CHAPTER 1
Kizzi
Acrisp, icy wind flowed through the open window of my apothecary shop, smelling of frost and burnt sugar. It caressed my skin with a frigid kiss and tossed my hair across my face, the strands dragging through my eyes and temporarily blinding me.
I hastily brushed my green bangs back with dust-covered fingers.
And then a small weight settled onto my shoulder, hot enough to nearly singe the fabric of my blouse. I flicked it off immediately. Dust plumed from my filthy hands. “Gods, Scarlett, I told you to stop doing that! You’re going to catch me on fire!”
The tiny fire sprite hovered a few inches in front of my face, arms crossed and steam puffing from her ears in small, wispy tufts. “It’s not my fault you’re so fragile, Godsblood. It never bothered you before.”
Godsblood. Ugh. It was the name the sprites had refused to stop calling me, even though it didn’t make any sense.
I didn’t care for an explanation. What they had to say about it was impossible. And absolutely fucking ridiculous.
I had accrued too many new aliases lately. Godsblood, assigned to me by the sprites. Hand of the Dragons, assigned to me at the witch over in Rockward. I missed being just Kizzi. Kizziah Cedarton, Moonvale’s favorite apothecary witch. And nothing else.
“It’s Kizzi. I told you that. Youknowthat.”
Scarlett nodded solemnly. “Whatever you say, Godsblood.”
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want?”
Scarlett wrung her hands in front of her, her transparent wings fluttering rapidly. “Can you close the window?”
I pointedly held up my dust-covered hands, gesturing to the worktable in front of me. It was a mess. I had been smashing up quartz crystals, collecting the dust in jars for later use in my potions.
I had a new idea for a potion that might free the dragons from their impenetrable shells.
“I need to keep them open, sprite, or the dust will clog our noses and kill us all. Is that what you want?” That was a complete lie. I knew it, but they didn’t.
A chorus of small gasps echoed around the shop reflecting varying levels of horror.
“No!”
“Did she really say that?”
“We can’t kill the Godsblood!”
I could’ve sworn one of them actually burst into tears.
I chuckled quietly to myself. The sprites were easy to rile up. They spent years tormenting me, so it was poetic that I could now torment them right back.
Really, I was just keeping the window open to appreciate a few final dredges of fresh air. The freeze season was in full swing, and temperatures were plummeting, though it wasn’t miserable yet.
But it would be soon.
With the freeze season came one shining perk: Merry Day—a holiday celebrated throughout the entire realm, where friends and neighbors took an entire day off to relax, be happy, and occasionally, exchange gifts. I had yet to start preparing, much to my best friend Fiella’s dismay.
Scarlett dimmed, settling onto the edge of my new cauldron and tucking her legs beneath her. “The window must stay open. I was just a little cold, that's all. My flames don’t like the wind. But your safety is more important.”
Guilt prodded at my insides.
It was easier to mess with the sprites before. Before I’d softened to them. Before they’d stolen crumbs of my heart.
Before we could speak to each other.
Now, they neverstoppedspeaking.
