The Nightingale Book Review Novels & Stories

LEAH Warm sunlight streamed through my bedroom window, painting the walls in soft gold. For a few seconds, my mind was blissfully blank. I completely forgot the chaos of my life. Then, reality rushed back like a bucket of ice water. Nightingale was dead. The family dinner was tonight. Santos was going to sit at my family's table and pretend to be in love with me. This was going to be a disaster. I groaned and pulled the pillow over my face. My wolf stirred inside me, stretching like she had just woken up from a long sleep. She wasn't sad like I was. She wasn't scared. She was... excited.

Unfortunately, I wasn't the only one enamored with this godlike man. On our wedding night, he received a phone call and never came back. I sat on the bed until dawn, not sleeping a wink. In the early morning, he came back drunk. He calmly stroked my head and said, "You know what's the most adorable thing about you? It's that you're sensible enough not to cause trouble. The Finley family needs a mistress like you." At that moment, the anger that had welled up in my heart was suddenly extinguished by a bucket of cold water.

A voice cackled in her head. Lily continued to take in the room. The room was quite large. Mahogany wood ran throughout, leading up to rich red walls. Bookcases were casually pressed against a few walls. It was practically a library. French doors led out to the balcony. In the center of the room was the bed she laid on. It was quite large, four pillars holding it together. Black satin sheets draped over the sides, a furry, wine colored blanket keeping her warm. There was another door, steam pouring out from the thin crack at the bottom. Lily assumed that was the bathroom.

Intrigued, i decided to take the book back to the cabin to show Nikau. When i arrived back at the cabin, i excitedly showed Nikau the book, telling him all about the strange symbols and images that i had seen. Nikau was equally intrigued by the book, but nikau said that he would be leaving to check out on the pack for a few days. He asked me not to join him as he would be travelling in his wolf form. After he left, I settled into my cozy spot by the fireplace in the cabin, I opened the old book I had checked out from the library. The title, "The Lost Village of Ravenswood", immediately caught my attention and I was eager to learn more about this mysterious place.

But the gilded gold title was what caught my eye. Vampyres and their Nightmates My breath came in short, quick gasps, and I watched my hands reach for the book and flip it over as an observer, rather than an active participant. I could feel the book between my hands, even as my fingers moved without my permission, or my guidance; I could feel its strange, almost fuzzy texture, and I could smell the musty old-paper smell as I pressed it flat, open on the page Kathrena had been reading. Then it felt as though my dead heart stopped beating for a second time. Kathrena had been reading chapter five, but even as I read the embossed V I could see the chapter title beneath:

Zee's POV "And the First Light of Morning Woke to usher the first dawn in Hell And cried as it happened. For the Light was a weak and paltry thing And lacked the Warmth He was accustomed to Now that they were in the dark. He asked for forgiveness, Begged for it, And heard—for the first time, Nothing in return." ~ The Book of Lost Days Lilith 2:1-2 "You know life would be a lot easier if you didn't scream as much…"

When the dawn creeps through the windows, they both wake up. Juliet goes to move for her clothes, but Hank pulls her back saying: "Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day. It was the nightingale, and not the lark, That pierc’d the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on yond pomegranate tree. Believe me, love, it was the nightingale." Juliet looks back at him and cups his face before reciting: "It was the lark, the herald of the morn,

Adrian replied, “You can all forget about your bright futures when you have a criminal record.” Bianca couldn't believe what she was hearing: “I can't believe you guys.” She said as she felt around for her phone. It was in her pocket. She was about to call for an ambulance when a loud sound rang out in the night. She felt weak. She felt for her neck, she was bleeding. She stumbled around to look at the group, but she tripped on the man she had been trying to save and fell back, down the embankment, and to the road below.

The Book didn’t whisper that night; it screamed through the stillness of the house. Autumn jolted awake at precisely 3:33 a.m., her heart racing as she blinked at the sight before her. The Book pulsed with a ghostly light at the foot of her bed, its pages fluttering violently like trapped birds, despite the windows being securely shut against the autumn chill. The pendant that hung around her neck, an ornate piece of silver filigree, felt uncomfortably cold against her collarbone, as if it were absorbing the warmth from her skin.

"Duly noted, and no snoring, I like having a peaceful night sleep." Nikolai scoffed and turned off the bedside lamp on his side, but I leaned over to switch on mine. I wasn’t ready to sleep yet. My nerves were still buzzing, and I needed something to distract me. To distract me from all this, from Nikolai and his family and my own thoughts. I reached for one of the books I’d brought with me from home. "The Housemaid" by Freida McFadden. The author that Leo and I had talked about during dinner.