Katharine Corr - The Witch’s Kiss Trilogy

THE WITCH’S KISS TRILOGY

The Witch’s Kiss, The Witch’s Tears, The Witch’s Blood

3-Book Collection

Katharine and Elizabeth Corr

This ebook collection first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2018

HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd,

HarperCollins Publishers

1 London Bridge Street

London

SE1 9GF

The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk

The Witch’s Kiss, text copyright © Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, 2016 The Witch’s Tears, text copyright © Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, 2017 The Witch’s Blood, text copyright © Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, 2018 Cover designs © blacksheep-uk.com Cover thorns, The Witch’s Kiss and The Witch’s Blood © Josef Mohyla and Andrew Unangst Cover ice, The Witch’s Tears © Shutterstock Ebook collection cover design © HarperCollins Children’s Books 2018

Katharine and Elizabeth Corr assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of the work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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.

Source ISBN:

The Witch’s Kiss 9780008188504

The Witch’s Tears 9780008188443

The Witch’s Blood 9780008264796

Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008282912

Version: 2018-02-06

Contents

Cover

Title Page THE WITCH’S KISS TRILOGY The Witch’s Kiss, The Witch’s Tears, The Witch’s Blood 3-Book Collection Katharine and Elizabeth Corr

Copyright Copyright Copyright The Witch's Kiss The Witch's Tears The Witch's Blood About the Publisher This ebook collection first published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Children’s Books in 2018 HarperCollins Children’s Books is a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, HarperCollins Publishers 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF The HarperCollins Children’s Books website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk The Witch’s Kiss, text copyright © Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, 2016 The Witch’s Tears, text copyright © Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, 2017 The Witch’s Blood, text copyright © Katharine and Elizabeth Corr, 2018 Cover designs © blacksheep-uk.com Cover thorns, The Witch’s Kiss and The Witch’s Blood © Josef Mohyla and Andrew Unangst Cover ice, The Witch’s Tears © Shutterstock Ebook collection cover design © HarperCollins Children’s Books 2018 Katharine and Elizabeth Corr assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of the work. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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. Source ISBN: The Witch’s Kiss 9780008188504 The Witch’s Tears 9780008188443 The Witch’s Blood 9780008264796 Ebook Edition © March 2018 ISBN: 9780008282912 Version: 2018-02-06

The Witch's Kiss

The Witch's Tears Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

The Witch's Blood Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

About the Publisher Конец ознакомительного фрагмента. Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес». Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес. Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

For Laurence, who was my inspiration.

E.C.

In memory of Nana Pat, who really did make our

childhood magical.

K.C.

Contents

Title Page

Dedication For Laurence, who was my inspiration. E.C. In memory of Nana Pat, who really did make our childhood magical. K.C.

Prologue THE KINGDOM OF THE SOUTH SAXONS, 522 AD Witches do not kneel. They do not grovel. They do not beg favours from any creature, mortal or immortal. At the most, they bargain. Meredith knew this; had known it for as long as she could remember. But, as she scrambled up the steep hillside, shredding her skirts and her skin on the long thorns of may trees, the things she had been certain of were no longer enough. Finally, she reached the summit. This place was not holy, but it was old. Very, very old. Meredith passed through the outer ring of pine trees, so tall and close growing they blocked out the sun and the wind, walking on until she got close to the single oak growing at the centre of the circle. The oak was twisted and split with age, green foliage flecked with cream. Not flowers, but bones: tied to the branches, littering the ground beneath. Then, Meredith knelt. She cleared a space in front of her, sweeping away the bones and dead leaves until the earth beneath was revealed, and pulled a knife out of her belt. She had no offering to bargain with. She had only herself. ‘This I pledge—’ Her voice was weak; she swallowed, ran her tongue over her cracked lips and tried again. ‘This I pledge: by the time the charmed sleep ends, one of my children’s children will be ready to face Gwydion, to defeat him and to remove all traces of his enchantments from the face of the earth. We shall have vengeance.’ An echo seemed to come from the encircling trees, throwing her words back to her: … vengeance … vengeance … Without hesitating, Meredith pressed the point of the knife into her palm, dragging the blade slowly downwards to split the skin, allowing blood to drip from her outstretched hand on to the ground. ‘I swear, not by the gods, nor by men, but by the bones and ancient soul of this land, to bind myself and my descendants to this fate.’ … fate … fate … With one finger dipped in the blood, Meredith traced a shape on the ground: a binding rune. For a moment it glowed white against the dark earth, before burning away into smoke.