Sandy Williams - The Sharpest Blade

To the coolest grandmother on the block. I love you, Grandmommy.

First, I want to send out a big, heartfelt thank-you to all my readers. Your e-mails, Facebook messages, and your general enthusiasm for McKenzie and her friends have made this writing gig a wild, wonderful ride. I hope you find this book as satisfying an end to McKenzies story as I do.

To my regular beta readers, Trey, Shelli, and Renee, you guys continue to rock. And to my new betas, Leah Lewis, Paris Hansen, and author Marika Gallman, thank you for your awesome feedback. Marikayour comments were perfect and hilarious!

I owe a debt of gratitude to my agent, Joanna Volpe, who always has my back, and to my editor, Jesse Feldman, who did a wonderful job of catching up with the series and who helped me bring it to a satisfying end.

THE TIME IN the bottom right corner of my computer screen mocks me. I try not to look at it, but no one has come to the reference desk in over an hour, and I can stare at nothing for only so long. Even though this is only my fourth day working as a library clerk, I know every hour is going to drag. Theoretically, that should be a good thing. It means no ones swinging a sword at my head or aiming a gun at my chest, and Im not in a situation where Im forced to hurt or kill someone. The problem is if Im not distracted by people asking questions, Ill be distracted by something else.

Or rather, someone else.

A flicker of emotion travels through the bond I share with Kyol. If I close my eyes, I can picture him perfectly, his firm, unsmiling lips and his dark silver eyes. His gaze is always steady and unwavering. Hes one of the strongest men I know, and sometimes his presence unravels me, especially when chaos lusters spark across his face. Its hard to believe we havent seen each other in three weeks. It feels like Ive spent every day with him. I know when hes asleep. I can tell when hes sparring with his men or when hes talking to Lena, the Realms queen. Right now, hes thinking about me. Probably because Im thinking about him.

I force out a frustrated sigh because hes not the fae who should be invading my thoughts. Maybe he wouldnt be if Aren were around, but theres been no sign of him or Lena or any of the rebels since I left the Realm. Theyre giving me space, time to live my life without interruptions from the fae. Thats something Ive asked for a hundred times in the last couple of years, but now that I finally have it, Im going a little crazy. Not having any news from the Realm makes me restless.

Kyols mood darkens when he senses my unease. I try not to let that affect me, but I fail, and a cloud settles over me just the same. This is one of the reasons Im glad I havent gone back to the Realm. Even though Kyol and I are in separate worlds, our emotions spiral off each others until one of us is distracted enough to feel something else. It would be a thousand times harder to block him out without the In-Between separating us.

And the other reason I havent returned? I lean back in my swivel chair and scan the quiet, calm library. This is the first time in ten years that Ive been a normal human.

Of course, Im not completely normal. If I were, I wouldnt see the pale, erratic lightning flitting across the skin of the girl whos coming in the librarys door. Two of her friends are with her. I dont know their names, but Ive heard them call her Kynlee before. Shes shown up here after school every day Ive worked. If she were human, Id guess that shes fifteen, maybe sixteen years old. Her friends are definitely close to that age, but theyre not fae. Kynlee doesnt really look fae either. She laughs and smiles like a normal American teenager. Shes dressed like one, too, in jeans and a yellow crew-neck tee. The only thing odd about her clothing is the purple gloves that reach up to her elbows, but I understand their purpose: they keep her from skin-to-skin contact with humans.

When the trio walks by my desk, I lock my gaze on my computer screen to keep myself from staring at her chaos lusters. Im almost certain her friends dont know what she is. Humans who dont have the Sight like I do cant see the lightning, but they would feel the hot, tingling sensation when it leaped to their skin. Or, in Kynlees case, they would feel a surprisingly chilly sensation. Her chaos lusters arent as bright as a normal faes, which means shes torum. She has little to no magical ability, and if this were the Realm, she and others like her would be considered the dregs of society.

After the torum and her friends take a seat at a table in the Teen section, my gaze ventures back to the time on my computer screen. Only three freaking minutes have passed since I last looked at it.

You shouldnt scowl, the woman sitting next to me says.

What? I ask, turning toward Judy, my supervisor, even though I think I heard her clearly.

It makes you look unapproachable.

Yep. Thats what I thought she said. Surprising advice given that shes always scowling. Judy is a full-time librarian with twenty years of experience marked by gold stars on her name badge. Unfortunately, she happens to hate having degreeless library clerks like me manning the reference desk. But its not my fault the city of Las Vegas had to make budget cuts, and considering that the most difficult question Ive been asked today is Wheres the restroom, Im pretty sure I can handle the job.

Planting a semipleasant expression on my face, I rest my folded arms on the edge of the desk and stare out at the bookshelves. At least the torum was enough of a distraction to break the cycle of emotion Kyol and I were close to being caught up in. Hes not thinking about me anymore; hes concentrating on something else. What that something is, I dont know. We cant hear each others thoughts or see what the other is doing, but we have a ten-year history together. Even without our magical life-bond, I know him well enough to link his emotions to his thoughts, and right now, hes not focused on my feelings. Hes focused on his actions.

I feel myself frowning. I cant help it. Kyol is calm, but he isnt relaxed. My muscles mimic the tension in his. Its a strange sensation, one that makes me sit straighter in my seat. I dont think Kyols worried, but hes heading somewhere that isnt safe.

I draw in a breath, then let it out slowly, trying not to let my emotions distract him. He was the previous kings sword-master and is Lenas lord general. Hes more than capable of taking care of himself.

Just like Aren is capable of taking care of himself.

A little stab of pain cuts through my stomach. I never thought Aren would stay away this long. I thought hed come to his senses quickly, get over the life-bond, then come get me. The fact that he hasnt hurts, and I dont know whether to be pissed off about it or devastated. Most of the time, Im both.

Still, I want to see him, but I cant get to the Realm on my own. Fae can fissure from any point they want to as long as theyre not surrounded by silver, but I have to be escorted through a gate to survive the trip through the In-Between. Plus, if Aren wanted to see me, he would have found me already.

Which leaves only one conclusion: he doesnt want to see me.

I dont want to believe that because, if its true, if hes letting this life-bonda life-bond I didnt have any control over enteringbreak us up, then I was wrong about him. He doesnt love me half as much as I thought he did. He doesnt love me half as much as I love him.