There's No Place Like Wicked: Magic and Mayhem Universe: Wicked Hearts, #3

By Cherie Marks

There's No Place Like Wicked: Magic and Mayhem Universe is book 3 in the Wicked Hearts series

Nothing pleases Toricellia "Celia" Henderson more than hanging out with friends, giving brilliant snark, and hiding her true identity. She's a bobcat shifter who hasn't shifted in years due to the whole nobody-can-know-who-she-is situation, but she can't deny her best friend's request to locate a treasured stone while in her bobcat form. Unfortunately, now people know her location, and a wild prince named Ethan is chasing her through the forest and looking too hot to handle--and he knows exactly who she is. She's his mate.

Now, a powerful someone is steering them toward the kingdom of Wicked where an ambitious, warlock cockalorum is trying to take over. They'll have to work together to save the ones they love and to set things right. Magic and mayhem ensue as these two learn there's nothing like having a partner in crime and There's No Place Like Wicked

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cherie Marks
• Release date: Aug 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386012108

Cherie Marks

It all started with an old-fashioned typewriter. When the family brought it home, all those stories and characters rolling around in her head could finally get out. The press and click of the keys satisfied in their own right, but when she pulled out a finished page, she knew this was for her. Since then, she's graduated to a laptop, but the stories still find a way out. She's a breast cancer survivor, a teacher, a wife, a mother, and from the very beginning—a storyteller. Always a hint humorous and honest to a fault, she loves to make people laugh and smile. Her goal in life is to achieve tact and stop procrastinating. The battle wages on.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

Edited so well by Teresa M.

As always, thank you to my loving family. Thank you for allowing me to make my writing important to us all. Also, thank you to my Adventure-Based Counseling classmates and professor. I was inspired by our time together, and some of the fun we shared has found its way into this book. Good times!

And, I would be remiss if I didn’t say, once more, thank you, Robyn Peterman. Your zany brain has produced such a fantastic world, and I’ve loved every minute of my visit to it. Thank you!

Dedication

This one is dedicated to those who sacrifice so much for the ones they love. Thank you, Mom and Dad! It made a huge difference in my life that you often put my needs, not necessarily my wants, but my needs before your own. I hope you see the fruits of your generosity.

Foreword

BLAST OFF WITH US INTO the Magic and Mayhem Universe!

I’m Robyn Peterman, the creator of the Magic and Mayhem Series and I’d like to invite you to my Magic and Mayhem Universe.

What is the Magic and Mayhem Universe, you may ask?

Well, let me explain...

It’s basically authorized fan fiction written by some amazing authors that I stalked and blackmailed! KIDDING! I was lucky and blessed to have some brilliant authors say yes! They have written brand new stories using my world and some of my characters. And let me tell you...the results are hilarious!

So here it is! Blast off with us into the hilarious Magic and Mayhem Universe. Side splitting books by fantabulous authors! Check out each and every one. You will laugh your way to a magical HEA!

For all the stories, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/. Grab your copy today!

Chapter 1

The creak of a loose board stopped me for a tense moment as I made my way down the hallway toward the dining room. My parents argued in hushed tones on the other side of the door. I’d been sent to bed only ten minutes before, but the strained look on my mother’s face as I turned to go displayed her obvious anxiety, and I knew it concerned me. Naturally, I didn’t go far.

Dan, she’s just a girl. How can they expect her to do this?

It’s that damn prophecy! Apparently, she’s the chosen one or something.

My mother sobbed, and I edged closer to the door. No! I don’t care! They’re not taking her away from us.

Away from them? What were they talking about? Were they talking about me? They had to be considering I was their only daughter...and that look on my mother’s face. But, I’d never had anything beyond an ordinary life. My parents had never said anything about leaving them or some stupid prophecy. Could they have kept it hidden from me for years?

I mean, she’s only sixteen years old. I’m not ready to lose my daughter, Dan.

No! We won’t let them take her. We’ll fight them. I can get the others to stand with us. We won’t let them get near her.

In the silence that followed, my mother’s sobs sounded deafening. You know we can’t win. The Royal Guard is too powerful.

Royal Guard? What kind of f-ing trouble was I in? Did they somehow know about the time my friends and I swam in the royal lake? At the time, I’d known better than to follow Darien and Mitzi Walker, but I did it anyway, so they wouldn’t think I was a baby. They were nothing but trouble, and now, I was going to prison because I let them talk me into doing something stupid.

You’re right. We can’t successfully resist the royal family when they have might on their side. But we can’t let them put our Toricellia in the hands of a mad man. We have to do something.

What if she is the one, though, Dan? What if the seer was right? What if she is the only person who can keep that poor boy from going completely feral?

Are you willing to take that chance? When it could cost our daughter’s life?

Her sobs grew louder, and my father shushed her patiently.

His voiced dipped, and I inched closer to hear his hushed words, I don’t trust the seer, but the royal family does, and for some reason, they chose Toricellia. There’s nothing we can do about it. She’ll have to go with them. If the seer is right, she’s his mate, and there’s nothing we can do to change that.

My mother continued to cry, but with a fierceness I never knew she had, she rasped, She should have a choice! Everyone should have a choice.

I’m sorry, Sheila. I shouldn’t have been so dramatic. I’m sure she’ll be fine. I’m sure they’ll take great care of her and turn her into the most beautiful princess. They’ll have to if the prophecy is to be fulfilled. Imagine. Our daughter will be a royal princess.

Princess? But I wanted to be a teacher. I’d wanted to teach since I’d set up my stuffed animals and dolls to face me as students would in a classroom. I’d taught them everything I knew about books I’d liked to read and jump rope tricks. Being a pet princess might be a cool enough gig for some, but it wasn’t what I had planned for my life.

I still don’t like it. I don’t want her to be scared and alone. Isn’t there something we can do?

A loud sigh carried on the air, and I could feel the helplessness of my father. He wanted to do something but clearly felt powerless. But I could do something. I could run away. I could save all of us the pain and the heartache by taking it out of their hands.

But where would I go? I knew the answer immediately. I’d go to Nana Johanna. She was a distant relative of my father’s, and the family clowder believed she was long gone from the area, and most believed she was dead. Only I knew for sure that she hadn’t gone too far and was still alive as ever. She did live a good distance away in the neighboring state of West Virginia, but I was pretty sure I could still find her.

I’d hide out with her until the whole thing blew over. Surely, it wouldn’t last more than a week or two, and I’d leave something to clue in my parents, so they didn’t completely freak out and think the worst. They’d come for me when everything was settled.

I started back toward my room, bouncing around possible ideas for ways to secretly tell my parents where I was. I could leave the magnet souvenir I’d brought back from Assjacket, West Virginia, but surely the Royal Guard would figure that one out too. Of course, one thing no one else but my parents and I knew about Nana Johanna was that she made the best wild blackberry pie we’d ever eaten.

Mind made up, I scurried to pack a few necessities I could fit into a backpack. I grabbed a few changes of clotheing, hairbrush, toothbrush, an extra pair of shoes, a jacket, and a few mementos. I flung open my underwear drawer and fished out my life savings of three hundred and twenty-four dollars. I stuffed it into the pack with a determined grunt. I also grabbed my laptop. It would be heavy to pack, but I was becoming quite the techie lately, and it felt wrong to leave it behind. It also felt wrong to leave my cellphone behind, but I knew it had a trackable GPS on it, so, though it hurt my heart, I’d have to leave it here.

Once everything was packed, I penned the note I would leave behind. I wanted it to be a message to my parents but not too obvious. It had to put my parents’ minds at ease but give me a chance to get away. Finally, I settled on two, clear sentences:

Dear Mom and Dad,

Went out for some wild blackberry pie. Be back soon.

Love,

Celia

The name I signed was another clue because, though everyone in our family clowder called me by my full name of Toricellia, Nana Johanna had shortened it to just Celia. My parents would understand.

Once the house was completely quiet, I laid the note on my bed and snuck down the hallway toward the kitchen. I packed a few snacks, stuffed some bottled water into my backpack, and took a final look around. As a plan began forming in my mind, I grabbed a large, plastic, waterproof bag my mother often used to store items in. I stuffed it into the top of my pack and swallowed hard.

My heart tightened in my chest. I didn’t want to go. But I didn’t want to face the danger of tomorrow either. My parents had made it sound like my life was in danger if I stayed. That was enough to push me out the door. The knob blurred as I pulled it closed as quietly as I could. Once the door latched shut, I wiped the wetness from my eyes, turned into the inky black night, and bolted for the cover of the forest.

The urge to shift was strong, but I knew two things would happen if I shifted. One, my heavy backpack would be difficult to balance on my back as I ran, and two, the Royal Guard would have an easier time following my scent. I certainly didn’t want to make it any easier for them to find me.

I raced straight toward the river that flowed near my house, and thanked the goddess it was a warm, summer night. I didn’t want to swim through the river, but I knew it would help disguise my scent and give me a headstart that would hopefully get me far, far away before they even realized I was gone.

My mind was racing with ideas, but I decided the best course of action was to swim across. Fortunately, I’d brought that gallon-sized, waterproof bag to put my pack into as I crossed. I swam one-armed as I dragged it behind me. I’d allowed enough air to remain in the bag for it to float on top of the water, even with the heavy pack inside it.

I switched arms on occasion and was thankful the river was flowing fairly calmly on this night. At about the mid-way point, I decided to see if I could use the bag as a float. After