Dead of Knight (The Gryphonpike Chronicles Book 4) (6 page)

“To Ramsport, it is decided.” Azyrin stroked his wife’s hair.

My lips curved in a tiny smile. Life was almost back to normal, our bodies and our spirits healing slowly.

“So, dipwing,” Makha said to Rahiel, her voice carrying only the slightest hitch of pain as she shifted position, “Maybe time you tell us all about how you came to be traveling with the consort of a goddess?”

Bill, curled up next to Rahiel on a pillow, raised his head and snuffled-snorted, bumping his pink nose into the pixie-goblin’s thin shoulder.

“He says I can tell you,” Rahiel said. “But it is rather a long story.”

“Osh, according to our healers here, we got ourselves at least a week,” Drake said with an exaggerated wink.

“Tomorrow, then,” Rahiel said, another sigh shaking her body, which she shifted into a yawn. “I’m exhausted.”

I slipped out the open doors of the temple, searching out Fade and my usual evening solitude. Stars glittered above me, pinpricks of light dancing and winking in the darkness. Fade appeared beside me, his big head bumping into my healthy hip. It still caused me to stagger a little, sending a phantom jolt of pain through my hurt leg.

One more deed down. One more step closer to regaining my rightful power and going home.

I stood on the hill overlooking the village, my eyes turning away from the stars and toward the fire-lit glow coming from the temple.

I wanted my voice back. I wanted my power back. And yet, a different kind of longing filled me now, pushing on the desire to go home. My heart was splitting, I realized. For although somewhere in those myriad stars above lay the world Between and my people, I also now felt a pull toward that tiny glow in the temple, toward the gentle laughter and murmur of familiar voices that drifted out through the still, warm air.

Where is home now?
I wondered.
Where, indeed.

* * * * *

Want to read more fantasy by Annie Bellet?
Find additional exciting adventures following Killer and her friends.

If you want to be notified when the next Annie Bellet novel or collection is released, please sign up for the mailing list by going to: http://tinyurl.com/anniebellet. Your email address will never be shared, you will never be spammed, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Word-of-mouth and reviews are vital for any author to succeed. If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review wherever you purchased it. Even a few lines sharing your thoughts on this story would be extremely helpful for other readers. Thank you!

Also by Annie Bellet:

The Gryphonpike Chronicles:

Witch Hunt

Twice Drowned Dragon

A Stone’s Throw

The Barrows: Omnibus Volume One

The Twenty-Sided Sorceress:

Justice Calling

Murder of Crows

Pack of Lies

Chwedl Duology:

A Heart in Sun and Shadow

The Raven King

Pyrrh Considerable Crimes Division Series:

Avarice

Short Story Collections:

Forgotten Tigers and Other Stories

River Daughter and Other Stories

Till Human Voices Wake Us

* * *

About the Author:

Annie Bellet lives and writes in the Pacific NW. She is the author of
The Twenty-Sided Sorceress
and the
Gryphonpike Chronicles
series. Follow her on her blog at
“A Little Imagination”

* * *