Sky Breaker (Night Spinner Duology), Addie Thorley [100 books to read in a lifetime txt] 📗

Ghoa’s probably putting her up to it. Laughing at me from the Eternal Blue.” Serik scowls at the horse, but he also reaches out and strokes her neck affectionately. Proudly, even.

“I think you’re a good match,” I say as I throw myself into Serik’s arms.

“Not half as good as this match.” He pulls me into him, murmuring into my hair, and I marvel for the hundredth time at how my head fits beneath his chin, as if the space had been chiseled just for me. At how his arms curl around my body, knowing just how to cradle my injuries.

“I’ve missed you,” I say, fisting his sunburst cloak—the only part of him that still smells faintly of pine ink and prayer scrolls. He was given a new one, of course, as part of his Kalima uniform, but he “lost” it almost immediately.

“You wouldn’t have to miss me if you changed your mind and decided to rejoin the Kalima….” Serik whispers.

With a snap of my fingers, Orbai dives through the swiftly encroaching darkness and screeches as she skims over Serik’s head. Close enough that he curses and ducks.

“Well, hello to you, too,” he calls as she banks around an outcropping of rock to have a second go at him. “I was going to tell you how much I’ve missed you, but it’s clear the feeling isn’t mutual.” He shakes his head ruefully and turns back to me. “Are you ready?”

I lace my fingers through Serik’s and nod.

Sangatha has been rebuilt in the ten years since Ghoa took me in—and nearly everyone I knew perished in the fire—but the winding streets are still well-worn paths in my memory. My feet carry me to my first home as if I never left it.

As we pass, people poke their heads from their huts to stare at us—at Serik, more specifically—and I’m more than happy for the shield. For the blissful anonymity. Between him and the thickening night, I’m hardly more than a shadow.

A new house has been erected where mine once stood. Thick and sturdy, with a freshly thatched roof. Smoke rises from a vent in the top and candlelight wavers in the windows, but I circle the hut anyway until I find a knob protruding from one of the wooden slats.

“What are you doing?” Serik demands as I pull myself up.

“What does it look like I’m doing? Climbing to the roof.”

“You can’t just climb other people’s houses!”

“Don’t tell me the army’s making you into a rule follower,” I tease as I heft my leg over the edge.

Serik mutters curses and fumbles around, looking for somewhere to tie Tabana, before finally joining me. “Is this really necessary?” he demands. “Couldn’t we have just looked at it from the ground?”

“No,” I say without further explanation.

Up here, with the darkness and the stars, is where I’ve always felt my parents strongest.

Serik gives my fingers a squeeze and we slip into silence. In that silence, I hear the screams and snapping flames from the day my village burned. But I also hear an entire childhood’s worth of laughter and heartfelt prayers. So many memories I had all but forgotten.

“Tell me about them,” Serik urges, even though I’ve told him about my parents a hundred times. But I tell him again.

Once more.

And he listens attentively to every word.

By the end of it, I’m sobbing and shivering and I don’t protest when Serik pulls me against his chest and covers me with his cloak. “Do you want me to scrounge up some heat? Sometimes I can still summon a spark.”

I shake my head and take a deep, burning breath into my lungs, holding it as long as possible. “I actually prefer a bit of cold these days,” I whisper.

“Funny, me too,” Serik says, and we look upward, into the infinite expanse of sky.

It may be my bleary eyes, desperate to find a glimmer of movement in the blackness, but I swear I see the Lady of the Sky and Ghoa looking down on us. Smiling.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

EVEN THOUGH THIS IS MY THIRD BOOK, IT’S THE FIRST SEQUEL I’ve had the opportunity to write (fingers crossed the future holds more!) and it was a very different beast from my stand-alone novels. The characters and world were already created—which you’d think would make the process easier—but I found myself needing to delve in even deeper and immerse myself more fully in this world, which meant I was much less present and available in the real world.

With that in mind, it only seems fair to thank my family first.

A million hugs and kisses to Sam, the world’s most supportive and understanding husband. It nearly broke my heart when you said you feel like you haven’t seen me in a year. I know I have a tendency to be a bit obsessive and hyper-focused, but you never complain. Thank you for encouraging me to defend my writing time and for happily playing with Kaia all weekend so I can squeeze in more words. Thank you for cheering the loudest and insisting I’m the greatest whenever I start to panic and doubt. None of this would be possible without you. I love you so much.

Kaia, you may not know how to read yet, but you definitely know how to uplift and inspire me. Thank you for sprinting straight to the YA section in every bookstore to find “Mama’s books.” Thank you for telling your friends that your favorite characters are Enebish and Orbai instead of Anna and Elsa. And thank you for insisting that I stop writing so we can read more Fancy Nancy. You keep me focused on what’s most important!

I’m so thankful to the Hair and Thorley clans for their excitement and support. I seriously have the best family in the world. A special shout-out to my nieces and nephews. There’s nothing better than getting texts from you guys as you read. Thank you for telling me you’d like my books even if we weren’t related—I consider it the highest compliment!

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