Night of Cake and Puppets (a Daughter of Smoke and Bone novella) Read online

Oh, kissing. Oh, violin boy.

  I’m not sure how long it was. I couldn’t begin to guess. Somewhere between two minutes and twenty, and while it never stopped being sweet, it did, toward the end, start hinting at the mysterious connectivity of nerves, little rivers of fire that zither through your entire body awakening sleeper cells of feeling, each one adding another dimension to this mysterious inner landscape that is so much bigger than it seems, possibly infinitely, unknowably bigger. And reflexology no longer seems like hokum to me, because if a light touch at the nape of my neck can do that to my knees, then, where the human body is concerned…anything might be possible.

  My knees were what finally called time-out on the kiss, because they started to tremble and Mik thought I was shivering, but I totally wasn’t, and the way we looked at each other after the kiss was breathless and a little bit startled – oh hi – and unself-consciously happy, and dazzled, and thoroughly, deeply, mutually ensorcelled.

  So, you know, that was nice.

  My phone again, just as I’m drifting off to sleep. A text. It’s Karou: Have to know. If ghost peacock was 2nd-to-last scuppy, what did you do with the LAST?

  And my hand goes to it – no longer hidden in a coat pocket but hanging from a long silver chain around my neck: a singular red bead. I didn’t need it. Well, I didn’t need any of them, but I’m glad I had them, because they inspired me to create this night – right up to the point when the night took over, with Mik’s help, and started to create itself. Which is what one always hopes will happen: for life to take over and be bigger and more marvelous than what we can dream up on our own.

  Life doesn’t need magic to be magical.

  (But a little bit sure doesn’t hurt.)

  It’s nice knowing I have this one last scuppy if I ever need to whip up some peacock footprints – literal or figurative – but maybe I’ll just end up keeping it as a souvenir. Who knows? Saving it for a rainy day, I text back to Karou, and I cup the bead in my hand and smile as I drift toward sleep, wondering what my rainy days are going to look like now. As good as my snowy ones, I think.

  I’m going to need a bigger umbrella.

  Don’t miss the epic Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy

  Daughter of Smoke & Bone

  Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou doesn’t know who she is or where she came from. When the fire-eyed stranger Akiva crosses her path, the result is secrets unveiled and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past.

  Days of Blood & Starlight

  In this stunning sequel, Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. But she must now decide how far she’ll go to avenge her people, and repair a shocking betrayal.

  Dreams of Gods & Monsters

  In the midst of a war that spans worlds, Karou and Akiva struggle to forge a new way forward for their people – and perhaps for themselves – in this epic conclusion to the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy.