Vengeance of the Pirate Queen(94)

“Perhaps that is what we should call your new trainees. Sorinda’s monsters.”

I smile. “I’ve no doubt I’ll think of them as such by the end of each session.”

“Whatever you think of them, I promise it’s nothing compared to what they’ll think of you. You will give them hell every day and make them work for it. As well you should.”

He leans in for a kiss, and I return it.

“Shall we go down to dinner?” he asks.

I nod and turn to blow out the candle of our shared rooms. He finds my hand in the dark and leads me into the hallway.

I’ve learned it’s okay to lean on others for strength, but it’s even more important to find your own strength from within. I discovered mine once I realized it was okay for me to exist without guilt any longer. It’s okay for me to share myself and my knowledge with others.

And that’s when it comes to me.

You can’t be afraid of the dark when you’re the light keeping the shadows at bay.





Acknowledgments




I ALWAYS MEANT TO come back to this world to tell Sorinda and Kearan’s story. I’m so thankful to the team at Feiwel and Friends for allowing me to write this book. Thank you especially to Holly and Brittany for fighting so hard for my pirate books. My gratitude also goes out to Jean, Gaby, Leigh Ann, Dawn, Celeste, Morgan, Kristin, Kaitlin, Ebony, Jordan, Samira, Tovah, the audio team, and everyone else behind the scenes who I didn’t work with directly.

Thank you to the team at BookEnds Literary, especially my agent, Rachel Brooks. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that you read this book so fast and showed excitement about it before anyone else did!

Thank you to Caitlyn McFarland and Mikki Helmer for brainstorming ideas with me in the early stages of this book. I had a hard time organizing my thoughts, and your feedback was instrumental in helping me cement the plot structure. Caitlyn, I especially appreciated the reminder that people are thirsty for Imhotep.

Thank you to Grace Wynter and others who wished to remain anonymous, for your early reading of this book.

Thank you to BookTok. You guys are what made it possible for me to write this new book so soon. Your enthusiasm for this series was contagious, and it spread word of Alosa faster than anything else could.

Thank you to all the other social media folks on Instagram and Twitter and everywhere else for talking about my books, reviewing, and spreading your love of reading.

Thank you to Alisa and Johnny, who watch Rosy for me so I can travel and do book events. Thank you to the rest of my family for your continued support and encouragement.

Thank you to Bridget for helping me put more time into my writing. I appreciate all that you do!

Thank you to bookstores and booksellers, libraries and librarians, who do so much to get my books into the hands of readers.

Thank you to you, dear reader, for picking this one up.

On to the next manuscript!