Before Winter

Before Winter
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The exciting conclusion to the Wolves of Llise trilogyAs rumors of Devin's death at his own bodyguard's hands reach the capital, the Chancellor is detained on fabricated charges of treason, which may cost him his life. In the provinces, there are signs of people fighting to reclaim their history – but the forces against them are powerful: eradicating the Chronicles, and spreading darkness and death.Accompanied by a wolf pack and a retinue of their closest allies, Gaspard and Chastel must cross the mountains in a desperate attempt to save the Chancellor before winter makes their passage impossible. But the closer they journey towards Coreé, the clearer it becomes that there are those who don't intend for them to arrive at all.

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Before Winter

NANCY K. WALLACE



HarperVoyager

an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperVoyager 2017

Copyright © Nancy K. Wallace 2017

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

Nancy K. Wallace asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

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 e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, 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.

Digital eFirst: Automatically produced by Atomik ePublisher from Easypress.

Ebook Edition © September 2017 ISBN: 9780008103606

Version: 2017-08-18

Prologue

Jeanette bent over Devin, her brown curls lightly brushing his cheek. When his eyes fluttered open and focused on her face, she smiled.

“Am I dead?” he asked.

She kissed his cheek. “No, my love,” she assured him. “You aren’t dead but you need help.”

He cupped her cheek with his hand, ran his thumb across her lower lip. “My God, I love you,” he murmured. “Where have you been? I’ve been so worried.”

“Not far away,” she answered. “But I have to go now, Devin, I’m sorry.”

He found her hand and held it. “Don’t go,” he protested.

“I can’t help you, Devin,” she explained. “But Marcus is coming back.”

“Marcus tried to kill me,” he said.

She shook her head, her eyes big in her slender face, and rose from her knees. Her dress swirled around her bare feet. “I have to go.”

“Don’t go!” he begged.

She kissed her finger and stooped to touch his mouth. “I must,” she said. “Be still.”

“When will I see you again, Jeanette?” he asked, raising his head. The pain sent him back down into darkness, her name still on his lips.

CHAPTER 1

If I Should Die

Devin’s head pounded in time with his heart as it slowly pumped his life’s blood onto the forest floor. He lay in deep, velvety darkness as rain spattered the leaves of the trees above him and slid in rivulets down his cheeks like tears. Gone was the fragrance of pine, the wind fresh off the ocean. The air stank of burned paper and cloth. The Chronicles were gone … he had tried and failed to save them and now they were lost forever. The entire history of the provinces had been destroyed by ignorance and flame. Ultimately, his trip to the provinces to preserve the Chronicles had led to their destruction and he would forever bear the guilt of it.

He opened his eyes to a dizzying view of tree trunks and rocks spinning in front of him. He swallowed convulsively and tried to shift to his back to see for himself if perhaps some small part of the repository remained. Nausea rolled over him in waves and he stopped moving and lay very still, half on his side, the way he’d wakened. Minutes passed as the sickness that threatened to overwhelm him finally stilled. He lay stiffly, his teeth clenched, one hand digging into the earth.

Finally, he touched his temple gingerly and found the whole side of his face was caked with a sticky mass of blood, pine needles, and dirt. His hand involuntarily rummaged in his pocket searching for a handkerchief and found it completely empty. Even Marcus’ rosary was gone.

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