Huge SPOILER ALERT here. Below is a brief teaser for Shifting Fate, the soon to be released second book of the Descendants Series. This scene takes place immediately after Bound by Prophecy, so it pretty much ruins the ending if you haven't read book one. For those of you who have, read on ...
It
was my birthday. I was eighteen years old, lying in a hospital bed at the
Division, waiting to find out who had died. This was the life of a prophet.
This
was my life.
“Brianna,”
Brendan said the moment he came through the door, and I was so relieved to hear
something other than the steady beep,
beep, beep of the monitors, I actually smiled.
It
was the wrong thing to do.
Brendan
took my hand as he sat on the stool beside my bed. It was too awkward to pull
away, too uncomfortable to let it pass. I tried to sit up, but he protested,
instead rising to adjust the head of the bed a few inches higher. When he
settled back onto the stool, my hands were resting in my lap. He took one
anyway.
“Brianna,”
he repeated, and he was so utterly relieved that I felt a pang of guilt at
wanting to deny him. I liked Brendan. I did.
I
swallowed hard, forcing the thought away. “Who is hurt? Is there anyone I can
help?”
Brendan
shook his head. “No. No more of that. You need to recover, Brianna.”
“I’m
fine.” I stared him down. “They said I was fine.”
He
smiled. “They aren't lying to you.” His eyes fell to my side, where the white
cotton blankets covered the hours-old wound. “The cut was clean, and somehow,
Aern managed to miss anything important.”
His
eyes came back to mine. The blades had been my request. I had chosen them
specially, and Brendan had gone out of his way to bring them in time. For my
sister. The Chosen.
I
did pull away then, because I could not share the prophecy. It was all too
fresh.
Brendan
leaned back, his hands falling to the legs of his black slacks. I got a good
look at him then, his button shirt rolled at the sleeves, wrinkled and smudged.
He was not himself yet. He’d had no sleep.
“How
many were lost?” I whispered.
He
took a deep breath. “Too many. Far too many.”
“I’m
sorry,” I said. “I wish I could have done better.”
His
jaw clenched. “Don’t. Don’t take this on yourself, Brianna. Everyone knows it
was my order. I made the call.”
I
closed my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
The
sound of a throat clearing came from the doorway, and I opened my eyes to see
my sister, fingers laced tightly into Aern’s.
“Emily,”
I said, grateful to see her well. Safe.
Brendan
stood, drumming the tips of his fingers against his leg, and gestured toward the
others. “I’ll let you…”
As
he passed them on his way out, Emily wagged her brows at me. But I had to look
away, because I hadn’t told her about the man in my visions. The man who wasn't Brendan.
And
then guilt struck again, because it was one more secret I was keeping from her.
“How
are you?” she asked as they reached my bedside.
“Fine,”
I answered, smiling until my gaze trailed to Aern. He stood beside her, face so
distorted with remorse and shame and absolute regret that I couldn't help but
feel sorry for him. When he opened his mouth to speak, I raised a hand to stop
him. “No, Aern. Don’t even say it.”
He
uttered the first syllable and I said, “Stop.”
Emily’s
lip twitched and her eyes fell to their hands, both white-knuckled with his
grip on her.
“Brianna,”
he growled, “Please let me—”
I
cut him off. “No. I won’t let you apologize for something that wasn't your
fault.”
We
all knew how the sway worked, and there was no question he’d done everything he
could to subvert Morgan’s order, to save me by not going for the kill. By
missing every vital organ.
But
that didn't stop the torture of guilt. I stared straight into his beautiful,
grief-stricken eyes. It hadn't just been me. Aern had lost so many of his men.
His friends. His family.
An
apology of my own almost came out, but I held it back. Pushed it into the pit
of my stomach where all of the other guilt lay so heavily, and said, “It was
the only way.”
***
I hope you enjoyed it! Watch for the cover art reveal and release info in the coming weeks :)
I hope you enjoyed it! Watch for the cover art reveal and release info in the coming weeks :)
BOOKWORMBRIDGETTE LOVES YOU AND ADORES AERN!!! :-P
ReplyDeleteBOOKWORMBRIDGETTE LOVES YOU AND ADORES AERN!!!
ReplyDeleteBOOKWORMBRIDGETTE LOVES YOU AND ADORES AERN
ReplyDeleteBOOKWORMBRIDGETTE LOVES YOU AND ADORES AERN!!!”
ReplyDeleteBOOWORMBRIDGETTE SAYS YOU RAWK!! :)
ReplyDeleteBOOWORMBRIDGETTE SAYS YOU RAWK!!
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