The Cradle Book Novels & Stories

The shared vision of the cradle hung in the air of the Astropheles, a silent, radiant promise that changed everything and nothing at all. Our work at the First Library continued, but it was now tinged with a new, profound anticipation. We were no longer just maintaining the endless conversation; we were preparing the nursery for a new kind of speaker.

Rhaena's POV I must have eventually fallen asleep because I was jolted awake by a massive crack of thunder that sounded like the sky was being torn in half. My eyes flew open to complete darkness - the kind of absolute, disorienting darkness that made it impossible to tell if your eyes were even open. Another boom of thunder rolled across the sky, followed immediately by a flash of lightning that briefly illuminated my room through the windows. Rain was pounding against the glass, driven by wind that howled around the villa.

As she cried and begged, her elbow knocked against my emerald bracelet with uncanny precision. The bracelet snapped cleanly in two and clattered to the floor. It was my eighteenth birthday gift from my father. "Veronica!" Furious, I tried to push her off me. The moment my hand brushed against her sleeve, she suddenly clutched her stomach and screamed. "Ah! My stomach hurts… "Catherine, why did you push me? I know you're angry, but this baby is innocent! He's not going to come between you and Lex. Why would you try to hurt him…"

The call broke minutes afterward, while she went back inside, only to see Rachel’s body swamped in a pool of blood. She took steps backward, while staring at the lady she had left inside, alive a few minutes ago. Whatever was going on wasn't a new case; it was just the beginning of whatever that had been happening. It was something delicate and fragile. Not fragile as a flower but fragile like a bomb that could explode any moment from now. She dialed Mary's number, yet the failed calls were as persistent as the blood on the floor at that moment. “We need a team”!

Something old and angry. “We need to leave,” Rafael said, helping me to my feet. But I wasn’t finished. Not yet. There were more pages. More truths buried in flame. Another prophecy caught my eye: “The Cradle shall burn once more. When sky meets flame, and stars no more, The flame-born must choose: rule, or restore.” It chilled me. Because deep down, I knew that choice wouldn’t be mine. It would be hers. And the world would live or die by it.

“Anyone would have missed that because it is insignificant, but not you, Haylee.” Liya was right. The book was shoved behind two giant books, and its front cover had been ripped off. I held Jodie with one arm, stretching the other to get the book off the shelf. My eyes squinted as I tried to read the words on the first page. “Cursed in Crimson: The Tale of Ancient Red Wolves,” I read under my breath. Flavia heard me and stepped towards me with about five books in her hands. She etched, “Interesting. That might help us with solving the mystery around Elder Calvin’s death.”

He approaches me as I'm getting a book from my locker. "Hey," he says as he stands beside me. I shut my locker and turn to see his light brown chocolate eyes looking at me, and I unravel why girls always fall for him, ignoring the trouble he is. "Hi," I say back, holding my book to my chest. I twirl around and start to walk away as if I don't know what he wants with me, and I notice that he's following me. Like a male wolf following a she-wolf who's in heat.

He told himself to stop being silly, to stop ruining his good mood with such nonsense. Bishop’s Cragg rose from the water, its harsh shoreline hemmed with white foam. Cochran brought The Elvis to a full stop a hundred metres from the ragged island and called for Jimbo to weigh anchor. ‘Okay, young ’uns,’ he said to the boy and girl who were now standing and watching the rocks intensely. ‘This is Bishop’s Cragg. A more miserable excuse for an island you will not find this side of the Atlantic.’ ‘I think it is quite inspiring,’ said the boy.