Summer Solstice: Minister's Grove, #3

By E.L. Jones

It's exhausting being a guardian.

 

Helping Dr Rao retrieve his niece is payment for my best friend being kept alive.

 

His niece, Priya has gone rogue. Choosing to join a cult as opposed to completing medical school.

 

Brother Light. A seemingly insightful, charming cult leader with piercing eyes that can penetrate people's souls and wield them into submission.

 

Until he met me.

• Language: English
• Publisher: E.L. Jones
• Release date: Dec 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9798215700457

E.L. Jones

Elizabeth Lauren (E.L.) Jones is a mother to one little terror who keeps her on her toes. She's always loved books and have a soft spot for paranormal romance and fantasy genre. She is an introverted soul and on her spare time, loves to read various books, go on adventures with her little terror and her much taller husband, such as horse riding, snorkelling, kayaking and rock climbing, as well as watching different genre movies. She loves her coffee with no sugar and sitting by her deck taking in the soft breeze and fresh air.

Book preview

Chapter One

Iris was sapped of all her strength and relieved at the turn of events. She gently leans against the office wall and slides down to the floor. She closes her eyes and takes several deep, long breaths. The Pentagram’s energy still radiates within her. The addictive sense of power burns like a small ember within her, just waiting to be ignited into flames.

Roman takes a seat beside her. They sit in silence, their minds still trying to process the actions that had just transpired. Her Aunt was no more. She feels no emotion, just the emptiness that slowly keeps growing inside her. It had to be done.

She wonders what her aunt must’ve been like as a kid, growing up with her mother, before the hunger for power corrupted and turned her into a villain.

"Iris? You defeated her?" the professor asks groggily as he regains consciousness. He nods to himself and looks away when he doesn’t receive a reply.

I don’t have anything against you personally, Professor. Iris tries to reconcile with the Professor. He is no more than a pawn in the whole game, manipulated for his understanding and knowledge of the magical world. But you’ll have to be more careful when choosing your friends in the future.

What happened to her? he asks, staring straight at her. His eyes have a genuine honesty to them, he cares about the fate of Iris’s aunt.

I had to kill her. If you must know, it was quick and painless, Iris lies.

The professor instantly cast his head down on his trembling hands. He speaks again after taking several deep breaths. You must understand, she was not inherently evil. It was just her natural thirst for power and domination that consumed her. He seemed to be clutching at straws, trying to find some redeeming qualities of the deceased.

She was conscious of her actions, Professor. She had a choice and her choices have consequences.

The professor shakes his head. You were not raised like them, Iris. Their world is harsher and much crueler than yours. She had to embrace her raw instincts to survive.

She lets the words hang for a while.

Maybe this is the natural order of things. The young replacing the old. Two generations, her grandmother and her mother’s both wiped out.

You’re free to go, Professor.

If I were you, I’d think twice before I get involved in supernatural matters, Roman adds as he cuts the ropes binding the professor to the chair.

Wait for us to leave, then call him an ambulance, if you have to. Iris points to the student. She isn’t worried about being reported to the police. They were all involved in this shady business together and the professor had as much to lose.

They head out as soon as Iris recovers enough strength to get back on her feet. They call Doctor Rao, and inform him that Sara is no longer under any threat of possession.

They hear the Doctor’s relieved sigh before he quickly follows up with a question. Are you both alright? Please tell me you’re fine.

No worries, Doc. Not even a scratch, Iris answers as she looks at herself in the rearview mirror and tapes a band-aid over a cut below her lips.

Thank God, Iris. I was getting worried about you two.

We’re on our way back, Doc.

Sara should be up soon. I’ll let her know when she wakes.

The open road and the music on the radio are both therapeutic for them. Iris is finally able to shake the sadness and overthinking. She lets her mind roam free, singing along to the radio, and rubbing Roman’s hair playfully as he drives them back to Minister’s Grove. A careful observer would notice that it was her way of dealing with trauma.

TWO WEEKS AFTER THE death of her aunt, Iris finds herself listening to Doctor Rao’s passionate narration of his troubles. He had refused payment for Sara’s treatment. Instead, asking them to help him with a problem. His niece, Priya, a promising, young medical student was involved with a cult. Her grades had dropped drastically and she was displaying increasingly erratic behavior.

We suspected the drugs at first. There were signs. We staged intervention after intervention and even checked her into rehab.

Iris can see the pain in his eyes as he speaks.

It drove her away from us.

Some bad friends?

Worse. We hired a private investigator to keep track of her. That’s when we found out about the cult.

"What kind of cult