Destroyer of Worlds: The Fated Chronicles Contemporary Fantasy Adventure, #5

By Humphrey Quinn

Truth is the most powerful weapon there is, but only if you dare to believe...

Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure

After Colin flees with Catrina, he meets up with someone he never thought he'd see again—the one man who might be able to tame this dark magical power everyone is so afraid of. But this help comes with a severe warning: if the power cannot be contained, it must be destroyed! Did they flee one prison only to end up in another?

 

Meanwhile, Meghan is closer to home than she's been since the quest began but finds herself a prisoner on an island protected and hidden by a magical force field, with no chance of escape.

 

She makes one discovery after another, secrets and lies unraveling, each more mystifying, horrifying, and unbelievable than the last. She's battered, broken, and stuck in a world she's no longer sure she wants to be a part of, but has no escape from.

 

And when something utterly heartbreaking shatters everything she's come to believe and crushes the faith in those she's trusted most, rescue arrives in the form of someone she never thought she'd see again with an offer she might not be able to refuse…

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rachel Daigle
• Release date: Aug 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536540758

Humphrey Quinn

Ruby Raine writes steamy supernatural witch mysteries... 

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Defector

Kay Jendaya stepped down a flight of stairs and into her kitchen where her husband Milo was sitting near an open window. The aroma of coffee from his mug was mixing with a twinge of maple wafting in from the trees outside. She set down a handful of laundry that still needed folding onto the counter.

I found the oddest thing in Sebastien's room just now. She attempted to play it down, nervously shuffling through the laundry pile.

Milo purposely set down his cup and gave Kay his full attention.

What did you find?

She kept diving into the laundry pile, not really doing any actual separating or folding.

A letter. I've been in his room a few times. I guess somehow I missed it.

Which was ridiculous. It hadn’t been missed, just hadn’t made itself known to them until their son was ready for them to read it. This wasn’t exactly expected or unexpected, but a dread that had this morning threaded its way into reality.

Did you read it? Milo inquired evenly.

No. Not yet, she replied, handing it to him. Her hand shook, unable to carry through the act of reading it herself. It had been weeks since Sebastien's last visit. And if he could not face them, and had to leave a letter instead...

But Milo played along. Well, let’s have a look, shall we? He grabbed a knife and sliced the envelope open. A maple leaf shimmied its way out, floating in the air, activating a message that had been stored within.

It was their son’s voice who spoke to them.

Mom. Dad. I'm sorry to tell you like this, but it’s the only safe way. If I came home, I might not have the courage to say this, and leave after. First, I love you both, and hope one day you'll forgive me.

Nothing like getting right to the point. Kay gripped onto the pile of laundry like it was the only thing keeping her upright.

"I'm sorry, you can’t possibly understand how sorry, but I can't do it. I’m not purposely trying to hurt anyone. You, or Amelia, or anyone, I just... I do not agree with Amelia. Or you."

He exhaled roughly, those words painful to say aloud.

"I don’t think bringing magic back into the world is a good idea. Perhaps that’s because I’ve spent so much more time out in the world, than you have. And it’s not so much the plan as what Amelia wants from Meghan and Colin. I have no proof. No real evidence other than this continual warning in my gut. You charged me with being their friend, and to look out for them. To protect them, and that’s what I’m going to do. This is the right choice, for me. I can’t live with any other. They are special. But I don’t think they are meant to be part of Amelia’s plan, whatever that is."

Milo's heart broke with every word his son spoke, but he held the emotion in so as not to panic his wife who looked like she was nearing a meltdown.

I understand what my actions mean. I won’t be seeing you for a long time. I suppose there’s a chance I won’t see you again. Please know I did not make this decision lightly. I wanted to tell you for some time, but I couldn’t find the courage to. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, but that is not enough for me to change my mind.

There was an audible sigh from the leaf recording.

Kay’s eyes were closed, Milo speechless as Sebastien finished.

"I’m sure it won’t be long before Amelia’s informed that I have not checked in, and don’t plan to. She will be furious, and I’m most sorry for the backlash I’m sure you’ll suffer in my place. I’m making a mess of things, but I am so certain I’m doing the right thing. As certain as you are, that your way, is the right way. And..." he paused, taking a courage grabbing breath.

His, was the only breath, his parents did not dare inhale or exhale, too many emotions riding those airwaves.

I might be wrong, Sebastien continued. "But I’ve sensed you might not be as devoted to Amelia as you once were. If I’m wrong, then I guess this is really it. If I’m right, I can make it safe for you to leave. All you need to do is go into my room and say, I’m ready to leave. I don’t want to be on opposite sides but I cannot return to yours. If you stay, please don’t hate me, not forever at least. I guess... I guess that’s all I have to say."

And that was the end.

The leaf spiraled downward, hitting the floor with a soft scrape.

Kay said nothing, her breaths shallow. She returned to her laundry, folding with empty movements. Her son’s words winding their way toward comprehension.

Milo reached down and grasped the leaf, calmly walking over to the wood stove, opening a burner, and throwing the leaf into the fire. He watched it burn and walked over to Kay, laying his hand on her shoulder. His touch brought her back to reality.

He's our son, she whispered, her eyes swimming in stunned tears.

Which is why I destroyed the letter.

Someone will find out... and Amelia will find out... and then we'll never...

Milo put his fingers gently over her mouth, not allowing her to utter the words he was also thinking and fearing.

We will see our son again, he spoke firmly. We go about our business. We act like we don't know. He waited until she had nodded in agreement before dropping his hand.

He might change his mind? she said, her voice already pleading for that moment to have happened.

Maybe he will, Milo agreed. "Until then, we do everything just as we always have. Our goals have not changed because of this."

No. No, of course not. I still want magic returned. I don't want to live in hiding anymore. Sebastien will understand one day that we did this for him so he could have a better life.

It was a better life, right?

Their son sounded so sure of himself.

He’s out there, all alone.

He’s been alone a long time, Milo reminded roughly.

Because we allowed it. A decision she often regretted, but they were too deeply involved to get him out. Sebastien had done that for himself. Their son was braver than his own parents. He’s choosing a different life. It was more of a question of, if theirs was still the correct one.

Milo took her shoulders and fixed his gaze on her.

He’s chosen his path. We’ve chosen ours. For today, that’s all to be said about it.

Meaning, let’s stay quiet, act normal, like it’s any other day, and give our son time to either get far away from Amelia’s grasp, or change his mind and come home. Kay nodded, lips pursed, eyes damp. She put on a restrained smile.

Milo returned to his coffee, the taste gone bitter.

Kay grabbed a couple towels and shoved them into the drawer and swung back to Milo. I'll be helping out at the school today. You'd better drink up yourself. You wouldn't want to be late for work.

They stared into each other’s eyes, wondering how long they could pretend that everything was normal, or how much time they had until it was discovered their son had defected.

CHAPTER 2

Locket of Thorns

Meghan Jacoby sat on the floor of her new bedroom, leaning against her bed, staring deeply into the flame of the candle sitting in front of her; the candle held the shape of her brother.

Colin... his name slid through her lips in an airy whisper. Calling to him. A skill she was still trying to master. But the vision she desperately tried to have did not come. The peek into his whereabouts, hidden from her. The flame burned down the wick, like any other candle might. There would be no comfort brought from Firemancy today.

Like she deserved it after what she’d done.

She was the reason he’d been forced to flee in the first place.

Her brutal penance, weeks passing without a single moment of contact. Not even a flicker of that mind block he’d slammed shut, reopening. Living without any knowledge of his whereabouts. His condition. Catrina’s condition. If she was becoming more unstable... her brother had fled alongside the suspected Projector. So not only was he out of Meghan’s reach, and therefore, protection, he was side by side with a young woman who’d get more dangerous with each passing day.

With the mind block so firmly in place, she had no reason to believe he was listening to her, but she continually attempted to speak to him anyway, having many one-sided conversations. Mostly, begging forgiveness. And if not that, a please, please, please, just let me know you’re alive out there somewhere.

She’d know this.

Block or no block, if Colin had befallen some tragic end, she’d know.

Because even with his presence absent from her mind, the block was still in place. As long as it remained, this was her only way to determine he was still alive. And she imagined and hoped, unharmed, having to hold the belief that no matter how angry or unforgiving he was, if his or Catrina’s life was being threatened, he’d ask for help. Wouldn’t he?

It was little solace, but all she had.

Today, his flame showed her nothing.

Other times, it had shown her many things. Not what she wanted, never that. But scenes from his past, mostly things she already knew, but nothing about his present or future. Regardless, she refused to give up, pinning her gaze deep into the flame. Every thought focused on her brother.

Another vision came. Again, not the one she wanted, but an unfamiliar one this time.

Someone dressed in a thick, hooded cloak peered into a cradle, which rocked gently, three babies sleeping inside. It was crowded but the infants seemed content.

There, there. You'll be home with me soon, I promise, a woman spoke in a soothing voice. It was hard to tell which infant she spoke to, but she reached into the cradle adjusting something, and when she pulled back... Meghan gasped. This was definitely unfamiliar territory.

It was her own locket. The one hanging around her neck right this minute pinned to one of the infant’s blankets. At first, Meghan thought there was no way it was the exact same locket. But upon closer examination there was no mistaking it. Every detail matched and she’d never come across another like it. Two roses, one black, the other gold, entwining around each other with thorns nestled into the vines that were sharp enough to actually pierce skin.

It wasn’t the type of locket you’d just happen across in a store window.

Definitely had to be one of a kind.

And it had belonged to her mother.

Meghan's thoughts spun in possibility.

Was this cloaked woman, hers and Colin’s mother? Was it her and Colin in the cradle? Where were they exactly? And where was Uncle Arnon?

The woman got to her feet, peering across the room in solemn silence. There were rows of cradles, cribs, and beds. Orphanage, Meghan surmised. And as if the vision could not get any stranger she recognized one of the young boys sleeping in a bed nearby.

Timothy... the amusing and sweet natured ghost boy from Grimble. He’d died in a fire in this very orphanage. And if that was her and Colin in the cradle, this meant they’d all been in the same orphanage, together.

"This must have been why he stayed behind in Grimble. And why he moved on with Uncle Eddy. We had to be his unfinished business, too." How bizarre. What a gigantic, and yet tiny world it was. Meghan searched her memory banks for the rest of Tim’s story.

There had been a woman searching for someone lost in the fire.

Was that us? Was she searching for Colin and me?

And why hadn’t their mother found them?

Maybe she had. This might have happened before she’d died. But why would they have been in an orphanage? It made no sense.

If only she could share this with Colin. News as big as this might be the only thing to get him to listen to her. And if all she was piecing together was correct, the woman Timothy had told them about was actually their mother.

Had they been in hiding? Even back then before becoming wards of their uncle. It made sense at some level, seeing as Uncle Arnon had chosen to keep them on the move fearing someone would discover who they were.

But who did they need protection from?

And what had happened to their mother?

Did she really die in an accident like they were told? And where was their father?

What was the truth? Meghan’s brow furrowed. What was she missing?

The vision continued, Meghan peering into it like an onlooker sneaking a peek into some past event and watching it unfold, live.

The cloaked woman leaned over the cradle, the infants hidden from view. I will return soon. She sniffled, voice strained, and straightened herself, the hood falling down enough to reveal a face. I love you so much. She extended her thin fingers almost touching the cradle and then fled as though all courage was failing her. 

The flame of Colin’s candle fizzled. The vision ending.

Meghan was wide-eyed and speechless. Breathless to the point of fainting. Frozen in place... this was something she had dreamed of before. Not in any prophetic sense, only personally so. Yet she dared not believe it real. Her soul wanted it to be. But it could not actually be!

The woman who Meghan Jacoby believed to be the twins’ mother was younger than the woman she knew now, but her identity was unmistakable:

Juliska Nandalia Blackwell.

Leader, Banon, and Queen of the Svoda.

Nona, who’d been curled up napping at Meghan’s feet, flexed to life, sitting statuesque and pondering the vision along with Meghan. Neither spoke for a good long while. No words seemed fitting. Her journal lay sprawled open on the floor nearby, a few notes jaunted down from an earlier much less life-altering vision. She dragged it to her lap but the pen refused to start writing, no words formed into coherent thoughts.  

It was all so danged impossible!

There was no way.

Just because Meghan wanted it to be true didn’t mean it actually was. But the vision was so... saying it was possible!

Nona was the first to speak. From what you saw, Meghan, I’d wager that yes, it is possible, however unbelievable it may be.

Meghan tossed aside the journal, rubbing life back into her face with her hands. Shaking her head, stretching her eyes, biting her lip. Finally forcing her vocal chords to start working again. 

"No one has ever mentioned Juliska having