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“What have you done?” Ayric leaped for the book, but froze with his fingers inches from it, then stared up at me in horror. “You could have damaged it! Do you not understand what—“ His fingers hovered above the book. “I should not touch it. You are the Guardian. Please... please remove it from the floor.”

My heart lurched. I still didn’t know what was happening, but it seemed bad. Was it bad? Was it my fault?

I gasped as I took in my new surroundings. What the—

Tyler followed me into Gramps’ office.

I packed my unmentionables into a spare gym bag while Tyler and Mav were distracted boxing up my books.

I didn’t feel awkward about holding Mav’s hand until we got closer to the house and Tyler’s eyes caught on our clasped fingers.

Mav stood a few feet away as I stared into the line of trees. The sun was setting beyond them, lighting their branches with a golden glow. The huge cypress I’d noticed earlier stood in this line, a few spots from where Gramps’ hole had been dug. Behind the trees sprawled about twenty feet of grass, edged on the far end by a wooden fence—the back end of Gramps’ property. Of my property, if I accepted it.

Three days later, we were standing on my grandfather’s porch, waiting for the moment to bury his ashes. I didn’t know how my parents had him cremated so quickly, and I didn’t ask.

He unfolded a wrinkled yellow paper, the lined kind from a legal pad. Sloppy, scrawled handwriting showed through the back of the page as he read it aloud. “I, Alpheus Salvador, do hereby bequeath my full estate—including my house, land, and all my possessions therein, to my granddaughter, Nadia Amante. Nadia, the inheritance is fully yours, upon the following conditions...”

I entered the study to find my parents seated on the plush couch by the window, and some random person at Gramps’ desk.

I sat outside for a solid twenty minutes, fighting with myself over whether I wanted to go back in.

My driver and I arrived at my grandfather’s property ten minutes later, and it surprised me how close he lived to campus. It had been so long since I visited him, I hadn’t realized the proximity. My parents lived farther than he did, twenty minutes in the opposite direction, and I visited them every other weekend, but I hadn’t been here in years.

The girl’s high eyebrows drew down and her perfect smile curved into a frown. “Oh, boo. Next time!” She sashayed away, and Mav’s eyes turned back to me.

The empress raised her arm, her cold eyes glaring out across the—

Blurb for Torn Fate: Guardians of Miralore Nadia Amante is a C-average college student whose only bright spots in life are her best friend Mav and her writing. That is, until her estranged, insane grandfather bequeaths her everything he owns, on two conditions: Nadia must never sell his home, and must live there alone until married. Nadia soon discovers Gramps wasn't crazy, he was a writer—of a very particular kind. Now, the fate of the magical realm he protected rests in Nad

Torn Fate: Guardians of Miralore a standalone YA fantasy serial full of magic, adventure, & sweet romance Crystal Crawford © 2024 Crystal Crawford All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and cer

“Jay? Jay, wake up!”

He was pale, and bruised, but her father was here. In the flesh. Alive. Or as close to it as Jay ever could have hoped.

Jay glanced at Ryan and Kyle as she said the combination number, but only the briefest flicker in Kyle’s gaze as it locked on hers revealed that he’d just caught up to her plan.

The mob stopped just in front of the shed in Jay’s backyard.