The Queen, The Mirror, and The Creation (Fated Chronicles Book 5)

by Humphrey Quinn

  "Don’t call me that again. I am not your Queen."

  "Everything that’s happened is just a setback," insisted Hollee. "That insolent young man, Colby, almost ruined all our hard work."

  Juliska rose and straightened herself, her wrath, a dam about to burst open.

  Hollee grinned. "There’s my Queen." She spoke of the fiery veins pulsing hard against Juliska’s skin, misunderstanding them as an effort to climb up and begin again. To reclaim her title.

  "Hollee?"

  "Yes, My Queen," she replied expectantly.

  "I release you from my service." Juliska thrust her hands out in front of her. Every ounce of her discontent bolstering the flames spewing out of her, engulfing Hollee. She had no chance of escape, or begging for her life. A moment later all that remained was ash—and a soot covered spiked high heel that lay flopped on its side.

  Juliska’s fervid focus needed another target. And her next victim’s eight glass-like legs were clinking into her room right that minute. Pajak, a gift from Fazendiin? No doubt, a ploy to keep tabs on her all these years.

  Why?

  Why now was this blatantly obvious! In a manner that made her sick straight to her bones.

  Rather than roast the little demon monster, she strode over, lifted her foot, and crushed it. It squealed. She crushed harder. And even once the squealing ended, she stomped and kicked until it was still and silent and smashed into a hundred irreparable shards.

  And even that was not enough. She drew backward and shrouded the glass in flames until there was nothing left. And after, for good measure and to appease her own temper, she blasted Hollee's spiked shoe.

  Her room was a smoky mess. Little fires, fighting for life on anything burnable. She sank back and hit a wall. Her will strong, and more her own than it had been in many long years. But losing her temper wasn’t going to save her son’s life. And she was the reason his life needed saving. She fell to the floor in a heap of singed robes. Her Firemancy was as unstable as she was. A first, in many a long year too.

  And her firsts were not done with her yet.

  Her gaze drilled into the flame—the one still burning up Hollee's shoe—wrenching her into a vision. A real vision. Not of her past. But the future—her son's future. One in which he'd been drawn into and lost to the darkness. A future where magic had claimed him. Where his sister, Meghan, was forced to kill him.

  It ended with the flame fizzling. And the fallen Queen's outburst, ending. She'd not only ruined her own life, Eddy's life, and countless others, but her son's as well.

  "Oh, Eddy," she whimpered. "I don’t know how to save our son."

  She remained on the floor staring at the stone, her mind a timer, counting downward. As each hour passed that night, the reality that she was one hour closer to utter doom, swallowed her up.

  What if the only way to save her son was to convert him? She didn't want that for him. She'd hate herself forever for the life she'd force on him—but if it was the only way?

  Any hope was replaced by desperation. And with each hour that passed, the magic hour of doom sure to come, marched closer.

  CHAPTER 10

  Morning came with no fanfare. Grimble didn’t change much.

  After finding their way back to the wagons, Colby and Jae had slipped inside their own and found enough peace to sleep—a little. And with far too much tossing and turning.

  Elisha kept guard for Colby, between naps of her own. And also kept Katana from waking them—which at first was a pain, but then the young woman had shrugged it off. Although her curiosity got the better of her, wondering why they were so tired, and sleeping in so late.

  "They’re no fun anyway," she huffed, keeping her curiosity to herself. "Especially if they're going to sleep away the day. I'm gonna wander a bit. Find some food." She gave the Catawitch a wave and vanished—for most of the day.

  Elisha hadn't cared doing what, and didn't bother to ask when Katana returned to find the young men cooking. However, after dinner, it might as well have been like visiting an aged relative. Or recluse. They'd all gone their separate ways again. Each to their own wagon. But she'd had enough sleep. And had her own suspicions. And when a sound caught her ear, Katana shuffled to the front of her wagon, peeked through the door, and let out an annoyed cluck.

  Colby and Jae were sneaking off somewhere in the dark.

  No wonder they were so tired during the day.

  And then she saw him—Jae—flying high up over the trees. Wings outstretched. At least she saw the opaque silhouette of him—they were quite a distance out.

  He didn't stay up there long, but he also didn’t come home and neither did Colby. She shook her head in disdain. This plan was not going well, at all. But she hadn't put it together before she'd come here, that they'd never fall for her charms. Because the stupid idiots had fallen for each other—last thing she'd expected. She didn't think they even realized it yet.

  She had hoped to play them both, and against each other. And at the same time, get them to trust her. So how did she accomplish that if they wouldn't let her into their world, at all?

  This was going to take some careful planning.

  Good thing she wasn't tired.

  It was a few hours later she heard the patter of feet returning. Whispers of goodbyes and goodnights. Wagon doors closing.

  She hadn't made much progress with her plans, though, and before she knew it, her eyes had drifted closed.

  Morning arrived again, with a bit more fanfare.

  Jae stretched his way out of his wagon. Transforming last night had been just the trick. And Colby had wanted to watch him fly. It had been—dare he admit—fun. Exciting to let the monster out for a little while. And after, they'd meandered around with no sense of purpose or direction. They didn't talk much. Didn’t need to. It was strange to be near someone, but have this mutual understanding that silence was okay. Welcomed, even. That every minute didn't need to be filled with words and thoughts and noise.

  By the time they'd gotten back, however, Colby had closed off some. Gotten distant. They'd said their goodnights and Jae proceeded to sleep better than he had in weeks. Months, more like. And today he was refreshed and ready to face another day.

  He mozied his way over to Colby's wagon, where Elisha sulked near the front door. That dampened the mood some.

  "Did he sleep?" Jae yawed out at her.

  She sighed. Then sighed again. That was answer enough.

  "Elisha?"

  She picked up her head, her mismatched eyes filled with sadness.

  "Um," he stalled. He thought he had figured out what he wanted to say, and do, to try to help Colby, but now that he was standing here, it all unraveled and he didn’t honestly know what to do.

  "I think you mean to help him," she assumed. "But even I cannot see how." And she knew Colby better than anyone. "He is broken in a way I cannot fix." She breathed in and purred out, "He did sleep. But the things he dreamed—nightmares—of real things. Things he’d hidden, even from me. Things that happened, before me."

  Terrible ideas about those things formed in Jae's mind, but before he managed to question her, the door flew open and Colby stalked down the stairs. "Come, Elisha." He strode toward the direction of the town without further explanation. Jae imagined he didn’t want Elisha talking about his dreams. Or nightmares.

  Breaking into that exterior Colby built around himself was not going to be easy. He thought he might have made some progress, and perhaps he had. And this was probably Colby's way of fighting it, or ignoring it. He wasn't going to be able to do that forever, though. Those walls needed to come down if Colby was going to make any real progress. Or like any addict, he'd end up crawling back to the one thing he knew—the one thing he was familiar with—his father.

  And Jae had made a promise not to let that happen. Just because his own fate was doomed didn't mean Colby's had to be, too.

  "Where are you going?" Katana shouted after Colby, having a moment ago stepped out of her own wag
on, looking refreshed. Jae pushed himself upward onto his feet and made his way to her.

  "You look like you got some sleep."

  "Plenty. No thanks to you two," she retorted with a grin and a wink. Still with the useless flirting, and getting nowhere. She scowled. "Where's he headed?"

  Jae shrugged. "Gonna follow and find out." He motioned for her to stay, or come, didn’t matter.

  "I’m sure you’re not heading anywhere fun." She rolled her eyes. "Just decided to do your brooding elsewhere today?"

  Jae rolled his own eyes. "Sorry this place bores you so." There was something about her that got him all worked up and annoyed. Like, she was—in the way. An annoyance he didn't want to deal with. She wasn't helpful, and he wasn't in the mood to play entertainment director.

  He shoved off and saw she opted to stay behind. Good. He wasn't going to get anywhere with Colby, with her around. There was a flicker of remorse in that thought, and he sighed, turning around. "Katana. There's food in my wagon if you're hungry."

  She grinned and rubbed her belly.

  He smiled, thinly, and left her to catch up to Colby, which took a quick pace as the guy had a giant, focused stride, even with how tall Jae was—a couple inches over the guy. But Colby had a thicker build unlike Jae's lanky frame. He caught the shrewd side glance Colby slid his way.

  He stopped and pulled back when Colby spun around and accosted him.

  "You don’t have to follow me. You’re not my babysitter."

  Jae closed the distance with a non-committal shrug. It was easy to put together that Colby was pushing him away. It wasn't unexpected, even though they'd had a good time hanging out the last few nights.

  Probably what set it off—the guy wasn't used to letting his guard down, and was probably freaking out that he had.

  "Just thought I’d tag along. It’s that or get stuck with her." Jae pointed to the almost out of sight wagons.

  Colby didn’t want to deal with her either.

  "I’m heading into town," he explained blandly, refusing eye contact. "I’m not going to cause any trouble, if that’s what you’re worried about."

  Jae wanted to say, not on purpose, you won’t. But Projector’s powers or not, you’re a lit cannon about to go off. But he held his tongue, stepped around Colby, and led the way.

  "I know the best place for the living to eat," he explained, continuing onward.

  Colby's jaw ground together.

  "Please, let’s go with him," Elisha encouraged. "A good meal will put you at ease." The pure need to care for him had Colby's jaw relaxing and a sigh escaping his lips.

  "I'm sorry, Elisha. I—I don’t…" even know what to say. Think. Do. I can't even get comfortable in my own skin.

  He'd been having a good time hanging out with Jae. It was—easy. Uncomplicated. Fun.

  But he'd woke up this morning after a night of tossing and bad dreams and not in the mood to be around anyone. Which was a lie he didn’t want to admit to. Because as effortless as it was being with Jae, it was proving equally confusing. Something else he wasn't ready to admit yet.

  "Go. Eat. You’ll feel better." There was no need to explain. Elisha only wanted what was best for him.

  He nodded, half-heartedly, and followed. Last thing he needed to do was insult his most loyal companion. The only living thing that had never let him down. That had never lied to him. That had done nothing but support him and be his friend.

  Elisha purred out a meow that claimed, and thus it will always be.

  Jae brought them into the heart of the ghost town and stopped outside a pub. He’d spent many months in Grimble. When the Svoda were still traveling, they’d come to this world on three different occasions. It was an adjustment though, being a constant shade of dark, darker, or darkest. The magic that allowed them the replica of their island had been a blessing he never appreciated until now—because inside those wagons, they'd had actual seasons. The weather also replicating whatever it would have been on the island.

  Colby had only been here one time, when he’d come for The Magicante—and first tried to kill his sister. He hadn't set out to do so, but he also held little regard for not trying to if it happened to work out that way. His father hadn't seemed to care, which confused him now. Seeing as he wanted Meghan for his future plans. But when Colby thought more about it, his father wouldn't have wanted to give that away. Or given Colby reason to question his motives, one way or another.

  In spite of the reasons behind any of it, it was one more memory that rolled through him like knives—the set of blades growing in numbers and sharpness.

  The idea rattled him—what if he'd killed his sister before even knowing who she was? This pretty much wiped out his already dulled appetite.

  Jae aimed himself toward the pub door but before he got through, his head whisked left. A strange sense of deja vu hit him. He’d done this before, the last time he’d been here—about to enter this place with the feeling he was being watched. He’d been with Meghan and Colin at the time and as it turned out, they were being watched.

  By a man claiming to be their Uncle—"Eddy?"

  CHAPTER 11

  The ghost in question was materializing and mimicking the moves of sitting down at a square table, motioning for the young men to join him.

  "Hello again, Jae." The young man plunked down, awestruck. "Last ghost you expected to see, I bet?"

  "Well, um, you did move on the last time I saw you?"

  Colby slid into a seat next to Jae, passing glances between him and the ghost.

  Eddy breathed in, his ghostly form performing the motions of lungs sucking in and pushing air out. "I helped Timothy move on. I didn’t actually move on myself."

  "Timothy?" Colby bit out. "You mean that kid with no magical ties who was a ghost here?"

  "You mean the kindly one you locked in a cell to use as leverage against Meghan?" Eddy tossed back flatly.

  Colby’s gaze dropped. Wasn’t it enough that he had to remember the things he’d done, without reminders from everyone else, too.

  Eddy put up his ghostly hand in regret of the harshness in his tone.

  "I’m not here to judge, young man. In fact, I’m here to help you both."

  "Is that what you do?" Jae quizzed the ghost. "I mean, you helped Meghan and Colin, but you’re not really their uncle, right?" He figured they might as well get that out of the way.

  "Yes, why don’t we start there." Eddy winced slightly. "Actually, backtrack, I will start from the beginning and lead up to that. Because some of my story—well, it ends up explaining some of yours. Both of yours actually."

  That perked the young men up. And Eddy began to tell the story of the Svoda of old—not that old, but from his time, which did sometimes feel like an age ago. He told them all about the quest, meeting Juliska, and her relationship with Jurekai Fazendiin, and that he and Juliska were Colin’s parents.

  In between it all, adding in all he could about the Grosvenor, Fazendiin in particular. Like the part where he'd started the fire which claimed the boy's life—and it's where Meghan and Colin had been kept as infants before rescued by Arnon Jacoby and his friends. People, it turned out, Eddy had once been friends with too.

  Yet another mark in the, my father knew about my sister long before he ever told me about her, column—Colby had a terrible feeling there was so much more his father never shared with him.

  Eddy put it all out there for them to hear, and take away from it what they wish. He pushed no bias in his retelling of the tale, but regardless, it was clear he still loved Juliska. And would always do whatever he was able, to help his son.

  And Colby found himself jealous.

  He was never going to know what that felt like.

  To have someone willing to literally take their own life to save their child—even to their own detriment, like a lifetime and beyond of being a permanent fixture in the in-between, as a ghost. The very idea of living in such a way was nightmarish. Never moving forward, always just being. Edd
y would be lucky if he didn't eventually go mad—if it was possible for ghosts to go mad. But this was not something Colby's own father would ever do for him in a hundred lifetimes.

  His mother, though—there was so much he didn't know about her. And this jealousy thing was plain stupid, because his mother had suffered. A lot. She hadn't wanted to abandon him—his father had forced her to. And even though Colby was keenly aware that his father always got what he wanted in the end, the resentment that his mother hadn't tried harder, and even expected to be turned out, lingered. Why hadn't she fought harder? For him?

  Oh, right—the prophecy.

  And how was it he'd ended up the one living with his father?

  This was stupid. His father had chosen him, prophecy, or no.

  And his mother, it turned out, had another son—Ivan Crane. His own half-brother. This whole thing was so—bizarre. Even more so because he had managed to kill that guy! It hadn't stuck, and Colby was thankful for that, as well as The Magicante, because that book and its magic were the only reason the guy was still alive.

  Colby knew little about Ivan, other than he and Meghan were close. In a way, much closer than he and his sister might ever be. And enter another wave of useless jealousy. And anger—so much anger at his father. For keeping him so hidden and in the dark. He only ever revealed what he wanted Colby to know. Period. He only explained things if it suited his own plans to do so.

  In some ways, his mother had suffered on his behalf. And that made him bitter and resentful. He tried to tell himself she had no choice, but to abandon him, but it was hard to allow her departure to be, just that, and not bathe in the nightmare of losing her. And from what Eddy was telling them, it was all because of this prophecy.