Table of Contents
Anywhere There’s Magic Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
A SmokeJumper’s Christmas Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
About the Author
Blind Sided Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About the Author
Cherish Tomorrow Live Today Cherish Tomorrow Live Today
About the Author
Encore Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
About the Author
Her Adoring SEAL Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About the Author
Second Chancers Club Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About the Author
Sweet In His Arms Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
About the Author
Walking in a Wildfire Wonderland Walking in a Wildfire Wonderland
About the Author
Anywhere There’s Magic
By Tianna Xander
Ten years of therapy couldn’t convince Kendra that the magical world she discovered hiding in her grandparents’ attic didn’t exist. Returning to that attic to prove it was imperative—especially since her grandparents have disappeared.
Immediately after arriving in the alternate world, she’s yanked off her feet, onto a galloping horse by a member of their rival clan, until the man who declared his undying love ten years before rescues her. Kendra’s heart shatters when she discovers her father’s murder, that her grandmother is near death, and Alaster, the only man she has ever loved, has married another.
Will Kendra accept her destiny and take on the mantle of power that is her birthright, or will she leave her people at the mercy of her family’s cruel enemy, leaving the love of her life and the world of magic behind?
A SmokeJumper’s Christmas
By Elle Boon
A WOMAN IN DIRE NEED—Cammie does anything to protect her unborn child, while Mother Nature may have other plans, she’ll do everything to keep herself and baby safe.
A MAN WILLING TO RISK HIS LIFE FOR HIS FAMILY—Keanu is willing to risk life and limb for his family, even setting the countryside on fire, to rescue his wife and unborn child.
A HARSH SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES—Reality isn’t always what it seems, but a fire elemental and a shifter will make sure this is a perfect SmokeJumper’s Christmas.
Blind Sided
By HA Fortman
Lost in a forest, stumbling her way through a swirling void of white, Chrissy tries to find her way home. She’s running, but she can’t remember who is chasing her or why.
Found by mythical creatures, Chrissy is convinced that she’s merely dreaming. Shifters, fauns and fairies, oh my! Creatures out of mythology surround her, helping her to retrieve her memory, but at what cost?
Fenric is inexorably drawn to Chrissy—her scent, her laugh, and the feather-light touch of her soft skin. His secrets are about to be exposed in order to save Chrissy. Will he jump through the shadows, endangering all he holds dear, or will he hide in the darkness?
Cherish Tomorrow Live Today
By Trinity Blacio
Betsy is done with men. She’s ready to relax and enjoy her new freedom. She wasn’t looking to start over.
Gage, alpha of his pack and a man who gets what he wants, knows Betsy is his. Nothing will keep him from claiming her, except for those who wish her dead.
Encore
By Cheryl Dragon
Back in town to raise money for the group home that saved her life, Jenna isn’t interested in dredging up the past or rekindling things with her ex, Sam. She and her band achieved modest success and continue to tour, but life on the road is getting old.
High school sweethearts Sam and Jenna met while in the foster system. With friends, they formed a band, but Sam grew addicted to the vices of life on the road. Years later, he’s changed his ways but never got over his first love.
Her Adoring SEAL
By Caitlyn O’Leary
HIDING IN FEAR—Beth Hildago’s life is on the line when corrupt authorities hunt for her after she has been traumatized at the hands of the Mexican drug cartel.
FIERCE PROTECTOR—Jack Preston is a decorated Navy SEAL whose family’s Texas ranch is the perfect place for Beth to hide.
A GENTLE LOVE—Jack realizes that not only does Beth need a place to hide, she also needs a place to heal. Can he protect her from those who want to find her? Can his love and caring be enough to conquer her fears?
Second Chancers Club
By Dawn Montgomery
Melanie McHugh had fought for her freedom from an abusive ex-husband who’d run her ranch into the ground. The last thing she needed was to fall in love. And definitely not with the man who’d helped her rebuild the pieces of her life from the ground up.
Jake Taylor was everything she needed: strong, dependable and supportive. He also harbored secrets of his own that could undermine everything they’d rebuilt together. So why was her mind and heart chasing after a fantasy? And will those dark secrets of his tear her apart or give her a second chance at love?
Sweet in His Arms
By Megan Slayer
Ryan Dane always knew where his heart was—in racing. He loves the sights, smells and sounds of the race and cars. He’s also sure about his sexuality, but the one man he’s always crushed on hasn’t been interested.
Until now.
Gage Bell considered Ryan the one that got away—except he never pursued Ryan in the first place. He’s done trying to ignore the way Ryan makes him feel, and an incident on the track has given him the right incentive to find the sweetness he’s always known was in Ryan’s arms—if Ryan will give him an inch and let him take the wheel.
Gage is ready to rub the right man.
Walking in a Wildfire Wonderland
By Viola Grace
Jinma knew she was destined for service in a temple, but she thought she would be going in a domestic capacity. She trades her thrall collar for that of a servant and waits to see where she will be assigned.
When the gods are doing their choosing, she has an excellent seat, but as the god of fire is released, he seeks her out and takes up residence in her body to the shock of the onlookers.
The fire god’s priests take her into their care and rush her out of the village square before a riot could get underway. The priesthood isn’t happy about her either, but her acolyte smooths the way from the temple to the fire god’s agenda.
Threki-mal wanted a host who could be active, compassionate and who had new ideas and ways of looking at things. He got all that and more with Jinma and only had to give her one of his priests in return.
The characters and eve
nts in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the authors.
Anywhere There’s Magic Copyright © 2015 by Tianna Xander
A SmokeJumper’s Christmas Copyright © 2015 by Elle Boon
Blind Sided Copyright © 2015 by HA Fortman
Cherish Tomorrow Live Today Copyright © 2015 by Trinity Blacio
Encore Copyright © 2015 by Cheryl Dragon
Her Adoring SEAL Copyright © 2015 by Caitlyn O’Leary
Second Chancers Club Copyright © 2015 by Dawn Montgomery
Sweet in His Arms Copyright © 2015 by Megan Slayer
Walking in a Wildfire Wonderland Copyright © 2015 by Viola Grace
All rights reserved. With the exception of review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the express permission of the publishers.
Published collectively by the authors to benefit One Way Farm, a Shelter for abused and neglected children. www.onewayfarm.org
Anywhere There’s Magic
By
Tianna Xander
Dedication
For my readers
Chapter One
With a sense of purpose Kendra hadn’t felt in years, she entered her grandparents’ home and closed the door behind her. Something had happened to them, and she had an idea she knew what that something was.
Hiking her backpack up onto her right shoulder, she climbed the stairs to the second floor then up to the third, where she paused at the foot of the narrow flight leading up to the attic.
Was the painting even up there anymore? If it was, would it work the way she remembered? She’d been a teenager the last time she experienced the phenomena. Had her mother been right all along? What if her adventure had been nothing more than a fantasy dreamed up by a mentally ill teenager? She bit her lip, staring up at the white panel that separated her from the doorway to an enchanted place. Whether mundane or magic, she needed to find out what was up there.
Taking a deep breath, she started up the last flight of stairs and slowly pushed the door open on creaking hinges. Creatures of habit, her grandparents had always avoided the attic as much as possible—even if it meant neglecting the maintenance her grandfather had loved to do.
Carefully, she picked her way around the boxes and packing crates left by previous generations of her grandfather’s family.
“I just hope they haven’t moved it.” She pressed her hand over her churning stomach. Her heart pounded as she grew closer to where she remembered seeing it last.
“Where is it?” She spun around in a circle, frantic at the possibility that they might have destroyed or discarded it. How would she ever know if what she had experienced all those years ago really happened if she couldn’t find the painting?
Afternoon light poured into the small, round window near the peak in the roof over her left shoulder as the sun burst through the clouds that lingered from the morning storm, and she saw it. The back of the gilded frame glittered as the sunlight reflected off the painted wood with a golden glow.
Her heart stuttered as she stared through the back of the frame. There was no canvas inside; the sight nearly brought her to her knees. The golden outline stood leaning against two storage barrels.
“No,” she whispered as she hurried toward it. “They couldn’t have removed the canvas. They wouldn’t have.” The painting had been the thing her grandparents had avoided at all costs.
Kendra marched over to the frame with the hope of finding the painting nearby. Perhaps they had intended to have it restored. Maybe what had happened in her youth had been nothing more than a fantasy, after all.
Rounding the barrels, she stared at the now-present painting with a relieved sigh. “But how...” she let her words trail off as she moved around to the back, seeing the far side of the attic through the gilded wood.
Shifting, she glanced at the front again, seeing a beautiful landscape dotted with plump cows painted on a canvas as though seeing it through a window in an old cabin or barn. Proud of herself for only hesitating for a few short seconds, Kendra placed the palm of her hand against the rough surface of the painted canvas.
Thunder rolled and the room grew dark. Lightning struck somewhere close. The resulting crack shook the floor and the flash nearly blinded her.
Kendra fell to her knees with a startled cry. Rough-hewn wood scratched her fingertips. Her eyes widened at the sight of the bare wood beneath her.
Mama, you were wrong! Kendra pressed her lips together, wondering if perhaps her mother had lied when she told her that there was no world beyond the painting. Had her mother feared the magic, as well?
Her eyes filled with tears as the thought that the last place she’d seen her father was here in this world, held captured by the bloodline that made it possible for Kendra to transport here by touching the ever-changing scene inside the magical frame—the setting that constantly changed with the location of the frame in this world.
Turning, she stared through the window at the livestock she’d seen depicted in the attic. “I did it,” she whispered, her fingers partially covering her lips.
Shifting her backpack, she used the long strap to hang the bag across her body. She then spun around and headed for the door. Her first and only priority was to find her grandparents. Her father and the man who had professed to love her ten years ago could just kiss her ample behind.
If either of them had wanted her in his life, he could have come for her. He should have come. Even if her father couldn’t leave because circumstances forced him to stay for his people, Alaster could have come for her—if he’d given a damn.
Opening the door, Kendra stepped out onto the porch of the dilapidated cabin and searched the horizon for any indication of civilization.
The people here weren’t technologically advanced. If the way they conducted themselves the last time she visited was any indication, she would guess that they didn’t want nor need technology. They had magic.
Stepping from the porch and onto the green, green grass, she headed for the woods and the sound of hoof beats in the distance. With luck, she could find someone who would take her to see her grandparents.
Just as she reached the middle of the field, the sound of a galloping horse grew louder as a rider raced in her direction on a blazing red horse. Without slowing a bit, he bent and scooped her up as he raced across the field.
Chapter Two
Kendra screamed when she saw the dark mark on his arm. If she remembered anything from the last time she was here, the serpent, scull and dagger on this man’s arm meant he was a member of the rival clan of Sculoul. They were an evil, warring clan who enslaved their prisoners. Struggling, she attempted to force him to drop her.
The sound of at least twenty horses came from behind them, and the war cries of her father’s clan, though welcome, hurt her ears. “You’ll never escape with me on this horse with you,” she cried over the sound of the pounding hooves. “Drop me and run. Maybe they’ll stop and it will buy you enough time to escape.”
“Quiet, woman, lest I cut out your tongue.”
Too late, she’d forgotten that in his clan, even the free women were second-class citizens. She pressed her lips together, unwilling to test his resolve. Though, after a few more minutes, her father’s men grew closer. It wasn’t long before the man decided to take her suggestion and dump her on the ground without slowing.
The horse barely missed stomping on her head while it flew over her as she rolled in the short brush, the straps of her backpack nearly strangling her.
A silver-gray stallion stopped beside her. It reared, stomping its feet, obviously wanting to continue the chase, though its rider held him back while the others continued on after the lone Sculoul warrior.
Kendra stared up at the rider whose remarkable silver eyes marked him as the r
egent, protector of the clan. His jaw had grown stronger, more pronounced. She could tell that much, even through the five-day shadow that covered the lower half of his face.
Full lips turned down as he scowled at her. “We could have caught him, if not for having to refrain from shooting at him for fear of harming you.” Even angry, the man was still handsome. His silver eyes practically shot sparks at her as he threw his right leg over the horse’s neck and slid from the saddle.
He landed with ease, tilted his head and knelt to study her through narrowed eyes. “Do I know you?”
Did he get taller? Hell, the last time she’d seen him he had been well over six feet tall. Good grief, the creep must be close to seven feet tall now. She pressed her hand to the center of her chest. He didn’t remember her. The man who had professed his undying love didn’t remember her?
“I don’t know... do you?” She raised a brow, staring Alaster in the eyes, hoping her expression dared him to remember who she was. Rolling to her knees, she pressed her hand on his shoulder and stood up, smiling when she almost knocked him over. “Thanks for the rescue,” she said, brushing the dirt from her rear. “But, if you don’t mind, I’ve a pressing need to find my grandparents.”
“Your...” He stared at her for a moment, his eyes wide as he took in her hair and the curve of her body before his gaze shifted to the backpack she carried. The same backpack she had carried ten years before. “Kendra?” He surged to his feet, grasped her shoulders and dragged her against him. “You’ve been gone so long, I had lost hope.”
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