Sisters of moonlight, p.23
Sisters of Moonlight, page 23
Lily dashed over to Jem and dragged him away from Hecate. The witch gasped for breath, sitting up and holding onto her throat. Lily kept hold of Jem, rocking him gently back and forth.
‘Look, the Brotherhood are coming.’ Hecate cleared her throat. ‘Not just here, but everywhere across the Shadow Lands. We are the last fiefdom they have to conquer before they have total control. There will be more death, more slavery, more torment for all of us. They have their own dark, twisted, stolen magic and they hate those of us with real, natural magic more than anything else in the world, and they intend to stamp us out, and stamp out anyone we collude with. I know you hate me – I don’t blame you. But this is bigger than us.’
‘Why should we believe you?’ Jem asked.
Morven, Cass, Brenna, and Maeve ducked out of the doorway, splitting off into two groups. Brenna and Cass ran straight to Grace, who was just coming round. Morven and Maeve sprinted towards the rest of the group and helped Jem to his feet.
The sky rumbled above their heads, a thunderclap louder than anything that had come before it. With each subsequent thunderclap, a figure arrived on their shingle beach.
One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Hooded men, some in black robes, some in golden robes, started to appear beneath the shadow of Moonlight Castle. They each held a lantern and were muttering words in a strange language under their breath.
‘You are sinners,’ one of them said.
‘You are sinners and your time in these lands is over. Surrender to the Brotherhood,’ said another.
‘Surrender to the Brotherhood.’
‘Surrender to the Brotherhood.’
‘Come into the light and surrender to the Brotherhood.’
‘Alice!’ Lily heard Hecate cry. ‘Now, Alice. Do as I told you!’
Alice grabbed Lily’s hand, who still held Jem, who was held by Morven and Maeve. Hecate sprinted towards Grace, who was held up by Cass and Brenna.
‘NOW!’
Lily watched Alice as she screwed up her face in deep, intense concentration. She cried out in pain with the intensity of her magic, and then Lily felt herself flying, spinning uncontrollably. She whirled around, trying to see what was happening but everything was black. The world had fallen into darkness. All she could feel was intense pressure in her eyes, in her eye sockets, in her chest, as if she were being stood on by a thousand oak trees.
And then it stopped.
She opened her eyes and breathed in a lungful of air.
‘What the hell happened?’ Grace growled.
‘Where are we?’ said Brenna, in between sobs.
Lily looked around again. They were all sprawled across the floor. It was snowy still, but soft, as if there was grass beneath them instead of shingle. Great cast-iron gates stood tall, illuminated by lightning strikes ahead of them. And beyond the gates was a hulking, sprawling manor house with ivy crawling up the walls and flickering candles in the dark windows.
Jem appeared in her eyeline and pulled Lily to her feet. He held her face in his hands, as if he was checking for wounds, and then pulled her into his chest.
‘Welcome to Midnight Manor,’ said Alice with a shaky voice. ‘Make yourself at home.’
THE END
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We hope you enjoyed Sisters of Moonlight!
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Don’t miss the spellbinding conclusion to the trilogy, Sisters of Midnight, to find out what happens next…
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Be sure to follow Katherine Livesey on Instagram @katherine.livesey and check out her website katherinelivesey.co.uk for all the latest updates!
Sisters of Moonlight: The Playlist
Birdsong by Emma Langford
Nusa by Kevin Meehan
David’s Jig by Natalie MacMaster
Thistle and Weeds by Mumford & Sons
Road to Camelot by Enaid, Diane Arkenstone
The Highwayman by Loreena McKennitt
For the Dancing and the Dreaming by Erutan
Tokka by Agnes Obel
The Maiden and The Selkie by Heather Dale
Leckan Mór by Lúnasa
Listen on Spotify right here!
Acknowledgments
Firstly, as always, I’d like to thank the magical team at One More Chapter for making all of this possible. You’re such a hard-working, passionate team, and it’s a genuine honour to be one of your authors.
Following on from that, I also need to thank the completely amazing Bethan Morgan, who continues to believe in me and this story every step of the way. Bethan, you always know exactly what I’m trying to do, and you really do get it. I seriously lucked out in the Editor stakes!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me since the publication of Sisters of Shadow in September 2021. That’s everyone who’s reached out to tell me they enjoyed it, posted photos, included it in YouTube videos, told their friends etc. I have loved hearing about how much you enjoyed reading my story, and you gave me the strength to push through a very difficult year. I hope you loved this instalment of Lily, Alice, Jem and Grace’s adventures!
Thank you also to Bookends Carlisle and Waterstones Preston for believing in me and my book and hosting those fantastic launch events for my debut. Your bookshops are such soul-healing places and it was such a honour to celebrate my book with you guys.
To Ciara and the whole CYZ Book Club, you guys are amazing. Talking books with you guys reminded me just how passionate I was about storytelling, and about the power of books in general. Thank you for reading, thank you for sharing your love of my book in the pictures you drew, the music you created, the inspiration you used in crafting your own stories. Keep writing and keep reading, you’re an amazing bunch. I can’t wait to read all of your published books one day!
To my darling mum and dad, you guys really are the best. Thank you for always being at the end of a phone with words of encouragement and love, and thank you for all the adventures and time spent together, you kept me going and kept me motivated when I wavered (which, let’s be honest, was most of the time!!).
And finally, to my husband Arron, who has been by my side every step of the way and has never ever stopped cheering me on and loving me with everything he has. Thank you for the endless coffees, the fresh bread, the dog walks, the laughter, the patience, the adventures, the long drives just to grab motivational take-out coffees and cinnamon buns, the evenings spent ignoring responsibilities and watching Detectorists instead. Thank you for all of it. I love doing life with you.
Thank you for reading…
We hope you enjoyed Sisters of Moonlight!
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Do leave a review if so on all your preferred platforms to help spread the word!
Don’t miss the spellbinding conclusion to the trilogy in Sisters of Midnight to find out what happens next…
Be sure to follow Katherine Livesey on Instagram @katherine.livesey and check out her website katherinelivesey.co.uk for all the latest updates!
About the Author
Katherine Livesey is a Young Adult Fantasy author living in the historic Northumberland countryside. She was born and raised in the wilds of Lancashire and spent much of her childhood running ragged across the moors or lost in a sea of books.
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Katherine takes inspiration from folklore, fairy tales and the classics of the Fantasy genre, as well as the ever-changing but ever-present natural world that surrounds her home. When not writing, Katherine can usually be found knee-deep in mud walking her two Alaskan Huskies with her partner, baking up a storm in her little kitchen or watching an old favourite period drama.
katherinelivesey.co.uk
Books by Katherine Livesey
Sisters of Shadow
Sisters of Moonlight
Sisters of Midnight
About the Publisher
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United Kingdom
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United States
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Katherine Livesey, Sisters of Moonlight
