Conjured Defense (Terra Chronicles Book 4)

by J. C. Jackson

  Silver put a finger over my lips. “I know. I’m just glad we have the chance to share this now.” He took my hand and put it over his pendant. “What do you feel from it?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “I thought you wanted to hold off on this conversation.”

  “The questions I have about what happened, yes, but I want to know what you feel now.”

  Closing my eyes, I concentrated on the small object. “I can still feel the thrum of power I always have and it’s warm.” I did not feel Silver anymore from it, but I might not with it being around his neck.

  Silver gave me a soft smile and kissed the back of my hand. “I’ve pestered you enough for now. You probably want to change into something you’re more comfortable wearing before we figure out breakfast. You might want to consider a swimsuit. It's going to be a good day for it and you need to take it easy.”

  I slowly made my way over to my bags digging through for something to wear. How I acted on the ship during our escape bothered me. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

  I stood up and turned around directly into Silver. When had he gotten behind me?

  Silver pulled me into a tight hug, resting his chin on my head. “I’ll admit, thinking back on it, the power you wielded was terrifyingly beautiful. I think we’re even though - you saw me at my worst.”

  I dropped the clothes in my hands and held onto him, letting the reality of what happened to us sink in. Would we ever be able to fix what had been broken?

  Epilogue

  I stared at the falling snow outside of my quarters. Sighing, I forced myself to return to my book. There was little for me to do outside of schoolwork until they took me off of medical leave.

  If only they could give me an idea of when it might be. It had already been three weeks since we escaped the ship.

  Silver occupied himself with physical training if he was not here keeping me company. He stayed quiet for the most part, often reading. I figured he was as tired of the meetings as I was. How many more times they wanted to hear the same information, I did not know.

  Hearing my door unlock I knew Silver was back. They gave us access to each others quarters, but locked us out of anything related to work.

  “Ket?”

  I turned from where I sat on the floor in front of the short table, not expecting Kitteren’s voice. I stretched to see her over the back of the couch and stared at her for a moment, unsure if what I saw was real.

  The moment broke when she jumped the couch and nearly tackled me to the floor in a tight hug. She buried her face in my shoulder and shook. I held her, running my hand over her hair to comfort her, not knowing what she needed.

  Once she calmed down, I asked, “What are you doing here?”

  Kitteren wiped the tear tracks from her face. “Well, if you'd answer my calls you'd have known I was coming.”

  That would be a first. Normally she thought surprising me with her presence was a good idea. I turned back to what I had been working on, finding the slip of paper I used for a bookmark. I knew better than to ignore her, but I wanted to keep my work organized.

  “Talk to me, Ket. Mom and Dad are really worried. They hoped you would have come down to visit by now.”

  I took a deep breath, coming up with a quick reason to hopefully satisfy her. “The weather hasn’t been good to drive.”

  “Don't give me that crap. You’re shutting me out. You're shutting everyone out - including the person who went through it with you.”

  I glanced at my sister out of the corner of my eye. What could she possibly know? “No, I’m not. Silver’s here all the time.”

  “And you don’t talk to him!”

  I sat back and stared at my sister. Shaking my head I got up and stood in front of the large windows, watching the weather. It was better than facing her.

  Kitteren grabbed my shoulder roughly and spun me around. The anger in her face was matched by a sharp sting in my cheek. I stared at her with wide-eyes and lightly touched where she slapped me.

  “I'm not letting you revert to your old ways.” She stormed away for a moment before turning back to me. “Do you realize exactly how many people watched and prayed you and Silver made it out of there alive? You had two full branch offices and the main office. And those were just the ones I know about. Not to mention the werewolves. I had Hells of a time convincing them not to send people.”

  I moved and dropped down onto the couch, having no energy for the fight Kitteren wanted to start. I hung my head. “It’s not like I don’t know. It takes me a long time to go through my messages everyday. It’s just…”

  “Ket,” Kitteren said, taking a seat next to me. “You went through three weeks of torture on a level I don’t think anyone can comprehend. And no one can try to understand if you don’t talk.”

  “Silver…”

  Kitteren cut me off. “Yes, Silver went through a few Hells as well. Especially with the intimacy he was forced into to keep you in one piece. The Gods only know how much it would have broken him if he had to do more not to mention what it would have done to you as well. I’m not sure he could have brought himself to do it. But the point I’m making is he wasn’t forced into some psycho system over and over again.”

  I sighed. I should know how nosy she could get by now. “You know a lot already.”

  “Yeah, I do. I got a chance to look at the file. I watched you tear through waves of enemies like it was child’s play. Though I’m told you were on an arcane high or something.”

  “We were near a concentrated ley line,” I corrected.

  “Whatever that means. I just know you were pissed and on a war path.”

  I cringed and clamped my hands together on my lap to keep from at least visibly shaking. “I had to get Silver out of there. I saw how much of a toll it took on him. I…” I paused, taking a deep breath. “I should feel horrible about all the death and destruction I caused, but I don’t. Does that make me a monster?”

  “No! Hells no. You paid them back for how they treated you. Both of you. Seems only fair. Actually, you should have done more.”

  “I wanted to, but they stopped me.” No one knew how much I wished to continue.

  “Because you were going to die.”

  I closed my eyes, clenching my jaw. I really had not wanted Kitteren to know, but I should have known she would find out no matter how much I hid it.

  “Ugh!” Kitteren sat back, crossing her arms. “You’re so damn calm about all of this and all I want is to find out who in the Hells came up with the plan to retrieve the orb and tear their head off myself.”

  Silence fell between us for a few minutes. Unused to my sister’s quiet, I asked, “So, why are you at the main office?”

  “Well, to start, I wanted to check in on you. Maybe see if I couldn’t get through.” She poked me in the side of the head and I swatted at her hand. “Also, I’ve got to clean out my quarters. I’m going to stay in Ocean’s Edge. Run the training program and in between sessions I’ll work with Savanas’ team. Unless I’m needed for something else. And it doesn’t hurt that things have been good with Rathal.”

  I forced a smile. “I’m glad it worked out for you.”

  “Hey,” Kitteren said softly, wrapping her arm around my shoulders, “It could still work out for you too. You still have Silver. You just need to let him in. And I don’t mean access to your quarters.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Come on. Mom and dad are here and want to get everyone together for dinner.”

  I sighed and got up, heading for my bathroom so I could attempt to look somewhat presentable. “How did you get in here anyway?”

  “Silver unlocked the door for me. Rathal has been keeping him busy while we talked.” She took my brush from me. “Let me.”

  I stayed still while she brushed my hair. Silver took to the task after we escaped as I found little reason to care about my appearance. Especially if I had nowhere to go.

  “Can I offer some advice?”<
br />
  I rolled my eyes. “Since when do you ask?”

  Kitteren tapped my head with the back of my brush before returning to her task. “Take small steps. One thing at a time and things will get back to normal. I’m here and so are others. Don’t keep isolating yourself.”

  Right now I needed to figure out how to make it through dinner.

  “So what was it like kissing him?”

  “Kitteren!”

  Acknowledgements

  Joshua Jackson, Brandi Burns, Amy Stoll, and many others I’ve met over this past year who continue to encourage me and keep me going.

  My local critique groups: Kenneth Jorgenson, Loni Townsend, Jim Lambert, Danielle Parker, Troy Lambert and many others. A few of them also were subjected to being beta readers as well.

  And all of my friends and family who have been cheering me along.

  About the Author

  J.C. Jackson is originally from New England and currently lives in southwestern Idaho with her husband and daughter.

  On top of writing, she enjoys gaming whether that is picking up a controller or throwing down some dice in a tabletop RPG (as well as other board games). She has also been a fan of science fiction and fantasy since she was little.

  Blog: https://jeicjackson.wordpress.com/

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