Midnight Falls (Sky Brooks Series Book 3)

by McKenzie Hunter

  A wave of Samuel’s hand, and most of the cadre was leveled. Another bolt of lightning hit him, and he collapsed to his knees. The odd twins from Elysian held balls of light, prepared to release them, and hail pelted into us like stones. Marcia slinked in between them with the rest of the Creed just steps behind. Josh surrounded us with a protective field, shielding us from the elements as Samuel recovered, coming to his feet. The witches shattered the field. There was a flash of light and Josh was slammed to the ground. Before I could respond, Samuel quickly erected the field again. Samuel and Josh worked to keep it up against five witches.

  Sebastian, in wolf form, lunged at the twins, and in a riot of screams and gurgled gasps the elemental attack stopped, but it only cleared the way for Marcia to advance without injury. Carrying the same knife she had when she encountered Samuel, she approached me. The field shattered again. Samuel waved his hand, but stopped, his face red, spastic quivers overtaking his body, forcing him back as he pressed against the wall of the building for support. Marcia smiled, aware that the spell they had performed earlier prevented him from hurting them.

  Slipping my hand in my bag, I touched the Aufero. Their lips began moving quickly the moment I erected my protective field. It fell at the hands of five very powerful witches. Wet hair obstructed my vision and I tried to brush it away. Josh whispered an incantation. The knife was no longer in Marcia’s grasp but in his as he charged toward her. Her eyes were just as dark as Josh’s, and she sent him catapulting into the brick wall with a crash, pinning him against it. They both called forth stronger magic, their pupils black chasms. Marcia clasped hands with the others, and her shrill voice reverberated against the closed in surroundings. Josh pushed against the force of her magic but remained fixed to the wall. Marcia released one of the hands she held, keeping the other in contact with the Creed. Lifting her finger, she guided the knife that Josh held in his hand towards him. He panted, his hand quivering, trying hard to override her command. The blade dipped into his throat and blood spilled.

  He let out a shrieking sound. He didn’t even look like himself: his eyes were black, face feral with rage, and the knife flew in her direction, imbedding itself into her arm. She dropped to the ground, screaming. The other witched fell too. Josh pushed them back in a violent wave. Again he slammed them to the ground. I’d never seen him like this. As savage looking as a beast, he approached them quickly, but before he reached them they vanished.

  The commotion continued: bodies falling, blood soaking the wet pavement and mixing with the rain. Liam had somehow escaped, but three of his men had fallen victim to Winter’s sword and Gavin’s claws. Steven and a few others had come in behind them. Steven disappeared, I assumed to track down that one that had attempted to escape.

  Bodies surrounded me, some injured, others dead. I looked around the crowd of bodies. Josh was okay: he had only superficial wounds along his neck, but he hadn’t recovered from the use of strong magic and for the first time I saw a side of him that I would soon like to forget; violent, baleful, and as close to primal as a human could get. Ethan was several feet away, his fur matted with blood and dirt. I quickly moved toward him, but not fast enough. An arm slipped around my waist and the last thing I heard was Gavin calling my name before there was nothing but silence.

  I stood in the middle of the empty cornfield, Samuel’s arms hooked around me, my back confined against his chest. I dropped to the floor, trying to keep from getting sick.

  “I didn’t want it to be this way,” he said as he went for the satchel with the Aufero.

  I jabbed my elbow into his throat, and while he gasped for air, I swiped his leg and he plowed into the ground. With a wave of his hand, I soared through the air, skidding across the grassy plain. His steps were heavy and labored as he approached. I pulled the Aufero into my chest and put up a field. He walked around it with slow, weary steps.

  “I thought you were better. I thought you of all people would see the danger of letting this continue,” he whispered. “Why can’t you see it? Why can’t you see that they are monsters and we are the only ones that can save them?” he said.

  His bedlam babble continued, but the gentle topaz gaze was a contradiction to his hateful words. “Did you see anything good out there tonight? Who were the good? Who were the bad? Self-interest, darkness, and the pursuit of indomitable control is all that I saw. Monsters. What did you see?” he asked as he circled the field. I knew what he was doing, just as Josh had when we practiced, looking for a weakness in the barrier.

  The air was stifling, dark power pulling the oxygen from it in the same manner it had at Ethan’s house. I endured it because I didn’t know what to expect. Did Samuel think the pack would trade me for the books? Did he want the Aufero for his pseudo-altruistic purposes?

  “I saw a fight. Nothing worse than what I see on the news or in a bar. You are trying to save people that don’t need to be saved.”

  He shook his head, his hand pressed on the field. “Sebastian will give me the books for you and the Aufero.”

  The field trembled and bucked under his touch. Pressing his hand ever so slightly, a spark flicked off it. He whispered a spell, and the field fell. I quickly put it up again. Concentrating, I made it stronger. His words came at a more fervent pace as he called on stronger magic, and his body molded against the protective field.

  Then his eyes rolled back. His breaths were ragged and sharp, and I could hear the oxygen being pulled from his lungs, the dragging of his heart as it fought to beat once more, the slow collapse of his body into the field.

  “Let go of it,” I said.

  He ripped himself from it and stepped back so fast he stumbled to the ground. I dropped the protective bubble and started toward him, but he scuttled back.

  “Get away from me!” he snapped.

  “I just want to make sure you are okay.”

  “Get away from me!” Shock and disgust laced his words as he looked at me with the same revulsion and awe he reserved for Sebastian and the others.

  When I made another attempt to step closer, he vanished. I considered looking for him. He was too weak to have gotten very far. But there wasn’t a purpose. We were done. Perhaps it was better that he considered me one of the monsters too, that he couldn’t convert to “Team Samuel.” But I hated that little tug that I felt at lumping myself with the others. But I still didn’t know why. Was I really that different?

  I looked around the bleak land, trying to get my bearings. I had no idea where I was. Closing my eyes, I just inhaled the air and stayed quiet for a few minutes trying to figure out which direction to go. Nighttime made it hard to use nature’s compass. I lived west of the pack, south of the city, but in the middle of nowhere I had no idea which way to go. I started walking east. When I came to a main road, I stayed closer to the street, hoping to get a glimpse of something familiar. A car crossed over the median, and once it was closer, I recognized Ethan as the driver.

  I exhaled a sigh of relief as I got in the car. I couldn’t ignore the odd look of intrigue on Ethan’s face as he called Sebastian to let him know he had me. We drove a couple of miles in silence when he finally said, “Why did you head east?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s twice,” he said softly.

  “What?”

  “Samuel was too weak to be able to go any further than a twenty-mile radius. Sebastian went west, Winter north, Josh south. We knew you would go to a major road.”

  It was the first time that it really seemed strange. How did I end up at the same restaurant with Ethan. Why did I go east?

  I didn’t want to think about the oddness between Ethan and me. We had enough to fill a room. “Something is wrong with the Aufero,” I said. And I went on to tell him about its behavior since we had pulled the magic from him.

  “Are you sure it is the magic pulled from me?” he asked.

  He didn’t have to say it, because it had floated around in my head for some time. Was th
is the result of Maya? We were convinced that she was a Faerie, the original badasses of the otherworld. Was this her becoming more of a force in my life, taking over, and now my actions were no longer my own?

  “For now, don’t use it until we can figure it out.”

  “When did Marcia align with Liam?” I asked, ending nearly ten minutes of silence.

  He shrugged. “I am trying to figure it out. There’s something at hand and I think it is directed towards us.” Ethan never looked troubled, but now he did. Entrenched in an odd worry, it made me a little afraid. What were Marcia and Liam planning?

  But for me, the weight of the world seemed a little lighter. I was no longer cursed, I had the Aufero, we knew where the third Clostra was, and I knew what the fifth object of power was. So many of the veils of secrecy had been lifted. I refused to have it dampened today.

  Just as I started to get out of the car, Ethan stopped me. In front of my porch, his odd-colored eyes were narrowed to slits and focused intensely on me. A fixed scowl stayed on his face, and, like a statue, Logan stood in front of my house.

  Ethan cursed under his breath. The consequences of us removing my curse was glaring at us. How much of the otherworld had we changed?

  What had we done?

  MESSAGE TO THE READER

  Thank you for choosing Midnight Falls from the many titles available to you. My goal, as the author, is to create an engaging world, compelling characters, and an interesting experience for you. I hope I have accomplished that. If you enjoyed, Midnight Falls and even if you didn’t, let other readers know your thoughts about the book by leaving a review.

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  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Each time I write an acknowledgment, I can’t help but be humbled by those who have given so generously of their time to help me. Mom, Tiffany Dix, Sheryl Cox, and Gregory Caughman, thank you so much for encouraging me to take this journey and being there every step of the way. Marcia Snyder, I don’t have the words to express how grateful I am that, even while battling breast cancer, you were there offering whatever assistance you could. Your character and strength is something I will always admire and I am glad to have someone like you in my corner.

  Stacy McCright, I have said it before: every author should have a “Stacy” in their life. Thank you for your honest, constructive, straight-no-chaser feedback. I will always have a love-hate relationship with your critique emails and I am very grateful for them and for you.

  Thanks to Nicole Anderson, my cover artist at http://www.anobrainart.com. Besides my editor, you may be the most patient person in the world. Thank you for working so hard to design a cover that I would love. A special thanks to John Harten, my editor at http://www.editworksusa.com/, who went above and beyond with helping me create a book that I hope my readers will love.

  Last, but definitely not least, I want to thank the readers for giving me a chance to entertain you with my work.