Chrysocolla
Book Four
The Chalcedony Chronicles
By
B. Kristin McMichael
Chrysocolla
Book Four of The Chalcedony Chronicles
Copyright © 2015 by B. Kristin McMichael
All rights reserved.
October 13, 2015
First Smashwords Edition
Lexia Press, LLC
P.O. Box 982
Worthington, OH 43085
ISBN-10: 1941745962
ISBN-13: 978-1-941745-96-0
Cover design: Alexandria N. Thompson
Cover Picture and necklace design: Lunarieen
Editor: Kathie Middlemiss of Kat’s Eye Editing
Proofing: Ashton M. Brammer
This book is licensed for your personal use only. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means without written permission of the author. All names, characters, and places are fiction and any resemblance to real, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Summary: Mari has returned to the past she was always meant to be part of, but that doesn’t mean she gets to stay. Logan still has plans of his own, and it is up to Mari to stop him.
Other Books By This Author
The Night Human World
The Blue Eyes Trilogy (Series One)
o The Legend of the Blue Eyes
o Becoming a Legend
o Winning the Legend
The Day Human Trilogy (Series Two)
o The Day Human Prince
o The Day Human King
o The Day Human Way
The Skinwalkers Witchling Trilogy (Series Three)
o The Witchling Apprentice [2016]
The Chalcedony Chronicles
o Carnelian
o Chrysoprase
o Aventurine
o Chrysocolla
Standalone Books
o To Stand Beside Her
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Table Of Contents
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1 – Real Fathers
Chapter 2 – Finally Home
Chapter 3 – Wedding Time
Chapter 4 – The Last Stone
Chapter 5 – Making Plans
Chapter 6 – Unexpected News
Chapter 7 – Wedding Night Problems
Chapter 8 – New Plans
Chapter 9 – Bring Him Home
Chapter 10 – Time to Play the Game
Chapter 11 – Collecting Stones
Chapter 12 – Logan’s New Game
Chapter 13 – Righting the Past and Future
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Other Books By this Author
For my newest little one- she is our rainbow after all the tears. You healed my heart EM!
Prologue
The goddess watched Mari in her father’s home. She was safe there and where she was meant to be all along. Seti would be with her soon, and that was all that mattered. The goddess had rewritten Mari’s life several times because of what she thought were accidents by Logan. Now she knew better. He had been trying to change Mari’s fate each time, and each time life went back to how it was supposed to end. Mari was supposed to be with Seti. Mari was supposed to be in Egypt. It was disconcerting to see that Kye was still in Mari’s presence, though. He wasn’t supposed to be there. Something was still wrong.
The goddess wished she could do more, but she had given every last ounce of her power to Mari. She had to believe that Mari would change the future. Mari was the only one that could. It was up to her now. Logan was never going to stop trying, but now Mari was armed and prepared to deal with him. She would have to fight her own battles, but somehow the goddess knew Mari was ready. She had seen it when Mari looked into the eyes of her great-something grandfather. Mari understood now why the goddess had created time travel and what it meant. Time travel wasn’t about changing your fate but understanding it.
The goddess felt the tug of someone calling to her. They needed her. She didn’t want to leave Mari, and she wanted to help, but there was nothing left that she could do. The goddess was essentially gone now. She had no more magic to offer, only words of wisdom. All that was holding her to the earthly plane were that the stones were still split up. When the chalcedony were finally combined, the goddess wouldn’t even have that. She would be gone. It was hard to imagine; all the gods thought they were endless. She was proving they were not.
Even with her existence fading, the goddess wouldn’t have done it different. No matter what the others thought, she did the right thing. The goddess watched the young girl. Mari was reason enough for what she did. It was love. Love was the reason everything was done, and anyone that denied true love would regret it. The goddess had no regrets.
The person calling for her called again. The goddess knew it would be her last time seeing Mari. She would have wept if it were possible, but instead she just watched the young girl. She was stunning as she sat in the warm Egyptian air, watching the sky outside. Her red hair shone in the sunlight like a beacon of hope. Her face was relaxed, and she was happy. She was truly home. The goddess wished she could do more for her, but it wasn’t meant to work out that way. Fate was the way it was. The goddess took one last look at Mari and prayed for her. The girl would need all the help she could get.
Chapter 1
Real Fathers
Kye sat beside me in the lavish room my father had provided in the private wing of his palace. Yes, my father lived in a palace. He was giving us space to rest after the tale we told him of time traveling and meeting Seth and the guys in the future, only to come back home to my father to stay safe. We came to him to try to preserve the past, and he was more than willing to go along with it. His mind was working on figuring out the details. He was willing to believe and help us. That was all that mattered now. He seemed more anxious than anything at the prospect of my mother coming soon. She’d been just as nervous when we left her with Paramessu and his army. She hadn’t seen my father for almost twenty years, but she was ready as ever to meet him again. I could tell how much he loved her, and how she loved him. It was strange after growing up without a father to find that my parents were just as much in love as ever, and I never knew about it.
My father gave me a few details of his own past. He had married after my mother left, but he never loved his new wife the way he loved my mom. His wife had passed away during childbirth several years ago, and I was his only heir. He kept stressing to me the importance of being his heir, but with all the information I told him already, I had yet to give him the extra details from the goddess. I didn’t tell him that he was just as important and that we carried a bloodline she was willing to die for to protect.
Everything, so far, was working as we planned. Kye got my mother, Seth, Dee, and Ty into the past, and now we just had to wait. My father reassured me that if Seth told Paramessu to stay within Kemet borders, then that’s exactly what Paramessu would do. I hoped so. It would stink to come this far and not be safe.
As we relaxed and waited for them to arrive, I anxiously anticipated Logan’s appearance. Everyone said he couldn’t travel directly into Egypt, but I could, so why couldn’t he? He saw us leave, and would be livid. What would he do in response? How would he react? I took everyone back in time that knew about,
or could, time travel. The only one left was my grandfather, and I was certain that Mr. Sangre wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Their friendship went back quite a ways in the past. There was no one else Logan could use to get to me. Kye reassured me several times now that Logan couldn’t just pop in and take me away, but I couldn’t help but look around for him. He wasn’t one to give up so easily.
I rubbed my wrist, now free of the bracelet that Logan had used to keep me with him. It was strange to have my time travel powers back and to feel the power within me. The extra three lines made a humming vibration that I felt even stronger now. It was like I was connected to everyone who had ever traveled. Little strings of power extended in every direction. Though there was really only one that I was looking for. I could feel Seth, and he was still a day away. I had plenty of time to wait and spent some of my time practicing by using my powers to sense my father as he went about his business elsewhere in his house. From what I could tell, he spent most of his time sitting somewhere. I had no clue what his job was. I kind of wanted to ask but got the feeling he wasn’t going to tell me if I did.
I wandered back from the open doorway that led down to the water. My guess was correct that the house was built near a river. The waves lapped against the house. It was beautiful, but I was keeping my distance. I had a feeling that it wasn’t just a river; it was the Nile. From what I could remember, the Nile had dangerous animals like crocodiles, and I didn’t want to see any of those close-up.
“Then is that it?” I asked Kye.
Seth had promised me that he would make sure my mother made it to my father. I trusted that he would do everything he could to make that work. I had to believe it would. We had dropped them off inside the Egyptian border, so it was bound to work out fine, but I couldn’t help but worry. Something seemed off. What if Logan found out? There was still the possibility he would go after my mother and the guys. I wouldn’t feel relieved until they were within my sight.
“What do you mean?” Kye was sitting on the window sill on the other side of the room, looking out at the city. My father’s room did have a great view.
I fingered the necklace around my neck. I was glad to be wearing something of my mother’s; it did help me worry less. I still found it ironic that I’d lost it years ago because Logan time traveled back to get me the exact outfit I wore on our date. Now that I had it again I felt better, like my mother would be back soon, and everything would be fine. My mother would see my father again, and there was nothing to worry about. He didn’t have a wife now and was just waiting for her to return. I could feel the love he had for her pour off him when he asked me questions. They really shared an once-in-a-lifetime love.
“We made it. We’re putting the past back in order, the way it’s supposed to be. I was supposed to be here. I was always meant to meet Seth and fall in love with him, but here, in this time. I’m doing exactly what was meant for my life,” I said. I was beginning to appreciate fate, especially since it wanted me to be with Seth. “Seth has returned to his father’s side, and will be entering the city tomorrow with my mother. We put it all back in place. Wasn’t that what we were expected to do?”
Kye nodded as he continued to look over the city. He wasn’t smiling or happy about my assessment. The frown stayed on his face as he scanned the horizon.
“By being here we are restoring order, right?”
Why wasn’t he happy? We did exactly what he planned. We were on the right track now. According to Kye, within the borders of Egypt we were safe and would follow the fate that had been planned for us. Why didn’t making it back make him happy?
“We didn’t win,” he replied, he ran his hands through his longer deep red hair.
“What?” I asked. “But we did it. We changed everything back.”
How could we have not won? The goddess made it clear that we had to correct the past in order to fix the future. We did exactly that. I walked closer to Kye. He looked serious even though I wanted to find him joking right about now.
“I don’t know what went wrong, but this doesn’t change the future. Logan still wins,” Kye replied.
He turned his violet eyes to me. He was serious. How could he know Logan would win? Logan didn’t stand a chance. I had no plans to leave the past, and even if we did, I now had five stones embedded in me. I wasn’t about to get stuck again, and now I had five chances to make it home if I needed to. There was nothing to do now but wait for Logan to give up. I didn’t plan to part with the stones, and I wasn’t going to use them. He could never become a god now. Our history would be restored. How could it be that we still failed?
“Why? How could you know that?” I asked.
I wasn’t about to believe we had lost. I had just gotten the life back that I was supposed to have all along. I had my Seth, my mother, and my friends. Everything was in place. We were living in the past the way it was supposed to be. When Logan finally realized he lost and gave up, I could take Ty back to the future to live his life the way he wanted. Everything was fine. Everything was more than fine. We did exactly what we planned.
Kye turned his eyes back to the city. “If you’d won, I wouldn’t be here.”
That made no sense. “What?” I asked, standing and joining him.
Was he serious? We had just executed a plan that he’d made. Would he really plan something that would result in his disappearing? That wasn’t right. Kye was my friend now. He was part of my life. How could putting the past together make it so that he wouldn’t exist? I didn’t want him to go anywhere else.
“I’m the mistake in the future that changes everything,” Kye answered, placing his face in his hands. “I failed you again. Somehow, Logan still wins.” He turned his eyes back to me. I could almost make out faint tears. “I’m still here.”
I stood in shock and stared at him. I didn’t understand, but the tears that looked like they wanted to spill over his eyes told me that this was very serious. I moved to join him, but he quickly stood and walked to the other side of the room. He paced around a bit with his back to me. Turning abruptly he left through a doorway that I assumed went to the river. I was alone.
What did it mean? We just risked everything and won, at least I thought we won. If Kye was sure it wasn’t over, then we had to prepare for Logan to return. I didn’t want to get stuck again. I didn’t want to lose my ability to travel. One thing was certain: I wasn’t going to trust Logan ever again. If I’d learned one thing, it was that behind his charm, Logan wasn’t the guy I ever thought he was. I wasn’t going to fall again for his smile and kind ways. Logan wasn’t that man. I knew that much now.
Kye walked back into the room and directly over to me.
“It looks safe from the river,” Kye replied. “But I’m still going to ask your father to move you to another room. There are guards out there, but I doubt a few men would stop Logan if he showed up and decided to take you by force.”
All the emotion from only moments before was gone. He was back to being his soldier self.
“You think he’s going to take me by force?” That thought scared me a bit. If he came for me, I doubted he would take Kye with him this time.
“He has no choice now. To get his future, he is going to have to trick you or force you. I’m betting on force. He isn’t a very patient person, at least when it comes to you, and I think you might not be trickable this time either. He has to know that by now.” Kye shrugged and began looking around the edges of the room. His tears were completely gone.
My stomach turned at the thought of being Logan’s prisoner. It could be a really long time since I was a time traveler. If Logan chose to not return me to the time I was born, I wouldn’t ever die, and essentially I would live forever as his prisoner. Living forever with someone you loved sounded nice, but this did not. A long life didn’t sound too inviting now.
Kye was satisfied with the first wall he checked and moved on to the next. I had no clue what he was looking for, but he was very thorough in examining the w
alls. His face was set in concentration as I approached him to watch.
“How do you know this isn’t over?” I still didn’t understand that much. I needed an explanation.
Kye paused where he was looking but then went back to examining the wall. He didn’t reply as he looked it over. When he was satisfied with that wall too, he finally turned to me.
“You won’t be safe until Seti makes it back here. I hope he isn’t too far away,” Kye answered, but it wasn’t the answer to the question I’d asked.
I grabbed Kye’s arm and stopped him from moving to the next wall. I felt the warm tingles I had felt before with him. There was something with Kye that was different than Logan. Was I able to tell who the good guys were? I felt the same warm tingles before. It wasn’t the same as with Seth, but more like how it was with my mother or with my father. My heart stopped a second as I looked closer at him, and realization set it.
“Kye, how are you related to Logan?” I asked. I thought back through every conversation I had with Kye about his family. Kye had never denied being related to Logan, but he never confirmed what I assumed was that he was Logan’s brother.
Kye didn’t move but stared right back at me as I worked through my memories.
“Are you his brother?” I asked already knowing that he wasn’t.
“No,” Kye replied as he watched me.
Logan’s same purple eyes stared at me, but it was different to look at Kye's eyes. They were the exact same color, but so unlike. I saw the compassion in them. I saw his goodness. For the first time, I saw myself in him.
“Are you…?” I couldn’t even ask.
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