Ascension (31 page)
Authors: Sable Grace
“She can try. I won’t let her, and I won’t let her harm the gods or herself. Believe in me, Artemis. I can do this. I can bring Haven back. She can be your Chosen, and everything can be okay again.”
Kyana could hear the desperation creeping into her voice.
“I’ve always believed in you. But I pray you can be swift in this. You won’t be the only one hunting her. You must be better than the other tracers already sent after her.”
“We don’t need other tracers,” Ryker said. “Call them off.”
“I can’t.” Sadness replaced worry. “I no longer control them all. Until I have my Chosen, I’m not strong enough to lead so many.”
“I will bring your Chosen back.”
Artemis shook her head. “I have no Chosen, Kyana.”
“Yes, you do.” Kyana threw up her hands. “You have Haven.”
“Even if Haven was strong enough in her new body to take my powers, the murder of those Healers are too fresh . . . it will take months to purge and purify her. That is time I don’t have.”
“So I’m supposed to bring her back so she can be put to death?”
“A trial is her only hope of survival. You must find her before she can raise Cronos. If the other tracers find her, they will carry out her execution to prevent her from completing her task.”
Geoffrey appeared behind Artemis and slipped to Kyana’s side. “She’s right, lass. Those tracers won’t offer Haven a chance to live. They’ve been ordered to kill on sight.”
Determination built like fire in Kyana’s belly. She was ready. She’d work on the link until she could summon it at will. “I’ll find her first.”
“And what will you do then?”Artemis asked.
“I’ll save her.”
“And if you can’t?” A tear slid down Artemis’s cheek and she lightly cupped Kyana’s. “Are you prepared to do what’s necessary?”
Kyana swallowed. “If I can’t save her?”
Artemis nodded. Kyana felt Ryker’s fingers run through her hair. She sank against him, drinking in his support. “Yes. What will you do if you can’t safely bring her down?”
Kyana jerked her face away from Artemis and pulled away from Ryker’s hold. Standing on her own, she said, “Then I’ll kill her.”
“I have one last gift that will help you in this, Kyana.” Artemis nodded solemnly, then turned to speak to those remaining at the table—the Moerae. “Clotho, prepare your ceremony. My choice has been made.” Artemis turned, and with a smile held out her hand. “Come, Kyana, and become the new Goddess of the Hunt.”
H
EATHER
: I would like to first and foremost thank the most supportive family in the world. Writing a book is much like running a marathon. Sometimes, there’s no one there when you cross the finish line to throw confetti and set off fireworks, but without the support of loved ones, you’d never get to finish at all. Who else is going to be there at the side of the road, passing you water and encouraging you when you think you’re out of steam? So while my family passed me those refreshments and waved their pompoms while I staggered by, writing with a partner this time means I had someone at the finish line to finally feel what I feel, and Laura, bravo. I’m proud of you.
L
AURA
: First, a special thank you to my family for cooking their own dinners, and doing all the laundry, and for entertaining the four-under-four, and most of all for telling everyone you know that mom just sold a book, and yes, you’re going to get a copy for your birthday. Your support means the world to me and I can’t tell you with words how truly special each and every sacrifice you’ve made—even those with complaints—is to me. To the Plot Queens for helping me learn the craft of writing and giving me the skills I needed to see this dream come true. And to the SG Cheerleaders—Tag-team sisters Cheryl and Deb (don’t worry, Deb, you’re still Captain of the squad as promised!), Jess, and Krysta, thank you for picking up your pom-poms and glowing words of praise for each and every milestone we cross.
Sable Grace would like to take this opportunity to apologize for destroying the world, most especially the beautiful city of St. Augustine. Rest assured, you will be rebuilt! It takes a lot of people and a lot of work to rebuild from devastation, and so we’d like to thank the men and women who rise to the challenge every day to rebuild what nature and mankind have destroyed—those who get their hands dirty and spend their days saving lives and hunting the true monsters of this world. Military and civilian, you have our whole-hearted thanks and love.
We would like to thank our amazing agent, Roberta Brown, for believing in a new idea that could have been an enormous pain in her ass. We’d also like to thank the amazing team at Avon Books, most especially Erika Tsang, our fantastic editor, who wasn’t afraid to make us work and believed we could . . . over and over! Amanda Bergeron, thank you for the final thoughts, and the art department and sales team that made us so excited for our debut, we’ve been impossible to be around. We’d also like to thank Detective C.C. Aiple of the St. Augustine Police Department for agreeing to answer any questions we might have while writing this series and for doing the job you do. One last special thanks goes to Hunter Waters for naming Kyana. We hope one day, when you’re old enough to read this stuff, that she does you proud.
SABLE GRACE
is the writing team of Heather Waters and Laura Barone, long-time critique partners and friends who came together by fluke to discover their voices fit together quite nicely during a writing experiment. The story became far too interesting to put down and Sable Grace was born.
Both Heather and Laura reside in Florida, are happily married to their real-life heroes, and are, well, complete opposites. Still, there’s enough common ground for them to weave their words together in the voice of Sable Grace.
You can reach them both at [email protected] or visit their website at www.sablegrace.com.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ASCENSION
. Copyright © 2011 by Heather Waters and Laura Barone. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition May 2011 ISBN: 9780062079183
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