A Sorrow Fierce and Falling (Kingdom on Fire, Book Three) by Jessica Cluess

Author:Jessica Cluess
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2018-10-15T16:00:00+00:00

As Rook tightened his grip on Maria, I held up my hand in warning. Flame sparked on my fingers, the threads of blackness still woven through my fire. Rook smirked to see it.

My head whirled, trying to make sense of everything. I’d seen him release those prisoners, yes, but now he was threatening Maria. If he tried to take her away, I would kill them both. Even if firing on him meant harming her, I’d do it. She’d do the same for me, after all.

My gut went cold as I realized that, not so long ago, I’d had the same thoughts about Rook, when he’d landed in the clutches of the shadow Familiars at Brimthorn. Perhaps if I’d opened fire that day, I’d have saved us all pain….

Dimly, I realized that I was having an easier time resisting the urge to call him master and fall at his feet. Even if the desire was still there, it didn’t rule me. Had I become stronger?

Looking at Rook, his fingers tipped with claws and his mouth sharp with fangs, my heart twisted.

I failed you. The words were on my lips, but I couldn’t speak them.

“We must talk,” he repeated, and the words slithered over my skin. The strength I’d had in resisting his pull weakened. I started to fall at his feet. No. I was no one’s servant.

“Talk of the people you’ve murdered and mutilated?” But of course, I’d made it possible for him to do all that. I hadn’t alerted the Order to his condition, even when I should have. I’d dragged Maria into the entire mess, which had led to Sorrow-Fell’s destruction. In every way, I could see my mistakes as falling dominoes, one striking the other to form an image of chaos.

“Do you hear how I speak, Nettie? I’m human again. Or at least,” he admitted, easing his grip on Maria, “more human than before.”

It was true. The fact he could speak was itself a miracle.

“How?” I asked as Mickelmas and my aunt edged closer to me.

“I believe it is our connection. Once I’d…marked you.” He looked down at the ground as he said it. That was a human gesture, rich with embarrassment. It was a gesture Rook would have made.

“Perhaps.” I drew one step closer to him. “I saw you in the visions. Stephen.”

His mouth relaxed into a smile. “Yes. I saw my family again. My brothers had been lost to me for so long.” Pain seized his features, though he let Maria go. She backed away to join Mickelmas and Agnes. “And look at how you’re speaking, Nettie. I’m forcing myself not to control you.” He winced, as if in concentration. “It’s harder than I would have thought. My very nature screams out to dominate you.”

“But you won’t,” I whispered, warm with relief.

He shook his head. “Not if I can help it.”

Maria and the others were looking between us. They’d be safer if we had this conversation in private. I reached out to put my hands on Rook, and pictured the cavern, and my room within it.

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