by Vivi Anna
“This isn’t over, Davenport,” Darin growled.
Rhys didn’t have time to react before he was struck across the back with the flat edge of a blade. This propelled him forward and he landed on his knees. He turned to see Darin coming at him with his blade raised. Rhys spotted his walking stick lying on the floor two feet away. Before Darin could reach him, he rolled, grabbed his cane and pulled the rapier from its sheath. He swung around and met Darin’s steel with his own.
“You might as well give it up before I gut you like a pig.”
Ignoring his jibe, Rhys advanced on him, swinging his blade around. Darin countered it, and they volleyed back and forth across the floor, the ringing of metal echoing off the inner sanctum walls. Crossing his legs over, he lunged forward and cut Darin’s side. It wasn’t a lethal wound but it sure got his attention.
The sorcerer stumbled back but refused to lower his weapon. With a renewed rage, he lunged at Rhys, swinging wildly. Rhys knocked the blade aside and parlayed with his own attack. He nicked Darin across the shoulder.
“You won’t stand in our way, Hawthorne. We are bringing Sebastian home.”
He flicked his blade again, catching Darin on the cheek. Now the sorcerer was bleeding from four spots. His side, his shoulder, his cheek, and his hand where Corina had shot him. Finally, he lowered his weapon and collapsed against the altar.
“I should’ve killed you all on that submersible.”
Anger swirled in Rhys’s gut. He wanted this man to pay. For Mrs. Chattoway. For everything they’d gone through to get to this point. He lifted his blade and pressed the tip to Darin’s throat. “I could kill you. So easily.”
Rhys sensed Corina beside him. Her presence calmed him somewhat. He also felt Jovan and Skylar behind him. Then he thought about Sebastian. His face became a clear vision in his mind. It was as if his brother was calling out his name. Telling him it was time.
He lowered his rapier. “You’re not even worth the effort it would take to slide this in.” He tossed it to the side.
Rhys took Corina’s hand and pulled her into the middle of the rectory floor. He called to Jovan and Skylar. “Come now! It’s time.”
They ceased their fighting and ran to where Rhys and Corina stood.
Rhys grabbed Jovan’s hand. “Take Skylar’s hand. Skylar, take Corina’s.”
The four of them joined hands and made a square. The second they connected, there was a spark in the middle of the room, in the middle of their group. Within seconds that spark grew into a glow.
“No!” Amathon shouted. “Do not open the door.”
His words came too late, his warning not soon enough. Because the door formed in front of them into a bright glowing sphere of stars and light.
“You’ll never make it back!” Darin screamed at them. “I’ll destroy every portal, so you can never make it back!”
As one, they each took a step forward and disappeared into the ball of light.
* * *
Rhys opened his eyes. He was standing in a lush field of tall golden grasses. The sun was full and bright, the sky a pure blue and clear as far as the eye could see. He was still holding Corina’s and Jovan’s hands. They blinked back at him, then finally let go.
“Where are we?” Corina asked.
“Sebastian had said nowhere.”
“Well, we’re definitely somewhere.” Jovan spun in a circle. “I’ve never seen a sky this big and blue before.”
“Is this where you saw him?” Corina asked.
He nodded. “Yes. Your mother brought me here.”
“My mum? Truly?”
“Yes.” He gave her a smile. “She told me you’ll see her again.”
She hugged him tight. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For helping me let go. I could never have done without you.”
Rhys cupped her face and kissed her hard. She had no idea how much she’d helped him. He felt whole for the first time in his life since his mother had died.
“Well, where the hell is he?” Jovan asked, his arms gesturing wildly.
“He said something about a smithy.” Rhys peered into the distance and saw a road. “We’ll head into town. At least it’s a place to start.”
Together, the four of them started down the dirt road. Rhys didn’t know if it was the right way to go, but it felt right. Something was pulling him forward. Closing his eyes, he briefly thought of Sebastian, picturing him in his mind, and under his breath he mumbled, “We’re coming, brother. We’re coming to bring you home.”
* * * * *
Discover how it all began in Vivi Anna’s
The League of Illusion: Legacy.
Former thief Jovan Davenport is the black sheep in a family of powerful sorcerers. But when his dying father—head of the League of Illusion—reaches out for help, Jovan has no choice but to accept. He must find his missing brother Sebastian and stop the power-hungry Hawthorne family from taking control of the council. If only they’d appointed someone other than Skylar Vanguard to help him in his quest.
Skylar, a druid and accomplished tracker, has spent three years trying to forget her past, especially Jovan Davenport. Once in love, she left Jovan when she discovered his betrayal. She wants nothing to do with him or his family, but must obey the council’s will by accompanying Jovan and reporting back on his progress.
Forced to work alongside each other, neither of them expects their passion to return so quickly. But as the conspiracy deepens in a steam-powered world of dirigibles and mechanical golems, will their secrets stand in the way of their mission…and their love?
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About the Author
Vivi Anna is an award-winning, multipublished Canadian author of paranormal romance, urban fantasy and sci-fi. She’s been writing since 2002, first publishing short stories for men’s magazines and then moving on to novels. She landed her first agent and first New York publisher in 2005 within a week of each other. Since then she’s published close to nineteen books and novellas for Harlequin and others.
Vivi is the current president of CaRWA and also a co-founder of the popular #TVwriterchat on Twitter. She’s also an aspiring screen/TV writer and has won the RWA Script Scene screenplay contest with her adapted script Vanquished, and has finaled in both the Austin Film Festival and Slamdance Film Festival with her adapted TV pilot, Occult Crime Unit. She is currently in development with a production company on a TV pilot.
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ISBN: 978-14268-9515-9
Copyright © 2013 by Vivi Anna
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reprod
uced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3B 3K9.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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