“Hey, Bria.” Dex flew over our heads. “Liv wanted to ask you to join our D&D group.”
“I—what?” Liv spluttered. “I didn’t say that.”
“I did,” said Dex. “Right, Devon?”
“We’re open to anyone, technically,” said Devon. “Unless you object, Liv. Ryan plays with us. We’re still working on convincing Cal and Felicity.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, baffled by this turn of events. “I’ll join in if someone can explain to me how to play.”
Liv still looked disgruntled, but before she could say another word, the castle door opened and a lich floated out. “The Death King wants to speak to you, Bria.”
“Me?” I frowned.
“Alone?” said Liv, her own expression a mirror of mine.
“Yes,” said the lich.
All right, then. I walked into the castle and approached the dais at the back of the hall. The Death King wore an illusion of his human face, which made him look a little less sinister than usual. Or maybe it was me. After all, I’d faced my Family again—all three of them—and escaped intact. Even the King of the Dead would have a hard time scaring me after that.
“Hey, Death King,” I said. “Um, sorry I never got the Houses to cooperate with you.”
“I believe you dealt with the difficult situation the best you could,” he said. “The Houses have a lot of rebuilding to do, if they survive, and I believe they need to rethink their relationship with the Order.”
“Does the Order even still exist anymore?”
“For now,” he said. “As for the Houses, I believe that they can be persuaded to join my side, given enough time.”
“Let me guess… you want me to convince them they’re better off teaming up with you.”
“Only after they’ve had time to rebuild,” he said. “First, however, we might need the assistance of the elves.”
That, I hadn’t seen coming. “Which elves? I don’t even know where most of them live.”
“I think we’ll find ourselves in need of their help,” he said. “And I think you have the skills you need to find them.”
My mouth fell open. Okay, if Trix had survived, others had, too, but I was way in over my head when it came to tracking down the others. I hadn’t known the Death King had even been considering them as potential allies. Did he know what the Family had done to them?
As he continued to watch me, expecting an answer, I said, “I can promise to try, that’s all.”
The fight with the Family wasn’t over. All three members walked free, while they had the skills to amass an army if they had their way. All I had was a ragtag group of allies, living and dead, a heritage I’d barely begun to uncover… and so much more to lose than before.
This was war… and I’d take it to the Family on my own terms this time.
Thank you for reading!
The story continues in Tower of Fire, Book 3 in the Parallel Magic trilogy, available soon.
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About the Author
Emma is the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of the Changeling Chronicles urban fantasy series.
Emma spent her childhood creating imaginary worlds to compensate for a disappointingly average reality, so it was probably inevitable that she ended up writing fantasy novels. When she's not immersed in her own fictional universes, Emma can be found with her head in a book or wandering around the world in search of adventure.
Find out more about Emma’s books at www.emmaladams.com.
