Dignified (Beginning's End Series, #11) by W.J. May

Author:W.J. May
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fae, fantasy witches, fantasy new adult, paranormal shifter romance, shifter romance, coming of age, vampires, vampires and witches, shifters, shifter, dark fantasy, superhero fantasy ebooks, witches, superhero, paranormal fantasy, paranormal romance, New Adult & College Romance Paranormal, Fairy, new adult, new adult and college, New Adult & College Romance, w.j. may, chronicles of kerrigan, supernatural, romance, mystery, superpowers, paranormal, boarding school, series, magic, fairytale, fairy tale, sequel series, sequel, Arthurian, dragons, MM, LGBTQ
Publisher: Dark Shadow Publishing
Published: 2023-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Kiera stood upon an ocean bluff, gazing over the sparkling water.

There were waves on it now. The wind had returned almost as soon as they’d cut loose the manta—sweeping down the coast in billowing gusts of heather and salt. It mixed poorly with the smoke, still hanging heavy in the air. It mixed even poorer with the scent of blood and charred flesh.

All sorts of things had smells. Things she had never considered. As the sun made its lazy orbit across the sky, she was discovering all of them.

“I spotted you from the road,” Eden called in his musical voice, wading through the tall seagrass behind her. “Thank the gods for your hair, I’d never have managed it otherwise.”

Yes, you would.

She greeted him with a listless smile, returning her eyes to the water.

She had known that he would find her. She had wanted him to. The pair had fallen into the strange habit of gravitating towards each other in the wake of every new disaster—a habit that had carved its own space, separate from the people who shared their beds. Something terrible would happen, and they would survive it. They would find each other in the aftermath.

And the next day, something terrible will happen again...

“Did you find the healer?” he asked softly, coming to stand beside her. She had cut her leg on something, she couldn’t remember what. “It needed a proper bandage—”

“I found the healer.”

They stood there for a while, letting their gazes drift over the water, deliberately blind to the horror at their backs. They stood there until at last, and perhaps bolstered by the fae at her side, she turned ever so slightly and widened her gaze to include the village. The remains of the village.

There wasn’t much left.

It was cool enough now, that people had begun to pick over the wreckage, sifting through piles of broken plates and splintered furniture, looking for anything that might be saved. They wouldn’t find much. The fire had swept down from the hills with an unnatural fury, ravenously consuming everything in its path. It had left behind a clean slate, like the port had never existed.

Like the people had never existed.

He is too big for you, child.

Her stomach lurched, and she turned quickly back to the ocean—seeking refuge in the quiet turning of the waves. It was strange. She had told Lissiana just a few days before, there was a time she had grieved for her village, but that time was finished.

I don’t know why I said that. I have not yet begun to grieve.

“Are you angry with me?” she asked hoarsely, her throat raw from smoke. Her eyes flitted sideways at Eden, wondering for the first time. “Have you come to give me a reprimand?”

His face was blank, covered in soot. “For what?”

She waited a beat, unsure why he wasn’t following.

“For using my fire,” she finally answered, “instead of a blade.”

Truth be told, she hadn’t realized the full ramifications of that decision until long after. After the excavations had finished, and the numbers were grievously counted.

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