Majestica; Victory Prevails

By Rebecca Mize

The love between Lacey and Jace is tested once again in this exhilarating story of strength, determination and triumph.

Starting her senior year of high school, Lacey thought that she would be able to have a fun, stress-free school year, but it didn't quite turn out that way. Not only does Jace's brother, Bray, try to ruin the relationship that Lacey and Jace have built together, but even worse, Varden, the evil king of Majestica, has come to seek vengeance on Jace. Lacey not only has to worry about Jace being captured and killed, but she must also deal with an unexpected enemy that is stalking her and trying to kidnap her. They knew this day was coming, the day Jace would have to face his enemy, but what they didn't know was that Lacey would be stuck in the middle of this battle. How will this fight end? Will Jace survive? Will Lacey survive? Or will someone be killed? Find out, as Jace and Lacey's fight for love continues in this exciting, captivating story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rebecca Mize
• Release date: Jul 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301001897

Rebecca Mize

Rebecca Mize was born and raised in the great state of Michigan. She's always had a love for nature and the outdoors, and is always up for playing any kind of sport, her favorite being softball, having played it for 13 years. After high school, and after graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education, and not finding much luck in the job market, Rebecca decided to pursue her dream of writing. She has written many stories throughout the years, but this is her first published novel. Majestica; First Glimpse is the first book in the Majestica trilogy. In the year ahead, be sure to look for the next book in this exciting series.

Book preview

Majestica;

Victory Prevails

by

Rebecca Mize

Published by Rebecca Mize at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Rebecca Mize

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To Aunt Nellie, for your constant support, encouragement and love. Your positivity and eagerness in supporting my writing career is truly appreciated.

*******

Chapter 1

My life now consisted of two distinct chapters: my life before Jace and my life after Jace. Before Jace, I had never known what true love felt like. After Jace, my heart beat differently, my senses grew stronger, and the glow that now surrounded me stemmed from deep within my soul. Jace had stirred something inside of me that I never knew existed. He was mine, and I was his. Our soul-stirring love could not, and would not, be destroyed.

My junior year of high school had to have been the most memorable school year of my life, thus far. Some of the memories were quite unpleasant - being abandoned by three of my best friends, hearing people say cruel things about my boyfriend, Jace, worrying like crazy as Jace was off risking his life fighting to avenge his father’s death, and then watching Jace get physically assaulted while trying to save me. But some of the memories were absolutely amazing - the nerve-tingling excitement I felt every time I walked out of school and saw Jace waiting for me, the new sense of confidence I had gained from learning not to care what others thought of me, the rush of relief that came over me as Jace came to my rescue as I was about to be abused, and then spending the most incredible, romantic night of my life with the man I loved.

So it was definitely a whirlwind of emotions kind of year, to say the least. Despite this rollercoaster ride of a year, the last couple months of school were actually uneventful, and I ended up getting really good grades in all of my classes. But still, summer vacation could not have come soon enough.

Jace and I were enjoying having a relaxing summer together. We would spend time by the lake, or hiking the trails in the mountains, or visiting with friends, but the majority of our time was spent at our cottage in the woods.

The little cabin that Jace had built for me still put a smile on my face every time I walked through the creaky pine door. I hadn’t told anyone about this place yet because I liked the thought of us having our own secret little place to escape to that no one else knew about. Day after day I watched him work, as he built on another room to our cottage. The muscles in his strong arms would tense up and flex as he hammered a nail or sawed a piece of wood. The sun would glisten off the sweat on the skin of his perfectly bronzed body, and every so often he would turn to look at me and flash me that cute grin of his. I still could not believe that this man was mine.

This summer I wanted to do something special for us. My birthday and Jace’s birthday were only about a week apart from each other, and as much as I would have loved just celebrating our birthdays wrapped up in each other’s arms, I thought we better include our friends in our celebration. By spending some time with them, they wouldn’t feel ignored or left out, and it would be a good chance for our friends to finally meet each other. So I invited my friends over to help me plan a party.

Me, and my four best friends, Brooke, Nikki, Katie and Megan, sat out on my deck sipping lemonade as we talked about the party, while Jace and my little brother, Kyle, played catch in the backyard.

Thanks, you guys, for helping me plan this party, I said, truly thankful that after everything I’d been through with my friends this year, that we were all back together again. I kind of just want a laid back, low key kind of party. I’m inviting Jace’s friends, and you guys, but that’s about it. I don’t really want this party to get too huge.

Really?? Nikki exclaimed. We finally get to meet Jace’s friends?? Nikki’s smile beamed with anticipation. Ever since that dreadful night at Adam’s cottage where Jace saved me from Mark, Nikki had been asking me about Jace’s friends. She was in such a stunned state of mind that night that she didn’t get to be her usual flirtatious self when his friends came to take her home.

Yeah, I figured you guys should all meet each other. You’ll really like them. They’re all very cool.

Yeah, and probably really hot too! Katie spoke up. It’s about time you introduced us to them. Her smile was just as big as Nikki’s was.

You guys can talk about his hot friends later, Megan said, taking charge. She wasn’t as interested in meeting his friends as the rest of them were, because Megan had a boyfriend now. Near the end of the school year, Megan had worked up the courage to ask out Philip Brenstein, the smartest guy at our school. With his intelligence and her ambition, they made a really great couple. I was really happy for her. Right now, we should figure out who’s bringing all the things we’ll need.

I think we should camp out, Nikki said, bring some tents so we can spend the night there.

Yeah, I agree, Katie added, everyone is going to be too tired to drive home that night.

I can bring a tent, Brooke chimed in. I’ll bring the cake too! And someone should bring music.

I sat back and smiled to myself as I listened to my friends argue about who was bringing what. It was around this time last year that the five of us were sitting together planning our weekend camping trip. That made me realize that it’s been a year since me and Jace have been together. That camping trip a year ago had changed my life. If I never would have gone camping that weekend, I never would have met Jace. So not only would we be celebrating our birthdays at this party, but we’d be celebrating our one year anniversary too. And to me, that was more important than any birthday.

How’s the planning coming along ladies? Jace asked as he came jogging over to where we were sitting awhile later. He bent down and placed a kiss softly upon my lips. My heart still raced every time he kissed me.

Good, I smiled up at him. We’ve got everything figured out. And guess what else we’ll be celebrating that night?

Our one year anniversary, of course. His eyes shined bright with happiness as he gazed into mine.

Hey, you remembered! Did you hear us talking about it?

No, I couldn’t hear you guys talking. I remember because it was the day I met my soul mate. I’ll never forget the moment I stared into those beautiful eyes of yours. How could I not remember the most special day of my life? He smiled his mesmerizing smile.

AWWWW, Brooke and Megan’s voices rang out in unison.

Staring into those eyes of his, I had almost forgotten my friends were there. I blushed as I lowered my eyes and smiled. I grabbed his hand and brought it to my lips, kissing it gently.

It was the most special day of my life too, I whispered.

You guys are just too cute, Katie remarked. How did you get so sweet Jace?

I hope one day I find a love like the two of you have, Brooke sighed, before Jace could respond.

You will, Brooke, I answered, smiling at her and the rest of my friends. You all will.

Well, until then, we’ll just have fun checking out Jace’s hot friends! Nikki said, excitedly.

We all laughed and shook our heads. That was typical Nikki, just thinking about the hot boys.

I’ll make sure to warn them about you, Jace grinned.

You do that, Nikki replied, winking at Jace.

Nikki still occasionally attempted to flirt with Jace. I really don’t think she meant anything by it though. She knew how much Jace loved me. But that was just how she was. And it really didn’t even bother me anymore. I knew that no woman could ever steal my Jace away from me.

Later that evening as I was cuddled up next to Jace on our bench watching the sun set, I started thinking about our upcoming party. It was going to be so much fun, not only celebrating our birthdays together, but celebrating our first year together as a couple. I was glad we were just having close friends come. I didn’t want a bunch of people there that didn’t know us or like us. A simple, drama-free party is what I was hoping for.

But little did I know, it wasn’t going to be simple, and it wasn’t going to be drama-free. A couple of uninvited guests were going to make things very complicated.

*******

Chapter 2

I’m so happy, I stated, as I knelt down beside the glowing embers of the fire Jace was trying to start, using a long stick to push around the burning wood. I glanced up at Jace with a big smile on my face.

Good, he smiled down at me, the glimmer of the flames flickering in his dark eyes. You deserve to always be happy. He threw another log onto the burning pile, then bent down and kissed me on my forehead.

It didn’t take long before the fire engulfed the dry sticks and logs, and the bright flames shot up into the darkening sky.

When are your friends getting here Jace? Nikki whined, walking over to us. All of my friends, plus Megan’s boyfriend were already here.

They should be here soon, Jace replied.

And not two seconds after he said that, we saw headlights coming towards the lake. I glanced over at Nikki and she had a big grin on her face.

Drake, Cy, Aden, and Aden’s girlfriend, Mya, came strolling over to the bonfire which we were all standing around. Jace and I had hung out with Aden and Mya quite a few times. Mya was beautiful of course, but she was also very nice.

I gave them each a hug and then made the introductions.

I’m so glad you all could make it! I said with excitement. I’d like you guys to meet my best friends. I pointed to each of them as I said their name. This is Nikki, Brooke, Katie, Megan, and Philip, Megan’s boyfriend. Then I turned to my friends and pointed out each of Jace’s friends. And this is Drake, Cy, Aden, and Mya, Aden’s girlfriend.

It’s so good to finally meet you guys, Nikki said, as she stepped forward. Jace shouldn’t have hid you from us for so long. She shot each guy a flirtatious smile.

"Well, Lacey shouldn’t have hid you from us for so long," Cy flirted back, staring directly at Nikki. I could tell those two were going to get along just fine.

Jace passed around some drinks and everyone stood around the fire for a while, drinking and chatting. It wasn’t long before people started breaking off into their own little groups.

As I stood there talking with Megan, Philip, Aden and Mya, I glanced around and noticed that Cy, Nikki and Katie were over by the water laughing and probably flirting like crazy, and Brooke and Drake were sitting over on the large rock by the water, farthest away from the fire.

I need to steal you away for a minute, Jace’s voice whispered in my ear as he snuck up behind me, sliding his arms around my waist and leading me away from the group I was standing with.

I smiled to myself as I turned around and instinctively wrapped my arms around his neck. He kissed my lips softly.

I’ve wanted to kiss these sweet lips all night, Jace breathed against me. Our friends have been taking up so much of our time tonight that I don’t think I even told you how beautiful you look.

He still knew how to make my heart melt. Thank you, I whispered, my cheeks blushing from his comment. I love you so much, Jace.

I love you more than anything, Lacey. His finger slid under my chin, lifting my face to look into his eyes. This past year, being with you, has truly been the happiest year of my life.

Standing there, embraced in his arms, staring into his