IGNITE Sneak Peek!

IGNITE Chapter 1

Chapter 1

  

     The heat in the hallway was stifling, even though it was well

past midnight. Thick humidity lingered from a storm that had

passed earlier in the evening, coating my skin with moisture. I

couldn’t smell the wet leaves and mud of the jungle here, outside

King Damian’s room, but I knew the rich scent well enough to conjure

it on my own. I was only halfway through my night shift, and I

was already drooping. Willing myself to stay alert, I began to pace.

        There hadn’t been a single threat since Damian’s coronation

almost a month earlier, but Deron, the captain of the king’s guard,

wasn’t about to take chances with Damian’s life, and I couldn’t

agree more. Especially after how hard we had all fought — and how

much we’d lost — to stop Damian’s father, King Hector, and put

Damian on the throne. My brother, Rylan’s brother, almost half

the guard, and countless others had died in the fight to free Antion

from the evil vise in which Hector and his black sorcerer, Iker, had

held the kingdom for almost my entire lifetime.

        As I marched up and down the hallway, forcing the blood

to move in my tired limbs, the side of my face and neck began to

throb. The pain from my scars had eased over the last month, but

it was still there. A constant reminder of the battle I’d fought

against Iker. 

        Damian, too, had fought and lost so very much. He and I were

alike in more ways than one — we’d both had to play parts to protect

ourselves, and we’d both seen our families wiped out. I’d

watched my parents and brother die at the hands of our enemies,

but Damian . . . He had been forced to kill his own father in order

to protect his people. Those scars were the type that no one could

see, but would never truly heal.

        The lit torch propped in the bracket across from Damian’s

door flickered suddenly, as if a gust of wind had blown past it,

although I felt nothing. My hand dropped to the hilt of my sword.

As I peered into the darkness to my right, there was nothing to see

except a long stretch of empty hallway.

        I crossed in front of Damian’s door again, my thoughts turning

to my king, as they often did. Though I’d made my choice, and

convinced Damian that I didn’t have any feelings for him, it was

yet one more buried wound that I carried with me. I could never

let him uncover the truth — that not only did I have feelings for