She swore and grabbed a second match. Her heart nearly leapt from her chest as it caught fire on the first strike. She held the match to the tip of the fuse. A bright orange flame caught and began to zip rapidly along its length.
A crack of lightning split through the sky. The electric thrum of it crackled in the air and raised the hair on her arms.
Her pulse pounded in her ears. She launched into a sprint due east, her sharp focus fixing on the makeshift shelter she’d constructed. She threw herself behind it and yelped in surprise as she collided with a large, masculine body.
“Vance,” she gasped, grabbing his arm. “You made it.”
Her old colleague nodded solemnly. “Did you get all our plans completed here?”
“Every last one. It should only be seconds now.”
She turned back to the Temple and strained to see what was happening with the Crowns. Two of them were standing near the central pedestal, just beside the strange rock that had left her hand blistered and grey, though one was blocked by a column.
Vance was still staring at her, his posture curiously still. “Auralie, there’s something you need to know.”
“It’s going to have to wait, Vance.”
“Auralie,” he started again, an edge to his voice.
But before she could give him her attention, the person at the Temple’s center shifted to the right, revealing a full view of the woman standing beneath the glowing Crown of Lumnos.
Auralie’s heart stopped.
Long, wavy white hair.
Grey, terrified eyes.
A face she knew and loved more intimately than any other in existence.
“Diem,” she breathed.
She bolted to her feet, no longer caring if she was in the path of the bomb’s—
Oh gods. The bomb.
“Diem!” she shouted.
“Stop,” Vance hissed. “You’ll ruin the mission!”
He lunged to grab her. She yanked away just in time, leaping over the shelter and running for the Temple with a fiery panic burning her from the inside out. Tears streamed down her face as she sent out a desperate prayer to the gods.
“Diem!” she shrieked, again and again, her throat nearly bleeding with the force of her cries.
On the Temple’s dais, her daughter’s eyes turned to her and flared wide.
“Diem!” Auralie screamed. “Diem, run!”
And with a deafening boom and a blast of fire and rubble, everything exploded.
To be continued…
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Diem’s journey continues in Heat of the Everflame, book three in the Kindred’s Curse Saga, releasing September 2023 and available for pre-order now on Amazon.
Acknowledgments
If Spark was a book about forging your own path, then Glow is a book about self-acceptance. Sometimes we are our own biggest obstacles, and it’s not until we push past the doubts that hold us back and accept ourselves in full that we find the freedom to be our most powerful.
It’s also a book about prejudice and the complexities of fighting for justice. As in the real world, many of the characters in this series have good intentions, but they are also blinded by their own privileges, biases, and emotions. Confronting those things in ourselves is often just as important—and can be just as difficult—as fighting injustice in others, especially for those of us who want to be allies to marginalized and oppressed people.
My hope is that these books will not only be fun to read, but will also inspire you—to love yourselves, to love others, and above all, to never stop fighting.
Thank you to every single person who read Spark and decided to stay invested in Diem’s journey. The way so many of you have come out to support my fiery little FMC has been overwhelming in the best way. Publishing a book was a dream come true, and to see it be so warmly received has been the happiest experience of my life.
Thank you to my husband, who has always been my biggest fan, and who is single-handedly responsible for encouraging me to finally write this series. You have always treated this not as my book but our book, investing so much of your heart into its success. I could not have done this without you. Everything’s better with you around, my love.
Thank you to Ivy and Sheila, who have been there for every vent, beta read, emotional breakdown, celebration, disappointment, and all the dips and loops of the publishing roller coaster. You both inspire me, not just for your beautiful writing, but with your fierce friendship.
Thank you to all of the Bookstagram #TeamLuther and #AAH ladies （he’s going to win you over in book three, I really mean it this time!）。 The way you have rallied around both me and Spark has been so incredible and has brought happy tears to my eyes more times than I can count. Your passionate support for indie authors is beautiful, and I know I speak for many of my colleagues when I say we are so, so, so grateful for every one of you.
Thank you to my fantastic editor Kelly and to all the book two beta readers: Ivy, Sheila, Stella, Kaela, Tasha, Kiki, Ellie, Aditya, Tiffany, Bianca C., Bianca M., Céline, Elise, Helen, Autumn, and Adrianne. Your feedback was priceless and helped me so much in crafting this into a book I can be proud of.
Thank you to Maria for the beautiful cover and to Stella for your stunning art of Diem and Luther.
Finally, to anyone reading this: When things are dark and you can’t find the light, just keep fighting, little flame. The world needs your glow.
About the Author
Penn's life has taken her through many ups and downs, but her love for literature has forever been her true north. Ever since she was a child, she has been filling mountains of notebooks with elaborate worlds, feisty women, and angsty romances.
After a detour as an artist, attorney, and small business owner, she is thrilled to finally have accomplished her lifelong dream of becoming an author.
Although Penn is a Texas girl born and bred, she currently lives in France with her husband, where she can usually be found sipping wine and eating far too many pastries.