by Matt Ryan
“No, don’t hurt him.”
She laughed. “While you two would make some very potent soul stones,” she said, and sucked in a deep breath, “I’ve found a way to get infinite stones. So, it will only be a matter of time before my final transformation.”
“But—”
“That’s what these two stones are for. I can’t have you around until after the end.”
“What are you going to do to me?”
“These are special stones I’ve made. For you, time won’t move. From the moment you take these stones to the moment I bring you back will only be a blink of an eye. And don’t worry. I made one for Mark as well. You two won’t spend a moment apart.”
“Why are you doing this? Just fight it, Mom. You have a choice.”
“Free will is a myth. This is my destiny.” She moved next to Mark.
“Don’t touch him!”
She placed the two stones in his hands. Mark swirled around as if he was air itself, then he and the two stones combined into one.
“How could you do that, Mom?”
She didn’t respond as she walked next to me. I cried; I wanted to get away. “This is really the best way, Allie.”
I gazed at Mark’s stone hovering in the air where he had been standing. I wanted to kill her. She’d betrayed me more than any person ever could. I remembered how my entire life had been directed to making the stone for her. She had even killed my dad to make sure there were no loose ends.
“I won’t forgive this,” I said. “I’ll find a way out again and then I’ll be coming for you.”
“Not this stone. Not this time. Don’t be afraid. The next time you open your eyes, you’ll be gazing at me and the next phase of existence. I’m a little jealous of it, really, but I wouldn’t want you to see all the unpleasantness that’s coming. I wouldn’t want you to think less of me.” She moved forward, and in an instant both stones were in my hands. The stones looked similar but different than the creation of the soul stones. They soaked into my skin and a blinding white light filled my vision. I felt as if I was falling into an endless void and then nothing.
I blinked out of existence.
Book 4 of the Alchemist Academy series
to be released in late 2016.
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First off, I want to thank you for giving my books a chance. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. The idea for this series spawned from another series of mine, The Preston Six. Around book 4 in that series I started to question who made these teleporting stones that whisked these people from world to world. So, I started backtracking a side story which became Alchemist Academy. I loved the story so much that I wrote out three books in the series before I finished up with the last book in the Preston Series. I wanted to do this because in the Preston series, the final book strongly features Cathy Norton and what she has become after this book.
I thought this was a fun way to pair up the two different worlds I created but don’t worry, both book series stand alone so you don’t have to read them both.
If you want to communicate with me, talk about the books, get updates, hit me up on Facebook or you can email me directly at [email protected].
