Kelley Armstrong: Sea of Shadows

“Yes, apparently even a child can see his true purpose.” The emperor shot a glare at his marshal. “It would be difficult for me to make any concessions to an exiled traitor. If he were, however, to ask for something reasonable, such as a pardon, negotiations could be held. This is beyond negotiations. He will have war. The destruction of Fairview and the death of Edgewood’s children would lie at my feet.”

“But…” Ashyn’s head shot up from her reading. “Fairview? The children? Are they lost, then?”

“No, child. Rescuing them will be our first priority, one that can hopefully be accomplished before Alvar Kitsune realizes we’ve refused his generous offer.”

“But war?” the marshal said. “How does he imagine he’d win that? His mercenaries cannot outnumber our troops.”

“I’m quite certain he hopes to win some of his former men to his side. I’m equally certain he already has, and they are merely awaiting his signal.” He gave his marshal a hard look. “You have told me that your warriors are content. Now we will see the truth of that.”

“But war?” the chancellor said. “Against shadow stalkers?”

“And more,” Ashyn said quietly.

They all turned to her, but she seemed unable to go on.

“He has raised more than shadow stalkers,” Moria said. “Ashyn encountered death worms in the Wastes. I fought a thunder hawk. I have a feather in my pack to prove it. That may mean he has plans to do battle with more than men and shadow stalkers.”

“Then we must be prepared,” the emperor said. “For a war unlike any the empire has seen.

KELLEY ARMSTRONGis the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Otherworld series for adults and the Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising trilogies for teens. She lives in rural Ontario with her husband and three children. You can visit her website at www.kelleyarmstrong.com.

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SEA OF SHADOWS. Copyright © 2014 by KLA Fricke Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

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ISBN 978-0-06-207124-8

EPub Edition September 2013 ISBN 9780062296818

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FIRST EDITION

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