A Burning in the Bones (3) (Waxways)

A Burning in the Bones (3) (Waxways)

Ren’s quest to dismantle Kathor’s corrupt system comes to a head as political machinations and a mysterious disease take hold of the city in this edge-of-your-seat conclusion to the “pulse-pounding” ( Publishers Weekly , on A Door in the Dark ) New York Times bestselling Waxways series. After taking control of House Brood, Ren and Theo dreamed of using their newfound influence to change the rest of Kathor, but now they find their efforts being countered by the other great houses, who have no interest in a world where they enjoy less power. No one understands that better than the Tin’Vori siblings. The return of their ancestral home was a decade in the making, but they’re eager to keep rising from the ashes. Nevelyn begins researching House Brood—and ends up face-to-face with an enemy that’s already slouching toward the gates of the city. The one enemy no one can avoid: a plague. The victims experience strange bruising, an unquenchable thirst, and a temporary disruption in magic. When doctors trace the illness to its source, they find another mystery: corpses placed in strategic locations around the city. As Ren leads the hunt for the culprits, she’ll find herself two steps behind a devious enemy whose sights are set on an unexpected prize: the city’s magic. Survival will require every ounce of their skill, every bond old and new, or else the future Ren and Theo have worked to build will burn down with the rest of the world. “A series that ends as interestingly as it started. A meticulously crafted magical medical mystery with an emotionally substantive romance.” -- Kirkus ― 12/15/24 Scott Reintgen is a former public school teacher from North Carolina. When he’s not writing, he uses his imagination to entertain his wife, Katie, and their three children. Scott is the New York Times bestselling author of the Waxways series, the Nyxia trilogy, the Dragonships series, and the Celia Cleary series for younger readers. You can find him on Instagram @Reintgen, on X @Scott_Thought, or on his website at ItsPronouncedRankin.com. Chapter 1: Mercy Whitaker 1 MERCY WHITAKER Mercy Whitaker was alone in the washroom. She quietly scrubbed and soaped and scrubbed and soaped. Her eyes lingered briefly on the two fingers on her right hand. Both were shorter than the others. Stunted. The fingers had died just after her tenth birthday. Over the years, they’d faded to a grim black color. She flexed that hand experimentally, but the two fingers never responded. She had learned to live without them. After drying her hands off, Mercy reached for a pair of double-thick leather gloves. Most students favored wands or orbs or jewelry of some kind for their vessels. She’d started wearing the gloves after her incident and only realized a year later that she could use them to store magic. They were just as fine a conduit as anything else. Rich with magic, the gloves had grown with her as she aged. Always a perfect fit. It didn’t hurt that they also hid her biggest insecurity. Ready, Mercy turned and entered the operatory. Dr. Horn was waiting within. She took her position on his left, set her feet in the proper stance, and nodded. The lights of the operating room flickered out a few seconds later. Mercy stood in that sudden dark. All the nothing. She held her breath. There were rumors of outside contaminants ruining severance procedures in the past. Apparently, Colin Nearchase had sneezed during his own practical. One failed exam had landed him down in the basement of Safe Harbor with all the other castaway doctors. Assigned the worst patients. Given the least resources. Mercy had not risen through the class ranks to fail now. And so even though she was wearing a mask with three layers of sealing enchantments, she continued to hold her breath. Her eyes slowly adjusted. Their patient took shape. A dark mound on a flattened, steel table. Her mentor—Dr. Horn—hovered on her right. Between them, a square table with dozens of tools. Mercy was starting to grow light-headed when her mentor cleared his throat. “Begin.” Mercy exhaled. The first tool in her arsenal was the pair of gloves she was already wearing. She hadn’t chosen them with this career in mind, but once she’d decided to become a doctor, she’d found the gloves perfectly suited to anatomical magic. They gave her meticulous control over smaller spells. A certain finesse. With quiet concentration, she began the required spellwork. It was no secret that Dr. Horn had invented this particular procedure. She could not afford any missteps in front of him. Silver light crept from her fingertips like fog. An eerie circle that expanded in every direction until Mercy used a second spell to ward herself and Dr. Horn from the magic. It cocooned the cloudlike substance into a sphere that now hovered directly over their patient. “Very good,” she heard her mentor whisper. “Maintain that radius…” Mercy had a steady hand. She was not the smartest resident. She certainly