Legacy (Keeper of the Lost Cities #8) - Shannon Messenger Page 0,253

would not be where I am without you. You truly are my heroes.

This year has been an interesting year for me, filled with some of the greatest joys and biggest challenges I’ve ever faced. And all of that madness might’ve unraveled my creativity if it weren’t for a host of supportive, inspiring people.

Debra Driza: I know I already dedicated the book to you—but I have to thank you here, too, because I truly wouldn’t have survived this deadline without you. Thank you for the snacks, for the abundance of iced tea, and for talking me through Every. Single. Plot hole. Here’s hoping for many more Shannon-and-Deb writing days in the future!

Thank you, Faith Hochhalter and Brandi Stewart, for being an endless source of wisdom on all things book/event related, and for all of the texts, calls, and hilarious GIFs. I’m so glad this business brought us together. *jazz hands*

Thank you, Kelly Ramirez, for proving that some friendships truly do last a lifetime, and for providing excellent pep talks, perfect distractions, and an abundance of Instagram wisdom.

Thank you, Kari Olson, for always making yourself available for a desperate brainstorming session—and for all the cute animal picture motivation. (The aardwolf mention in Legacy is for you!)

Thank you, Alexander Morelli, for teaching me about mindfulness exercises (best deadline coping mechanism ever!) and then not judging me for twisting one of them around to serve my plotting purposes. You saved the hardest scene in the book!

Thank you, C. J. Redwine, for being my writing check-in buddy on the longest deadline days, Sarah Wylie for the wonderful e-mails (and for not judging my long gaps between replies), Amy Tintera for putting up with my really long text messages, and Roshani Chokshi for always being fabulous (and inspiring me to try to be the same).

Thank you, Kasie West, Renee Collins, Bree Despain, Jenn Johansson, and Candice Kennington, for letting me crash your writing retreat—it was just the boost I needed to get back into the rhythms of writing.

Thank you, Allison Bennett, for being there for that first very long, very hard phone call, and for all the advice after. And thank you, Nadia and Roland, for continuing to be the best niece and nephew ever. (And I have to give Jeff Bennett a shout-out here too!)

And of course—of course—thank you, Mom and Dad, for helping me get my house reorganized into perfect writing spaces, for bringing me meals and groceries and anything else I needed. I know I say this every year, but maybe this time it’ll actually happen: Here’s hoping the next book will cooperate and I’ll actually get to sleep!

Hi there, Keeper fans! Consider this your friendly reminder: If you snuck back here to spend a little time with our favorite silver-banged Shade before reading Legacy—STOP! TURN BACK! SPOILERS AHEAD! Even the next paragraph is iffy, so I’d recommend fleeing now.

*pauses for one more SPOILER ALERT*

Okay! The scenes you’re about to read take place simultaneously with what’s going on throughout the course of Legacy, to give you some glimpses into Tam’s side of the story. There are several references to moments you’ve already seen through Sophie’s eyes, but now you’ll get to see Tam’s reactions and hopefully get some deeper insights into what our sweet, angsty boy is going through.

Happy reading!

First Day

Don’t talk to anybody.

Don’t listen to anybody.

Don’t make friends.

Don’t let them break you.

* * *

They were the words that Tam had repeated to himself every morning before he headed off with Linh to Exillium.

The rules he forced himself to follow.

The only way to survive.

And they were going to get him through this.

Hopefully he’d learn something useful too.

Tam studied his tiny, stuffy room, smirking at the ridiculous touches someone had added—as if they thought he’d look at the embroidered pillows and the jeweled moon jars and think, Oh, I guess I’m not a prisoner, because they gave me a mirrored tray with…

Is that a sparkly cat statue?

He rolled his eyes and tried to decide if it would be better to gather up all of that junk and shove it under the bed to show them exactly what he thought of it, or to leave it where it was.

What he really wanted to do was shred the pillows, fling the moon jars against the walls, and smash that stupid, shiny cat.

But this was a long game.

Best to start slow. Test the water.

“How did you sleep?” Lady Gisela asked behind him, and Tam kicked himself for flinching—but he hadn’t heard the door open.

“Awesome,” he told her.