Read the opening below to get a real feel for the characters, voice, and pacing before choosing an edition.
Secret Kingdoms Boxed Set Books 1-3: The Draquonir
by Grace Goodwin & Becca Brayden
Chapter 1
1
Emily: i need to talk to you
Katy: i’m working
Emily: it’s an emergency
Katy: always is
“Collins and Rowe, this is Katy speaking. How may I help you?” Katy Toure answered the phone with her most professional voice. She literally cringed every time she had to answer the telephone. Especially right after her boss ran an expensive radio campaign promising free consultations. For each rational human being who called, there were ten crazies and they all thought they had the perfect ‘sue them and get rich’ case. Katy had more than enough crazy in her life already. She dreaded talking to them and, to be honest, disliked everything about her job.
“Katy! Don’t hang up! It’s me. Emily.”
Katy grinned. Her sister was so dramatic. They may be identical in looks, but that was where the similarities ended. Still, she loved her twin to distraction.
“I’m working,” Katy whispered into the phone as she glanced nervously toward the closed door connecting her tiny cubicle to the opulent office currently occupied by her micro-managing boss. “You know I’m not supposed to take personal calls, even when I’m on break. What happened? Is Mom okay?”
“She is feeling better, actually. The nurse said the new lung treatment is starting to work.”
“Thank God.” Katy felt some of the tension in her shoulders melt. Her mom and her sister were all she had left in the world. Literally. After their house burned to the ground a few weeks ago, she had learned to be grateful they’d all survived. Their stubborn mother had gone back in after their cat, Thorin Oakenshield, Thor for short, and came out with a singed cat, a few minor burns, a broken ankle, and lung damage from the smoke.
Everyone thought their mother had named the fluffy orange tabby after the Avengers character, but her mom was a diehard Lord of The Rings fan. The corner of her mouth twitched up with a quick mental ‘thanks’ that she and Emily were not Eowyn and Arwen.
Mom had cried more about her burned books and the lost family photos than anything else in the house. Which was something Katy didn’t want to think about right now. They’d lost everything, and her mom had no insurance. None. The whole thing was a disaster with Katy left behind to deal with the mortgage company and bill collectors. Her nerves were just about shot. Emily couldn’t help much — she was a nurse who traveled around the world assessing medical delivery systems for her company, flitting from project to project like a honeybee hopping from flower to flower, only to return home every three or four weeks for a few days.
Speaking of foreign locations. “Where are you, Em? I tried to call you last night, and you didn’t answer.”
“Sorry. Work.”
Of course. Emily was always busy helping someone. She put in just as many hours every week as Katy. “So when did you speak to the nurse?”
“About ten minutes ago. She said the new treatment is working. Mom even walked the hall this morning without oxygen.”
“Wow. If the lung treatment is working, they’ll want to move her to that rehab facility soon. And we can’t afford it, Em. Two more bill collectors called last night. I can’t believe Mom let her homeowner’s insurance lapse.”
“That’s why I called. I got a contract that will pay for everything, but I need your help. And stop whispering! Who cares if that viper you work for overhears? You’re the best paralegal she’s ever had, and she totally takes advantage of you. You deserve twice the pay. At least. And if you’re at lunch, why are you still answering the phone? You’re not even the receptionist!”
Katy had been asking herself the same question lately. “The receptionist quit last month, and every temp we hire leaves within a few days. I’m the only one here.”
“You should have quit months ago.”
“Someone has to pay the bills around here, especially now.” Her eyes darted to the time on her phone. Damn. Her lunch break was over. “I have to go.” She hissed, just waiting for the office door to open as it always did at this time. Another reminder that she was under constant observation.
“Wait! Don’t hang up. I told you, I landed an amazing contract. I just need a favor to close the deal.”
“What kind of favor?” Katy asked suspiciously. Emily tended to start huge projects she couldn’t finish alone, then rope Katy in to “help”. Most recently it was repairing the wall and repainting their elderly neighbor’s bathroom damaged by a water leak. That one day project led to repainting ALL the rooms and a sorely needed deep clean. None of which would have been a problem if Emily hadn’t been called out on assignment three days into the project, leaving Katy to finish by herself. She sighed, rubbing her pounding temples. “Whatever it is, I’m not helping this time. I don’t even want to know.”
Emily’s musical laughter filled Katy’s ear, setting her teeth on edge. Katy knew that laugh. Hers sounded exactly the same when she was feeling mischievous. She dug her mental heels in. “I mean it, Em. Don’t. Want. To. Know.”
“You’ve been saying that since fifth grade,” Emily teased her.
“With good reason,” Katy countered, stretching her aching muscles. “Besides, I’m exhausted. I’ve already worked two all-nighters this week trying to get everything ready for an upcoming trial. I don’t have the energy for one of your save-the-world projects. Ask someone else this time.” She tried to suppress a yawn. Failed. What she didn’t tell her sister was that she’d also taken on an extra part-time job waitressing two nights a week just to pay the monthly installment on their mother’s hospital bill so they wouldn’t kick her out. The medical bills were piling up faster than candy wrappers the day after Halloween.
“I can’t ask anyone else. It has to be you. Please?” Emily pleaded, her voice taking on an edge Katy had never heard before. “I’m desperate.”
Damn it. Emily had never used that word before. Like ever. Groaning, Katy finally gave in to curiosity. “It has to be me? As in, has to be me because I look exactly like you?”
“Yes.”
“I swear, I’m not breaking up with another one of your boyfriends. No more twin swapping. You’re just going to have to grow a pair and do it yourself. Come home from Africa or India or wherever you are this time, go knock on the poor guy’s door, and say, ‘Hi, So-and-So, you’re a great guy, but this isn’t working for me anymore.’”
“I’m in Alaska. And no. That’s not it, I promise. I’ve been stuck out here in the middle of nowhere for a week, waiting for some engine parts to come in to fix the village’s one and only plane. But if I don’t show up for the contract job by tomorrow, I’m going to lose it. I already spent the good faith advance they gave me to pay for the first month of Mom’s rehab. I just need you to go to Italy, sign the contract for me, and pretend to be me for a few days to make everyone happy. You’ll have to hurry, though. My flight leaves in about three hours. Just remember to use my passport since the tickets are in my name.”
“Italy?! Three hours?!” Katy whisper shouted, her large brown eyes opened wide with incredulity. “Are you kidding me?”
“I’m not kidding. And Katy, this deal will pay me more than enough to cover all of Mom’s rehab and pay off the house.”
“Is this a joke?”
“No. These people are the real deal and very serious. And rich. Really, really rich.”
“Let me guess, you have to pay back the advance if you cancel.” Katy sighed. The price of just one month of their mom’s rehab would cover the rent on their small, two-bedroom emergency apartment for more than a year.
“I told you, I paid for Mom’s rehab. I have to keep this contract.”
“What kind of job pays that much?”
“I can’t tell you. I signed an NDA.”
Perfect. Just like Emily to sign a non-disclosure agreement. “Did you really sign an NDA? Or do you not want to tell me what you’re doing because I won’t approve?” Nothing new there. Emily had enough wild child in her bones for both of them. Which was why Katy had the steady job and the boring, predictable life. Katy’s boss might be a tyrant, but the law firm offered a reliable paycheck.
“It’s an emergency. You know I wouldn’t ask if I had any other options.”
That was debatable. But Emily wasn’t a liar. If she said this job would cover all their mom’s bills and pay off the mortgage on the burned-to-a-crisp house, she meant it.
“Three hours? Really? That’s barely enough time to get to the airport and through security, let alone go home to change and pack! And what kind of papers are you signing that you can’t e-sign? Everyone signs papers online now. It’s a thing! You can even buy a house that way! Are you buying a house? In Italy?”
Emily laughed. “Calm down. Not everyone likes to sign online. There is a property involved as part of a larger negotiation. These people are traditional. Eccentric. They’re Italian. Old money. Like ancient castles, old. They insisted on an in-person signature. No big deal. I even had a corporate attorney look all the papers over. These people are legit. As for the trip, you’ll be fine. I packed all the essentials when I was at your place a couple weeks ago. I knew I would be on a tight schedule, just not quite this tight. Go home, grab my luggage—it’s in the hall closet—and head to the airport. You can eat once you get past security if you’re really hungry. When you land, there will be someone waiting to pick you up. Well, waiting to pick me up.”
Katy’s stomach lurched. “Italy? I don’t know, Em.”
“My passport and ticket are in the front pocket of my carry-on.”
Too bad their passports had been in a fireproof safe in the basement. If they’d burned, Emily wouldn’t be able to ask her to go to Italy on such short notice. “I can’t leave. What about my job? What about Mom?”
“Your job stinks. You can find a new, better one after you get back. And you have been taking care of everything since the fire. Let me help you out. The doc said she’ll be in the new rehab facility for at least six weeks. They’ll treat her like a queen. Please say you’ll go?” Emily cajoled. “You need a vacation. You can hang out by the pool. Maybe do some shopping. I’ll meet you there by the end of the week. I promise. Twin swear.”
Katy squeezed her eyes tightly shut, her heart filled with longing at the idea of strolling the streets of Italy, wearing a sundress and sandals, shopping, sipping Italian wine. The vision momentarily buried her misgivings. Was that why Emily had been so secretive lately? She should have pushed her sister harder. Instead, she’d been so busy working extra-long hours trying to cover all the bills, she’d ignored her sister’s unhappiness, assuming that, like her, she was stressed and worried about their mother. Tired from working so hard.
Katy groaned. They’d always dreamed of going to Italy together. How did her twin always manage to make everything sound so simple and appealing? “And that’s it? Show up, smile, and pretend to be you for a few days?”
“Exactly!” Emily clapped her hands through the phone, her words filled with relief. “As I said, I already reviewed all the paperwork. All you have to do is sign my name. Thanks, Boo!”
“Wait! I haven’t said…” Katy cut her words short at the telltale click as the line went dead.
Great. Now all I have to do is tell my boss I need another week off and hope she doesn’t fire me. Or pray maybe she does.
