Spelled (23 page)

Epilogue: ep - uh - lawg n. The point at the end of a fairy tale where everything wraps up to a satisfactory conclusion.

—Charlotte Webster's Dictionary of Fairy-Tale Terms

Blanc stared stoically ahead as her sister's murderers left the room, but the fools had forgotten something, a rule that the original beast king and mimicking traitor had laid down centuries ago.

Never leave liquid near the water sorceress.

Blanc focused all the energy she had gained since waking and drew the puddle toward the fiery prison wall. It crept and inched toward her, sizzling when it made contact. The spring water extinguished the flames.

Satisfied that Grizelda's death was not in vain, she stepped out of her prison.

“That Emerald brat has no idea what heartache is.” Blanc smiled for the first time in centuries. “Yet.”

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An ogre-sized thank-you goes out to my agent, Michelle Witte, for having the same twisted sense of humor and the bravery to take a chance on me. Big thanks to the tinkerers at Sourcebooks, Aubrey and Kate. You guys really helped focus the story and make it true magic. Without great beta readers like Karen, Jessica, T. J., Stacy, Melody, Caleb, Julie, Kari, and the rest of the Wednesday class, this book would have been dragon fodder. Tim, thanks for letting me swipe your weird creatures. A pixie dust of love goes to Alexis C. for giving me the tween perspective. A click of the heels to the real life Dorthea, Misty and your fabulous shoe obsession. And most importantly, I couldn't create without my one true love, Jarom, who makes sure the kids don't starve while I disappear in my own little world for weeks on end.

Betsy Schow is the
Today
Show
featured author of the nonfiction book
Finished
Being
Fat
; however, she's been mixing up real life and fantasy for as long as she can remember. If someone were to ask about her rundown truck, she's 100 percent positive that mechanical gremlins muck up her engine. And the only reason her house is dirty is because the dust bunnies have gone on strike. She lives in Utah, with her own knight in geeky armor and their two princesses (who can totally shape-shift into little beasts). When not writing, she helps teach kids creative thinking and how to turn their toasters into robots. Catch up and connect with Betsy at
www.betsyschow.com
.