Shattered by Magic
Page 27
“It’s weird, Jer. He’s acting like a normal person,” I whisper behind my hand, making him and Lou chuckle.
“There’s hope for humanity yet,” he jokes as we assemble around the coffee table in the living room, Abigail making appreciative noises at all the fuss she’s being given.
At five months old, she already has the ability to charm the pants off anyone who sets eyes on her. Although I watch her constantly for any sign of Augur ability, so far I’ve seen nothing, and I can’t say I’m not relieved.
“Sorry we’re late,” Tilly says, appearing with Edward in the corner of the room.
“Matilda!” my father practically shrieks. “You must ring the doorbell. You know how my heart gets when I’m suddenly surprised,” he says, reluctantly passing the baby back to Ella and giving his sister a hug. He grins at us as he does, and Ella leans over to me.
“Oh my God, Curtis. Was your father just being ironic?” she asks incredulously.
“You know, I think he was,” I say, giving her a wary look.
The four of us fall about in a fit of giggles and leave the rest of the room to guess.
Tea is poured, everyone takes turns to give Abigail a cuddle, and my parents soak it all up, completely comfortable surrounded by a room full of Augurs—myself included.
“You okay?” Ella asks, as she often does these days, squeezing my hand as I smile at the scene in front of me.
“You know, I really am,” I reply, squeezing hers back. “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
*
Appendix
List of main characters
Adam Crossley - Supervisor of Curtis and his friends, an agent of the ATU. Normal.
Agnes Cooper - Ella’s sister, a psychic Augur who can see the future in strange, unpredictable visions.
Beryl Stephenson - David’s mother, a wealthy divorcee and Augur with the ability to heal. Curtis and his friends have lived with Beryl on and off when in need.
Carlton Munday - Former Civil Defence Minister of the UK and an Augur, able to absorb others’ powers.
Curtis Mayes - Normal eighteen-year-old Londoner who is madly in love with Ella Cooper and will do anything to get her back.
David Stephenson - Augur. A magic Healer as well as a trained doctor, and friend of Curtis.
Edward Clarence - Tilly and the Duke’s son, an Augur capable of manipulating fire. Former head of the Magic Circle.
Ella Cooper (Chisholm) - Augur with the ability to self-generate power. One of the most powerful Augurs alive, also known as the ‘power source.’
Enzo Gregorio - Cousin of Marco and Giovanni, in an on-again, off-again relationship with Agnes. An Augur who can manipulate water, he owns an Augur-exclusive club in Northeast London.
Giovanni Gregorio - Marco’s brother, previously in unrequited love with Ella. An Augur who can pass pictures from one person’s mind to another.
Jeremy ‘Jer’ O’Donnelly - One of Curtis’s best friends, an Irish Augur, able to sniff out magic and often identify who its originator is.
Jonathan Clarence, aka the Duke - An Augur with big plans to save all of Augur kind. The best friend of Carlton Munday while they were at school, together they led experiments to find the solution for Augur discrimination. His power was amplifying others’ powers, until Carlton Munday stole them from him.
Louise ‘Lou’ Partridge - Jer’s girlfriend, also an Augur, who uses heavy waves of force to move objects and break things. Lou has a fierce temper and spent her youth stealing cars.
Matilda Mayes (nee Wandsworth, formerly Clarence) - Curtis’s half-aunt, on his father’s side. An Augur with the ability to teleport. Matilda, or Tilly, was married to the Duke. After an affair with Carlton Munday and an experiment gone wrong, she was turned invisible, leaving her son, Edward, in the hands of her husband.
Marco Gregorio - One of Curtis’s best friends and part of a wealthy Italian Augur family. Able to pass his body through solid objects, including walls.
Miss Banks - Normal. Head of the Augur Terror Unit, originally responsible for kidnapping Curtis and Jer, which has since been reconciled. Curtis, Jer, Lou, and Marco now work for Miss Banks as contracted agents of the ATU.
Mumbe Bengolo - David’s partner and Curtis’s friend. An Augur with the ability to push visions and hallucinations into people’s heads through contact.
Peter Mayes - Curtis’s father and Augurist (or Augurphobe).
‘Sunglasses’ Steve - Miss Banks’s right-hand man. He never takes off his sunglasses. Normal.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I have to thank you, the reader. Honestly, when I read other authors’ acknowledgements, I really wonder why they put the readers at the end. You are amazing. You are the reason that I just kept going and going with this series, and I am over the moon that I did. So, for you who have read this book (or any of my other books, for that matter), I am eternally grateful.
I also hope that you stick with me. The Augurverse, as I’ve personally dubbed it, will live on in other books, even if Curtis and Ella had their happy ending. There are more stories in the works; don’t you worry!
And now to individual thank-yous. My ever-patient beta reader, Leah, of Chalmers Writing Services, thank you for your words of encouragement and your sound pointers and advice. To my proofreader, Emilee, of Perfect Pages, thanks for sticking with all the British English and for telling me how much you enjoyed the series, too. Little things like that make a huge difference to my self-esteem. Both of you ladies encouraged me when I wasn’t even sure I’d see the end of book two.
Olivia, thank you for your accurate (and brutal) criticism of my first draft. I love you. I needed your honesty!
To my parents, and Mamgu, for reading everything that I write and actually loving it.
To Roger Ellory, for the encouragement, for being there just to empathise about how bonkers it is being a writer, and for being a sounding board for so many other things.
To Gillian Greenwood, for going on your writing journey with me and for all our writer chats. Thank you so much for also loving everything that comes out of my messy mind!
To Foteini Tasiopoulos, for being my self-proclaimed manager and for getting me out of that scene I was stuck in for days. You asked all the right questions and changed Ella from being a damsel in distress to someone who was trying to take control of her future.
To Gray, and all of my extended family at Grays of Westminster, for being amazing people to work both for and with.
And to my husband and boys, for never trying to stop me from all my wild, crazy plans and ideas, and for letting me write. I love you with everything I am.
–Rebecca Danese
About the Author
Rebecca Danese is a writer, photographer, artist and illustrator living in London with her husband, two children and far too many notebooks.
She has several projects on the go between photography articles, several young reader stories and the third instalment in this series. She has three books available for purchase including this, the second instalment in the Divided by Magic series, and a younger reader adventure series, The Tree Children, also available on Amazon.
To find out more about her work visit: www.rebeccadanese.com or follow her on social media by searching ‘Rebecca Danese’ on Facebook and Instagram.
Facebook: rebecca.danese.creates
Instagram: rebeccadanese_books
Twitter: thenikongirl88
If you liked this book, or series, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Free hugs in exchange, but if you’re not a hugger that’s okay too. I’ll still be eternally grateful!
Other books by Rebecca Danese
Middle grade:
The Tree Children
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Young adult:
Divided by Magic
Broken by Magic
Shattered by Magic
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