Saturday 13 August 2016

The Powers of Callaire: 500 Words

Hi everyone! To celebrate the impending release of The Powers of Callaire, I'm releasing 500 words of the book per day. Come back to Words From Saruuh each day to read the first 2 chapters!


Fourth 500:

 “Yas.” Guy kicks my chair leg. The movement sends my stomach lurching; the smell of toast and bacon has already done a good job of making me queasy. “Eat something.”

“It’s cold,” I reply. It’s an excuse but I can’t stomach anything. Being imprisoned has killed my appetite.

“It started out hot,” Guy grumbles. He leans over my shoulder to snag a croissant and sets it in front of me. Voice low, he tells me, “Rip little bits off at a time. Your stomach’ll handle it better like that.” At my questioning glance he adds, “I don’t feel like eating at the best of times. Learned a couple lessons along the way.”

“Thanks,” I mumble because it’s the right thing to say. I rip off a tiny corner of the croissant and swallow it with effort. Guy’s hand brushes my shoulder as he moves away, satisfied. Eating slowly, I avoid the firm stare Cornelia’s aiming at me. I’m spared of whatever she’s about to say when Fearne gets up from the table and Rowan skids across the tiles to follow her.

“Ro,” she snaps. “This is the kitchen. You don’t have to be up my ass every second—nothing can hurt me here.”

“You so sure about that?” he whisper-shouts back. “Last I checked we had an Incar in the house and we never knew about it. That bastard could have done anything—”

Fearne covers his mouth with her hand, glares at him until he shuts up. “You’re overreacting.”

What little I ate of the croissant now churns in my stomach. I hide my shaking hands under the table. I wish I couldn’t feel Rowan’s fury through my Psychic, wish I didn’t know how badly he’s out for her blood—even though he knows it’s not her fault, that she’s possessed. I don’t know who told the Red what happened in the Legend Mirror, about the Incar of truth using my friend to attack Fray and Amity with a wall of fire, about the Golems who stabbed Fray, about Fray using her newfound Majick to heal herself. About that Majick not being enough for her to survive the trip home.

My chair legs squeal on the floor as I push away from the table. Fearne and Rowan continue to argue in hissed undertones but Mavers, Guy, and Minnie all make to follow me. I clench my jaw, shake my head at them. I want to be alone. They’re understanding enough to give me space.

Cornelia isn’t.


She marches down the corridor and follows me into the comforting old paper scent of the library. I head for the far wall where two tall windows let bright morning light fall across the honey wood bookcases. Through the glass, the village of Tabor’s Foot is just visible through the line of trees braced on the edge of the mountain. Snaking through the grass at the feet of the trees, arcing in a perfect curve, is the shimmer of the Ward. This is my favourite view from the Academy. It’s peaceful and comforting. This is the place I feel most safe.

Come back tomorrow for the next 500 words of The Powers of Callaire!!


Yasmin’s girlfriend is dead, but she will stop at nothing to bring Fray back. Even if that means going to the Otherland and making a bargain with the Ruler of All Souls. If Yasmin finds Pluto’s lost power, they’ll return Fray’s soul to her body.

Yasmin’s search takes her, and two of her friends, from Bucharest to France to Wales, and exposes a horrifying secret with Venus, Yasmin’s mother, at the heart of it. With a murderous, fiery god and the incarnation of death in her way, Yasmin will have to compromise her morals and harness the Legendary power in her veins. If she fails, Fray’s soul will be lost forever.



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