PROLOGUE
Dublin, you had me at Hello
Imagine a world that doesnt know its own rules. No cell phones. No Internet. No stock market. No money. No legal system. A third of the worlds population wiped out in a single night and the count rising by millions every day. The human race is an endangered species.
A long time ago the Fae destroyed their world and decided to take ours. History says they moved in on us between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C., but historians get a lot wrong. Jericho Barrons says theyve been here since the dawn of time. He should know, because Im pretty sure he has, too.
For a long time there was a wall between our worlds. With the exception of a few cracks, it was a solid barricade, especially the prison that held the Unseelie.
That barricade is gone now and the prison walls are dust.
All of the Fae are free: the deadly Dark Court and the imperious Light Court, who are every bit as deadly, just prettier. A Fae is a Fae. Never trust one. Were being hunted by voracious monsters that are nearly impossible to kill. Their favorite food? People.
As if thats not bad enough, there are fragments of Faery reality drifting around that swallow up anything in their path. Theyre tricky to spot; you can drive right into one, if youre not careful. The night the walls fell, Faery itself was fractured. Some say even the inimical Hall of All Days was changed, and opened new portals onto our world. The drifting is the part that really gets me. You can go to sleep in your own bed and wake up in a completely different reality. If youre lucky, the climate wont kill you instantly and the inhabitants wont eat you. If youre really really lucky, youll find your way home. Eventually. If youre superlucky, time will pass at a normal rate while youre gone. Nobodys that lucky. Folks vanish all the time. They just disappear and are never seen again.
Then there are the amorphous Shades that lurk in the dark and consume every living thing in their path, right down to the nutrients in the soil. When theyre done, all thats left is dirt that an earthworm couldnt live innot that they leave those either. Its a minefield outside that door. Walk lightly. Your parents rules dont apply. Do be afraid of the dark. And if youre thinking there might be a monster under your bed or in your closet, there probably is. Get up and check.
Welcome to Planet Earth.
This is our world nowone that doesnt know its own rules. And when youve got a world that doesnt know its own rules, everything dark and nasty that was once held in check comes slithering out of the cracks to try to take a shot at whatever it wants. Its a free-for-all. Were back to being cavemen. Might is right. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The bigger and badder you are, the better your odds of surviving. Get a gun or learn to run. Fast. Preferably both.
Welcome to Dublin,AWCAfter the Wall Crashwhere were all fighting for possession of whats left of the planet.
The Fae have no king, no queen, no one in charge. Two psychotic, immortal Unseelie princes battle for dominion over both races. Humans have no government. Even if we did, I doubt wed listen to them. Its complete chaos.
Im Dani Mega OMalley.
Im fourteen.
The year was just officially declared 1 AWC, and the streets of Dublin are my home. Its a war zone out there. No two days are alike.
And theres no place else Id rather be.
ONE
Ding-dong! The witch is dead: subtitled Rowena who?
I say we take Macs suggestion and pump the room full of concrete, Val says.
I wince. Just hearing her name makes my stomach hurt. Me and Mac used to be two peas in the Mega pod, close as sisters. Shed kill me in a heartbeat now.
Well, shed try.
Im faster.
Exactly how do you expect us to get concrete trucks down into the catacombs beneath the abbey? Kat demands. To say nothing of how much it would take to seal that chamber. Its three times the size of Inspector Jaynes training green, with a ceiling as high as any cathedral!
I shift position, tucking my knees up, careful to be real quiet. My legs are cramped from sitting with them crossed beneath me. Im in the cafeteria at the abbey, high up on a beam in the ceiling rafters where nobody can see me, munching a Snickers bar and eavesdropping. Its one of my favorite perches for scoping out the details. Im a good climber, fast and agile. Since Im still just a kid in most peoples opinions, folks rarely let me in on the scoop. No worries there. I became a pro at letting myself in years ago.
What are you suggesting we do, then, Kat? Margery says. Leave the most powerful Unseelie prince ever created frozen in a little ice cube beneath our home? Thats crazy! The cafeteria is full of sidhe-seers. Most of them murmur agreement but theyre like that. Whoevers talking loudest at the moment is the person they agree with. Sheep. Half the time Im spying, its all I can do not to jump down there, waggle my ass and say Baaaa, see if any of them catch my drift.
Ive been at the abbey most of the night, waiting for people to wake up and wander in for breakfast, impatient for those whove been up all night like me to tell everyone else the news and start discussing it. I dont need as much sleep as other people, but when I do finally crash, Im as good as dead. Its dangerous to lose consciousness as hard as I do, so Im always careful about where I sleepbehind a lot of locked doors, with booby traps in place. I know how to take care of myself. Ive been on my own since I was eight.
Dublin, you had me at Hello
Imagine a world that doesnt know its own rules. No cell phones. No Internet. No stock market. No money. No legal system. A third of the worlds population wiped out in a single night and the count rising by millions every day. The human race is an endangered species.
A long time ago the Fae destroyed their world and decided to take ours. History says they moved in on us between 10,000 and 6,000 B.C., but historians get a lot wrong. Jericho Barrons says theyve been here since the dawn of time. He should know, because Im pretty sure he has, too.
For a long time there was a wall between our worlds. With the exception of a few cracks, it was a solid barricade, especially the prison that held the Unseelie.
That barricade is gone now and the prison walls are dust.
All of the Fae are free: the deadly Dark Court and the imperious Light Court, who are every bit as deadly, just prettier. A Fae is a Fae. Never trust one. Were being hunted by voracious monsters that are nearly impossible to kill. Their favorite food? People.
As if thats not bad enough, there are fragments of Faery reality drifting around that swallow up anything in their path. Theyre tricky to spot; you can drive right into one, if youre not careful. The night the walls fell, Faery itself was fractured. Some say even the inimical Hall of All Days was changed, and opened new portals onto our world. The drifting is the part that really gets me. You can go to sleep in your own bed and wake up in a completely different reality. If youre lucky, the climate wont kill you instantly and the inhabitants wont eat you. If youre really really lucky, youll find your way home. Eventually. If youre superlucky, time will pass at a normal rate while youre gone. Nobodys that lucky. Folks vanish all the time. They just disappear and are never seen again.
Then there are the amorphous Shades that lurk in the dark and consume every living thing in their path, right down to the nutrients in the soil. When theyre done, all thats left is dirt that an earthworm couldnt live innot that they leave those either. Its a minefield outside that door. Walk lightly. Your parents rules dont apply. Do be afraid of the dark. And if youre thinking there might be a monster under your bed or in your closet, there probably is. Get up and check.
Welcome to Planet Earth.
This is our world nowone that doesnt know its own rules. And when youve got a world that doesnt know its own rules, everything dark and nasty that was once held in check comes slithering out of the cracks to try to take a shot at whatever it wants. Its a free-for-all. Were back to being cavemen. Might is right. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The bigger and badder you are, the better your odds of surviving. Get a gun or learn to run. Fast. Preferably both.
Welcome to Dublin,AWCAfter the Wall Crashwhere were all fighting for possession of whats left of the planet.
The Fae have no king, no queen, no one in charge. Two psychotic, immortal Unseelie princes battle for dominion over both races. Humans have no government. Even if we did, I doubt wed listen to them. Its complete chaos.
Im Dani Mega OMalley.
Im fourteen.
The year was just officially declared 1 AWC, and the streets of Dublin are my home. Its a war zone out there. No two days are alike.
And theres no place else Id rather be.
ONE
Ding-dong! The witch is dead: subtitled Rowena who?
I say we take Macs suggestion and pump the room full of concrete, Val says.
I wince. Just hearing her name makes my stomach hurt. Me and Mac used to be two peas in the Mega pod, close as sisters. Shed kill me in a heartbeat now.
Well, shed try.
Im faster.
Exactly how do you expect us to get concrete trucks down into the catacombs beneath the abbey? Kat demands. To say nothing of how much it would take to seal that chamber. Its three times the size of Inspector Jaynes training green, with a ceiling as high as any cathedral!
I shift position, tucking my knees up, careful to be real quiet. My legs are cramped from sitting with them crossed beneath me. Im in the cafeteria at the abbey, high up on a beam in the ceiling rafters where nobody can see me, munching a Snickers bar and eavesdropping. Its one of my favorite perches for scoping out the details. Im a good climber, fast and agile. Since Im still just a kid in most peoples opinions, folks rarely let me in on the scoop. No worries there. I became a pro at letting myself in years ago.
What are you suggesting we do, then, Kat? Margery says. Leave the most powerful Unseelie prince ever created frozen in a little ice cube beneath our home? Thats crazy! The cafeteria is full of sidhe-seers. Most of them murmur agreement but theyre like that. Whoevers talking loudest at the moment is the person they agree with. Sheep. Half the time Im spying, its all I can do not to jump down there, waggle my ass and say Baaaa, see if any of them catch my drift.
Ive been at the abbey most of the night, waiting for people to wake up and wander in for breakfast, impatient for those whove been up all night like me to tell everyone else the news and start discussing it. I dont need as much sleep as other people, but when I do finally crash, Im as good as dead. Its dangerous to lose consciousness as hard as I do, so Im always careful about where I sleepbehind a lot of locked doors, with booby traps in place. I know how to take care of myself. Ive been on my own since I was eight.
