PROLOGUE

“Lysa, don’t!” Benetta cried, reaching for the giant circular diamond in her sister’s hand.

“I’m just looking at it,” Malysa said.

Benetta rolled her bright blue eyes to the ceiling. Malysa was never entirely innocent about anything she was doing.

“Father said that we were not supposed to touch that. Can’t we go back to the parlor and wait for Camilan to get here?”

Malysa scrunched up her nose. “I don’t want to marry that pig.”

“I know you don’t.”

“Then, stop trying to make me into the perfect daughter.” Malysa threw her long braid over one shoulder and glared with fiery determination. “If you’re so set on Camilan, then you marry him.”

“Well, I can’t. You’re older,” Benetta reminded her.

“That’s right. I am.”

Benetta sighed. There was no point in pushing Malysa when she was acting like this. Father had refused them access to the academy. Malysa was still sulking. What use was their magic if it was only to be used for menial tasks, like tidying the house and baking fresh bread?

“Seventeen years of magic school was not, nor will it ever be, enough for me. If I’d gone to the academy at seventeen, like I was supposed to, then I’d know how to make this work,” Malysa said. She lobbed the priceless diamond at Benetta, who gasped and caught it in her hands.

“We all have a place in this world.”

“My place is ruling everything,” she snarled. Her magic flared, black and wicked, before receding quickly. “I am so tired, Benny.”

Benetta took a deep breath and then held the diamond back out to her. “Come on. Maybe, if we practice together while we can, we’ll find our own place.”

“You really think so?”

“Anything is possible.”

Malysa looked as if she was going to argue before she gently placed her hands over Benetta’s. They stared into each other’s eyes, light meeting dark, and then entwined their magic together around the diamond. Benetta giggled as they held it, cocooned in the shimmery gold magic. But Malysa stayed perfectly still and silent. Her eyes were unfocused, as if she were very far away.

“Lysa?” Benetta asked.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Benetta tried to release her magic, but Lysa held on.

“The humming.”

Then, a shock wave blasted through them, obliterating their father’s study. Benetta screamed and tried to duck, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t move at all. She and her sister were connected by the diamond, spinning in a circle and picking up speed. She screamed, but the wind carried it away.
They were lost. They had done something truly horrible. Their Father had said not to touch his things for a reason. The diamond wasn’t just some beautiful new bauble for Lysa’s wedding.

Then they landed roughly. Benetta’s knees buckled beneath her. She clasped her hand around the diamond as her knees hit the hard stone. Malysa had toppled over a foot away from her. Her mouth was open, her dark eyes wide.

“What just happened?” Benetta asked. She righted her dress, brushed loose dirt from her knees, and pulled her dark brown hair to one side.

“I…I don’t know,” Malysa admitted.

They were at the foothills of great towering mountains with a swirling river cutting down the mountain pass. It looked like an elbow as it moved in an L-shape off and away from the mountains. The earth was green and lush as far as the eye could see. Smoke blew in further down the river. Benetta could just make out the roofs of houses. A small village of some sort.

“Where are we, Lysa?”

Malysa shook her head. “I’ve no idea. We should go find out.”

“I’ve never seen this river or mountains like this. We’ve seen all the maps in Father’s study. This doesn’t feel like home.”

“I know. It’s not.”

Malysa was already tramping down the side of the mountain, toward the village. Benetta had no other choice but to follow her. But her fear only mounted as they entered the strange, small village. The houses were made out of hard wood and thatched with straw. Children were playing a game with a ball in the dirt and stared up at them with eyes as large as saucers as they passed.

A group of men approached them from what appeared to be the center of a poorly constructed square. Many of them were carrying wooden weapons; only a few had steel.
What kind of place had we been transported to?

“Greetings,” Malysa said.

“Don’t come any closer!” the man in the front shouted.

“We mean you no harm.”

“You drop out of the sky like a tornado, come at us with your shining light, and expect us to believe you mean no harm?”

“Shining light?” Benetta asked curiously.

“Your bodies are glowing!” another man yelled.

Benetta and Malysa glanced at each other and then laughed. These people must not have magic. How odd. That natural glow came from magical use. They could diminish it if need be, but they never had to do it before.
Just then, two women barreled through the men and splayed their hands out. They both bowed low.

“Our apologies,” one woman said. “These fools do not recognize when they are in the presence of gods.” The woman snarled at the men. “Kneel to the goddesses.”

The men looked dumbstruck and then began to kneel to them.

“Oh no,” Benetta started to say.

But Malysa cut her off. “All is forgiven,” she said to the townspeople. She tilted her head up and released the full weight of her magical powers into her brightness. “You may stand.”

“Welcome to the great city of Byern,” the second woman intoned.

Benetta’s eyes widened. This is considered a city?

“We are honored to have your presence among us,” the first woman said.

“We are pleased to be here,” Malysa said with a wide smile.

“Come. We have accommodations for you and are truly privileged to house ones so great,” another woman said.

Benetta shot Malysa a nasty look but followed her into the nearby inn where they were immediately shown to the nicest room. They had to wait a full twenty minutes before the women would leave them be. And only after Malysa agreed that they would come down for dinner.

As soon as the door closed, Benetta whirled on her sister. “What are you doing? We’re not gods, Lysa!”

“Obviously, Benny,” Malysa said with a laugh. “But how else were we going to explain to these simpletons what had happened? Let them think what they want to think. We’ll eat some dinner, and then we’ll use the diamond and get home before Father even notices. You do still have the diamond, right?”

“Of course I have the diamond, but this is absurd. We don’t even know where we are. What kind of place is Byern, and how can they call this a city?”

“No idea, but it hardly matters. We’ll be gone before we have to find out anything else.”

“We don’t even know how to use the diamond.”

“Details,” Malysa said dismissively. “We’re the most powerful magic users of our time. We’ll figure it out.”

Benetta scowled. “Well, did you bring anything else with you?”

Malysa patted down her dress and then pulled out a handful of gold coins. They were about half the size of her palm with the profile of their mother, the queen, on them. The motto of their people gleamed around the edges. “Just some money I filched from Father. I was going to buy that blade at the market.”

“You are incorrigible. Those won’t help us at all.”
Malysa stuffed them back into her pocket. “Stop worrying. It’ll be fine.”

“Can we just go now?” Benetta begged.

“Benny, come on. How amazing would it be to be gods? In this land, we could be anything. We could rule the world, just like we always wanted to.”

“Like you always wanted to.”

“Here, there are no forced marriages. There are no responsibilities and restrictions. We can choose how we live our lives. We can choose to be gods in this land. We can enlighten these people to the ways of magic. Just think of all the good we could do,” Malysa said with an eager light in her dark eyes.

“But what about our families? What about our lives?”
Malysa sighed. “Can’t you see what it could be?”

“All I see is everything we’ve lost.”

“Fine,” Malysa said with a shake of her head. “Let’s get back then.”

Benetta retrieved the diamond from her pocket and held it out to Malysa. Like before, they intertwined their powers and reached for the diamond. Benetta stared until her eyes were dry and aching, but nothing happened.

“Why won’t it work?” she groaned.

“I don’t know. We’re doing the exact same thing as before.”
Benetta tried to be transfixed by the diamond, as she had last time, willing it to transport her back to her world, to her friends and family, to the life she loved.
But it did nothing.

“What will we do?” Benetta whispered.

“We’ll keep trying,” Malysa said, reaching out and grasping her sister’s hand. “But, in the meantime, we will play our parts.”

“You want us to be gods?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Benny?”

Benetta raised an eyebrow.

“We are Doma, the first in this land, and Doma have always been gods. Now, it is our turn to rule.”

BLURB

After the loss of a friend and a false imprisonment in an Eleysian dungeon, Cyrene has no interest in destiny. Her heart was shattered, friends scattered, and her home is nothing but a pretty illusion. Even her magic won’t cooperate.

Only desperation can turn her to the last person she should trust:

Prince Kael.

His darkness mirrors a growing force lurking within her. A struggle she never imagined threatens to consume her. And as friends and foes begin to show their true colors, she starts questioning whether anyone is who they seem.

Even herself.

B&N

What people are saying about this series:


Susan Dennard

New York Times bestselling author of Truthwitch

With rich romance and twisty political intrigue, THE AFFILIATE is a breakneck fantasy ride that's perfect for fans of THE SELECTION or THRONE OF GLASS.

S.C. Stephens

#1 New York Times bestselling author of Thoughtless

Bursting with captivating intrigue, fast-paced action and simmering passion, THE AFFILIATE is fantasy at its finest! This lush world will leave you hungry for more!

Wendy Higgins

New York Times bestselling author of The Great Hunt

Hold on tight - these twists will leave you reeling! Magic, mayhem, and romance to satisfy any fantasy lover.

About the author


K.A. LINDE

K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty novels including the Avoiding series and the Record series. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, geeking out over Star Wars, binge-watching Supernatural, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super adorable puppies.

Visit her online at www.kalinde.com and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @authorkalinde.

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