Mistress of Souls

  And was it possible that she could find a way to be good even without her mother?

  She tried to imagine it, tried to see herself going to London, appearing at Milthorpe Manor, embracing Lia and offering her fealty. She saw them, sisters, twins, gazing at each other across the threshold, trying to find their way back to each other.

  Then she imagined Lia’s eyes, critical and unforgiving, the litany of Alice’s sins reflected back at her as they always had been. As they always would be.

  Lia would never forgive her. Not for Henry. Not for anything.

  It was too late to change, for either of them. And there was a strange kind of balance in it. Two sisters, one the Guardian, one the Gate, just as the prophecy dictated. It’s how it was meant to be.

  She took one last look over the edge of the cliff, the waves a ripple on the lake below. Some of the dirt broke loose, sending a flurry of tiny rocks through the air. She watched them fall and took a step backward, inching away from the precipice.

  She would not choose weakness over courage. Would not choose the rocky shore below over her duty to Samael and the Souls. It was time to cease looking back. Time to cease apologizing for who she was, who she was born to be.

  Lia had made her choice as sister of light.

  Alice would make hers as mistress of the dark.

  As Mistress of Souls.

  About the Author

  Michelle Zink lives in New York with her four children. Prophecy of the Sisters was her first novel, and was chosen as one of Booklist’s Top Ten Debut Novels of 2009 and as one of the Chicago Public Library’s Best Books for Young Readers. It has also been listed on the New York Public Library’s Stuff for the Teen Age and the Lone Star Reading List. Michelle invites you to visit her on Facebook and Twitter, and to listen to the Prophecy of the Sisters score by Kenneth Zink. Her newest novel, A Temptation of Angels, is out now.

  Also by Michelle Zink

  Prophecy of the Sisters Series:

  Prophecy of the Sisters

  Guardian of the Gate

  Circle of Fire

  Prophecy of the Sisters Novellas:

  Whisper of Souls

  COPYRIGHT

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Copyright © 2012 by Michelle Zink

  Cover design by Alison Impey. Cover copyright © 2012 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10017

  www.hachettebookgroup.com

  www.twitter.com/littlebrown

  First e-book edition: June 2012

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  ISBN 978-0-316-22768-1

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Welcome Page

  Mistress of Souls

  About the Author

  Also by Michelle Zink

  Copyright