Peering at him, Rhea moved closer. “You are Ronan, yes?”
“Y-yes. Well, I mean, why do you want to know?” His hands shook slightly as he gripped his robe with his fingers.
“My name is Rhea, and there is an important mission for you.” If Mirror didn’t have such an impeccable record, Rhea would assume the bird might be wrong about this one. Rhea failed to understand how he would help the princess.
“An important mission for me?” he parroted in confusion.
“Yes. For you.”
“Why me? I’m no one special.” He brought a hand up to fiddle with his goggles.
“And yet, my mirror is never wrong.”
Mirror spun in the air at her praise.
“I’m supposed to believe a mirror told you I need to go on this quest?” His gaze narrowed suspiciously.
Mirror let out a soft trill as Rhea replied, “I figured you of all people would believe me.”
“Your mirror must be incorrect this time. I’m sorry.” He slumped back to his bed, soot flying into the air around him.
James put a hand on Rhea’s shoulder, stepping around her. “Mage, I know how hard it is when you’re constantly told you won’t amount to anything, but in over two hundred years, my wife’s mirror has never been mistaken. Perhaps now is the time to prove everyone wrong.”
Ronan scoffed. “I don’t need others to inform me of my own shortcomings.” He gestured to his soot covered garments.
“Perhaps this is how you can prove to yourself you can do something right.” James glanced at Rhea, and she nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“And the job?” Ronan questioned with a sigh.
“Your princess needs help. She refuses to get assistance with her quest, but she will fail if you are not with her,” Rhea spoke softly.
“How can I help her? I’m a lowly mage.” He rubbed at his eyes with his palms.
“I brought you something which might be of assistance. You won’t be able to use it until you’ve earned her trust, but it’s yours if you will help her.” Reaching into a pouch on her belt, she withdrew an object smaller than her palm.
“What is it?” Ronan stood again, moving closer.
“Your familiar,” she answered, showing him the silver speckled egg.
“I’ve tried summoning a familiar. It’s never worked before.” He reached out, running his fingertips along the soft shell.
“Perhaps you never tried summoning the right creature.” Handing the egg to him, Rhea continued, “Meet the princess tonight on the drawbridge when the moon reaches its highest point. Prepare for a journey.” Bowing, she backed out of his room. “You’re destined for greatness, but only if you step out of your comfort zone.”
Before he could say anything else, she tapped Mirror’s surface. A portal opened, shimmering and rippling like water. James and Rhea stepped through it, and she resisted the urge to scratch at the back of her neck as her skin prickled.
Now she would watch. It was someone else’s turn to become a hero.
~
An evil shall ascend to the highest power.
Darkness and despair shall shroud the land.
Hope will fail,
Happiness will falter,
And light will be brief.
In the midst of the dark,
Five shall rise,
The lights to sweep away the evil.
About the Author
K. Swanson spends her days with her two young minions and her nights dreaming up ideas for a multitude of stories. She loves super heroes, DND, video games, and all things Disney. She lives in a small town with her husband and children, along with 2 dogs, one of which thinks she’s a kangaroo.
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HIDDEN LIGHT
Hidden Light
The Lydents’ Curse
Nikki Bolvair
Parents divorce? Check.
Not wanted by stepdad? Check.
Fall in love with my stepbrother? It wasn't supposed to happen.
After her parent’s divorced and her mother remarried, Carly Phillips was sent to live with her father, only visiting her mother for holidays.
Now newly graduated and scoring her first job as a lifeguard, she has the unthinkable happen and her world is shattered when she suddenly discovers, in the most horrible way possible, that magic is real.
If her world isn’t shaken enough, she’s suddenly sent back to live with her mother and a stepfather who already made it obvious she doesn’t belong in his family. For Carly, life can’t get any worse because her stepbrothers are still there and her feelings for them haven’t changed.
She's still in love with her stepbrothers and they couldn't be more farther out of her reach.
But Hale and Zander, along with their friends, Baxter and Colten, have their own opinion when it comes to Carly and they have every intention of turning up the heat and forcing their way into her life.
Copyright © 2017 Nikki Bolvair
All rights reserved.
Also By Nikki Bolvair
The Faith Series
Love Is Not Lost
Brokenly Found
Gaining Ground
Silent Secrets
Just Married
A Lovely Dearest Series
Delicate Beauty
The Lydents’ Curse
Hidden Light
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Hooks
Chapter One
Nothing ever happens on the first day, Carly.
That’s what they told me when I started my job as a lifeguard. They were wrong. Laughing kids, splashing water, and families who wanted to get out of the blistering heat, were under my watch. At the Aquatic Center here in the sunny desert, temperatures could go well past a hundred.
Like any other job, I received the rundown about the dos and don’ts in lifeguarding. I considered myself fairly well-versed since I was on my high school swim team. I even taught a few kids how to swim until a few weeks ago when I graduated from high school. Simple logic brought me to this sort of job. I needed money to pay my phone bill and for extra spending cash.
I lived with my dad in a three-bedroom house out in the boonies as some like to say, when really it was just out of the city where property was undeveloped. The drive to the Aquatic Center was twenty miles, which wasn’t bad considering how far my dad drove to work.
Living with my dad was fine, but I’d much rather live with my mom.
When the two of them divorced, Mom met my stepfather, Kenneth, and fell in love rather quickly. If I hadn’t known better, I’d think she left dad for him, but I knew the real reason.
Dad was the one to glance the other way and get his secretary pregnant. He moved out, and I stayed with Mom in the beginning. I was angry he could do that to Mom. Mom, being the forgiving type, told me everyone made mistakes. Even though forgiven, she informed me he broke the trust between them, and they would never again be the same.
Initially, I liked Kenneth. His two brothers, Henry and Patrick, were friendly. They stuck around a lot and invited me to call them uncle. I didn’t mind. While Kenneth’s brothers were easier to talk with, Kenneth was a little rough around the edges, but I still thought he was cool. Or so I figured.
His two sons, Zander and Hale, were older than me by several years, and they were the reason I left to live with my dad. I was young and had a crush. A stupid, lustful crush. Go figure. I shoved it back into the tiny corner of my heart and left it there to fester. I hung out with my stepbrothers to gain attention, but I was like their little sister.
&nbs
p; They allowed me tag along with them whenever I wanted, except to their rooms. I wasn’t really allowed in there, but what others didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. I smirked, reminiscing about how often I poked my head in and caught them off guard. Then I sobered, remembering their dad. My stepfather.
When Kenneth realized how close the three of us had become, he came to me and explained I needed to distance myself from his sons. That whatever I hoped for could never happen. Humiliated he saw through my façade, I made a decision to move in with my dad and merely visit my mom from time to time.
At first, things were uncomfortable living with my dad. But with him, I didn’t have to worry about stepping on toes. He and his new wife left me alone most of the time, but that only caused me to miss my mom even more.
Each time I visited my mom, bitterness that I’d moved away ate at me.
I missed my mom. Kenneth and I mostly avoided each other, except when I didn’t put my dish in the dishwasher, or I left my shoes on the living room floor. In those moments, we spoke. Even though I moved, in his view, I never did anything right. How did I like Kenneth in the beginning, just to be at odds with him now? Kenneth was already a hard person; he lost his first wife and raised his sons by himself. Now, he had Mom and worshipped her. Any idiot could see that, but there always seemed a longing there, too.
A sizable splash brought my attentions back to the present as my gaze skimmed over the multitude of swimmers who basked in the cool, crisp water to the four other lifeguards also on duty. I sat on my high, white perch as the temperature steadily rose throughout the day to a blistering heat that turned my tan skin pinkish. Sunblock lotion was a must. The scent of chlorine wafted on the breeze as my waterproof watch beeped in sync with the others, declaring it was time for a safety check. I brought my whistle up to my lips as I spotted a group of teen boys wrestling near the edge of the deep end. Our whistles blew together. Taking a step backward away from the friend he tussled with, one of the teens slipped on the pool deck. My eardrums pounded as I jumped up. His head struck the pool ledge with a solid smack before he went under the water.
I dove off my stand into the pool.
Red tinted the water and started to spread. My body sliced through as I plunged deep and grasped hold of the young teen’s arm. He was heavy, and my lungs burned from lack of oxygen. Another lifeguard joined me, and the two of us lifted the guy up to the surface.
We placed his body down on the pool side, and I instantly checked for a pulse. Finding none, I started compressions to drive out the water from his lungs. I wasn’t going to give up, not for a moment.
When a glow arose from the teen’s chest and launched straight into my own, I clambered back, shocked at the warm tingling sensation that flooded my body before it nestled inside. Emotions overwhelmed my senses as sorrow seeped into my soul. My heart throbbed with the new knowledge this boy wasn’t coming back.
I was shoved out of the way, onto my backside, as a woman I could only guess was his mother touched him and chanted in an unfamiliar language. My bare foot still rested against the teen’s, connecting us.
From one heartbeat to the next, time stood still. Everything became disoriented as swooshing filled the air, and a light surrounded us. Then, everything vanished.
Moments later, things became clear once more, and I realized we no longer hovered at the edge of the pool at the Aquatic Center. Cold air brushed along my wet body still in the red swimming suit, causing a trembling shiver to race through my bones. My mouth hung open as I stared at the white walls that now surrounded me. Shock kept me frozen in place. How in the hell did I get here?
I now knelt on the floor of what appeared to be a hospital room. The mother and one of the teen’s friends lifted the lifeless body onto the exam table and hollered for help.
“Kenneth! Help!” the mother wailed as she cried over her son’s body. “Baby, my baby!”
My heart clenched. My first day wasn’t supposed to be the day I lost a life. I never intended to lose one on my watch. Nor would I have believed magic wasn’t just for fairytales. But four hours and fifty-one minutes into being a lifeguard, I concluded fate was horrible and had it out for me.
“Kenneth!” the friend shouted. He passed by me, only sparing a hasty glance my way as he headed out the door. I shoved back between the medical counter and the wall, attempting to remain unseen.
I thought there was no way I could be shocked any further than I already was, but the world kept finding ways to make me seem crazy. My eyes needed to be fixed because my stepfather, who I hardly even knew, charged into the room. He instantly urged the mother aside and settled his hands on the boy’s chest.
My mouth popped open. What the hell?
The mother and the friend watched Kenneth carefully, seeming almost hopeful. Confused, I blinked and suddenly my eyes widened while I watched my stepfather’s palms glow white. Hope flickered through me. Was this magic? If magic did exist, could it save this kid?
After a few seconds, the body on the table remained unmoving, unbreathing. Kenneth raised his hands from the boy, only to have the mother grab him.
“Try once more, please!” the mother begged, and he did.
Again, white light permeated his palms, this time brighter. Maybe I was hallucinating. I could’ve passed out from the lack of oxygen when we hauled the kid out of the water. Or perhaps today hadn’t started yet, and I was still snug in my bed, sound asleep, and this nightmare was the result of my fears about my new lifeguard job. If I was actually caught in a nightmare, I needed to wake up. Now.
Another moment later, Kenneth slid his hands from the body once again and glanced away, shaking his head back and forth. “I’m sorry, Amelia,” he spoke softly as he gathered the woman into his arms. “He’s gone.”
This was too much. My nerves wreaked havoc on my emotions. If I were sleeping or unconscious, I wouldn’t feel pain, right?
The sobs the woman held back erupted in a hollow cry that would make any person’s heart dip with remorseful sympathy. My bottom lip trembled. No pain, it wasn’t real. I just needed to pinch myself. I squeezed the skin on my arm between two fingers, stinging pain traveled up it, confirming my worst nightmare was reality.
Mute and heartbroken with shock and disbelief, I gripped the wall to stand. A boy lost his life too early. A family would mourn for their child. And insanely enough, magic couldn’t fix him.
That was what I assumed I witnessed. Magic. A burning inside my heart told me I was right. Magic was at work here, and somehow it involved Kenneth.
I raged on the inside as I worked my way past crazy into resentment. Why have magic if the damn stuff was worthless? My teeth clenched, furious at my childish belief it could fix anything. That it offered a perfect solution to any problem. The essence of everything and anything, with the ability to accomplish miracles.
It could transport. That was something I had firsthand experience with. But to bring a boy back from the dead was beyond its reach. I suppose everything had its limits, even magic. Life was still unfair, even with the touch of its light.
I forced my lips together to keep from screaming when bright lights appeared in the room once more, and three other men joined us, the room becoming crowded. And why wasn’t I more concerned about the magical events? My breath became shallow and quicker as I made an effort to get a grasp on my sanity. A teenager—a child—died under my supervision, and I’d been thrown into a world of make-believe.
One of the men strode to the lifeless body and picked it up as the other two offered comfort to the devastated mother and the mournful friend. Within seconds, they all blinked out.
He whirled my way. He grabbed me before I fell from shock once again. “What the hell?” A mind could only handle so much. “Carly?”
My mind felt sluggish and cumbersome as I confided, “I think I’m going to pass out.”
His brows slanted, worried. “No-No-No...”
But it didn’t matter. My world just turned upside down. My mind n
eeded time to process that. My eyes rolled back as my body went limp, and darkness met me.
~
An awful scent passed under my nose, and I jerked away, coming to my senses. My head felt leaden as I shifted on the hard bed and attempted to bat away the offensive smell. When I came in contact with a broad arm, my eyes snapped open.
Kenneth leaned over me with smelling salts. His eyes were black as coal, just like his finger-length hair. The red flannel shirt that peeked out of his white doctor’s coat only accented his unworldly appearance. My mother hovered beside him. She reached out with her fingertips, sweeping against my forehead as if to check for fever.
Her brown eyes, dark with worry, cleared when she saw I was awake. “Thank the spirits! How do you feel?”
As Mom sat on the bed beside me, Kenneth grunted and moved away. “Thank no one.” His brusque voice sliced through the air. “She’s the one who hijacked a ride. I realize it was an emergency, but the Everlys should take greater care when shimming. Warriors had to go back there and dream-sweep everyone!”
“Gee, what do you think? I knew exactly what the mother was doing and decided to ride along to irritate you?” I lashed out as I jerked up and maneuvered my legs over the side of the exam table. “Someone’s in a grumpy mood. No heart. Have some sympathy. They lost a child.”
“Carly—” my mom’s terse tone started, but stopped short when my stepfather put up a hand.
Kenneth stood in front of me and brooded, bulging arms folded. “No heart?” He leaned in close. “Pray to the spirits you’d better hope you’re wrong. You know about us now. There are consequences for knowing such a secret.”
Falling For Them Volume 2: Reverse Harem Collection Page 97
