The Spectra Unearthed (The Spectra: Keita's Wings, #1) by Christie Valentine Powell

Author:Christie Valentine Powell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: coming of age, YA fantasy, fairy tale retelling, princesses, historical fantasy, clean reads for teens, epic fantasy, elemental magic
Publisher: Christie Valentine Powell
Published: 2016-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14: Lady Georgiana

A FAINT CALL BROUGHT Keita to awareness. She sat up, and slammed her head on the underside of the table. She must have dozed off because she didn’t remember being surrounded by walls of debris. Fast, shallow breathing announced Carli’s presence. Her eyes were closed, her hair and lashes dusted by flakes of ash.

Keita reached for the grimy gray walls and began to dig. She winced as her fingers contacted smoldering debris within the ashes—Carli’s trick must have worn off. Her hand broke through the surface, and fresh cool air flowed in.

Carli’s eyes opened. “What happened?” she croaked.

“We fell asleep or something,” Keita answered. “The table top made a pocket underneath.”

Carli coughed once, twice, and then began to breathe normally. “I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been warned about suffocating under a fire. You prevented it, didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Not consciously, but...”

“Keita? Carli!”

Keita couldn’t tell who was yelling, but she figured it had to be Zuri or Sienna. She and Carli began burrowing, shifting chunks of blackened wood that crumbled at their touch. At last they cleared a hole large enough for them to worm through.

The outside was a world of gray. The air that had at first seemed cool and fresh was still thick with smoke. Bits of ash drifted earthward like snowflakes. The booths’ dark metal skeletons loomed over the field of debris. It seemed impossible that this had been such a bright, busy place hours before.

“Keita! Are you all right?”

She turned as Zuri and Sienna appeared, bright spots in the gloom. Both faces were anxious but they seemed unharmed.

“We saw the smoke,” Sienna said. “The people in town said it was Searchers. We thought...”

“What are searchers?” Keita interrupted.

“They’re police,” Sienna answered, “working for the city governors. They’re mean, and dangerous.”

“If they’re working for the governor, are they human or Spectra?”

Sienna shrugged, so Carli spoke up. “I don’t think ordinary people would come up with the idea of a fire like that. It wouldn’t be worth the trouble unless they were after a Sprite.”

“Yeah, but even Stygians wouldn’t dare mess with humans. Humans form mobs when they’re afraid, and Avie says they’ve got contact with other humans beyond the continent.”

Carli’s eyes widened. “There are places beyond the continent?”

“The Lectrans say there are,” Keita answered, “and the humans came from somewhere.”

She watched the bewilderment cross Carli’s face. Keita had seen that look before. Glen wore it, when the two of them looked up at the stars and he’d realized just how small he was.

Zuri looked around. “It seems like we ought to clean up a little.”

“It’ll be harder with humans watching,” Sienna warned.

“What humans?” Carli asked.

Sienna pointed. Two men were moving through the clouds of ash, piling debris behind them. One looked up and met their eyes. “Is everyone all right?” he called.

“We’re fine,” Carli called back. She waited until they were looking another way before raising her hands. A breeze picked up. Ash billowed around them, getting into eyes and noses. Sienna began to cough, and Keita hid her face behind her hands.

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