Evernight by Candace Knoebel
(Night Watchmen #2)
Publication date: October 31st 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
(Night Watchmen #2)
Publication date: October 31st 2014
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Young Adult
Synopsis:
The stunning sequel to the thrilling paranormal romance novel Everlasting!
One lie will change everything.
Faye Middleton has secured the Dagger of Retribution for the High Priesthood, but in doing so, she’s opened the door to more demands set by them. She now has to break the Holy Seal, and soon. Trapped in the alluring Ethryeal City, Faye is pushed to the breaking point trying to discover just what she is truly capable of, even if it means destroying herself in the process.
With the clock ticking down to the war between both Covens, and the truth about her parent’s mysterious disappearance within her reach, Faye is faced with tough choices that will forever change her. Will Faye be able to handle the demands from the Priesthood, and still be able to continue her search for her parents?
But more importantly, can she survive the truth she finds?
Excerpt:
Prologue
PEOPLE LIE. EVERY SINGLE DAY.
In fact, most of our world was built on the
foundation of lies, some with the intent to serve the greater good, and others
with the intent to serve one person’s giant ambitions. But the root of every
lie is exactly the same. They’re all equally deceitful, treacherous
propositions spewed from the mouths of men and woman alike.
Lies have the power to sound right, yet feel wrong.
They have the ability to confuse your heart and twist your mind. The problem
is, sometimes these lies become easier to believe than the truth. They become a
sort of safety net from reality, a way to avoid what lingers in the back of
your mind. And some say that over time, if you believe them long enough, they
become real.
At least, that’s what my mother had hoped would happen
in my case. But just like every lie ever told, all it takes is one small crack
in that foundation for the whole thing to come crashing down.
And it did.
Because everything I thought I knew about myself
was a lie. A beautiful and heartrending lie. I wasn’t the Defect my parents
would regretfully see off to college before turning their backs on me. I wasn’t
the weak friend who didn’t have enough backbone to stand up for what’s right,
nor was I the loner without a purpose or a chance at real love. And I sure as
hell wasn’t the weapon Bael and the members of the Darkyn Coven intended me to
be.
But I am
the weapon the Primeval Coven needs me be. Or so they keep saying.
In my Coven, there are two kinds of people: The
Hunters and the Witches. They used to hate each other, even though they were on
the same team, back in the old days when cars didn’t exist and time was tracked
on a sundial. They hated each other so much that eventually a war was brought
on by one of the original Witches—a Divine named Mourdyn.
The war was known as the Great Battle of the
Covens. It was meant to wipe out the existence of every Hunter, and it
devastated the population of my people, the Primevals. It annihilated the
population of the Darkyns—the Witches who abandoned our Coven to follow the
whims of Mourdyn and his persuasive lies.
But even though a lie can be struck down—imprisoned
even—it can’t ever be fully erased. The scars it leaves behind on this earth
and in our hearts are eternal, and somewhere along the way, someone will pick
that lie back up and breathe life into it once more. Give it the wings it needs
to rise again. Only, this time, that lie will be stronger, with an even greater
purpose.
And that’s the part that scares me the most.
I glance down at my leg. The burn marks left behind
from Bael’s wrath still tingle with echoes of the scorching fire he sent after
me after I escaped with Weldon, reminding me that I’m nowhere near ready for
the fight that’s sure to come.
And that has to change.
That’s part of why I agreed to come here to
Ethryeal City—to the heart of our Coven. It’s where Hunters and Witches in an
affinity bond enter as Night Watchmen and leave as Elites. Where those who have
broken our Coven laws go to face the High Priesthood. Where those who need
refuge… those like me… come to hide.
The only thing is, I never agreed to being
separated from everyone I know. They call it debriefing, but with every day
that passes, I’m beginning to wonder… to question how long it actually takes.
It’s been seven days and fourteen hours since my
unfortunate and unplanned encounter with Bael—the Demon King of the
Underground. In these last seven days, I’ve made more promises than I can count
on two hands. And in those promises, I think I’ve told more lies than I ever
have in my life.
Honesty seems to have slipped out of her bedroom
from inside my integrity and, in her place, deceit has crept in with the offer
of survival. If I just nod along with the many blending faces all interviewing
me, then maybe somehow, I’ll make it out of this phase in my life alive. I’ll
make it back into Jaxen’s arms and back into the graces of the friends I’ve
come to trust.
But what deceit doesn’t offer is solace, because
you can’t fool deceit. It knows every trick in the book.
Every day, twice a day, for the past four days,
I’ve recounted in specific order how my friends and I nearly lost our lives in
hopes that we’d gain an advantage on the Darkyn Coven and intercept them from
taking the Dagger of Retribution. The one that has the power to initiate the
removal of the Veil that separates the Underground and all its evil from the
humans. The very Dagger that only I
have the power to touch.
I’ve been singularly interviewed by every member on
the Priesthood, and then by every general and Elder within the hierarchy of our
Coven.
And I’m so very tired.
For the past four days, since I left the safe house
beneath the church owned by the Night Watchmen, when I haven’t been in a
laboratory undergoing strenuous testing, I’ve spent the remaining hours kept in
a holding cell stripped of all personality. Chained down by claustrophobia.
Shackled to the fears given free rein to destroy my hope.
I don’t have a home anymore. I have four white
walls, one white jumpsuit, a white bed, white sheets… the color was bleached from
my life the moment I crossed into the legendary Ethryeal City. I keep trying to
remember the last time I saw Jaxen’s face, but my soul has fed so often on the
happiness of that memory, I fear it’s disappearing. And I don’t know when I’m
going to see him again.
They took everything away from me just to keep me
repressed. Controlled. But what they don’t know is they cannot control what
they do not own, and they do not own me. I can’t trust anyone. No one but
myself, because all I know is I am more of a threat to them than I thought.
And the High Priesthood doesn’t know what to do
with me.
Candace Knoebel is the award-winning author of Born in Flames-book one in a young adult fantasy trilogy. She discovered in 2009 through lunch breaks and late nights after putting her kids to bed, a world where she could escape the ever-pressing days of an eight to five Purgatory. And an outlet for all the voices residing in her head. Published by 48fourteen in 2012, Born in Flames went on to win Turning the Pages Book of the Year award in February of 2013. In January of 2014, the last book in the trilogy, From the Embers, was released, thusly completing the trilogy. She now works on the Night Watchmen Series, while guzzling Red Bulls and pretending to be a ninja on Heelys.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.
Blog: http://candaceknoebel.
Facebook: https://www.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/
Goodreads: http://www.
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