Tag: serial

Mira Morganstein: The Pink Lemonade Club 011

MMCoverTime froze as Mira’s gaze zeroed in on a boy-shaped patch of shadow in the center of her room. He looked to be only slightly shorter than she was, and he stood squarely in the center of the rag rug Nana had tied for her the year before.

She narrowed her eyes, but anything more detailed than boy-shaped swam strangely through her vision. Like she was trying to read a book underwater with the sun shining directly overhead.

“Who are you?” she squeaked, trying to calculate how fast she could get down to the kitchen. Her mom would know what to do, and even if she didn’t, at least Mira wouldn’t be alone in the craziness that was intent on intruding in her life.

The boy-shaped shadow paused as though deep in thought. “I’m really not quite sure,” he said apologetically.

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The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 011

TFTcover“So it’s hopeless then?” The creature gnawing at her heart sprouted another set of teeth.

Lyra grinned, and the sparkle came back into her eye. “Of course not! I may not be able to do anything about it, but there’s nothing saying you can’t.”

Gwyn lifted her head, and the air around her turned fragile as spun glass. “What can I do?”

“Well,” Lyra drawled, linking her arm with Gwyn’s, “I may not know how to break the binding, but I can teach you how to make a door.”

“A door?” Gwyn asked, thinking of the many doors Lyra always insisted she find on her own. “Can’t I already do that?”

“Yes and no. You know how to find a door if you have to, but it’s always better to know how to make one. Doors are handy things, but only if they’re there.”

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The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 010

TFTcoverHer lips pursed into a tight rosebud, Lyra reached into Gwyn’s apron pocket and pulled out a pair of disgruntled gloves. She didn’t say anything. She didn’t have to.

“All this time . . .” All this time she’d been fearful of the Ruby Queen because she knew she couldn’t fight back. She hadn’t the magic for it.

Or so she’d thought.

Lyra held out the gloves and Gwyn took them. She felt numb all over, as though she were nothing more than one of the queen’s tiny marionette dolls. She had a wooden head that was too solid for thought. Strings she didn’t control lifted one hand while her other slid the glove onto it.

The change was instantaneous.

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Mira Morganstein: The Pink Lemonade Club 009

MMCoverA Scrap of Paper in an Abandoned Shoe

Dear Toadwart,

It is the unfortunate truth that I was the one who recommended you for this mission. This being the case, it is my duty to see that you are fit for the part.

You will, in the future, remember that we are here to act as guides, should the girl need us, to usher her into her position.

This being said, you will refrain from doing anything that would act to frighten her away. To this end, you will cease all talk of blood—no matter how relevant—and clean yourself up. You may be an imp, but you will be a well-groomed, soft-mannered imp who will in no way do anything, say anything, or portend anything that will jeopardize this mission.

Should you fail to meet your obligations—well, I could go into the details of the punishment awaiting you, but I will trust that you are sufficiently motivated on your own end.

I will be watching.

Bodkins

 

© 2014 by Danyelle Leafty. All rights reserved. Originally published in Curiosities of the Moon.

This is why minions are minions. They haven’t the head for eloquent threats, although they understand them perfectly well. 😈

Come back next Wednesday to see if something can be salvaged from all this Pink Lemonade mess. After all, a person only becomes eleventy once in their lifetime. Usually. 😉

If this is your first visit here, be sure to read the first installment of this episode. And be sure to come back tomorrow to learn a few more secrets about the UnderWhere.


The Faerie Thief: The Ruby Queen’s Garden 009

TFTcoverGwyn blinked slowly as what Lyra said started to unravel the shock cocooning her like a thick quilt. “On magic?”

Hysteria felt as though it was only a breath away. Waiting with eager hands to clutch at her with long, desperate fingers.

“Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?” Lyra gave her a hug that squeezed the breath right out of her. “I always suspected you had more to you. You have no idea how hard it was to wait. I didn’t want to tell you, get your hopes up and risk dashing them if I was wrong—”

Gwyn ignored the sparks of magic flowing from her fingers and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. “What are you talking about? And why here? Why now?”

“Who knows?” Lyra grinned bigger than she’d ever grinned before. “What matters is that you’ve found your magic at long last. Oh! The adventures we’re going to have! What would you like to do first?”

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