These Divided Shores, page 39
Teo hurled himself at Jakes, who caught him and stumbled back with a smile. Teo waved the ball, talking high and fast in a mix of Argridian and the Grace Lorayan dialect, his smile impossibly large.
No. Not impossible. His smile was exactly as it should be.
Lu hadn’t been able to tell him about Tom yet. She wasn’t sure, at this point, how she ever would. For now, Teo had settled into the suite of rooms she shared with Kari in the castle.
“Do you hate him? Tom, I mean,” Lu whispered.
A pause, and Kari dropped her chin, meeting Lu’s gaze.
Those were definitely tears. A lingering grief.
“Nothing is that simple, Adeluna,” Kari returned. “Especially not your father. But at the end of it all, he gave me you.” She cupped Lu’s face in her hands. “And that”—she inhaled, the breath tripping—“is all I need.”
Lu smiled. She smiled through her tears. She smiled through the broken pieces of her heart that would never truly heal. She smiled through scars and memories and pain, through aches that were as familiar to her as her mother’s face.
Lu smiled and, impossibly, her smile felt as large as Teo’s.
Devereux Bell was nineteen, and he was happy.
“Here, help me lift this—ohh, that’s right. You can’t.”
Vex shot Nayeli a look from where he sat on a crate, sorting through a stack of nets to find the ones that hadn’t been damaged beyond repair. Ahead of him, Nayeli half lifted a broken barrel, and she sagged, overdramatically acting as if she’d drop it.
“Really?” He scratched at the bandages under his shirt. “Sticking with the injury jokes pretty hard, are you? You’ll have to find something else to mock when my rib heals.”
Nayeli shrugged and dropped the barrel into the pile of rubble she’d made. “Well, if you could handle your magic like a normal person, you wouldn’t have to heal on your own. I have weeks of poor broken Vex jokes ahead of me.”
Vex made an inappropriate gesture at her. But he smiled.
Yeah, he did have weeks of healing ahead of him. Weeks of what he felt now—itching along his nerves, wounds binding together.
His body, working to make him stronger. His body, doing amazing things.
“What did she say?” asked Ben, through the Budwig in Vex’s ear.
“Ben’s not yet to Argrid. He says he’ll send his armada back to Grace Loray to kick your ass for me,” Vex told her.
“Don’t promise things like that! It’s too fresh still.”
“Kidding.” Vex waved his hands, looking around at anyone who might’ve overheard. But the only people nearby were other raiders, focused on cleaning the wharf. “You hear, everyone? Kidding. Ben has no plans to send an armada to Grace Loray. For now.”
“Vex!”
“Seriously, what’s with you?” Vex adjusted the bean in his ear. “Gunnar not calming you down enough?”
“Hilarious.”
“Hey, you went six years without my delightful personality in your life. Gotta make up for lost time.”
Cansu came up behind Nayeli.
Speaking of lost time.
The two of them talked, low and quiet; then Nayeli kissed her. Cansu blushed. Nayeli kissed her again, and again, until she was chasing Cansu across the wharf, shouting over-the-top declarations of love in Thuti.
“Oh, I thought of a great wedding present for you,” Vex told Ben.
Nayeli and Cansu raced past Kari and Lu, who halted some conversation they’d been having. Lu laughed, the sound pulling Vex to his feet. He started forward.
“You don’t need to send a gift—oh, Gunnar is informing me that it is rude to refuse gifts. I think being the king’s consort is already going to his head.”
“He’ll like this gift. You both will, I promise.” Vex grinned. “It’s a crate of Extin.”
Ben barked a laugh. “The plant that makes its taker fireproof? You’re awful.”
“Brilliant, you mean.”
“No, awful—Gunnar! Thank you for that, Vex, you’ve given him all sorts of ideas.”
“My pleasure.” Vex stopped behind Lu.
In front of her, Teo kicked a small leather ball back and forth with Jakes. Lu laughed again, her hand on Kari’s arm, joy pouring out of her in a wave that drew Vex from shadows into sunlight.
Noises started coming through the Budwig that Vex might have joked about but didn’t particularly want to hear.
“All right. I think I’m just gonna— You don’t care. Talk to you soon.” Vex pulled the Budwig out of his ear and stuck it in his pocket.
But he was glad Ben had someone, that he wouldn’t have to take on the daunting task of Argrid all on his own.
Though Ben wouldn’t be on his own, not anymore. Vex might be on Grace Loray, but part of him would always be in Deza. And when Ben needed him, he’d be there this time. No more hiding. No more running.
Vex closed the space between himself and Lu to thread his arms around her waist. She leaned back into him, looking up to press her lips to his cheek, a spot she could access more easily now that he didn’t wear his eye patch.
Apparently, Ben’s healing potion could smooth his scar away. But Vex wasn’t sure he’d ever willingly take magic again, even to fix his mangled eye socket.
Which shocked the hell out of him, that he had gotten to a point of . . . not confidence with it, but acceptance.
Jakes overkicked the ball to Teo and fell to the ground. Teo tackled him, rampant with joy as Jakes grabbed him back and tickled him all over.
Lu hooked her hand around Vex’s neck. The lake water lapped at the wharf and Teo giggled, raiders worked to better this island around them, and its citizens watched in cautious hope.
They all had to change. They all had to make up for what had happened and the things they’d done. But as far as Vex was concerned, this was his redemption: happiness.
Acknowledgments
And with that, my loves, another series comes to an end! Thank you for following me through Grace Loray. Thank you for opening your hearts and bookshelves to Lu, Vex, and Ben. The only reason I get to make a living in fantastical worlds is because of readers like YOU, who so thoughtfully pour your hearts into these books right alongside me. Thank you from Grace Loray to Argrid and back!
I must specifically call out the many, many people who work just as hard on my books as I do. Kristin Rens, who continues to chip away the rubble from my work to reveal the glittering jewels beneath. Mackenzie Bray Watson proves with each new book that she is the Super Agent of all Super Agents, and this journey would be infinitely rockier without her. Actually, this journey would be a helluva lot rockier without the entire Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins Children’s team as well: Kelsey Murphy, Michelle Taormina, Alison Donalty, Renée Cafiero, Mark Rifkin, Allison Brown, Olivia Russo, Bess Braswell, Sabrina Abballe, Michael D’Angelo, Jane Lee, Tyler Breitfeller; and, always and forever, Jeff Huang, who makes the best cover art, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
Thank you to writer friends, near and far and on social media, who rally and cheer and comfort. Kristen Simmons (next up: OUR BOOK BABY!), Evelyn Skye, Lisa Maxwell, Kristen Lippert-Martin, Olivia, Danielle, Anne, Natalie, Claire, Akshaya, Janella, Madeleine, Melissa Lee, Rae Loverde, Margaret Rogerson, Vina (her generous donation earned her her name in this book!), and so many more, I am always petrified that I’ll forget someone, so I will just say: if your name should be here and it isn’t, I will properly grovel at your feet in apology, but know I love you dearly.
Five books in, and my family still gets excited for me. Kelson and Oliver, Doug and Mary Jo, Melinda; my delightful, supportive extended family—the love you give me is the greatest magic I could ever hope for.
(If you don’t end your acknowledgments section on a sappy note, did you REALLY write an acknowledgments section?)
About the Author
Photo credit Joodie Photo, LLC
SARA RAASCH has known she was destined for bookish things since the age of five, when her friends had a lemonade stand and she tagged along to sell her hand-drawn picture books too. Not much has changed since then: her friends still cock concerned eyebrows when she attempts to draw things, and her enthusiasm for the written word still drives her to extreme measures. She is also the New York Times bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series and These Rebel Waves. You can visit her online at www.sararaaschbooks.com and @seesarawrite on Twitter.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Books by Sara Raasch
Snow Like Ashes
Ice Like Fire
Frost Like Night
These Rebel Waves
These Divided Shores
Set Fire to the Gods
Back Ad
DISCOVER
your next favorite read
MEET
new authors to love
WIN
free books
SHARE
infographics, playlists, quizzes, and more
WATCH
the latest videos
www.epicreads.com
Copyright
Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THESE DIVIDED SHORES. Copyright © 2019 by Sara Raasch. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
Cover art by Jeff Huang
Cover design by Michelle Taormina
* * *
Digital Edition AUGUST 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-247155-0
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-247153-6
ISBN 978-0-06-247153-6 (tr.) — ISBN 978-0-06-294202-9 (int.)
* * *
1920212223PC/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 4E3
www.harpercollins.ca
India
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida
Uttar Pradesh 201 301
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com
Sara Raasch, These Divided Shores
