Temperance Read Free Page B

Maeve remembered her conversation with Sera…
    “Tell me about him. Who is he?”
    “He is one of the Imperial Guards.”
    No , Maeve thought as she spun around to look at her sister. It cannot be.  
    But when her eyes found Sera’s this time, the deep blue she was so familiar with had changed, and in their place were two obsidian orbs.  
    Maeve could sense the sadness and anger boiling inside her sister as she looked from the back of the man beside her over to her. Maeve shook her head, denying that she knew anything of this. Sera had to know that this was not her doing. No one knew who would be called at the ceremony, but it seemed as if Sera’s reasoning abilities had disappeared along with her control.
    Maeve watched in horror as her sister’s body appeared to be racked with some kind of convulsion where she stood, and then she started to flicker before her very eyes.
    He was supposed to be mine , Maeve heard inside her head. Then she felt a crippling pain shoot through her skull as her sister fell to her knees.
    Leave her be, Seraphine.  
    The tension in Maeve’s head was eased, and she knew the Hierophant was trying to calm her wayward sister before she got out of control.
    You do not want to start this battle.
    Maeve felt a hand on her shoulder as Lach’Lan crouched down beside her. She saw Sera’s eyes flick to the hand and then back to her face.
    You made me believe that I could have him! she screeched, ignoring the warning the Hierophant had given.  
    Maeve gripped the side of her head as the sheer volume made her skull feel as if it were splitting in two. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that both Li’Am and Rhiannon were down on their knees, courtesy no doubt of their sister.
    Seraphine…
    This time, her name was a warning—a threat no one with a healthy dose of fear would ignore. But apparently, even that had left, because it did not stop her.
    Why should you get everything, Maeve? While I get nothing?
    Maeve fell to her side on the cold, stone floor and brought her knees to her chest. The crown fell from her head and she heard it make a faint clanging sound as Lach’Lan bent down over her and touched the sides of her face.
    She didn’t remember anything after that except fading away into darkness.

Wilmington, NC  
    Present…

    It was two o’clock in the afternoon, and the insistent beeping of Naeve’s alarm might as well have been a jackhammer outside her window as she slowly cracked her eyes open.  
    Oh, God, she thought as she brought a hand to her head and pushed her blond hair away from her face. How much did I drink last night?
    She remembered arriving at One Last Shot and Siobhan calling her over to the bar. As usual, she’d been the last of her four sisters to arrive…

    “About time,” Siobhan teased, thrusting a shot glass filled with tequila into her hand. “I swear, if we want you anywhere on time, we need to tell you thirty minutes earlier than the rest of us.”
    “Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard it all before,” she told her, reaching for the slice of lemon Fiona, her other sister, was holding out for her.
    “It amazes me that you were the first of us to be born, considering your terrible time-management skills.”  
    Naeve rolled her eyes and turned her head to Audra. “And do you have anything to add?”
    Always the sweetest and most soft-spoken of the four, Audra shook her head and then shocked the shit out of her by raising her glass. “No. I’m just glad you’re here so we can start drinking.”
    Before Naeve could say anything, Audra downed the tequila, sucked the lemon, winced, and then slammed the glass on the bar.  
    Naeve’s eyes widened, and she glanced back to the other two with a look that screamed, What’s up with that?
    “Another!” Audra called to the bartender. Once she had the shot glass in hand, she said stoically, “Happy twenty-fifth, sisters,” and proceeded to down that one also…

    Naeve reached for her phone, which was still