Blessed be the Wicked (Dark Maji Book 2) PDF
Preview Blessed be the Wicked (Dark Maji Book 2)
BLESSED BE THE WICKED LUCY SMOKE KEL CARPENTER Blessed Be the Wicked Kel Carpenter & Lucy Smoke Published by Kel Carpenter & Lucy Smoke Copyright © 2019, Kel Carpenter & Lucy Smoke Edited by Analisa Denny Proofread by Dominique Laura Cover Art by Story Wrappers Map and Graphic Designed by Zenta Brice All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Created with Vellum TABLE OF CONTENTS Map 1. The Pirate Queen 2. Inquisition 3. Tensions Rising 4. The Opal Room 5. Shackles of Control 6. Marked by the Gods 7. Like Calls to Like 8. Battle for Ilvas 9. Virulent Garden 10. Capricious Circumstances 11. Queen of Evasion 12. War and Reason 13. Dungeon of Deception 14. Tenuous Allies 15. Questionable Actions 16. Desperate Measures 17. To Track a Traitor 18. Pressure’s Peak 19. Apple of Discord 20. Something Wicked Comes This Way 21. Glass Palaces 22. Voyage to Winter 23. A Trade in Secrets 24. A Game of Truths 25. The Fallen Temple Coming Soon About Lucy Smoke About Kel Carpenter Also by Lucy Smoke Also by Kel Carpenter Acknowledgments Lucy: That’s so fetch. Kel: Stop trying to make fetch happen! Lucy: Never… Chaos isn’t a pit. Chaos is a ladder. Many who try to climb it fail, and never get to try again. The fall breaks them. And some are given a chance to climb, but refuse. They cling to the realm, or love, or the gods . . . illusions. Only the ladder is real. The climb is all there is. But they’ll never know this. Not until it’s too late. ~ Littlefinger, Game of Thrones, Season 3, Episode 6 The Pirate Queen “All queens are pirates in their own time.” — Quinn Darkova, vassal of House Fierté, fear twister G old. It glittered at every turn. Quinn wasn’t sure what to expect in the infamous city of Tritol, but true to the Pirate Queen’s name, it was a city of fortune. Burnished domes of yellow and bronze lit up like beacons under the swelter of Leviticus’ eye. A hazy film obscured Quinn’s vision as she squinted through the sand being swept around as they were urged through the gates of the main plaza. Textiles in every color hung from windows and doorways as shopkeepers opened for the day. She’d heard the rumors that Imogen liked her people to display affluence and looked favorably upon it. If the overly friendly merchants were anything to go by, Quinn was inclined to believe those rumors as they offered gifts and trinkets to the girl who went before them, urging her horse by its reins. “For the Queen!” they proclaimed, holding out their best fabrics and golden treasures. Axe simply shook her head and held up a hand, brushing them off with ease as she rode down the sandy streets as if she owned them. If she truly was Imogen’s adoptive daughter—one day she might. “You know,” Quinn started, glancing over at Lazarus, “you could really learn a thing or two here.” She gestured to a vendor, and they jumped forward, offering up a necklace made of several ropes of gold. The man bowed his head, lifting it up, and just as Quinn leaned over to accept it, Lazarus cast her a disapproving glance. “It’s not for you,” he said. Quinn narrowed her eyes but took her hand back without the necklace and didn’t say anything more as they moved farther into the city. The heat bore down on them. The open air growing more humid the longer they walked. Quinn glanced from side to side and then focused straight ahead, keeping her eyes on the strange girl that led them. Axe continued to ignore the offerings of the citizens of Tritol as she led their party toward the tallest building in the city. It jutted out from the rest of the capital. The sharp edge of its tip glimmering under the sunlight. More gold, Quinn affirmed. She whistled beneath her breath as they arrived at the gates of the building—tall arches were encrusted with jewels in sapphire blue and royal purple. Sea creatures of myth and legend had been carved into the stone itself. Mermaids. Krakens. Creatures from the deep blue that had been rumored to be the goddess Myori in years past. Only sunken ships and sailors at the bottom of the ocean could really say. “No wonder we curse her wrath,” Quinn murmured. Lazarus shot her another look. One that she ignored. The gates lifted when Axe raised her hand to the men at the top. Just inside, they all came to a halt in the center of a blooming courtyard. Towering trees dangled wisteria over the area; vines crept up the stone walls. “Alright,” Axe announced. “She’s expectin’ us.” Quinn handed the reins to an approaching stable boy, then turned and followed the others. She took an appreciative glance of the glittering gold-encrusted moldings on the walls as they entered
The list of books you might like
