d been shy on rent and had to pretend he wasn’t home until he could pay it (no lights, no water, and very little heat, sneaking in and out like a squatter in his own apartment); clothes and shoes and coats that didn’t fit right, were either too small or too big, ugly and cheap, rough against his skin and yet threadbare, because as much as he hated them, he couldn’t afford to buy better things.

Now, in a dimly lit passage of metal floors and glass walls, Hero looked out at his empire. The goblins and orcs and imps down below went about their business, inspecting Hero’s prized creations and putting them through their paces, but for all Hero stared, it wasn’t this he watched—his own reflection had caught his attention.

A man in his forties—flushed with life and health, no longer ungainly and skinny but strong, fed with prime cuts of meat and expensive wines and fresh, organic produce.

Clean-shaven… no more bags beneath his eyes… skin no longer parched and sallow… his rags replaced with riches, wearing a suit the High King himself would envy, cut from night and tailored to his every curve and angle; it was just as much a robe to Hero as what fae royalty paraded around in—but far more valuable.

“Whatever are you going to do with them all?”

Turning his face to examine the line of his jaw, Hero chuckled. “Sell them, of course. To the world’s highest bidder. Was there something you needed, Lethe?” Not that his Hunter wasn’t welcome here whenever he chose to visit, but in this current, final stage of operations there was no real need for surprise appraisals, and Lethe rarely did anything without a purpose.

A hand planted itself on the glass beside his reflection. The muted glow of floodlight caught on long and pointed filigree claws. They pricked through the glass as though it was made of sponge, and made Hero turn at last from his self-admiration to find himself half-caged by a closeness that was highly unusual. Lethe’s arm stretched firm and unrelenting as an iron bar, but the length of his body had curved against him into something that could almost be intimate, something that made warmth ignite in Hero’s veins and bemusement unfurl a smile. “Yes?”

Green eyes bore into his.

Hero drew a breath.

It sat in his chest—wary and waiting—as one moment turned into two, turned into more, and green held him captive. Hero’s thoughts narrowed to one.… He lifted a hand. It pressed flat against Lethe’s chest. This was more than he’d ever dared before, more than he’d ever been allowed, and when Lethe raised his free hand, Hero flinched—was convinced that Lethe

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.