The Journey is Just Beginning

 

The hunt for Edmund and the mission to save Ryland continues in Eyes of Ember, the second book of the Imdalind Series. Are you ready to dive back in? Joclyn, Ryland, and Ilyan are waiting for you.

 

“It takes a special kind of author to put you in book bliss, and to write a book as well as this one.” – Book Squirrel ★★★★★

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Ready to Dive In? Enjoy This Excerpt

“Been busy have we?” Ilyan said, his lips pulled up in a half smile.

“I wouldn’t call it busy.” I pulled myself to standing and stretched my joints out a bit. My body was supercharged after the Tȍuha, though strangely stiff from sitting. I glanced toward the digital clock on the floor. I had been sitting for twenty minutes which meant I had been with Ryland for a little over two hours. We had done the math when I first started having to visit the Tȍuha every day. Two hours in the Tȍuha was equal to about twenty minutes of real time, and it was a good thing it wasn’t the other way around because I needed about forty minutes of real time in the Tȍuha for my body to stay perfectly strong.

“More like stressful and confusing.”

“Hmmmm, yes,” Ilyan said, moving away from me. “Ovailia called me.”

“Great,” I grumbled, dreading his response to my foolish phone call, however instead of yelling, Ilyan only smiled.

“Don’t worry, Silnỳ, despite Ovailia’s best efforts, I am not upset with you. I have decided that the one who kept things from me in the first place should be the one to gain the punishments.”

“So Ovailia’s in trouble?” I said.

“I don’t know what you qualify as being ‘in trouble’, but she is no longer acting in my stead, that role has been taken over by Talon.”

“Talon?” While he seemed the obvious choice, something about changing leadership in Prague made me worried.

“Yes, Silnỳ. This would not be the first time he acted in my name. Many years ago, before Ovailia returned to us, it was expected that Talon would take my place if I was to pass.”

Ilyan cocked his head to the side and looked at me heavily, his eyes digging into my soul.

“Why are you worried?” he asked.

I sighed and joined Ilyan in the kitchen. “I don’t know. Something feels off, like a snake has wound itself up my spine.” Ilyan raised an eyebrow at me, or perhaps at my odd description.

“Shouldn’t we be running back to Prague right about now? I mean someone is ‘crying’ information about us all over the city.”

“You mean the bunker?” he asked, his eyebrow still raised.

“Excuse me?”

Ilyan narrowed his eyes and pulled out our two juice glasses. “Everyone is confined underground, in the side of a mountain near the city of Prague. When we say Prague we mean our bunker. So someone is going around our underground bunker—not the city—crying and doing who knows what.”

Everyone had made Prague sound like this wonderful place, but if it was really just hiding under a mountain, it sounded just as terrible as the tiny room I had been trapped in.

“Shouldn’t we go back, though? Make sure everything is okay?”

When Ilyan came over to stand next to me, I craned my head to look up at him, his face soft and concerned. He reached out and placed his hand against the side of my face, his fingertips tracing the rough lines of my mark as always. I didn’t move away from him; I didn’t flinch. I only stood there, my heart thumping a bit at the contact.

“I would if I thought something was wrong, but I am not sure if I do, yet. Talon will be looking into it for me. I will keep you safe, Silnỳ, that I promise you.”

“My Protector.” I had barely spoken above a whisper, but he still heard me, making me regret my words. His face darkened as his hand dropped from my face to a tight hold against my elbow.

“Ah, yes.” He said softly before moving away from me. “That is another thing, please don’t go to Ovailia for answers. I keep things from you because you are not ready to hear them. You will not receive the truths you are looking for from Ovailia. She will only paint a canvas with lies to manipulate you.”

“If she is going to manipulate me, then why do you trust her?” I had expected him to be angry at my impolite question, instead he only spoke quietly to me.

“I trust her because of what she has done to redeem herself. I trust her because, out of all of my siblings, she is the one who has stood by me. She may not be the best in character, but she is the best on word. So, for now, I will trust her.”

Ilyan’s voice had strengthened into that commanding tone I had grown so used to. I fought the urge to sink into my sweater and hide from him. Instead, I took a deep breath and looked at him firmly.

“So you will trust her with every bit of information about me, but you will not give me the same information?” I tried to keep my voice level, yet I wasn’t sure it had worked. My anger flared with each word. The darkness in Ilyan’s face faded away, but I barely noticed.

“I have not told her everything about you, only enough so that she understands my position.”

“Which is…?” I prompted, but Ilyan only raised an eyebrow at me.

“I will tell you when you are ready, Silnỳ.” Ilyan said simply, which only added to my frustration.

“Why can’t I be ready now?”

“Because I am not the one to tell you.”

“Then who is?” I spat, my hands slamming hard against the countertop.

“You will know him when you meet him.” Ilyan’s voice raised to match mine, and I cowered, slinking away from him. I was fuming a bit too much, even for my taste.

The Journey is Just Beginning

Eyes of ember Book Cover

Books Available on Kindle Books on Nook

 

The hunt for Edmund and the mission to save Ryland continues in Eyes of Ember, the second book of the Imdalind Series. Are you ready to dive back in? Joclyn, Ryland, and Ilyan are waiting for you.

 

“It takes a special kind of author to put you in book bliss, and to write a book as well as this one.” – Book Squirrel ★★★★★

 



Want all the News From Rebecca Ethington?

Subscribe to my no spam newsletter for updates, new release announcements and more!

Ready to Dive In? Enjoy This Excerpt

“Been busy have we?” Ilyan said, his lips pulled up in a half smile.

“I wouldn’t call it busy.” I pulled myself to standing and stretched my joints out a bit. My body was supercharged after the Tȍuha, though strangely stiff from sitting. I glanced toward the digital clock on the floor. I had been sitting for twenty minutes which meant I had been with Ryland for a little over two hours. We had done the math when I first started having to visit the Tȍuha every day. Two hours in the Tȍuha was equal to about twenty minutes of real time, and it was a good thing it wasn’t the other way around because I needed about forty minutes of real time in the Tȍuha for my body to stay perfectly strong.

“More like stressful and confusing.”

“Hmmmm, yes,” Ilyan said, moving away from me. “Ovailia called me.”

“Great,” I grumbled, dreading his response to my foolish phone call, however instead of yelling, Ilyan only smiled.

“Don’t worry, Silnỳ, despite Ovailia’s best efforts, I am not upset with you. I have decided that the one who kept things from me in the first place should be the one to gain the punishments.”

“So Ovailia’s in trouble?” I said.

“I don’t know what you qualify as being ‘in trouble’, but she is no longer acting in my stead, that role has been taken over by Talon.”