Aaru glanced at the dragon, nodded once, and took a cautious step forward.
“We should go first.” Hristo spoke gently, but Aaru withdrew as though he’d been hit.
Hristo was right, though. We couldn’t loiter; it was too close to the Pit. “How far to Gerel’s safe spot?” I asked, shifting LaLa to my shoulder.
“She said the cabin is an hour’s walk straight that way.” Ilina pointed between two mountain peaks. “We’ll have to go around the field. I don’t want to get caught in the open when there are warriors around. Patrols are everywhere. Fortunately, they think you’re dead.”
And I’d let them think that. For now.
Because for fifty-two days, my goal had been simply to leave the Pit, but that wasn’t enough anymore. It wasn’t enough to escape for myself, or even for my friends. There was too much suffering in the world, and I could no longer ignore it.
I had knowledge. I had power. I had a voice.
And it was my duty to use them all.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I HONESTLY THOUGHT this book would be easier to write. I don’t know why. Needless to say, it was not easy, and I found myself leaning on my support group more than ever.
A good agent is like a lovable dragon, and Lauren MacLeod is no exception. Part fire-breather, part epic defender, part super adorable. I’d be a mess without you.
Speaking of dragons, the amazing Kelsey Horton edited this book. We survived a sudden deluge the day we first met. We survived this book (no simple task!). We can do anything.
And while losing an editor-dragon is a real blow, I was fortunate enough to have Maria Barbo swoop in and take on this book and the rest of the series.
Further gratitude to the entire team at Katherine Tegen Books, including Bess Braswell, Sabrina Abballe, and Rosanne Romanello, for always being such champions of my books, to Joel Tippie for this beautiful cover, to production editor Emily Rader, and of course, to Katherine Tegen herself.
I definitely wouldn’t have gotten far in writing this book without an incredible group of critique partners, sensitivity readers, brainstormers, and hug providers: Brodi Ashton, Martina Boone, Dhonielle Clayton, Valerie Cole, Cynthia Hand, Deborah Hawkins, Joy Hensley, Stacey Lee, Sarah Glenn Marsh, Myra McEntire, Christine Nguyen, Nicole Overton, Alexa Santiago, Stephanie Sinclair, Laurel Symonds, Angie Thomas, Sabaa Tahir, and Alana Whitman. You’ve all made this a better book.
A round of tall glasses of water to Emmy, Rachel, and Ely, who shared their experiences of dehydration with me. Drink up, friends.
Many thanks to Mary E. Pearson and C. J. Redwine: you are some of my favorite authors and I could not be more grateful for you saying such nice things about this book.
Thanks to my mom, who responded to texts like “Do you have time to talk about electrocution?” with enthusiasm to match mine. Clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
My sister. My best friend. My wingsister as well.
My husband, who puts up with an awful lot of talk about dragons. (It’s cool, though. He likes dragons, too.)
God, whose love never fails.
And, as always, readers. From librarians to booksellers to reviewers to people who picked up this book because it has a pretty cover; from new readers to those who’ve followed all of my books; and especially my darlings in the OQ Support Group: without you, this book would be a collection of words moved from my head onto sheets of paper. But your imaginations bring it to life.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtesy of Jodi Meadows and Brian Perry
JODI MEADOWS wants to be a ferret when she grows up and she has no self-control when it comes to yarn, ink, or outer space. Still, she manages to write books. She is the author of the Incarnate trilogy, the Orphan Queen duology, and the Fallen Isles trilogy and coauthor of the New York Times bestseller My Lady Jane. Visit her at www.jodimeadows.com.
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BOOKS BY JODI MEADOWS
Incarnate
Asunder
Infinite
Phoenix Overture, a digital novella
The Orphan Queen
The Hidden Prince, a digital novella
The Glowing Knight, a digital novella
The Burning Hand, a digital novella
The Black Knife, a digital novella
The Mirror King
Before She Ignites
CREDITS
Cover photography by Michael Frost
Cover art and design by Joel Tippie
COPYRIGHT
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
BEFORE SHE IGNITES. Copyright © 2017 by Jodi Meadows. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017943390
ISBN 978-0-06-246940-3
ISBN 978-0-06-279552-6 (special ed.)
EPub Edition © August 2017 ISBN 9780062469427
17 18 19 20 21 PC/LSCH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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Jodi Meadows, Before She Ignites
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