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!

Last 500:

“How’s Priscilla?” I ask instead.

Cornelia shakes her head, her gaze fixed on the green book. I can’t see the title from here but the way she’s fixated on it, it could hold the answers to defeating Numina. “She’s mostly sleeping. She woke up once to eat and drink something, and she recognised me but—”

At the strangled quality of her voice, I slide from the seat and put my arms around her. I expect her to push me away or for fingernails to dig into my sides but she only holds onto me tightly. I wait for her to continue at her own pace.

“She asked for Fray instead of me,” she says through gritted teeth.

“Because you were there,” I say gently. “If you hadn’t been there, she’d have asked for you.”

“You don’t know that.”

I pause, thinking my words through. “If I woke up after going through what Priscilla did, I’d ask for Guy and Mavers. I’d ask for my brothers.”

She nods against my shoulder, the movement clipped. “I’d ask for Priscilla.”

“See? She’d have asked for you, I know, if you weren’t there.”

“Maybe you’re right.” She pulls away and savagely wipes her face to obliterate any evidence of tears. 

When she lowers her hands, she’s composed, even if her eyes are red and her cheeks flushed. She takes a deep breath, then surprises me by saying, “Tell me what you need, Yasmin. Whatever I can do to help you get to the Otherland, ask me. I don’t care what the others say—they’re too worried about you to see clearly. You need to get to Pluto and you need to make that bargain; I see that even if they don’t.” She touches my arm fleetingly. “Priscilla needs me to stay here with her, and there’s absolutely no way I’m leaving her when she’s this sick, but you can ask me for anything else. You know I’ll do it.”

My eyes prick with tears. I almost hug her again but I know she won’t allow it now she’s in control of her emotions. Instead I nod, throat tight, and say, “I love you, Cornelia. I’m glad you’re my friend.”

Cornelia traces the grain in the nearest bookshelf, murmurs, “I love you too.”

I smile. “I have a sort-of-plan to get there. But there’s no way I can get anywhere with Guy and Fearne watching the Ward. I think my brother will know when I pass through—he’s expecting me to leave. He’ll be ready to stop me.”

“Yes,” Cornelia agrees, her mouth pursed. “I bet he will.”

“I might be able to get through at night, when Fearne’s asleep. She won’t be watching the Ward as closely as Guy, not for people leaving, just people trying to get in. I hope. I’m kind of pinning my one shot on that.”

She nods. “That seems safe to assume.”

“But Guy’s never gonna let me through, not even when he’s sleeping, and he hardly ever goes to bed lately.”

Cornelia rubs the bridge of her nose. “You want me to distract him.”

“I need you to distract him. The only problem is I don’t know how.”

She drops her hand, smirks. “I have an idea. I’ll steal his precious journal.”

“He doesn’t let it out of his sight, though.”

Cornelia pats my shoulder. “Don’t worry about that. I’m a skilled pickpocket. Just tell me when you plan to leave and I’ll make sure he’s not paying attention to the Ward.”

I really hope you enjoyed this The Powers of Callaire excerpt!! The book comes out TOMORROW, and you can get the first book free right now!

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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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!

Fifth 500:

I curl up on the padded seat in front of one window, poking yellow filling back through a hole in the leather cover, and wait for Cornelia to join me.

“Rowan’s a prick,” she says with a sharp smile, moving my feet so she can sit. The light turns her blond hair white, her fair skin even paler. She looks innocent and unassuming but the personality that lurks under that saintly veneer is wicked. I return her smile and lean my head against the glass.

“He’s not,” I say. “He’s just scared.”

“Scared boys do stupid things. Fear makes them dangerous—they make mistakes.”

“Everyone makes mistakes,” I argue.

“Men make more than us.”

I glance at her, amused. “So you’re not interested in boys, then?”

“Oh, I’m interested in them.” She flicks her hair over one shoulder, scowling at the strip of carpet down the aisle. “I’m just not happy about it.”

I laugh, a deep rumbling thing that’s as much beast as it is girl. This is what I need—something to distract me. “Are you interested in anyone in particular?” When her cheeks redden and she swears, aware of her blush, I sit up, crossing my legs under me. “You are.”

“That’s irrelevant,” she barks. “Let’s talk about Rowan being deplorable instead.”

“Who is it?” I’ve never had this, the eager giddiness of knowing one of your friends has a crush. Minnie and Ran were obvious from the start, Vic was already halfway in a relationship with Alice when I found out he liked someone, and Willa, my best friend outside the Red, was dating her boyfriend long before I knew them. But Cornelia, sharp, fearsome Cornelia, having a crush on someone? I need to know. “Best friends tell each other their secrets,” I insist.

She raises a perfectly-shaped eyebrow. “Best friends?”

“You helped me save my girlfriend. And I helped you save your sister, didn’t I? Sort of? That’s a bond for life.”

Cornelia pats a tuft of my hair. “That doesn’t mean I’m confessing anything.”

“It’s not a confession. Like I said—secret.” She glares in response, so I take to persuasion. “It’d help me forget about … everything. At least for a while.”

“That’s a terrible incentive.” She shakes her head, debates with herself. “If I tell you it’s nobody you know, will that satisfy you?”

 “So it’s someone I know?”

Cornelia pushes to her feet and inspects a nearby bookcase. She slides a moss green book from the shelf and frowns at it. “Fine. Yes. And that’s all I’m saying.”

I smile to myself. “Thank you for telling me.”

Cornelia makes a noise in the back of her throat. “Don’t thank me.” She leans against the bookcase, her face turned to the fan blades whirring overhead. “Thank you for being interested. It’s been a while since anyone asked me about boys.” She laughs. “I haven’t missed it but it’s nice to be asked anyway.”

“If you want me to carry on asking …”

“Absolutely not,” she sputters. My eyes widen at the sight of Cornelia flustered. She really likes him, whoever he is. But she’s not ready to tell me who he is and I respect that. I drop the interrogation.

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

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.

BUY ON AMAZON UK

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ADD TO GOODREADS

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.

BUY ON AMAZON UK

BUY ON AMAZON US

ADD TO GOODREADS

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!

Third 500:

Every time my mind trips over it, that word I refuse to think, it gets a little less painful. I’m worried I’m slowly shutting down my emotions, but if that’s what helps me get Fray’s soul back, I’m not going to complain. And she’s not really gone anyway, not completely. She’s in an unchanging state, kept safe in my Earth Majick where nothing can hurt her. What would happen if you didn’t get her soul back, a reluctant voice asks. Would she stay youthful and unmoving until the end of time?

I ignore it.

I push to my feet, leaving her there, protected by Earth Majick and an ancient oak tree.

“Thank you,” I say to Cornelia. At least someone believes I’m doing the right thing. I glance from Minnie’s crumpled face to Rowan’s guarded expression to Vic, scuffing his feet on the floor, and know I’ll find no support there. Maybe they’re just worried for me, maybe they just want to protect me, but don’t they know protecting me will only ensure Fray dies for real?

As if facing an executioner, I turn to Guy. His eyes are narrowed, his brown skin flushed with anger. “You’re not going anywhere.”

That’s a death sentence to Fray. Why can’t they see that? Or do they? Do they know keeping me here means Fray’s permanent death, and they just don’t care? Have they weighed my life against hers and found Fray lacking? A rumble builds deep in my chest, fury rousing the Manticore. If they’re not careful, I might choose to let the beast in my blood take over. If it saves Fray, I’ll abandon my human-like self altogether.

“Fine,” I spit. “Lock me up.”

“Yasmin?” Cornelia lets me lean on her for support. “What did you do?”

“I made her safe,” I reply in a flat voice.

I’ll find a way out. I’ll do whatever it takes.

  

chapter two

Guy didn’t exactly lock me up but he did lurk outside my bedroom all night; I could smell his aftershave through the door. I sat folded up on my window sill, staring out at the trees and shadows on the Academy grounds, missing my flat, missing Fray. I sat there most of the night until finally, near dawn, with my eyes struggling to stay open, I crawled into bed and slept fitfully.

Over a tense breakfast, with all the Red squashed into the narrow kitchen, elbows jostling for room among the plates and jars and cereal boxes on the table, Amity tells us she stole something from Laverna’s house—from her mother. It’s a journal, battered and leather, and written in a Numen language. Luckily, Guy can translate it. In a hopeful voice, Am says it might hold some answers. Maybe the Rogues’ plan. Maybe when they’re going to strike at us, how much time we have left. Something, at least.

I try very hard to care about the journal—distantly, I know it’s important—but all I can think about is Fray, forever in stasis.

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.

BUY ON AMAZON UK

BUY ON AMAZON US

ADD TO GOODREADS

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!

Second 500:

Eventually, I start to feel things again. The scrape on my jaw stings, for some reason my hand is pulsing as if it’s swelling up, and my courage has sunk all the way to my boots. “I hate you,” I growl but my words are muffled by Guy’s hoodie. He’s peeled me from the floor and propped me up against his chest. That explains the rank aftershave chemicals on the back of my tongue. “You are the worst,” I add for good measure.

“I know,” he sighs. “Tried to stop you getting yourself killed and I dislocated your shoulder.”

“Is that what happened? It got dislocated?”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh.” I push to to my feet and despite a perilous wobble, I stay upright. My arm is entirely numb, shoulder to wrist. I fold my arms around myself when I see everyone’s eyes on me. All the Red followed me out apparently, even our newest member, Steph.

“Are you ready to listen to us now?” Mavers asks tentatively, one of his hands hovering as if to touch me.

“I’ve already listened to everything you have to say,” I say slowly, “and it didn’t change anything. If I don’t go to Pluto, Fray will die—really die. But there’s a chance I can save her. I was shown that in a vision for a reason. I have to do this, and I want to do it, so there’s nothing you can say to stop me. Please stop trying.”

I call on my newly returned Earth Majick, peeling the roots away from the tree, pulling up dirt and leaves and grass until a space has been created, big enough to hold her.

“I can’t let you go there, Yasmin,” Mavers says, but I can sense he’s given up trying to convince me. Amity puts a hand on his arm to comfort him but he flinches. I don’t have the space in my mind to think about how complicated everything has become in the Red. I want to find a dark room and lie down and forget everything that happened in the last few months, but I can’t. I’d only just found Fray, only just saved her from Incar and seen her save herself, when she died. I want to laugh at the cruelty of it but that would only make me look mad.

“I’d go with you, Yasmin,” Cornelia says when a harsh silence falls. I meet her eyes and nod. She can’t leave her sister behind, not when she’s so sick. Unlike Fray, Priscilla survived the trip from the Legend Mirror to Earth. Mavers thinks it’s because Priscilla was further along in the transition from Legendary to … whatever they are now. Cornelia said Priscilla’s childhood in the Legend Mirror could have saved her. But we don’t know anything for sure. The only thing that’s certain is Priscilla is sick from her exposure to raw Majick and whatever else the Incar did to her, and Fray is … gone.

I lay Fray in a cradle of earth, safe in the roots of the tree, and I use my power to form a protective web around her of ivy and vines.

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.

BUY ON AMAZON UK

BUY ON AMAZON US

ADD TO GOODREADS

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!

First 500:

A rope of Akasha lashes out and binds my arms and legs.

Fray falls to the ground as soon as the gateway spits us out. She hits the floor of Almery Wood with a terrifying thud. No cry. No reaction.

I twist my body, trying to free myself, snapping my teeth. I was calm while we walked from Almery to the Academy, all the way through our explanation of what we found in the Legend Mirror and what happened after. But now, held back from crossing the boundary of the Ward, unable to take a step without crashing to the ground—I’m seething. This is my decision. It’s my life to risk. Nobody can stop me.

Except, evidently, my brother.

Amity kneels beside me, her fingers on Fray’s neck. She looks at me with dismay. “Don’t say it,” I choke. “I don’t need to hear it.”

The ropes tighten. I scowl at the trees lining the courtyard as if they themselves are responsible for my restraints. My skin chafes and burns as I struggle against their hold, but even with the beast in me roaring and talons at the ends of my fingers, I can’t beat Guy’s Akasha—a combination of all four elements and the fifth element, Spirit, all merging into a unpredictable substance that’s massively powerful. After a while, I feel the Akasha straining, becoming the slightest bit heavier than the fire-mist substance it usually is. I think maybe Guy is losing his grip so I redouble my efforts. I overbalance. Unable to break my fall, I crash to the gravel floor of the courtyard, the impact vibrating up my left shoulder. The stones bite into my chin. Pain slices into my face, my arm. I bite my lip so hard the metal tang of blood fills my mouth but I refuse to make a single sound of pain, of surrender.

“Shit.” Guy crouches beside me and the Akasha around my arms fizzles away, releasing me far too late. His worried frown fills my vision, his eyebrows a contrite V.

“Shoulder,” I say through clenched teeth. “Heal.”

He passes his palm over my shoulder, close enough for the healing wind of Akasha to prick goose-bumps on my skin. Majick fixes the messed up thing that happened with my bones—I’m sure it was my bones, not that I can feel anything but screaming pain. Tears prick my eyes. I clench my teeth. Slowly, my brain realises the source of pain is fixed and the stabbing agony disappears.

For a long moment I lay on the ground, gulping pine-scented air, ignoring the torrent of apologies and swearing coming from my brother. This is, possibly, the worst thing that could have happened after telling my family that I planned to go to Pluto, ruler of the Otherland and all souls, and do whatever they told me in return for Fray’s life.

I stand, struggling to support Fray’s weight, and I cross the clearing until I reach a familiar, sprawling oak.

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.

BUY ON AMAZON UK

BUY ON AMAZON US

ADD TO GOODREADS