All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth Duology) by Adalyn Grace Read Free Book Online Page B

reality. The magic within hisses its protest, baring fangs as it fights to maintain control. I suffocate within its hold, choking as I rein the magic back.
    Father holds me tight, strong fingers digging into my skin harder and harder until my vision clears and I gag on the stench of blood. I begin to shake as I take in the stains on mypalms and fingertips, the smoke scalding my lungs. The stones beneath me sway as the realization hits: I lost control of my magic.
    Dizziness makes my weight betray me, and I collapse to my knees.
    I let loose the beast, and it stole my senses until it claimed me entirely.
    Aran lies before me, dead. He no longer looks human, all shredded flesh and mangled limbs. I clench my hands to the dirt as I try to recognize him, but it’s useless. When used correctly, my magic is meant to give someone a swift death. But there was nothing swift about this; Aran was tortured and maimed.
    And I’m the one who did it.
    I press my forehead against the dirt, eyes stinging as I bend before his body. “I’m sorry. By the gods, I’m so sorry.”
    But my apologies don’t matter. As I hear the words Visidia’s people scream, I know even the gods can’t help me now.
    “It’s the beast!”
    “She’ll destroy everything!”
    “She’s the one who should be executed! She’ll kill us all!”
    I spot Mother’s face at the front of the crowd. Her body goes rigid while Aunt Kalea’s face falls with horror. Yuriel is between them, his hand clenching his mother’s arm tightly. His once wine-flushed face is now ashen with panic. Father stands before me, back turned to the crowd so that only I can see the terror in his eyes or the raggedness of his breaths. When his hands begin to shake, he presses them tight at his sides. My own hands are coated with blood, and I’m not the only one staring at them.
    “I can’t protect you from this,” Father whispers urgently, almost as if the desperate words are meant for himself. Then he says it louder, in a harsh whisper that cracks his voice. “By the gods, Amora, I can’t protect you from this!”
    I’ve no time to compose myself before arms yank me up from behind. Two guards slide their hands under my arms, narrowly avoiding slicing their faces on the spiked bones on my crown and the jagged epaulettes as they pin me tight.
    “I’m sorry.” Father’s chest heaves. “I’m going to try my best to fix this.”
    The world is spinning. Spinning. Spinning. A vicious coolness spreads deep into my bones. It starts in my stomach and spreads to my legs, then down my arms. Prickles of darkness plague my vision and threaten to overwhelm me as the aftershocks of too much magic make their move.
    If not for the arms around me, I wouldn’t be able to stand. It’s taking everything in me to rein the beast within me back. To keep it tamed.
    I try to keep my eyes open on Father, steadying my vision enough to see him turn his face away and clamp his eyes shut in disappointment. It’s a look that cleaves through my chest and leaves me aching.
    Hundreds of Visidians stare back at me without mercy, and I shut my eyes against their yells, wishing I’d let the magic consume me fully.
    I barely let myself hear Father as he speaks, his words like a thousand knives.
    “Take her to the prison.”

CHAPTER FIVE
    I steady my trembling vision on the cell bars, using it as a focus point to anchor myself.
    Hugging my knees tight, I try to conserve my warmth against the bitter cold that rips at my skin. Though I’ve been in these prisons many times before, it’s never been like this—stripped of my weapons and left forgotten in a cell.
    I was five years old when Father first brought me to the prisons, late one autumn night. I’d been bleary-eyed and half-awake as we traveled down the switchback, watched by only the stars as the rest of Arida slept unaware. It wasn’t until the moonlight winked out behind us and my eyes were forced to adjust to the sparse torchlight of the prison that