The Secrets Shadows Keep

Samhain is the end of Summer, the celebration of harvest—this year, my people are starving.

I’m already failing as a Princess. Famine plagues my realm, but you wouldn’t know it by the food piled high on the royal dining table. Ares tells me it gets worse every year. Even Matthew and Cristian’s faces are drawn and gaunt.

I risk everything to use my power, my evil fire, to help. The High Priestess catches me, and though I escape, her word against mine, her own suspicion bleeds through to the rest of the Coven. They won’t forget this.

As the people grow angry and restless, we face another threat. My grandmother’s health fails, and with it, her magic within the boundary. Knights of the Underworld will soon be upon on us.

In a desperate attempt to save my home, I convince my parents to ration the food that remains as we leave for the Tree of Life, far beyond our realm. We can’t battle Knights without weapons forged from the sacred wood from the Tree. Ares, Cristian and Matthew travel with me, and I can only hope they won’t get each other killed, and that we’ll make it back in time to save our people.