The Cardkeeper Chronicles: Books 1-5 (Complete Collection)
Page 1
THE CARDKEEPER CHRONICLES: BOOKS 1-5 (COMPLETE COLLECTION)
A. C. NICHOLLS
Copyright © 2017 by A.C. Nicholls
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
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CONTENTS
Stolen Chaos
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Lost Souls
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Broken Magic
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Inner Demons
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
New Blood
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Subscribe
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
STOLEN CHAOS
THE CARDKEEPER CHRONICLES
A. C. NICHOLLS
CHAPTER ONE
A semi-demolished brick wall spewed out a cloud of dust, filling my lungs and pulling a deep, harsh cough from my chest. Being a Cardkeeper had a ton of benefits, including tougher skin and bones. Even so, I hoped I would never get thrown around like that again.
Ever.
You see, there are two things to know about being knocked through a wall; the first is that it takes an enormous amount of strength – physical, telekinetic or otherwise. Even for a woman of my size, which was mostly considered normal. The second thing – and by far the most important – is that it hurts like a son of a bitch.
Before I could find my feet, my only true friend in the world appeared. Link was all of five inches tall, with thinning brown hair and a strong jaw. His piercing blue eyes begged a swift exit, but he was stuck here with me.
“Aren’t you going to fight back?” he asked in his sturdy British accent.
“Leave me alone. I’m trying to think.”
Inside the abandoned warehouse, Krav Vasiliev, the asshole trying to obliterate me, used his telekinesis to forge a whirlwind of debris. As skinny teenage mages went, he wasn’t the most powerful, but telekinesis was one of those abilities that was tough to fight. Give me fireballs any day of the week – I could deflect those easily enough – but a swirling circle of bricks and iron bars? No thanks.
“Well,” Link said, smacking his lips together, “you can’t bloody well fight him from the ground, can you? Get up, Keira, and show him who’s boss.”
Aches and pains searing through my body, I pushed myself to my feet, dusted off my knees and tore off my jacket. Now I felt more vulnerable, but more flexible to go with the flow. In the distance, sirens wailed as they gained distance, rushing toward the mayhem that I was right in the middle of. “If you’re not going to help me fight, then at least keep civilians away from the building.”
“And how do you suppose I do that?”
Devastation ensued behind me. There was no time for this. “Use your head.”
Link hesitated, and then sprinted off into the distance at an impressive pace. One day, when he earned his faery wings, he would be able to fly. But to do that, he would have to make what the fae lords considered ‘an act of heroism’, and Link simply wasn’t that kind of guy.
I turned back to my enemy and ran inside the warehouse. I stopped short, fingering the magicard inside my pocket. I’d use it if I had to. And it was a good one – teleportation. Using this ability was convenient for getting around, but not all that great in a combat scenario. Besides, it hurt like hell to use, and the more I used it, the more it would cost me in the long run.
If I could, I’d have shown him the true power of my foot on his balls. But now wasn’t a time for personal aggression. I had to shut him down before anyone got hurt – and anyone included me.
I surveyed my surroundings, tried to find a way through without getting battered around even more. I could teleport over, but I didn’t want to overuse my own magic. If I could get in close and grab him, I could teleport him way up into the sky and drop him. That, at least, would be magic well used.
I took a deep breath, raised my arms to protect my face, and stepped into the huge circle of gusting wind. Bricks flew around me. One caught my arm. It didn’t seem to cut me but it hurt like hell. I inched closer, feeling a shard of glass pierce my ankle, but even that couldn’t slow me down. This was no time to stop and treat an injury.
“You’re very persistent,” Krav said. At least, it sounded like that. It was difficult to tell over the roar of his psychotic concoction. Through the storm, I could just about see the black hair draping over his young face. It was like being screamed at by an emo boy band.
Using what little energy still lingered inside me, I pushed forward and got a grip on his coat. I looked up, feeling relatively satisfied by the look of horror on his face. Clenching the material as hard as I could, I closed my eyes tight and could feel the power of my magicard begin to burn.
“Clench up,” I said.
It happened within a second. Both our bodies fell through time and space as we disappeared from the warehouse. I almost expected to hear the bricks clatter to the floor, but we were already gone. Although I knew it had an immediate effect, it felt like strained moments before we re-emerged high above Chicago’s industrial district. It felt like slipping through a torn piece of air, and it made my stomach turn every time.
Krav didn’t look too pleased, however, and I didn’t blame him. The cold autumn air roared at our faces as we plummeted from five-thousand feet above street level. I could see the traffic below me, and the ever-growing crowd that the police kept back. I assumed Link had called them.
Good job, Link.
But my victory evaporated as fast as it had begun.
Krav grinned. Until then, I’d thought I had him, but when he used his own abilities to summon a slab of concrete to the air, he dropped onto it and surfed it safely to the roof of a parking garage. Telekinesis had never looked more awesome to me than it did at that precise moment.
I couldn’t wait to take it from him.
Preparing my stomach for another trip, I willed myself to teleport onto the roof. Once more, I slipped through space and appeared only a few feet away from my enemy. I regained my balance on solid ground, and briefly wondered how messy my hair must look after being so high up.
When Krav saw me appear, his eyes glowed with fiery rage as he squeezed his hands into fists so hard that they began to shake. “Goddamn it!”
I saw it too late – a goddamn Volvo catapulting through the air as easily as a spitwad. As it smashed into my body, carrying me across the lot in the folded sheet of metal that used to be a door, I could tell you that it sure as hell didn’t feel like paper.
Krav belly laughed, a childish giggle that only wound me up more.
Bleeding now, I peeled myself out of the wreck and used it for cover. I then pulled the magicard from my pocket and stared at it, studying the faded picture of the mage’s trapped soul on the front. It was the size of a playing card, but far less flimsy. It wouldn’t break, no matter what you did to it. It was one of those things that made it a lot easier to carry around.
“Come out and fight me, little girl,” Krav beckoned.
That did it. Dipshit. Even though I was fifty-eight years old, I hadn’t aged in the last thirty. I wasn’t going to be called a ‘little girl’ by someone less than half my age. I kissed the card for luck, a part of me hoping that the mage inside would grant me stronger power. It was a stupid idea, but no more desperate than kissing a pair of dice to help you roll a double.
Fury rattled through me now, and I stepped out from behind the car. I had a new idea, but it involved using more of my magic… a lot more. “You crossed the line,” I spat at Krav, enjoying how the fear crept back into his eyes. “And now you’re going to get your ass kicked by a girl.”
As a reflex, Krav moved his fingers to raise another car off the ground.
By then, I’d teleported beside him, and I delivered my best right hook to his jaw. It connected well and seemed to stun him, but he didn’t topple over as expected. I teleported again, reappearing behind him, where I grabbed him and tried to wrestle him down.
But he was too strong.
Not only was it tough to hold on, but when a lethal pile of rocks zipped toward me, I had to get out of there. Using my power again, I carried myself through space, arriving safely on the other end of the roof.
“Pathetic,” Krav said, his young mouth curving into a grin.
I wasn’t going to let that distract me. All of this moving around made me feel sick, and the use of magic gave me a severe headache. I felt a cool trickle below my nose, and raised my arm to touch it. When my arm came back down, fresh blood painted my skin.
Shit.
I had to limit my magic. I’d overdone it before, and it had led me to pass out. If I fell unconscious in front of Krav, who knew what he would do to me? Scratch that. Hell yeah, I knew. Dead. Six cold, dirty feet under.
But then an idea suddenly hit me.
I looked up toward the sky, wondering just how fast I’d been travelling when we’d teleported. One hundred meters per second? Maybe two hundred? Whatever the speed, it must have been real damn fast.