Berries and Greed
Deep Earth Dating
Lily Mayne
Book One
Copyright 2023 by Lily Mayne
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Beta-reading and editing by Kate Wood Proofreading
Formatting by Nikole Knight
Cover design by Virginie Méchant
Contents
Content Warning
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty-One
22. Chapter Twenty-Two
23. Chapter Twenty-Three
24. Chapter Twenty-Four
25. Chapter Twenty-Five
26. Chapter Twenty-Six
27. Chapter Twenty-Seven
28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
29. Chapter Twenty-Nine
30. Chapter Thirty
31. Chapter Thirty-One
32. Chapter Thirty-Two
33. Chapter Thirty-Three
34. Chapter Thirty-Four
35. Chapter Thirty-Five
36. Chapter Thirty-Six
37. Chapter Thirty-Seven
38. Chapter Thirty-Eight
39. Chapter Thirty-Nine
40. Chapter Forty
41. Chapter Forty-One
42. Chapter Forty-Two
43. Chapter Forty-Three
44. Chapter Forty-Four
45. Chapter Forty-Five
46. Chapter Forty-Six
47. Chapter Forty-Seven
48. Chapter Forty-Eight
49. Chapter Forty-Nine
Author’s Note
Books by Lily Mayne
About the Author
Content Warning
Chapter One
Beryl
I was already smiling as I tugged up the blinds over my window, revealing cerulean skies and the orange-and-brown foliage of the sprawling park far below.
Another beautiful autumn day in The Order of the Greater Beings.
I had already dressed in my favourite flowy trousers and shirt—pale pink and white respectively today—but now that daylight streamed into the room, I sat down at my dressing table to do my hair and skincare.
After smoothing moisturiser over my face, I leaned in for a closer inspection in the mirror. The expensive face cream my aunt got for both of us mostly fended off the signs of ageing, but time stopped for no one. Now, as I smiled at myself in the mirror, laugh lines fanned out from the corners of my eyes.
I sighed, leaning back and reaching for my sunscreen. I was happy here—happier than I would be anywhere else. Probably. Maybe. So it was silly to look at my face, now twenty-five years older than it had been when I arrived, and feel like I was possibly… wasting my life.
I wasn’t
