The Distinct

The Distinct LE Swift Copyright © 2023 by LE Swift All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the authors, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. “There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature.” -Jane Austen Table of Contents Prologue Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Chapter Thirty-One Chapter Thirty-Two Chapter Thirty-Three Chapter Thirty-Four Chapter Thirty-Five Chapter Thirty-Six Chapter Thirty-Seven Chapter Thirty-Eight Chapter Thirty-Nine Epilogue Prologue Willow – 500 Years Ago – Agrum Di Vinum The halls echoed around me as I trailed through the castle I once called home. Now it felt more like a museum, left behind to tell the stories of those that once roamed its halls. All of my people were gone. My closest friends were now on the human realm. My young daughter, my world, was sent away from me to carry on our bloodline. And I was alone, my only companion the Darkness outside my walls and the creatures haunting my windows. I hadn’t told the others that the only way to close the portal was from the side it was opened. That was the one rule when it came to transporting to different realms; a failsafe to keep us in our own worlds. I knew that if they knew the truth, they wouldn’t have left me. But it was our only hope to rid the Darkness and so I kept quiet. I had hope that when the next Heirs were born, I would be reunited with my people, with my child. And so, for now, I silently drifted throughout, watching as my home burned around me. ⁓ ⁓ ⁓ A century passed in a blur. I knew that the human realm wasn’t like Agrum Di Vinum and those closest to me were gone by now. Even my daughter, the light of my life, would have passed on. Their bodies couldn’t live Chapter One Halley The snow seeped through my clothes and froze my skin. I didn’t move, letting my eyes wander to the tree line above me. The wind whistled, mingling with the silence. The once boisterous grounds of Willow Grove Academy were now deserted. No one knew this small piece of the Divines was here. There were no more Hunters that could find the passage. And even if someone were to stumble upon the shield, they would never enter. I had erected a shield too strong for even a Divine to pass through. It had been four months since we had opened the portal to Agrum Di Vinum and the Divines had passed through. Four months since I had seen the faces of those I loved. Some days, I thought of them. I wondered if they had made it to the safety of the castle. If they had defeated the Darkness and were basking in the glow of our home. And I wondered if they thought of me, of our moments together that were cut too short. I wondered if they felt as alone as I did. A twig snapping underneath a boot alerted me and I reminded myself that I wasn’t alone. After the portal closed, Jay hadn’t left. I had expected him to try something, to take me out like he once did my mother, but I think we both realized the truth. I was too strong for him to kill.