Melt: (A TimeBend Novel - Book One) by Ann Denton

Author:Ann Denton [Denton, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780998543703
Publisher: Le Rue Publishing
Published: 2016-12-26T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-One

Mala shut the door to her hut, and Alba let out an excited squeak. “Did you get it?”

“Yup.” Mala reached into her hair and slowly untied a delicate golden arrow. “Ein was busy setting up some suspension torture device for me. Didn’t even notice me digging it out of the drawer.” She tossed it to her roommate.

Alba caught it in a wrinkled hand. Her blue eyes gleamed with hope and desire. She held the minute hand up in the lantern light.

Staring at her roommate, Mala felt pity and hope swell simultaneously in her stomach.

At first, Alba had scoffed and refused Mala’s suggestion to try the ceremony.

“Please. I’m not some newbie you can pull a prank like that on, Mala,” she’d responded with a wave of her hand.

When she’d realized Mala was serious, she’d been distraught. “Are you mucked? Are you crazy? This is because of your stupid assistant, isn’t it? He’s a weird one. They all say he’s …”

The ensuing fight hadn’t helped matters. Alba had stormed off. And days had gone by, the girls hardly acknowledging one another. Until the night Alba had seen Verrukter kissing Neid.

Alba had been more angry than tearful, throwing things around their hut. Mala had delicately moved over to sit on her knife, glad she still wore her hook necklace, so it couldn’t be turned into a projectile. “That stupid blond nimbo! The one I hate more than anyone? She’s not even a real Kreis, Mala! She’s never passed her final trial. She refuses. Won’t go on a mission! He picked her?”

Alba had shattered their lantern and Mala had rushed to stomp out the flames. When Mala had turned around, Alba had been sitting woodenly on her bed, tracing the spider veins on the back of her wrinkled hand.

Her eyes were brimming when she finally glanced at Mala, “Who can blame him, right? Look at me: I can’t melt. I’m worthless.” She shook her head pitifully. Mala had sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her roommate.

“Fine. You win. You want me to try magic? I’m in.”

“What do you think?” Alba asked, glancing surreptitiously from the minute hand to Mala.

“Tonight’s the night,” Mala replied solemnly. She and Ges had been researching magical rituals. She’d spent more time on that recently than on her assigned project to study the layout of Wilde township. “Full moon’s the best, so they say. And that’s tonight.”

Alba bit her lip and nodded, turning back to stare at the tiny dagger. “Am I crazy for hoping it works?”

“Not as crazy as I am for thinking it will,” Mala replied, flopping down onto her mattress. “We need full exposure to the moon, but if we get caught …”

Alba laughed bitterly. “Court martial can’t be worse than this. Mala, I haven’t melted—not even a meltdown—for over two months. But maybe you shouldn’t come with me. In case—”

Mala shook her head. “I need to know if this works just as much as you do.” She didn’t say, Because I think the alternative might be that the most despised man in history might just be my father.

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