A Touch Of Prophesy: Shadows Of Dark And Light

By Lyssa Lund

Alaia, a college professor, is brutally attacked while walking to her car at night on campus, and if she can believe her eyes, her attacker is a demon sent from hell. Her rescuer is a man in a strange cloak, and with just one touch from him, Alaia's eyes are open to the Fae realm surrounding her and the Guardians protecting the human race.

 

Alaia is taken to The Human Protection Services Headquarters while the Guardians decide what to do about her. 

 

Mattias, the grumpy but oh-so-handsome guardian, is blamed for the screw-up and given the responsibility of watching over Alaia. He gives her two choices; have her memories wiped and be sent back to her human life with her eyes closed again, or stay in the Fae realm and learn about the fae blood that might be running through her veins. 

 

It's an impossible choice. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lyssa Lund
• Release date: Feb 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781960257017

Book preview

MATTIAS

The alarms were going to drive him mad. Mattias repeatedly slammed his fist down on the amber button with a curse.

I don't understand the number of attacks. We've never had this many in a single day before, he told Wen.

Wen glanced up but couldn't hear him through the commotion. Guardians rushed in and out of the room, murmuring and cursing to themselves. Most of them were near exhaustion and covered in a gooey black substance, the blood of dark Fairies, or Night Creatures, as he liked to call them.

Mattias focused on the screen. It showed a middle-aged blonde woman in her late thirties or early forties. It was hard to tell; humans age so damn fast. She was being followed by about four of the beasts. Oblivious, as all humans were, he rubbed his temples.

Can anybody cover this? He asked. No one responded, and he turned around to an almost empty room. Where did they all go? he asked Wen.

Everyone has their hands full, Wen replied. I can do it Ty. My training is about finished. Let me go.

The lack of formality from his nephew irked him. Mattias fought the urge to immediately deny him; he had been asking for weeks to go out on his own, but he wasn't ready.

If I fail, she dies. Wen pointed out.

Mattias sighed. He was right. Anger rose inside him as he saw the creatures close in on the beautiful woman.

Fine. Dammit. Follow the rules, Wen. No contact with humans!

You got it, Wes responded, his body vanishing.

Mattias turned back to the screen as he waited for Wen to appear, praying he hadn't just made the mistake of the century.

Alaia

Someone was watching her. No, something. Her skin crawled, and her heart pounded as she rushed to her car. It was stupid to be out so late. She'd broken her self-imposed rule but wanted an early start on those midterms.

Why was the campus so terrifying after dark? She promised to raise that concern at the next staff meeting.

In the daylight, this garden area was anything but scary. Enclosed in hedges and littered with flowers and fountains. Now it was covered in shadows, the plants creating unnerving figures in her imagination.

A hiss sounded in her ear, and she turned, gasping. There was nothing.

A cat?

She didn't care if she was being dramatic but couldn't deny the sinking pit in her stomach. She would never walk on this campus in the dark alone again. Another sound echoed, and she heard footsteps behind her. She couldn't see anything following her, but she wasn't taking any chances and began running.

She sprinted through the maze of hedges. She looked back, but still nothing.

Her lungs burned, but she continued sprinting. Something grazed her shoulder, and she screamed. She didn't bother looking; she just ran until something tripped her.

No. Grabbed her.

Alaia called out for help as she slammed into the hard earth. She scrambled to jump up, turning to grab her ankle to unlatch whatever was grabbing hold of her when she saw it.

It was the most hideous creature she had ever seen in her life. A monster. It was a deformed leathery black demon.

She thought it might be there to drag her to hell.

Its red eyes glowed, and its sharp dagger-like claws sliced into her calf as it tightened its grip. Her blood was pooling at its fingers. The pain tore another scream from her mouth.

Her scream deepened as a silver sword sliced through the monster’s body, right down the middle. Black goo sprayed over her. The creature began to melt, oozing all over her lower leg.

She followed the blade of the drenched sword up to the person wielding it. A young man with a dark cloak stood above her.

I'm Wen, he said, reaching out his dirty hand.

She didn't realize she was shaking until she reached out her own hand to give him.

Mattias

As Mattias finished watching the disaster on screen unfold, his blood boiled. His nephew had one job. One damn job, and he failed.

Touching a human? His superior was going to have a field day with this.

He played the recording again and saw Wen promptly appear, slicing the arm off a creature before it touched the woman. He kicked that one to the side as it began oozing onto the ground. One of the three night's turned back toward Wen as the other two carried on. They would typically attack the guardian, but two continued chasing her. Why? At least the woman had enough sense to begin running at that point.

Wen took care of it with one swipe, cutting the little beast in half with his sword. His training was coming along. Mattias would have been impressed if he wasn't so pissed off.

Wen took off chasing them. The woman was faster than he expected, but Wen caught up with them in mere seconds. Wen tried to swing his sword but missed. The creature didn't even bother to notice him.

Wen got closer the second time; he had them exactly in his line of sight and swung. This time the creatures had stopped short. Wen's blade sliced through the air, the momentum causing him to lose balance and trip. His body spun away from the beasts, and his free hand reached out, seeking stability. Mattias watched with a clenched fist as Wen made contact with the woman's shoulder. He paused the video and pushed away from the desk. Mattias wanted to reprimand Wen right through the screen, but then he noticed something.

Claws. One of the creatures was grabbing Wen's leg.

He sat down and hit the button to rewind the recording for several seconds. He viewed the video three times over to ensure that what he observed was accurate.

One of the Night Creatures had tripped him. It was calculated.

They wanted Wen to touch her.

ALAIA

Alaia hadn't spoken in over two hours. She waited in a cold, colorless room. The white plastic chair numbed her legs, and she was surrounded by two-way mirrors. She was in a police station. Not that she had ever been in one before, but she had enjoyed enough true crime shows to appreciate how an interrogation room was laid out. She saw something she wasn't supposed to see. Was she to be investigated? Tortured? She was the victim, but now she is treated like a criminal. That is what the young boy had said to her. He rambled on and on about how this was a mistake.

She was in hysterics at first. The boy couldn't help her to stop shaking and crying. He started to explain to her that he had a way to change this