Awaken Online: Inferno (Tarot #3)

by Travis Bagwell

  And, more importantly, what he potentially had access to.

  Julia leaned forward, whispering in Finn’s ear. “He could possibly get us close to the Cerillion Entertainment servers,” she murmured.

  Finn nodded. His thought as well.

  It was one thing to stabilize Rachael within this world – but that was only a temporary solution. He wanted to free her completely from this place. Yet in the weeks since her resurrection, he had come to realize that he faced two problems. First, he needed to build a receptacle to house Rachael – no easy task. And even once he accomplished that feat, he would need some way to transfer her data.

  Yet he wasn’t talking about downloading some song or movie off the internet. He was talking about transferring a human consciousness. The scope of the data involved was staggering. To do that, he was going to need physical access to the servers where Rachael was being housed. And his bet was that those servers were located somewhere within Cerillion Entertainment’s headquarters – likely kept under lock and key.

  Even so, this plan represented a risk. He had been following Jason’s progress closely since the creation of Sandscrit. He’d watched as the kid had helped form the water city and allied with its avatar. He’d seen Jason’s testimony during the CPSC hearing. And he’d learned something important in the process.

  Many, many others had made the mistake of underestimating that kid.

  Yet, despite the risk, Finn already knew what he was going to do.

  It seemed the time for hiding his presence was finally over.

  “You have a deal,” Finn announced, noting the smile that stretched across Alexion’s face. He would let him think he had won some small victory – for now, at least. “Until the trap has been set, you will remain here within the palace. I’m certain you understand the need for confidentiality.” Alexion’s expression fell slightly. “You shall be our guests, if you will. And the gate piece?”

  “It will be arriving by another vessel as soon as our air mages give the word,” Evelyn interjected. “We have been keeping it mobile.”

  Finn raised an eyebrow at that. Now this woman – she was genuinely clever.

  “Good. Then go send word to your crew. Julia will accompany you,” he said, waving at his daughter. She hurried off with Evelyn in tow and would likely grab Kyyle on the way out to meet the airship. They would need to study the gate piece carefully before they prepared their trap.

  Alexion let out a small sigh of relief, and Finn saw his mana begin to relax. “However, there’s still the matter of my payment…” Finn continued.

  “Of course, you can keep the gate piece—” Alexion answered quickly.

  “Oh, I plan to,” Finn interrupted.

  He rose from his throne, striding toward Alexion until he stood only a few steps away, staring directly into his eyes. The man seemed confused, taken aback by how easily Finn maneuvered the room despite his apparent blindness.

  That was, until Finn pulled back at the bandage wrapping his face, revealing the smoldering metal that lingered there, glowing with an ominous red light. Alexion flinched away, his eyes widening, and his light mana fading. It seemed even his arrogance had a limit, his confidence wavering in the face of the molten metal that had replaced Finn’s eyes.

  “Now, let’s talk about what else you can offer me.”

  The End

  Thank you for reading!

  I hope you enjoyed the story! This is the end of Finn’s arc… at least for now!

  Next up is Jason’s book five! I’m guessing that one will be ready sometime in early 2021. After the events of Unity and now this Tarot series, I suspect you can probably tell that the next book is going to be eventful. There are definitely some epic happenings in store for our favorite Necromancer...

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  Acknowledgments

  I’d also like to give a shout-out to everyone who helped me write Awaken Online: Inferno. Like most great things, it takes a village to write a book. Or at least one that makes sense and is (relatively) error-free. Thank you all for your help and support!

  Ashley Anderson (Editor)

  Krista Ruggles (Artist)

  David Stifel (Narrator)

  Celestian Rince (Proofreader)

  Stephanie Fisher

  Cynthia Bagwell

  Phillip Bagwell

  Kyle Smith

  Christopher Brink

  Jonathan Decker

  Michael Vincent

  Robert Wierzbicki

  Duncan Vandecarr

  Evan Moore

  Jon Ford

  Disney Gonzalez

  Kyyle Newton

  Sean Nelson

  Alex Teine

  Gareth Warner

  Arthur G. Davidson

  Christopher Wible

  All of my Patrons. You guys are awesome!