Harvest: A Dystopian Paranormal Romance Novel

By Conner Kressley and Rebecca Hamilton

In a world where the sun never sets, one girl must face the darkness in an attempt to save them all.

Raised in a home for the unwanted and groomed for a life of service, orphan Lara’s worst fear is being selected during the Harvest. Things turn out worse than she fears, however, when one of her best friends, Karr, is called instead.

In mourning, Lara bids Karr a tearful goodbye, thinking she’ll never see him again. But when he returns, mysteriously changed, and murders their other best friend in front of her eyes, it sets Lara on a path to discover not only what happened Karr inside the box, but what secrets lurk in the center of her Faction and the heart of her home.

Once inside, she discovers a shocking connection to the darkness within herself that will threaten her faction forever, and that the time to contain that nefarious power is running out…

Fans of Divergent and Twilight will love this dystopian paranormal romance from USA Today bestselling author Conner Kressley and New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton.

Scroll up to one click and start reading this chilling mythical adventure of witches vs. fae!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evershade Publishing
• Release date: Oct 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9781949112092

Conner Kressley

New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Hamilton writes urban fantasy and paranormal romance for Harlequin, Baste Lübbe, and Evershade. A book addict, registered bone marrow donor, and indian food enthusiast, she often takes to fictional worlds to see what perilous situations her characters will find themselves in next. Represented by Rossano Trentin of TZLA, Rebecca has been published internationally, in three languages: English, German, and Hungarian. You can follow her on twitter @InkMuse

Book preview

Epilogue

Chapter 1

My heart was in my throat as I made my way across the frozen walkway to the faction square.

Of course, I wasn’t the only one in a panic. Today was the Harvest Ceremony, the most stressful time of the year if one happened to be a witch born and bred in one of the four main Domiciles that studded Faction One.

Each Domicile served as both home and university to the witches of Faction One, which meant each of us were schooled to fear this moment.

It was the fourth and most nerve wracking of this year’s Harvest days, and it would answer a question I’d had ever since I was old enough to consider questions. For some, that realization might be death.

I tightened my coat against the harsh cold. Despite having grown up in a world that had never experienced warmth—just winter day in and day out—I’d never gotten accustomed to the icy weather. I’d heard stories about a world that once had four seasons—a place called earth. But a nuclear war left that world uninhabitable due to radiation poisoning, and that was when many of our ancestors fell into Isa Fae.

On that day, humans came to this world. The rumor was that crossing over had turned them into witches. But who really knew? It was what they taught us in school, but I hardly trusted the elders when they seemed to care so little about our well-being.

Hey, Lara! Wait up.

I whirled around to see Karr jogging to catch up with me and waited until he was at my side before setting off again.

You’re nervous, he said. I can tell. He kept pace with me, which probably wasn’t hard for him with his long legs, no matter how fast I was walking. You shouldn’t be. We’ve gotten by this long without being chosen. It won’t happen now. And then we’re in the clear for the rest of our lives. You should be excited for that! This is our last Harvest.

Our last one, but not the last one there would ever be.

Then he smiled at me. That right there—the way his eyes lit up like uncovered gemstones when he looked at me, how his lips curled up invitingly when he spoke, the ridiculous cowlick at the back of his head that only served to humanize him and make him even more special—that made me more nervous than the Harvest ever could.

I wasn’t sure why, which made me uncertain around him.

Like everyone in House One, I’d grown up alongside Karr. He had been one of my best friends since Initiation year, when he, my best friend Arbor, and I were thrust together into a spell group where we learned we had more in common than our shared abilities.

He was more than that to me now, though. He didn’t know it—because I never built up enough nerve to tell him—but Karr was probably the most important person in my life. I dreamed about him during day sleeps, and I thought about him during every waking moment besides.

Now that we were graduating—now that our lives would finally be our own—I was starting to think about what my life would look like from now. Today was the last Harvest I would be eligible for. I needed to survive it just one more time. After that, I would officially be on my way to becoming an Auxiliary, which meant I’d be able to decide things about my life on my own.

And that meant I could decide who was or was not in it.

Including Karr.

I turned from Karr and his gorgeous smile, looking instead at the Box in the distance.

That horrible, snow-covered wooden square, encased in metal rods that twisted into magically binding symbols, assured that what was inside stayed in there. A new knot formed in my throat as the possibilities of today finally pushed their way past how I always felt when Karr was around.

I could be one of those people, thrown into the Box, never to be seen again. That wasn’t the way they sold it, of course. Four times a year, witches were chosen for the Harvest. They were plunged into the Box in hopes of restoring what our forefathers lost. In the hope that it might bring back the night.

It was that, or try to find our way to another faction of Isa Fae. One that hadn’t lost the night. But as far as anyone knew, that was impossible.

I just don’t know why they even do this, I muttered.

Arbor came up to my side and scoffed. Because they know they can’t get anyone to do it voluntarily.

She gave me a wink with eyes that looked like my own and scrunched her face as she motioned to the man beside us. She was the only person in the entire faction who knew the way I felt about Karr, and she never let me forget it.

"That’s true now, Karr said, seemingly unaware of the way Arbor was gently ribbing me. But it wasn’t always. I remember Professor Warbler telling me about times when there were lines of people waiting to go into the Box—lines that stretched around half the faction."

I guess that was before they realized no one ever escaped the stupid thing, I muttered, chancing one more look at the Box before we rounded the corner toward the main square.

Really? Arbor asked. No one? Not even one person?

No one I’ve ever heard about, Karr said. Lara?

I shook my head. No one I know about, either.

Arbor shrugged. Maybe they didn’t want to come back. They could have found their way to another faction. One that hasn’t lost the night. And said screw this place. She pursed her lips. I wouldn’t blame them.

Karr stuffed his hands into his pockets, fidgeting a little as he stepped up ahead of us. Yeah. Maybe.

Was it possible that he was nervous, too? He never seemed the type. Karr always came across as so secure in himself, in his abilities and the luck that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. From the time we were kids, he had always been chosen first at everything. When he wasn’t, the sheer perfection of his performances made the choosers wish they’d considered him earlier.

Looking at the band on my wrist, I mused. Three bars of atern filled my magical meter. Enough for a moderate spell. Still, something told me Karr could have done more with the one bar that now lit up on his band than I would ever be able to do with all three of mine.

Well, like you said, there’s nothing to worry about, I said with all the confidence I could muster. Was I was trying to convince him, Arbor, or myself? I doubted the empty words helped, and they certainly didn’t make me feel any better. But I held onto the hope, anyway. And you’re right—this is our last year. After today, we can put all this behind us and start to think about the future.

Start? Karr looked back at me, smiling again. I thought you had done more than start. Your sister tells me you girls are moving in together after graduation.

Arbor and I weren’t sisters—or at least, we didn’t know for sure one way or the other. We were orphans and had been placed in House One as infants. We’d landed in different families, but it’d happened around the same time, and we did look very similar. That didn’t necessarily mean we were sisters. After all, no one ever told either of us that we had surviving family members.

Still, Arbor had eyes like mine, eyes of green so bright they glittered as the glaring sun cut through the skeletal tree branches and shone in her face. I had never seen another person in the faction with eyes like mine, so I naturally assumed she was my sister. Even if she wasn’t, that wasn’t going to stop me from treating her like one.

So, is it true then? Karr asked, raising his eyebrows when I didn’t refute the claim.

Arbor threw her arm around my shoulder. You can bet on it, Treetop, she said, using the nickname she’d had for Karr ever since his growth spurt during elementary tutelage. My sister and I are taking on the faction together. Maybe we’ll be dressmakers, maybe we’ll be lawmakers. Whatever we do, we’ll do it together. And you’d do well to come along with us.

I nudged her in the side with my elbow. When I glared at her, she just kept grinning.

We could always use a third roommate, she added.

My cheeks burned so hot I had to turn away for fear Karr would see me blushing.

Don’t be ridiculous, Karr said, waving her off. You know I can’t live with women. It’s against the law. He shrugged. Besides, I’m twenty-four. I want to get married.

The fire in my cheeks didn’t subside at all.

Married? I balked, unable to hold back my surprise. I didn’t…I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.

I’m not, he answered quickly. But I will. What I mean is, after today, I’d like to get serious about the future.

He touched my shoulder, and I turned to face him.

Do you know what I mean? he asked.

I absolutely know what you mean, I said, swallowing hard. I feel that way, too, sometimes.

As an uncomfortable silence pressed around the three of us, the mumblings of conversation coming from the throngs of people pressed together in the main square becoming more apparent.

The three of us were late. Not an oddity for our little trio, but not exactly a welcomed quirk. Even when we were young witches without unmonitored access to the atern in our bands, we would get to talking, and the time would pass. Before we knew it, we’d be in a rush to arrive at our classes before the elders got upset.

We rarely made it in time, and today didn’t look like we’d fare much better. By the time we settled at the main square, the crowd was large enough to stretch halfway toward our House.

We should have just stayed home and looked out the window, Arbor said, following her quip with a giggle. We’d have had a better view.

It doesn’t matter what we see, Karr said. Only what we hear.

You mean what we don’t hear, I said, swallowing hard and letting my ever-building nervousness lay heavy on my voice.

You worry too much, Karr said. He patted my shoulder.

Sparks flew through my body as his hand pressed against me, and I had to imagine he could feel them, too. Though if he did, he never let on. Just looked back up at the crowd.

This was it. Many of the people here would go on to live normal lives, while a few would be sacrificed to the Box.

In mere moments, we would learn our fate.

Chapter 2

My nerves were getting the better of me.

My hand found Arbor’s the way it always did in moments like this—moments when the stress of everything became too much for me to bear alone. There was a time when my other hand might have found Karr’s, but it didn’t feel right anymore. Touching him like that…touching him at all, actually…lit up a firestorm of emotions inside of me the likes of which I had neither the time nor inclination to deal with.

So instead, I looked down at my empty hand, down at the band which read off the atern level I was now exhibiting. Three bars, and nothing at all to use them for. A moderate spell might help me out of a tense situation or two—it might even guide me through tough times—but it wouldn’t do any good against the Harvest. The situation I was faced with at present could be cured by neither study nor spell. No magic would save the people who were about to be forced into the Box.

We knew the horrors that awaited those unlucky few. We knew what they stood to lose once their names were called. Their lives, for sure. Those would be all but forfeit, seeing as how no one had ever returned from such a banishment. But other things as well. They might also lose their sanity if they weren’t lucky. Should they cry and grovel the way some had in the past, they would also lose the respect of those left behind.

Among some social circles, being called to service inside the Box was considered an honor. Those banished were seen as heroes, as people to look up to and try to emulate. Their families were given special gifts and treated with the highest of courtesies.

None of that happened to those who broke down, though. To weep openly in front of your peers, to curse fate and beg for pardon to anyone who might listen, was a sin as unforgivable as taking a life.

And it was never forgotten.

The Harvest began with the ceremonial blowing of the woodwinds. The tune was meant to bring peace and calmness to those in attendance. If they were anything like me, though, it just served to chill their bones even further.

It’s begun, Arbor said, squeezing my hand.

It’s okay, I answered, swallowing hard. We’ve made it this far. Fate’s been kind to us. She’ll continue. You’ll see. It’ll be you and me.

It was strange. Her palm was pressed against mine to strengthen my resolve. Yet, here I was, giving her words of comfort in the face of this uncertainty. Maybe I was trying to convince myself more than her.

My eyes flickered over to Karr. His face was so strong, so solid and stalwart. Some might look at him and say he was hard, that he was unfeeling, that being that way wasn’t worth being able to live without fear.

Those people didn’t know him, though. To call him heartless was to spit in the face of who he truly was. All they’d have had to do was be there when he’d pushed bullies away from Arbor and me, when he comforted Arbor during the evenings when she lamented her parents’ deaths, or when he said something kind for no reason at all.

He was far from heartless, and that made his strength even more impressive. I would have given anything to be like him.

His gaze moved over, latching onto mine. A thin smile spread across his face, and I could feel my lips bending to match it.

A warmth filled me, and I knew everything would be okay so long as I had him at my side. I didn’t need to worry about any stupid Box or the list of names the woman at the center of the podium had now begun to read off. Those names wouldn’t have anything to do with us. Life was too good for that. It had given me a sister in Arbor. It had given me a friend, and maybe something more, in Karr, and, after today, it would give me the freedom to do what I wanted from here on after.

For the first time in a very long while, I let out an honest-to-goodness sigh of relief. The names were still being called off, but none of them were ours. I had never even heard most of them, and those I had were people I had only ever met in passing.

One by one, they trickled past as I stared into Karr’s eyes, my hand still firmly pressed against Arbor’s. His gaze was firm, his expression strong and unyielding. When Karr looked at me, I felt stronger.

I’d been silly. Of course, I could take Karr’s hand as I used to when we were children. No matter what happened, we would always be friends. Even if he didn’t feel about me the way I felt about him, we would stay close. He would be in my life.

What did I think was going to happen? That I’d slip my palm against his and everything would suddenly fall apart between us? It was a ridiculous, childish thought, and I was better than that. So I reached out and smiled even more broadly as he took my hand into his own.

Sparks flew up my arm and settled around my overflowing heart. Though I knew the attraction was one-sided, I still said a silent thank-you to whatever maker was responsible for giving me the ability to feel this way and for putting a person like Karr so close to me.

The names rattled on, the list shrinking smaller and smaller, until there was only room for one more name to be read. I sighed again, shaking my head as