Book of the Lost (Midnight Guardian Series, Book 5)

By Bryna Butler

Death. Love. Werewolves. Jealousy. Shadows. Prom. Unionists. Betrayal. Graduation.
Who said senior year would be easy?

Book 5 in the Midnight Guardian series is a roller coaster of suspense taking riders on Keira's journey to fulfill her destiny and bring about the end of the gremlin-like mogdocs. The Book of the Lost may be their last hope. Trouble is...they can't read it and every bad guy in this world and beyond wants it.

Enter the world of the Midnight Guardian and read the series that fans are calling original, fun, and engrossing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bryna Butler
• Release date: Nov 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9780985927271

Bryna Butler

Butler's young adult mystery novels feature strong female leads and are woven from elements of horror, suspense, comedy, and mystery, all in a modern, small town setting. She is best known for her Midnight Guardian Series (YA Paranormal Mystery) and Mothman Mysteries (YA Sci-Fi Mystery).Butler is inspired by writers like Cassandra Clare, Jennifer Armentrout, Rachel Caine, Joss Whedon, and Patricia Briggs. Her work contains no profanity or explicit scenes, making it appropriate for pre-teen as well as teen readers.

Book preview

BOOK OF THE LOST

Midnight Guardian Series, Book 5

By Bryna Butler

Published by Swancrest Publishing

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 Bryna Butler

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-0-9859272-7-1

Any trademarks used are the property of their respective companies and are used with respect, but without permission. This is a work of fiction. All people, places, and situations described are used fictitiously or are the result of the author’s imagination. No portion of this book shall be reproduced or transmitted without the author’s prior written consent.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away. 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.

Midnight Guardian Series

Book 1 | Of Sun & Moon

Book 2 | Whispering Evil

Book 3 | Midnight Child

Book 4 | Shadows Rising

Book 5 | Book of the Lost

Book 6 | House of Gammen – Series Finale (Coming Soon)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Prologue

Chapters

1: Live Bait

2: Ashes to Ashes

3: Enter the Werewolf Whisperer

4: Never Polite to Eat and Run

5: Buyer Beware

6: The Werewolf Express

7: Pancakes before Elves

8: Anything for a Kiss

9: Quiet Before the Storm

10: And the Reign Comes Tumblin’ Down

11: Push

12: Things Have Changed

13: Colby’s Favorite Crossbow

14: Wet Dog Gauntlet

15: Go with the Flow

16: The Gas Guzzling Gordian Knot

17: Bucketing Down

18: Insanity Takes a Limo

19. A Night in Atlantis

20: Dancing in the Shadows

21: Counting Everything

22: Bacon & Debriefing

23: Airin’ Out the Laundry

24: Hope Bound in Leather

25: Welcome Distractions

26: Senior Embers

27: On the Edge

28: Graduation

29: Gone

30: Crossing the Bar

Sneak Peek for House of Gammen (Midnight Guardian #6)

About the Author

DEDICATION

To my kids, Justin and Reece.

Even though I still haven’t used the idea about Ann zapping a T-rex into the Citadel or the one about the gang challenging the mogdocs to a motorcycle stunt competition, know that I treasure your ideas and will think of them fondly for years to come.

You inspire me with your creativity and curiosity.

I will love you for all time.

Prologue

A child born of sun and moon will

impart a human gift to bring forth

the fall of the house of Gammen.

- Hayes Prophecies

I’m that child. Well, I’m a senior at Valley View High, not so much a child anymore. But, yeah, I’m the one of the prophecy; the girl destined to defeat the House of Gammen and stop the evil that lies just beyond the itty bitty magical barrier that separates our worlds.

And somehow, in the middle of this struggle between dark and light, my normal life trudges on. My friend is getting married. Can you believe it? Ann is stark-raving, head over heels in love with Jumper Johnson. Redheaded…class clown…jock boy…Jumper Johnson!

Jump and I have had our differences in the past, but even I can admit that he’s basically a good guy. I just can’t believe I know someone who’s getting married. Married, like forever.

Not married at seventeen though. They are smarter than that. Well, at least Ann is. She has a plan, and it involves college before nuptials.

Forever seemed like something out of my grasp before. This ‘human gift’ thing hung over my head like an anvil strung by a cartoon coyote. That all changed on the day the wicked witch died. Broo, the empress of the Mogdoc Empire, was crushed by the shadows. Her plan to raise them as her own personal dark army backfired.

And now the mogdocs have pulled in; closed the gates. Though guardians in Elsted and those inhabitants trapped by the barrier still dwell on the continent of Atlantis, the City of Atlantis is now off limits to every species aside from the pint-sized gremlins…the mogdocs. I haven’t seen Brun for weeks; not since the night of the shadows rising, the night he carried his sister’s lifeless body home.

Everyone is waiting to see what comes next, but I know it’s done. The Empress’s death ended the line… the fall of the House of Gammen just like it says in that musty old book in my training room.

Dad and my mentor, Arden, don’t think so. They think we’re still in danger, sure that the mogdocs are mounting some sort of plan for revenge. They are obsessed with a book, the Book of the Lost. It’s little and brown with a hieroglyphic feather stamped on the front cover, looks totally ancient if you ask me.

They think the book holds the answers to the prophecy. Problem is, they can’t read it, which is ticking off Arden big time. I don’t think Mr. Wright (he’d probably prefer to be called Mr. Wright About Everything) has ever had trouble reading a book before, but this particular one is written in some lost language, neither mogdoc nor human. It’s almost funny, but no one’s in the mood to laugh about it, so I put a nix on the giggles when Arden goes into dramatics over it.

Everyone’s on edge with good reason I suppose. If Dad’s right, the fall mentioned in the prophecy is still yet to come. This illusion of peace, this much needed time-out, will end very soon.

But I don’t need a book to tell me what I have to do.

If this is the calm before the storm, if the mogdocs think that only the barrier stands between them and a world full of human munchies, I’ve got a shiny dagger that says they couldn’t be more wrong.

Chapter 1: Live Bait

Arden’s heart pounded fiercely in his chest.

August! he yelled, yet the other guardian was nowhere in sight.

The forest was dark, completely dark. The forever night sky, without benefit of moon or stars, would have made navigating the West Woods of Atlantis difficult. The added winding web of tree roots and underbrush made it nearly impossible.

The air was still as if the forest were a living thing, holding its breath. Not even the insects dared to make a sound. Each shaky exhale seemed as loud as a dinner bell.

Arden took another backward step…and so did she.

August! Arden yelled again. His forehead wrinkled with worry and the extra push that he gave his voice.

Don’t move, came August’s voice more slight than a whisper.

Right, Arden breathed.

It wasn’t like there was anywhere he could go. That last step put his body against a cypress with a trunk as wide as three feet, maybe more. He pushed against it with his back. The bark dug through his thin shirt and scratched the skin beneath.

Arden held his hands out to his sides. Not that it would help. It certainly didn’t slow his heart which was beating so rapidly that it might just break through his ribs; nor did it ease the predator that anxiously sniffed the air before him.

The bark. Arden tensed, but the damage was already done. The warmth of the new scratches on his back told him what he already knew. He was bleeding. He was bleeding in the presence of a werewolf.

This was not Arden’s first hunting trip to the West Woods on the banished continent of Atlantis. In his family, every male was brought to this place at least once to hunt. It was a rite of passage of sorts. His father and brothers brought him to the woods when he was ten before the start of his formal guardian training in Elsted. Many creatures made their homes in the concealment of the woods; most of them predators. It was a place for adventurers. He remembered the excitement of that first hunt.

Arden tried to latch on to that memory. Draw strength from it. Back then, they had kept to the perimeter where it was safer. Back then he was armed with a hunting rifle. Back then he was surrounded by family. Back then he wasn’t the bait.

The werewolf bent low to draw in a breath before pulling her snout up into a victorious howl. He knew this was no ordinary wolf, though it could be mistaken for one. Her light gray fur looked shiny and soft, not that he was crazy enough to reach out and touch it.

He also wasn’t crazy enough to consider changing form. The thought had occurred to him. It was tempting. Shifting into mouse form was a natural defense mechanism for his kind, the guardians. However, werewolves were known to be fast. They were certainly faster than ordinary wolves. He quickly calculated his odds and found little doubt that this particular wolf was fast enough and agile enough to catch a mouse. If he didn’t want to be a rodent appetizer, he would have to stand his ground on two legs.

He wanted to yell out at August again, but knew it wouldn’t help. August was waiting. Keira’s father wouldn’t appear until the time was right. Arden just had to hold on a little longer.

The werewolf stepped slowly toward Arden, daring him to move so that she could pounce. Her lips curled into an odd position for an animal, almost a smile.

Don’t, he heard August whisper.

Arden looked down and found his hand unconsciously wrapped around the dagger at his side. Instinct. He had pulled it to the ready without even realizing, a result of his training. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard before dropping it to the ground. Keeping it in his hands was too much of a risk. If he harmed this beast, even unintentionally, that would be the end of it. They had exhausted their other leads. This was their Hail Mary pass.

He looked up through the sandy blonde bangs that had fallen in his eyes, and was surprised to see that the wolf was no longer watching him. She must have heard August. Her ears pricked up in alert. Her eyes searched over the dark grounds. The wolf picked up and put down her paws anxiously as if pacing in place. She was ready to bolt.

Arden pulled two fingers across the wetness on the back of his shirt. He placed the blood-smeared hand in the air. Here, girl.

It was enough to shift the beast’s attention back to him. Yellow eyes flashed as she lunged.

Arden ducked to the side, but he wasn’t quick enough. The beast caught his leg. The two toppled onto the ground. Arden rolled. His hands held strong against the beast’s shoulders as her jaw snapped at him. Each snap came dangerously close.

Now, he yelled.

He could hear August rustling through the brush. At least, he hoped it was August.

Another snap of the beast’s jaws closed, this time just an inch or less from his nose. Arden choked on the wolf’s hot breath laced with the stench of rancid meat. His elbows locked on the werewolf’s shoulders. His arms shook. He wouldn’t be able to hold her off much longer.

August, he yelled again, but as he did he realized why his partner had not come. Arden was in the wrong place.

He mustered all his remaining strength to push the werewolf up, bringing his foot in for a hard kick to the beast’s abdomen. The wolf tumbled to the side with a whine.

Arden rolled to his stomach, to make a run for the tree. Before he could get to his feet, she was back. Her fangs slid into the skin of his right arm as easily as if it were a juicy peach. Saliva dripped from the corners of the beast’s mouth and ran down his arm mingling with the blood that freely flowed from the bite. A groan broke free from Arden’s lips as he was dragged forward toward the tree.

The wolf stopped suddenly. She shivered once. Took two more steps, then stopped again.

When she loosened her grip, Arden was ready. He pulled in his arm and scrambled out of the way just before the web of metal mesh landed on the werewolf.

August jumped down from the tree, landing adeptly between Arden and the wolf. He let loose a third dart from his tranquilizer gun.

Arden sat up with a groan. Finally, he grumbled as he surveyed the bite marks in his arm.

The wolf let out a whine.

You, August replied offering him a hand up. You were in the wrong place. Under the tree. That was the plan. I could shoot twenty darts into her, and she would still come after you. We had to get her under the silver net.

I remember, Arden said with a lift of his brow. I just didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

Amateur, August smiled. I wasn’t going to let her eat you.

Arden tipped his head, looking down at his arm, then back up to August with a ‘really’ look plastered across his face.

Well, I wouldn’t have let her devour you, August clarified. Walk it off, that’s just a love bite.

He pulled Arden to his feet, and the two guardians stood over their prize. The wolf convulsed uncontrollably.

What’s wrong? Did we… Arden started to ask.

She’s fine, August answered. At least, she will be. This is how they change. She’s coming back to human.

Arden was surprised that he had not recognized it for what it was. After all, he knew the process of the werewolf’s change from wolf to human and vice versa. He had even been tested on it in class.

Then again, seeing it happen on the ground in front of him was quite different from reading about it. For one thing, the change was much more violent than the books described. He remembered one of his textbooks that defined it as a tremor that took control of the werewolf’s body. The reality was more. This wolf thrashed on the ground wildly. The change seemed painful, especially under a blanket of silver. Her eyes locked on Arden’s as if silently pleading for mercy.

Are you sure she’s the one? Arden asked. Maybe, he hesitated, Maybe we should remove the net. Give her a chance to breathe.

You listen to me. You remove that net, and you’ve as good as killed us both. This is the Whisperer’s companion.

How could you know?

Arden’s question was cut off by the beautiful woman that now sat where the wolf had once been. She didn’t seem to take a breath as a steady stream of expletives, effortlessly alternating between English and Spanish, rolled off her tongue.

Arden took a step back, and August laughed to himself.

Augoost! she screamed. "How dare you? Free me