Kari’s actions will shake the world as she knows it… and there’s nothing she will be able to do to fix the error of her ways.

Kari is nobody special. She’s a high school spirit enthusiast, an aspiring Homecoming Queen, and a—almost—straight C-student who benefits from tutoring sessions with the antisocial, actual Homecoming Queen, Julia White. Kari’s a pleaser, and she’ll deny herself anything if it means making someone else happier, and that includes Julia. So, if that means studying to get a good grade on her math test, then that’s what she’s bound and determined to do.

Yes, Kari’s just another senior at Shady Creek High School… until shadows creep to cover the land around her renovated farmhouse one autumn evening. It’s a night she won’t remember, but its impact will shake the world as she knows it. Because in those shadows hides a powerful, conspiring demon with big plans for her.

And one day soon, he’ll order her to put those evil plans into play. Just this once, she needed to say no. She needed to deny someone—no, something—what he was asking for. Because, by summer, nobody will be safe. Especially not Julia. And acing a math test won’t fix the error of Kari’s ways. Nothing will.

Before the Ashes is a Kingdom Come Series Short Story, a prequel to When Ash Rains Down.