A Ghost of Magic: Chosen Saga Book 3

by J. L. Clayton

  She burst into view and laughed. “My Lord, if I knew you were planning on letting the earth consume Kate, well, I might have prepared her a little. I don’t know, maybe told her to wear something that wouldn’t clash with blood and flesh. Besides, she was one of my dearest friends. It’s only polite to not let your friends die unfashionably.”

  “Yes, such a shame,” Crispin muttered.

  The demon walked up to Crispin and gave him an open mouth kiss. It didn’t look like he was enjoying the kiss too much, but he wasn’t pushing her away, and that pissed me the hell off. Something inside me churned and simmered just beneath the surface. It seemed that one of my deadly sins—wrath—decided to make itself known. I guess the fairy king didn’t take that one. If I could only figure out a way to channel The Seven… Err…Six, into another person, that would help, because this feeling of outright rage was overwhelming.

  Crispin pulled away and patted her head. “Don’t worry, my pet. You will live.”

  She seemed to simper under his affections.

  How dare he decide whether she lived or died! She possessed my friend’s body, and what she did to Nikko…What she did to NIKKO! Fury was now an all-consuming, living, breathing entity inside me. I would be damned before I let her leave here with Tammin’s body and Nikko’s prison.

  “So, my Lord, what shall we do with the boy in the box?” Wicked proffered it before him.

  I folded my arms, wanting to see what he had to say.

  Yeah Crispin, I thought darkly, what are you going to do about the – boy in the box?

  “Since the game is over and she came so far for the boy within the box, she may have it,” Crispin said, giving me a funny look. He flicked his eyes quickly to the side.

  I looked at the demon, but she was busy tossing the box back and forth between her hands to pay me any attention. I glanced over to where Crispin had just looked and saw the most beautiful thing. Shining bright and just waiting for me to pick it up and plunge it into the body snatcher was the dagger. I took a little step to the side. It was so close now.

  “She did come all this way,” Wicked hummed sadly. Turning to me, she held out the box.

  I put my hands behind my back, thinking quickly. I had to get her close to me. “I don’t trust the two of you so close together. Why don’t you bring it to me?”

  She looked at Crispin and shook her head. “The poor thing doesn’t trust us. Sure, sweetie, I’ll bring you the box!” She winked.

  As she was almost on top of me, I tripped, landing myself right beside the dagger. I just hoped she wouldn’t see it. “Oh I’m such a klutz,” I complained.

  “Oh it’s ok, sugar. Here, let me help you up. No hard feelings, right?” she said, holding out her hand and smiling down at me.

  I looked over at Crispin. An intense look was carved into his face. I knew, in that moment, he wanted me to kill her. He wanted to see me kill. Well, he was going to get what he wanted because I sure as hell wasn’t letting this bitch stay in my friend’s body one minute longer.

  “Yeah, sure. No hard feelings!” I grabbed her arm with my left hand and the dagger with my right. I pulled her down as I brought the dagger up, plunging the blade deep.

  The demon made an awful sound. She screeched, “Why?” She looked over at Crispin.

  He shrugged and gave her a little smirk. She screamed as this black, viscous substance came spewing out of Tammin’s mouth, forming some kind of winged creature. It shook its body and stood to its full height, maybe about six feet tall. Wicked was beautiful. Her skin was as black as the sky with pretty, twinkling stars scattered over her. She stood before us, naked. Her body was the perfect feminine physique. If it wasn’t for her body looking like the night sky and the wings that sprouted from her back, Wicked would have looked like a normal, human girl.

  The demon hissed, “I will find a way back.” With that promise, she blipped out of this world.

  I sagged in relief. It was over. Finally, it was all over! I looked over at Tammin with a smile on my face, but it quickly morphed into a frown. I stilled for a second. It was as if time stopped, and I wished it would have stayed that way. But time is a freaking bastard, and it doesn’t take sides. It came crashing back with vengeance. Blood was steadily flowing from Tammin’s chest. She coughed and gasped. I rushed over to her side as tears started streaming down my face.

  Tammin was dying. My sweet, beautiful friend was dying. I did this. I killed her. Why didn’t I think? It was a blade! I plunged it into her chest! Why didn’t I stab her in the leg? Why did I do the chest? It was a blade! She is a human! She would bleed with a blade protruding from her body. Why didn’t I think? Oh God! No! No! No! I did this! I did this! I did this! I killed my friend.

  Tammin opened her eyes and looked at me. She grimaced, and in a faint voice, she asked, “Charlie, girl, what’s going on? I don’t feel so good. I’m hurting something fierce. Ya know, like maybe something bad is about to happen to me.”

  “Shh,” I whispered.

  “Are you cold? It seems kinda cold!” Tammin closed her eyes.

  “It’s going to be okay. I’m going to make it okay,” I promised.

  She searched my eyes for the truth. If she only knew that this was entirely my fault. I looked over at Crispin and pleaded. “Please, if you care for me at all, please help her! I will do whatever you want. Please! If I do it, she will end up like Nikko.” I knew I was making a deal with the devil, but I didn’t care. I only wanted to help her.

  “Love, I apologize, but I cannot help her,” he said, sounding regretful.

  “But you healed me before, and I'm afraid if I do it, I'll mess up again!” I examined his face, feeling more and more desperate from the looks I was getting.

  “Indeed, but I cannot heal anyone that I am not connected to. That isn’t within my power.” Crispin sounded a little defeated.

  “The Fairy King lied to me! I thought they couldn’t lie?” I asked, confused.

  Crispin shook his head. “No, Love he did not lie to you! You just assumed that the dagger would only hurt the demon and not your human.”

  “Are you saying that you knew and you didn’t say anything?” I accused.

  He glared at me. “Who do you think I am? Do you think me to be one of your friends? I do not care what happens to her. I only care about what happens to you…what happens to me! I wanted to see the side of you that no one had ever seen. I did! It was beautiful watching you plunge the blade into my Pet! Simply beautiful!”

  I cried, “Shut up!” I swallowed and looked at Tammin. She was barely breathing. “Oh God! I can do this. I can do this!”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Charlie

  I closed my eyes and called upon spirit. I felt it surge through my body. I placed my hands over her chest and pushed the magic into her body. Spirit circled her nearly lifeless form. I watched as the blade was pushed from Tammin’s chest and the skin healed in a searing display, but then spirit faded. Tammin gasped then stopped breathing. I started crying as I put my arms around her body. A cold hand touch my shoulder, I looked up to see Nikko looking at me with unshed tears. I couldn’t even be happy over the sight of Nikko, not when I just lost Tammin.

  “We are sorry that you are hurting, but we cannot allow spirit to be used to bring back a life, not when there is already one with spirit inside him. We are about balance. One is already too many for us!” Wraithlike voices came from the three trees, and a glow emanated from within their trunks. “You have come here to make things right. To let your friend choose whether or not he wishes to live.”

  Nikko swallowed and asked, “If there is an imbalance, could I fix it?’

  “What are you proposing, boy named Nikko?” the trees asked.

  “Could I give my life for hers? I mean, I know you were going to let me choose if I lived or not. So, could I choose to save a life? Could I save hers?” He pointed down at Tammin.

  I stuttered. “W-w-w-what are you doing, Nikko?” The pathetic dam burst, and t
ears flooded my being. “You can’t do this! I will not let you do this! This is my fault, so I should be the one that gives up my life for the two of yours.”

  Crispin made a motion to grab me, but stopped when Nikko got in the way. Nikko pulled me into his arms and hugged me. “Charlie, you are the Chosen One. I have seen you work magic. People are going to need you. You, my beautiful, sweet, funny friend, are needed here. I have lived my life, and it was wonderful. Let me do something I will forever remember. Something I will forever be happy about!”

  I hugged Nikko. I could not let him do this. I could not lose him. Not now, not after everything. “You are my best friend. How will I survive without you?” I looked at the trees and pleaded. “Is there not any other way?”

  There was a long pause then the trees spoke, “Because we feel your pain so deeply, we propose these 3 alternatives: Number one, the boy named Nikko can forfeit his life for the girl named Tammin. Two, both may live, but they will no longer remember you. Or three, the boy named Nikko can become your full familiar, but he will no longer be the boy you know now, and the girl named Tammin will live. This is what we offer. There will be no more pleading, but there is another catch to these offers—only the Chosen One can choose.”

  I swallowed and looked at Nikko then back at Tammin. I knew that they would both live, but it looked like they were going to live without me in their lives. I felt a mixture of emotions, but I knew the right thing to do. I turned to the trees and said, “I want them both to live and never remember me.” I started crying again.

  “No, Charlie.” Nikko looked at me, devastated. “I would have been your familiar. I would have been with you forever, and Tammin would have remembered you.”

  I walked over to him and touched his face. “Nikko, you wouldn’t have been you! You would have been something different, and you never would have had a real, full life. That is something that was taken away from you because of me. This is how I fix it. I love you, my sweet, silly friend, and I couldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t be that selfish.”

  Nikko started to cry. He pulled me into his arms. “I’ll never forget you. Somehow, I will remember. Somehow, I will find you.” He touched my face.

  I looked up at him and gave him a goodbye kiss.

  “It is done!” the trees chimed out.

  The wind picked up, and I watched as Tammin and Nikko were restored. The picture played out in front of me. Tammin’s father was offered a job elsewhere, and he took it, never setting foot in the small town in Alabama. Nikko’s mom decided she didn’t want to move from the place she grew up, so they, too, never moved to the small town in Alabama. I was removed from their lives, and Turtle Creek was just another blip on the map.

  I fell to the ground and sobbed.

  Crispin knelt down beside me and said, “Let me take care of you now, Love.”

  I didn’t protest. I just closed my eyes and let him take me. Crispin smiled, scooped me up, and together, we disappeared from the land of the dead without saying goodbye.

  Epilogue

  Jace opened his eyes and looked around. Everyone around him seemed dizzy, newly aware of their surroundings and circumstance. To his delight, they were all okay. As everyone made their way to their feet, Jace asked the only question on his mind.

  “Hey, where is Charlie?”

  Only silence answered him.

  Author’s spotlight poems

  Endure

  They shot me down and it made me cry.

  I never believed I could touch the sky.

  It was a trying journey, sometimes quite rough.

  Until I learned what it truly meant to be tough!

  I learned to fully love me!

  It was only then, I was finally able to see inside: I already had all I was ever looking for.

  I grew, I learned, I bloomed from all I had to endure.

  By: Victoria Drane

  Link: vickidranespeaks.com

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  Unknown

  Only love can distort an evil mind.

  Power is lost in the depths of the soul.

  True supremacy lies in the heart of the good.

  Waiting to quench the demonic fire.

  Strength is found in the hands of the lost girl.

  As she relinquishes her soul into the unknown.

  By: Segnalibro Blog – Lisa Adamson

  Links: facebook.com/SegnalibroBlog segnalibro.co.uk @segnalibroblog

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  Magic beneath the Spark

  My eyes alight on your glorious face and deep down I know that our hearts recognize each other.

  I feel something I cannot see, a yearning pull that tugs at my soul.

  Our heads are a mess in their war to catch up with our hearts desires, full awareness always out of reach.

  Your touch burns my skin in hues of red and I know that somewhere, some when you were once as precious to me as air.

  Engulfing sadness remains, knowing our time may never come again. If you were my one sweet love then why does another steal my heart so fiercely?

  His eyes, so different to your own, hide his own dark secrets!

  And secrets now are all we have, breaking those magical links that bound us, oh so long ago.

  I long for that pure spark of magic to blaze through me once again.

  I cannot lose you both and yet I fear to let you go.

  And so I carry on in hope that fate will play its part, and be the fixer of all our hearts.

  By: Rita Ames

  Links: https://www.facebook.com/RitaAmesAuthor/?ref=hl&__mref=message_bubble

  @RitaAmesAuthor http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Rita+Ames http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Rita+Ames

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  Broken hearts

  Broken hearts and dried up tears, these are my biggest fears.

  I closed my heart and bound it up in steel, just so I wouldn't feel.

  You came into my life like the man of steel.

  Broke down my defenses and I thought I begun to heal.

  You were so good at your lies, that I couldn't even see the truth in your eyes.

  The devil in disguise, I had no choice but to fall for your lies.

  I just wished before you left you returned that thing that wasn't yours.

  You know that thing you stole from my chest?

  I need it now or you haven't guessed?

  Broken hearts and dried up tears, is now my life so I have no reason to fear.

  By: Isabelle Connors

  Links: http://on.fb.me/1guUhyE @Izzyconnors1 https://isabelleconnors1.wordpress.com http://bit.ly/1HUnsY7 amazon.com/author/izzyconnors

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  Love

  Love is magic, dark and light.

  Its shadow lurking just out of sight!

  We seek the magic, it tears your heart.

  The feeling crumbles, it rips apart.

  Is my love darkness, or is it light?

  Who will tell me which is right?

  Love is magic; night and day, perhaps my own heart will lead the way.

  By: Regina Oconnell

  Links: @regina_oconnell http://www.amazon.com/Wren-Regina-OConnell-ebook/dp/B00ZGYQW9S http://www.amazon.com/Regina-OConnell/e/B00SQGZDIO/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZGYQW9S?keywords=wren%20by%20Regina%20O%27Connell&qid=1450632155&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

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  Love’s Devastation

  It didn’t exist before you.

  Now it devours my soul, and I don't see anything else.

  Logic plays hide and seek with my heart.

  It beats along in a four beat measure in response to th
e resonance of your voice.

  This is all I know.

  Why?

  My thoughts have been plundered.

  Sustenance I never knew I needed now exhausts me, and I leap willingly to devastation.

  I hear your voice once again, and my heart drifts towards that sound....

  By: Kristina Ball – Max Bear’s human

  Links: @hoimeksb maxbearrules.weebly.com maxbearrules.wordpress.com

  https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2FFB.com%2Fmaxbearrules&h=3AQHIWYCC

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  Spark

  This spark, the one that burns deep inside me.

  I wonder if it's her!

  Does it belong to me, or some fair-haired-goddess-like, a ghost stomping through my dreams?

  Trampling through my memories?

  I want to harness the spark.

  Use it for goodness and light.

  But the dark calls me back, always calling.

  So I bury it deeper, hidden inside, and still unsure if it's hers or it's mine.

  All I know is it's waiting for something bigger…bigger than the both of us.

  Maybe it belongs to no one, or... maybe it's a part of us all!

  By: Carissa Ann Lynch

  Links: https://twitter.com/carissaannlynch, http://www.amazon.com/Carissa-Lynch/e/B00REPXXW6/, https://www.facebook.com/CarissaAnnLynchauthor, https://carissaannlynch.wordpress.com, http://bit.ly/1J8uk2Y

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  Acknowledgements

  I want to thank my editor, Erinn Giblin for the amazing job she did. If you are looking for someone that is friendly and does a fantastic job editing, here is her link: https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ffb.com%2Fyourstrulytheeditor&h=wAQFI-yvb

  I would also like to thank my wonderful proofreaders, Lisa Johnson Miller, Lisa Adamson and Laci Spencer. I didn’t give these lovely ladies much time to proofread: A Ghost of Magic, but they did it and I am so grateful to them. Thank you to my family and friends for supporting me and my craziness. I love you guys!