“Tevia! There’s a bomb! In the cellar! Checked the manufacturing, it’ll blow in three minutes!”
Teiva stared at him, expressionless, unmoving. He checked his watch.
“You are mistaken, Derrosett. We have four minutes.”
Next: blow
“Get down!” [name_f]Amy[/name_f] shouted as she pulled a grenade out of her bag. [name_u]Yao[/name_u] ducked, and [name_f]Amy[/name_f] pulled the pin out of the grenade and hurled it at the zombies, blowing all of them up. Kiku, who was unscathed physically, shakily got up and ran toward his brother and friends.
Next word: unscathed
He looked around at them all, each bearing injuries that ranged wildly in severity, but all three had blood coming from somewhere. But even while their attacker looked at them all with some kind of pride in his eyes, [name_u]Rune[/name_u] was unscathed.
There could only be one person who’d do that.
But it didn’t make sense.
Next: pride
[name_m]King[/name_m] [name_m]Frederick[/name_m] loved his son with all his heart, and spoke about him with pride. However, some years ago, [name_u]Prince[/name_u] [name_u]Cordelle[/name_u] stopped appearing in public, and rumors spread that had been attacked by a witch. [name_m]Frederick[/name_m] left the kingdom to his wife and moved to [name_f]Clover[/name_f] [name_m]Kingdom[/name_m], where he adopted three sons, starting a new life as a doctor. His strange calmness and willingness to leave the throne scared [name_u]Theo[/name_u] somewhat.
Next word: rumors
What had she done to displease him? The cadets had a tall tale that they passed to younger ranks about a place where [name_m]Lord[/name_m] [name_m]Viator[/name_m] sent treasonous soldiers, a secret location where they were tortured into divulging their treachery and then left to die painfully. No one knew anyone who was sent to this place, but they always knew someone who knew someone who’d heard of someone who ended up there, and they told rumors of bloodthirsty beasts and crippling torment.
Next: tale
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When [name_f]Melantha[/name_f] was five, her father told her a story. It wasn’t make-believe, like so many bedtime tales are. He didn’t paint a picture of a densely wooded forest with spirits twittering about. No, the king told his daughter a story of his own life, of his rise to power. How, at his coronation, the blood from his palm spattered everywhere.
next: paint
I don’t get what Augustus’s problem is. I did what he wanted me to do. I didn’t want to do it at all—the poor guy seemed like a normal, respectable person, but clearly, [name_u]August[/name_u] had an issue with him. And now he’s telling me that I did it wrong? I’m sorry, but if you’re going to force me to do something like that, then you better not have the audacity to tell me you wanted it done differently after the fact. Then [name_u]August[/name_u] acts all ignorant and confused when I tell him I don’t want to work with him anymore as if he didn’t just paint an innocent person’s blood on my hands. How conceited do you have to be?
Next word: innocent
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“Suspicion is falling on your parents,” [name_u]Ace[/name_u] said.
“They were innocent.” Kit’s voice was quiet and commanding.
[name_u]Ace[/name_u] nodded. “I’m sure they were. But whoever did do it covered their tracks well. We need proof it wasn’t them.”
[name_u]Blair[/name_u], ever-practical, asked, “How? How do we get that evidence?”
[name_u]Ace[/name_u] shrugged apologetically. “I’m not sure.”
Next word: Command
And then I saw more bodies littering the stairs.
[name_f]My[/name_f] stomach gave a violent twist. They’d all been killed.
I didn’t stop moving until I had burst into the command center at the very top and yanked the lever that sounded the prison wide alarm. It ripped through the night, ringing in my ears as I fought for some semblance of breath.
Next: violent
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The night after these obligations, they would go to Oliver’s dorm or to Astrid’s empty house and fight. Not little, petty things, but real, violent screaming battles that would go on all night. Then tears, forgiveness and the promise that they’d both be better.
next: battle
The soot on his face creates a black mask and darkens his eyes. Around him, the light powdery snow fights with the flames in a battle of heat versus chill and the chill is winning. The red and orange flames engulfing the logs and embers are dying, barely able to rise.
next: flames
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“The town isn’t up in flames, just the town hall.” She glanced over her shoulder and grimaced. “And surrounding structures.”
Next: town
“Hey, don’t put that just anywhere,” [name_u]Cordelle[/name_u] called up. “My room is perfectly neat and organized.”
[name_u]Theo[/name_u] snorted. “Yeah, right. I’ll believe that when I see it.”
Cordelle’s room closely resembled images [name_u]Theo[/name_u] had seen of towns after hurricanes just had passed through.
Next word: organized
[name_f]Nephele[/name_f] shrugged. “They aren’t wrong. Organizing a con can be complicated”—Evander’s eyes bulged—“but a simple one shouldn’t take too long. We’ll run it in the morning because it’s getting late, but I need [name_f]Sapphira[/name_f] to help me out.” She met Sapphie’s eyes. “How does staying up until the sunrise sound?”
[name_f]Sapphira[/name_f] cracked her knuckles. “That sounds wonderful.”
next: morning
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It was a quarter to three in the morning; an unusually clear, cloudless night in which a thin crescent moon shone silver through the blanket of pitch black that covered everything. The dim light from the streetlamps seemed to have been swallowed whole by the night.
Next: silver
Except she knew that part. [name_u]Blue[/name_u] card, silver words, an inky-dark insignia in the bottom left corner. It meant a royal summons. Her mother ( not her mother ) had received one once, and she’d shown [name_u]Nori[/name_u] the still-pristine card from almost twelve years ago. So it was obvious what it meant. It was obvious where she was going.
Next: summon
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“Then why didn’t he just call me?” [name_m]Cas[/name_m] asked, coolly. She shot a suspicious look at [name_m]Captain[/name_m] Preni. They shared a rank now but the last time someone tried to deliver her a summons from [name_m]Lord[/name_m] [name_m]Viator[/name_m] as though they were a message channel, she almost got shocked. “Why would he go through you?”
Next: message
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“So the glass orb,” [name_m]Evander[/name_m] said, swaying from side to side, “was a messaging system.” He pressed his hand to his lower ribs, and Theodosius had to stop himself from rushing over there. This was what [name_m]Evander[/name_m] wished, and if it hurt him…
next: glass
[name_u]August[/name_u] slid backwards until he crashed into the wall, sending a spiderweb crack up through the glass.
next: slid
Theodosius squatted beside him, sliding a hand behind Evander’s back. He helped [name_m]Evander[/name_m] sit up, his hand supporting some of the Prince’s weight. [name_m]Evander[/name_m] braced his hands on either side of his knees, pressing into the forest floor, fingers digging into the earth. With shaky breath and hands, he swept his eyes across the group.
next: back