by Meg Cowley
I fished his cup away from him and bundled him out of the door. “Thank you, for everything,” I said, as sincerely as I could. I couldn’t have done it without him. My hug was filled with genuine affection. Regardless of whether there would ever be anything more between us — and at that moment, I didn’t care to think about it — I had a good friend, and he had had my back when I needed it most.
“And you. You really got me out of the deep end, Zoe. See you soon.”
I smiled in answer and shut the door behind him.
It was daytime, but I didn’t care. I closed the curtains and tumbled into bed, drawing the sheets tightly around me. I could sleep for as long as I pleased now — I would be taking a day off whether Duncan liked it or not — for the world was safe once more from a threat it never even realised had existed.
I hoped Cleo was dead, that this was a chapter of life done with. I would have hated to have looked over my shoulder for her everywhere I went. Regardless, the bigger threat of Pandora’s Box was neutralised. The world could go on, safe from the horrors inside the box. Those who had died had died to protect us all. It had not been completely in vain.
All of a sudden, I sat bolt upright in the darkness. One sliver of light crept through the crack in the curtains, but it was not that which had disturbed me. My heart pounded.
Davenport.
Now, I remembered where I knew his name from.
An Ordinary, seeking magical artefacts? And of all the Ordinaries in the world, him. Who was he? What did he want? There was only one person I could think to ask who would know, for she had had dealings with him, too. Here was another person willing to kill for magical relics.
I scrambled for my phone.
I had to speak to Hayley at once.
What did Sebastian Davenport want?
~
~ The End ~
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Relic Guardians Series
By Meg Cowley & Victoria DeLuis
Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones meet magic in this thrilling urban fantasy adventure series.
Ancient Magic
Hidden Magic
Rogue Magic
Cursed Magic
Gathered Magic
More titles coming soon!
Stolen Magic
Devious Magic
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Books by Meg Cowley
Books of Caledan
A fast-paced high/epic fantasy described as ‘Game of Thrones for teenagers’.
The First Crown (Free!)
The Tainted Crown
The Brooding Crown
The Shattered Crown
Books of Caledan Boxset
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Books by Victoria DeLuis
Independent Necromancer’s Bureau
An exciting urban mystery series keeping order beyond the grave.
A Matter of Death
Til Death
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Anthologies
Rebels & Runes
Alchemy & Arcana
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Meet Jamie Oxford, wizard and magical relic hunter.
How much is the power to kill the world worth?
Jamie is sure that a magical relic in the hands of non-magical Ordinaries is not going to end well. When Pandora’s Box is discovered, he takes it upon himself to make sure it is protected as it ought to be – with magic.
His plan backfires spectacularly and Jamie finds himself on the run from the law, without the box, and completely isolated.
Pandora’s Box is gone, and Jamie can no longer be sure who is friend or enemy as he hunts for it before it falls into the wrong hands… hands that could open the box, unleash the powers within upon the world, and end humanity.
Can one rogue really stop that?
Rogue Guardians is Book 2.5 in the Relic Guardians series - enjoy it before you read book 3, Cursed Magic!
Fans of Lara Croft and Indiana Jones will enjoy this fast-paced urban fantasy adventure series filled with magic, action and kick-ass characters.
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Gathered
Magic
Relic Guardians Book Four
Meg Cowley
Victoria DeLuis
Buy Gathered Magic
What secrets lie beyond the portal… and what will it cost to find out?
Hayley and Zoe are on an unauthorised mission to uncover the details of Sebastian Davenport’s past. With only Nathan Scott and his knowledge of alternate worlds to guide them, they Travel to a land far different than they could ever have imagined. A world where even the suggestion of magic could get them killed.
When Nathan goes missing, Hayley and Zoe must work together to evade capture and locate their friend. But with local law enforcement agents on their trail, and a band of renegade Magicai to contend with, will they reach him in time?
Their journey will force them to fight and face death to rescue Nathan.
Can they discern who is trustworthy enough to help them, and discover what secret they have all risked dying for?
~ A Preview ~
~
Chapter 1
I never thought I’d be more than a museum curator: I never wanted to be. Sure, I toyed with the idea of moving up the ranks and reaching director one day, but I’d always pictured myself sitting in a cozy office, cataloguing new discoveries and researching undocumented histories.
Instead, I breathed fresh mountain air, listened to the gentle lap of waves against the rocky shore, and stared into black depths that mirrored the night sky. A faint plop sounded on the surface of the water, but the only sign of life was a ripple of concentric rings, breaking the trail of light encroaching upon the still lake from the jetty.
“You ready?” Nathan asked.
My oldest and dearest friend was a Traveller. A Magicai who could open doorways to alternate realities and move between worlds. It still came as a shock to think of the years he’d kept his true nature from me. The magical world was his birthright, and Zoe’s too, but to me it was as alien as some of the worlds Nathan had visited.
The Cintamani Stone had changed my life forever. Once, I would have seen nothing more than a beautiful lake vista, and felt only the peace of the night. Now, all around, the air hummed with power. It seeped into my body, replenishing my energy and making me feel as though I could set the world on fire.
Nobody should feel this good and this bad at the same time.
I took one last look across Lake Neuchâtel, and nodded to Nathan. I was as ready as I could be, sneaking through the night like a thief to spy on a dangerous man. One who wouldn’t hesitate to have us killed if he found us.
Nathan hoisted the pack on his back and crouched. “Stay low and follow me,” he said before moving. He glanced back once to give me an encouraging smile, then disappeared around the side of the boat house.
I pressed against the wall and hesitated, as I swallowed the sour tang rising in my throat.
Zoe put her hand on my shoulder. “You okay?” she asked. “You know, you don’t have to do this, right?”
Despite the wobble in my knees and the pounding in my chest that begged me to turn tail and go home, I shook my head. “Yes, I do.”
Zoe looked at me with concern for a moment before accepting my words. “Then we’d better catch up,” she said with a cheeky grin.
I forced a smile in return, and stepped around the corner into the shadows, following Nathan through the extensive gar
dens.
The sound of music drifted across the lake from a nearby residence. It was the type of night perfect for a gathering of friends. The sky was clear and the air warm. I could almost imagine myself sitting under the pergola, enjoying a bottle of wine, and talking about a day spent sailing on the lake.
Not that I could have afforded a place like this.
It made my blood boil to think of Sebastian Davenport sat inside, surrounded by sycophants eager to jump at his slightest command. Nathan’d had no trouble finding Mr Davenport’s Swiss mansion. I wish I could have had the same success digging into his past.
He’d been born into a reasonably wealthy family, majored in Geophysics, and gained a Masters’ in Earth Science at ETH Zurich. After that, he all but disappeared for a few years, working an unassuming role as an imaging scientist for some oil company. Then, out of nowhere he quit his job and started making seemingly wild investments in anything and everything from 3D printing to gene therapy. By all accounts, he was now a billionaire in his own right. I wished I could understand how someone transformed from a hard-working scientist to a murderous megalomaniac practically overnight.
Zoe and I followed Nathan around the edge of the garden for several minutes. The house stood in an elevated position overlooking the lake, sprawling and majestic against the backdrop of manicured gardens and flower-lined walkways. It resembled a Spanish-style Colonial bungalow. A vast succession of arches created an arcade that connected the main building to an orangery.
As we moved deeper into a cluster of trees a light switched on in the orangery and a faint display of movement flickered within.
Nathan stilled, removed his pack and checked his watch. “Should be anytime now,” he said. “Zoe, work an invisibility charm, will you?”
Zoe looked at me and rolled her eyes. “And would you like a cup of tea to go with that order, boss?” she said and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Sorry,” Nathan said a little sheepishly. “Please will you please work an invisibility charm to hide us from view. They pass right by here on the way to that hill.” Nathan pointed to a hill about a hundred metres to the left of us. It buzzed with energy, a power beacon in a world crisscrossed with ley lines.
“A convergence?” I asked, knowing full well it was one. “Is Sebastian Davenport a Traveller.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Then what?” Zoe asked.
The orangery door opened as soon as she said the words, revealing Sebastian Davenport and four other men. One man hauled a large chest. Two more dragged the fourth between them. Davenport stalked ahead.
I shifted uneasily on cramping knees. “If any of them are Magicai, won’t they feel Zoe’s charm?” I asked, nervous about being caught.
“With this much energy in the air, we could raze a mountain and they wouldn’t feel the magic,” Nathan said. “Yverdon sits at a conjunction of ancient ley lines. One of the oldest in the world. The Clendy Stones, a smaller version of Stonehenge, stand no more than a mile from here. We’re sitting in a hot bed of magical activity.” He squeezed my hand reassuringly. “I wouldn’t have brought you here if I thought there was a chance of getting caught.”
As we watched, hidden by both the trees and Zoe’s invisibility charm, Sebastian Davenport and his men moved from the orangery and towards the hill. My breath caught in my chest as they walked within ten feet of us. The man being dragged between two others was sobbing. His voice no more than a frightened murmur. For a second, an image of Ben flashed in my mind. His pleading eyes begged me to let him go. I shook the image away. I couldn’t focus on that now. It was bad enough that Ben haunted my dreams, that I saw his face around every street corner.
I pulled my jacket tighter around me. Despite the warm air, a sudden chill had crept up my spine.
“I’m going to amplify their voices,” Nathan said. “Don’t be alarmed when they sound like they’re standing right next to us.”
Zoe rolled her eyes and gave a shake of her head. It was obvious Nathan’s mollycoddling of me was driving her insane. I must admit, it was a little annoying, yet sweet at the same time. I guess it was as hard for Nathan to come to terms with my new found magic as it was for me. Still, I was grateful for the warning when Sebastian Davenport’s voice sounded in my ear, as though he were close enough to touch; his clear crisp voice as sharp and angry as ever.
When they reached the top of the small hill, Davenport’s men threw their prisoner to the ground, and for the first time I caught a look at his face. My eyes widened in disbelief, and my stomach clenched.
The man on the ground was the mirror image of Sebastian Davenport.
His face was gaunt, his hair ruffled, and the bags under his eyes displayed his lack of quality sleep, but they were the same man. I’d have thought they were twins, if it weren’t for the fact that none of my research turned up a sibling, let alone a twin.
I didn’t have time to query Nathan and Zoe on this anomaly before the three goons stepped forward and started working together to open a doorway. They were Travellers, each one of them. A blast shot from their hands and combined to form a shimmering bright light that split the air on the top of the hill where the ley lines converged. It pulsed like a beating heart.
The three Travellers poured more and more of their energy into opening the portal. It flared more potent than any doorway I’d ever encountered. I turned to Nathan with a question on my face, but he just shook his head in response. He had no more idea why they were sinking so much energy into it than I did.
We watched in amazement, as they lifted their prisoner from the ground. Whilst one Traveller focused on keeping the doorway open, the others thrust the crate into the prisoner’s arms. He tried to push it away, begged for them to stop, but they didn’t listen. They stepped towards the portal, dragging the prisoner with the face of Sebastian Davenport with them. The first Traveller disappeared into the doorway with no issues, but the second the prisoner’s skin touched the light, he started screaming in agony. They pushed and pulled at him. His screams intensified, but he couldn’t pass through.
Sebastian Davenport paced. His hands tightened into fists as his temper flared. “Enough,” he shouted, after a moment. “Try without the box.”
They dragged the prisoner away from the portal, snatched the chest from his hands and opened it. They pulled item after item from its depth. Zoe stiffened besides me. Her hand clenched on my knee and I felt as though, any second, she would bolt from the trees and run up the hill.
“Is that?” she asked when the goons thrust a steel helm on the prisoner’s head. It was adorned in countless jewels, all set in gold.
“Goswhit?” Nathan said, grinning. “Sure looks like it.”
They pulled a belt from the chest and wrapped in around the prisoner.
“And that?”
“Megingjörð.”
Zoe’s eyes widened as more and more relics were extracted from the chest.
“Goswhit and megingjörð?” I asked Nathan, unsure I’d get a coherent answer from Zoe.
“Goswhit is the helmet of King Arthur, passed to him from Uther Pendragon himself. Megingjörð translates as power-belt in Old Norse. It belonged to Thor.”
My head swam. No wonder Zoe was shocked. King Arthur! Thor! I had so much to learn. Zoe had gained me access to the London Magicai Library, but I had only begun to delve into the books and histories contained within. I could spend a lifetime lost in those archives and still know so little about the magical world.
Not for the first time, I berated myself for failing to study mythological objects more in-depth at university. I’d been too wrapped up in what I considered to be real, too dismissive of the fantastical. How could I have been so wrong?
Finally, the goons finished piling an array of priceless artefacts on their prisoner and were once again trying to force him through the door. However, just as before, he failed to pass, and his shrill screams rent the air.
“Why isn’t it working?” I asked. “Why ca
n’t he Travel?”
“Ordinaries lack the ability,” Nathan explained. “Only a Traveller can open a doorway, and only Magicai can pass through. To try and force an Ordinary to Travel is unheard of. Their physiology is different. It would be like trying to rip his every cell apart.”
I shook my head, the cries of pure agony coming from the prisoner were growing weaker, as though he no longer had the energy to cry out. Every fibre of my being wanted to run to him to stop his pain. I never thought I’d feel that way about a man with Sebastian Davenport’s face. How could anybody subject another to such torture?
“Wait,” I said. “If that man, the prisoner, is an Ordinary… well, he is Sebastian Davenport, isn’t he?” I asked, finally giving voice to my thoughts.
“He sure looks like him,” Zoe confirmed.
“Well, if that Sebastian Davenport is an Ordinary, does that mean our Sebastian Davenport, I mean, the evil one… does that mean he’s an Ordinary too?”
Zoe shook her head. “A few months ago, I would have said yes.” She smiled and gave me a wink. “But a few months ago, I would have said an Ordinary could never become a Magicai either. I also would have laughed at the idea of Travellers. Who’s to say what’s possible and what’s not these days?”
“I agree,” said Nathan. “Although, most people are born with their powers, and that holds true in every world I’ve Travelled to. We are in uncharted territory here. Who knows what holds true anymore?”
“Let me try something?” Zoe said. She rubbed her fingers together and I sensed the faint trace of magic, before it was lost when she pushed it away from herself. Her focus remained intent on Sebastian Davenport, until, a short while later, she sighed. “I can’t get a read on him.” She shook her head and frowned. “Something’s off. It’s almost as if he’s untouchable.”
