“Yeah, smug’s more like it,” Vicky adds.
I shoot Charlie a sideways glance.
He stares back at me. “Sorry, I have to say they’re right.”
I shake my head. “Just let me be smug for a few minutes, okay? Before I have to get back to my life, in which my mom is in some sort of coma.”
Everyone is quiet for a while. Then I feel something brushing my neck. Vicky pushes herself between Charlie and me and kisses my cheek. “Don’t feel bad. We’ll save her, too.”
The corners of my mouth move up again.
“Oh yeah, that smile is much better,” Jeep says with a snort.
Ignoring him, I ask Vicky, “Do we need a spell to give Mrs. Delaney her powers back?”
“No, the spell said they’d return to where they’re supposed to be by themselves, remember?”
I dig in my memory. “Sorry, a lot happened these last few hours and I was in kind of a hurry.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean, man.” Charlie digs through the glove compartment. “Hey, do you have anything to eat? Fighting makes me hungry.”
“You know the rules. No eating in my car.”
“Oh, come on. You’re just like Quinn.”
I scratch my chin. “I’m a six foot tall black guy who gets all the girls? I wish.”
He punches me in the side. “You know what I mean. Treating your car like a girl.”
“Shut up.”
“Fine.” He turns on the radio and does a pretty good imitation of Cher.
“Hey Maël,” he yells over the music. “This song is for you.”
“If I could turn back time …”
When we reach Mrs. Delaney’s street, I take my foot off the gas and turn down the music. “Keep your eyes open for Paul. He’ll know we’re coming.”
We slowly approach the house. The Shield is already out of the car, scanning the street. Vicky vanishes and a second later I see her pop up behind the window. She turns and gives me the thumbs up.
“I’ll check upstairs,” D’Maeo says.
Jeep examines the back garden.
When everyone is back, I park Phoenix. With the jar tucked firmly under my arm, I ring the bell.
Mona opens the door and throws her arms around me. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“How’s Mom?” I ask.
“Still the same, I checked on her just before you got here. But we have to hurry. Mrs. Delaney is getting weaker by the minute.”
She leads us to the bedroom, where Mrs. Delaney’s frail figure is lying under a blanket.
“Does this always happen when someone loses their powers?” I whisper to Vicky.
She shakes her head. “I don’t know.”
Mona walks to the side of the bed. “Okay, release it.”
The light inside the jar is wriggling, as if trying to escape. As soon as I lift the bowl that serves as a lid, it shoots out of its containment like a magical ribbon. For a moment, it hovers near the ceiling, turning in every direction. Then it glides down to the bed, moves over the covers and disappears into the mouth of the old woman.
She takes a deep breath and opens her eyes. They sparkle when they see me. “Hello Dante, it’s so nice to see you again.”
I smile. “You, too, Mrs. Delaney.” I lower myself onto the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling?”
She pulls herself up a bit. Mona dives to her aid and plants a pillow behind her back.
“I’m much better now, thanks to all of you. For a moment I was afraid it was already my time to go.”
She grabs my hand and squeezes it.
“I’m glad it wasn’t,” I say. “But why did you get so weak?”
“Oh, I’ve been keeping my own molecules together for years with my powers, love. Otherwise I would have been dust ages ago.”
I pat her hand. “Oh come on, you’re not that old, are you?”
She moves her head from side to side, thinking it over. “Well, compared to some dragons, I guess I’m just a baby. And I’m not ready to go until I’m at least two hundred.”
Charlie steps closer to the bed. “So how old are you now, if I may ask?”
She sweeps back her long gray hair and gives us a playful look. “Almost one hundred and sixty-nine years old. So I’ve got a few springs left in me.”
My mouth falls open, as does Charlie’s.
Mona throws her head back laughing. “Oh, you guys are such rookies. You have so much to discover.”
“Speaking of which,” Mrs. Delaney says, lowering her voice. “Do you know about the portal in the old mine?”
Once more she catches me off guard. “Sure, we tried to close it. But how do you know about it?”
She gives me a crooked smile. “I knew your great-great-great-grandfather. Or the one before that, I lost count.” She giggles. “He fought the Devil, too, you know.”
“He did?”
“Definitely, the Banner family has been fighting to keep him in Hell for a long time.”
Goosebumps appear on my arms. “I thought it started with my grandfather.” This is even bigger than I thought.
She sighs. Her eyes are locked on something only she can see. “He was a beautiful man, your great-great-great-grandfather. Inside and out, like all Banner men. Such a shame he was already taken.”
Vicky covers her mouth with her hand to smother a giggle.
“Anyway …” The old lady turns her eyes on me again. “It started a long time ago, even before I was born. But it will end with you. That is what the prophecy says.”
“You know about that, too?”
“Oh, I know a lot. Like many of us do.” She takes a glass of water from her night stand and sips from it.
“Many of who?”
She twirls the glass around in her hands. “Nobody ends up in Blackford by chance, Dante. Don’t you know that by now?”
Excitement radiates from her face. I can almost see her powers restoring her body.
“Let’s say I just recently discovered that Blackford is an interesting place.” I wink at her and she laughs.
“Oh yes, very interesting. And dangerous.” Her smile fades. “Do you know the meaning of the word ford?”
I shake my head.
“It’s an old word for port, or entry. Blackford, the place where darkness can cross over to our world.”
Her grip on my hand grows stronger. “Centuries ago, your ancestor wrote a book about a system to trap the Devil in Hell: The Divine Comedy.”
I frown when I remember the dream in which Myah told me about this writer.
D’Maeo gasps. “Dante Alighieri is his ancestor?”
I ignore his comment and keep my eyes on Mrs. Delaney. This information might help us fight Lucifer. “What kind of system?”
“The final battle is almost here.” She pulls me closer. “Tell me, Dante … the demons you fought … did they fight with ice and pitch?”
“How did you know?”
“The circles, Dante. The circles are important.”
Her grip loosens and she closes her eyes. I turn to the others, who are as speechless as I am.
I shake her arm. “What circles? What do you mean? Mrs. Delaney?”
Mona pulls the covers up. “She needs rest. We can come back later.”
“What do you know about this, D’Maeo?” I ask quietly.
The old ghost ruffles through his beard. “Nothing more than what Mrs. Delaney already told us.”
I take out my phone and open Google. “Well, I guess we’ve got some digging to do.”
While we go downstairs, my mind races. All the new things I’ve discovered buzz around in my head, making me dizzy.
Mona grabs my arm when I almost tumble down the stairs. “I think it’s time for you to rest, Dante.”
I rub my face and shake my head. “No, I want to gather more information about these circles before the next set of cards arrives.”
We conti
nue down the stairs.
“The set you have hasn’t crumbled to dust yet, has it?”
I come to a halt again. “Why? Do you think it’s not over yet?”
I take the cards from my pocket and hold them up. Immediately, they go up in dust.
We all watch it blow through the open window in the living room.
The corners of my mouth move up. “I guess we’ve completed our second task.”
“So, time for a break?” Mona tries again.
I kiss her on the cheek. “Thanks for your concern, Mona, but I have to do this now.”
She shoots me a proud smile. “I know. That’s why I love you.”
What’s next?
Do you want to know what happens to Dante and his friends next? Are you curious about the circles of Hell? Are you wondering if Dante’s mom will ever wake up?
Then be sure to move on to book 3: Cards of Death - The Third Sin.
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Found a mistake?
The Second Premonition has gone through several rounds of beta reading and editing. If you found a typographical, grammatical, or other error which impacted your enjoyment of the book, we offer our apologies and ask that you let us know, so we can fix it for future readers.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tamara Geraeds was born in 1981, in a small village in the south of The Netherlands.
When she was 6 years old, she wrote her first poem, which basically translates as:
A hug for you and a hug for me
and that’s how life should be
She started writing books at the age of 15 and her first book was published in 2012. After 6 books in Dutch she decided to write a young adult fantasy series in English: Cards of Death.
Tamara’s bibliography consists of books for children, young adults and adults, and can be placed under fantasy and thrillers.
Besides writing she runs her own business, in which she teaches English, Dutch and writing, (re)writes texts and edits books.
She’s been playing badminton for over 20 years and met the love of her life Frans on the court. She loves going out for dinner, watching movies, and of course reading, writing and hugging her husband. She’s crazy about sushi and Indian curries, and her favorite color is pink.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Lots of thanks to my valuable beta readers Cebo Hadebe, William Case, Aurora Maier, Jennifer Bourgeois, Rick Bettencourt and Irina Rakovic.
Thanks to you, the reader, for reading the figments of my imagination.
Thanks to everyone who took (or is going to take) the time to leave a review and/or recommend my book(s) to other readers. If I could hug you, I would.
Copyright © 2019 Tamara Geraeds
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover design by Deranged Doctor Design
Editing by Samantha and Rachel, Proofreading By The Page & Ambition Editing LLC
PREVIOUSLY, IN CARDS OF DEATH
A lot has happened up till now, and in case you forgot or didn’t read it, here’s a quick recap of the most important stuff.
I am Dante Banner, sixteen years old and living in Blackford, Idaho, a small town buzzing with magic, unlike most places. Half of Blackford is invisible to the non-magical eye. I didn’t know about this until I inherited a large house – Darkwood Manor – and five ghosts who live there: D’Maeo, Maël, Jeep, Taylar, and the stunning Vicky. I am their master. They are my Shield and will do anything to protect me. They cannot leave the house, unless they come with me, and if we get separated, they automatically return to Darkwood Manor after a while. Ghosts in a Shield are more solid than others, which makes them stronger fighters, but it also means they can get hurt or trapped and that they can’t always walk through walls and stuff. For instance, they have to be solid to fight, which means they will be vulnerable to weapons during battles.
It turns out I’m a Mage, which is pretty much the same as a wizard but without the pointy hat and ridiculous robes. I have the power of premonition, which is pretty nice but not very useful in a fight. Luckily, I am also a Meteokinetic, which means I can control the weather, although this does take some practice.
A battle between good and evil seems to be raging and I’m suddenly caught in the middle of it. The Devil is trying to find a way to Earth. According to an ancient – and famous – prophecy, my family is destined to stop him. More specifically: my father and grandfather were destined to fail, but I am supposed to win, being the chosen one and all that. I’m not sure how that works yet. All I know is, I received two sets of demon cards, called the Cards of Death, that showed symbols pointing to the people I was supposed to save, one soul for every set of cards. Each of those souls could help the Devil escape from Hell. Although some of my so-called friends, Paul and Simon, made this job difficult for me and my Shield, we saved both souls. Unfortunately we had to kill Simon. We have no idea where Paul is; all we know is that he’s up to no good.
Meanwhile, my mom was taken by a demon and cursed, probably as a warning for me to back off. She’s still in some sort of coma. I don’t know what I would do if I lost her, too.
I have a feeling we’ll need all our powers to win this battle. Thankfully I have my friends Charlie – also a Mage – and Quinn – an angel – to help me fight. It’s a good thing we have them, too, since my Shield and I are not at full strength. Because they are dead, their powers aren’t as reliable as they were before. On top of that, a bunch of evil ghosts are trapped in Jeep’s tattoos and Jeep sometimes gets a kind of fit when they try to escape.
I suspect every one of my ghosts has something troubling them. I just hope we can solve their problems before they interfere with our mission to save the Earth and everyone on it.
CHAPTER 1
Sitting at Mrs. Delaney’s dinner table, I scan the search results for Dante Alighieri on my phone.
“So this man was my ancestor and he wrote about Hell?” I ask, just to be sure.
D’Maeo paces the kitchen. “Well, if Mrs. Delaney says so.”
“But you’ve heard of this Alighieri guy?” I press.
“Sure, he’s famous.”
“There.” Vicky leans over my shoulder and grabs my hand to make me stop scrolling. “There it is, Dante. The Nine Circles of Hell.”
I tear my gaze from her beautiful face and focus on the screen. I scrunch up my nose. “And Mrs. Delaney thinks these are real? Why would Hell consist of circles? What does that even mean? Are they like layers, on top of each other?”
I stop talking and close my eyes when I get the feeling of being lifted off my feet. It’s like
sitting in a roller coaster and going into a sudden drop. My stomach flips and I swallow. A soft breeze whistles in my ear.
“Wow, you came with me!” Vicky exclaims.
I open my eyes and grab her for support.
Darkwood Manor’s kitchen is gone. We’re standing in an attic. There’s not much light, but I can make out an old dresser, a mannequin with a straw hat and some carton boxes.
I blink a couple of times, but we’re still here. “Where are we? What happened?”
“Someone touched my grave. I get sucked into a memory and towards the Shadow World when that happens, remember?”
A strange smell hits my nostrils when I take a deep breath and I clasp my hand over my mouth. “What is that stench? Did something die in here?”
Vicky’s blue eyes grow wide. Tears appear in the corners. Suddenly she looks lost.
I throw my arms around her when she sways on her feet. “What is it? Are you sick?”
Can ghosts even get sick?
A sob escapes her and I press her black-clad slender body closer to mine. I rock her gently and kiss the top of her head.
When she finally speaks, her words are so soft that I don’t understand them.
I move my ear closer to her lips.
“It’s my grandmother,” she repeats in a whisper.
“What is your grandmother?” I ask, confused. Then it hits me. The smell. That’s what she means.
Vicky frees herself from my frozen grip. She wipes her eyes clean of very real tears.
“This is the spot where they found her. She’d been dead for several days.”
I lick my lips. “Are you saying we’re in that memory right now?”
She nods, looking around nervously. “I must have taken you with me by accident, because I was holding your hand when it happened.”
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