“I suppose he’s still pretending he donated the money anonymously to domestic-violence charities.”
“In small sums.” Part of me believed him. The rest wondered if the quarter million he’d found accidentally when he hit the wrong switch and the boot popped open had become his freedom when it came to his affairs—no need to hide spending, no need to cover up a paper trail.
“It’s done.” Lily looked out at the breathtaking alpine scenery that surrounded us in the mountains of a city that had once been the residence of kings.
A fitting resting place for a woman as dazzling as any queen.
But as I looked over this landscape, I couldn’t help but wonder if my mother’s spirit would linger on in the cold green place that had been her tomb for a decade.
Oh, Ari. Laughter on the breeze, a ghost’s kiss on my cheek. I was never trapped, mere dil ka tukda. That was always you.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A very special thank-you to my parents, Usha and Vijay, for checking on my Hindi. Any mistakes are very definitely mine. (A note about transliteration: Since Hindi has its own alphabet, there are often variant spellings for things in the English alphabet. I tried to choose the most common spelling where I could, but otherwise just picked one and went with it.)
The Te Reo Māori in this book is from my own knowledge—most of the words are in everyday use in New Zealand.
A huge thank-you to the incredible team that worked on this book—and the equally incredible people who have helped spread the word about it. I can’t name you all, but I hope you know how much I appreciate you.
Thank you to Ashwini for being my sounding board even when I drive you up the wall. And to Rene, thank you for taking me on all those long and winding drives to find locations for fictional dark deeds.
Last but never least, my thanks to you, for picking up this book.
Nalini
Auckland, New Zealand
CREDITS
Nalini Singh and Gollancz would like to thank everyone at Orion who worked on the publication of Quiet in Her Bones in the UK.
Editorial
Rachel Winterbottom
Brendan Durkin
Editorial Management
Charlie Panayiotou
Jane Hughes
Alice Davis
Audio
Paul Stark
Amber Bates
Contracts
Anne Goddard
Paul Bulos
Jake Alderson
Marketing
Tanjiah Islam
Design
Lucie Stericker
Joanna Ridley
Nick May
Helen Ewing
Clare Sivell
Finance
Jennifer Muchan
Jasdip Nandra
Afeera Ahmed
Elizabeth Beaumont
Sue Baker
Production
Paul Hussey
Fiona McIntosh
Publicity
Alex Layt
Sales
Jen Wilson
Victoria Laws
Esther Waters
Rachael Hum
Ellie Kyrke-Smith
Frances Doyle
Ben Goddard
Georgina Cutler
Barbara Ronan
Andrew Hally
Dominic Smith
Maggy Park
Linda McGregor
Sinead White
Jemimah James
Rachel Jones
Jack Dennison
Nigel Andrews
Ian Williamson
Julia Benson
Declan Kyle
Robert Mackenzie
Operations
Jo Jacobs
Sharon Willis
Lisa Pryde
ALSO BY NALINI SINGH
Guild Hunter Series
ANGELS’ BLOOD
ARCHANGEL’S KISS
ARCHANGEL’S CONSORT
ARCHANGEL’S BLADE
ARCHANGEL’S STORM
ARCHANGEL’S LEGION
ARCHANGEL’S SHADOWS
ARCHANGEL’S ENIGMA
ARCHANGEL’S HEART
ANGELS’ FLIGHT
(SHORT STORY COLLECTION)
ARCHANGEL’S VIPER
ARCHANGEL’S PROPHECY
ARCHANGEL’S WAR
Psy-Changeling Series
SLAVE TO SENSATION
VISIONS OF HEAT
CARESSED BY ICE
MINE TO POSSESS
HOSTAGE TO PLEASURE
BRANDED BY FIRE
BLAZE OF MEMORY
BONDS OF JUSTICE
PLAY OF PASSION
KISS OF SNOW
TANGLE OF NEED
HEART OF OBSIDIAN
SHIELD OF WINTER
SHARDS OF HOPE
ALLEGIANCE OF HONOR
WILD INVITATION
(SHORT STORY COLLECTION)
WILD EMBRACE
(NOVELLAS COLLECTION)
Psy-Changeling Trinity Series
SILVER SILENCE
OCEAN LIGHT
WOLF RAIN
ALPHA NIGHT
Thrillers
A MADNESS OF SUNSHINE
QUIET IN HER BONES
Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 2021 by Gollancz
an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment
London EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK Company
Copyright © Nalini Singh 2021
The moral right of Nalini Singh to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (eBook) 978 1 473 22959 4
www.nalinisingh.com
www.gollancz.co.uk
