Shadow Realms- The Complete Series

by Kelly Carrero

  Mason ran his hands down his face as his eyes glistened. “They’ve got proof.”

  “Show me,” I said. “I need to see it.”

  “Absolutely.” Nessa grabbed her phone out of her pocket and began searching through it. A moment later, a holographic image landed between us.

  My breath caught in my throat and a lump formed in its place as I stared at my mother. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched a younger version of her, holding a baby on her hip, her chest turning shades of blue and black from where the baby’s hands were splayed against her skin. “Is that…?”

  Finn stood and sat next to me. “That baby is you.”

  Tears slipped down my cheeks as our mother stared down at baby me with love in her eyes. She placed a small kiss on my head then turned her attention to the room.

  Mom was standing in the middle of a circle, surrounded by figures in robes. I couldn’t see their faces, but blue light illuminated from their hands, telling me they were witches like Nessa. With a heavy smile, she caressed the side of my face then pressed another kiss on my forehead before placing me in the center of a white sheet in the middle of the circle.

  Stepping outside of the circle, she stood behind the witches, next to a younger version of Nessa, void of the hardened eyes that were present on the woman before me.

  The witches joined hands, the blue light connecting them, growing stronger by the second until it spilled out from them, traveling around the line of the circle and engulfing me in the swirl of light when it seeped inside of me, disappearing from sight.

  My mother stepped forward and scooped me into her arms, my hands no longer having the effect on her skin they had before. She held me tightly against her as she smiled sadly, her eyebrows furrowing while she held back tears. Then she mouthed, “Thank you,” and fled from the room.

  The image disappeared, leaving a gaping hole in my heart. I briefly wondered why I was the only one of us three with magic, but that was a question for another time. All I could think about was my mother and the fact that I would never truly see her again.

  Finn put his arm around me. “It was pretty hard for Mason and me to watch that, too.”

  “And to wrap our heads around the truth of who Mom actually was,” Mason added.

  The van pulled off the road and onto a dirt track hidden by tall grass, trees, and vegetation.

  Nessa stood as we came to a stop. “I wish I could give you more time to adjust to what you’ve learned, but the truth is we’re running on borrowed time.”

  One of the guys opened the door, revealing nothing but bushes surrounding us.

  “Why are we here?”

  Kade stood. “You’ll see.”

  I frowned as everyone began to pile out of the van, Mason helping Max to his feet, and Kade and Finn propping Dad up as they dragged his unconscious body across the floor then outside, leaving only Nessa and me in the van.

  “You’ll see soon enough.” Nessa twisted off the cap of a small bottle containing a yellow liquid and tipped a small amount onto her finger.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “All will be revealed.” She placed her finger on my forehead, swept it in a semi-circle just above my eyebrows, and followed it with a line running from the top of my forehead, stopping just before she reached my nose.

  It took everything in me not to push her hand away and run for dear life, but there was something other than the fact that she not only knew my mother but also helped her that sent a wave a trust through me. I needed to find out more. “What is this?”

  Just as I finished my sentence, the liquid began to move as if it had a life of its own, moving in circles then darting toward my eyes.

  Shock marred my face as the yellow liquid blurred my vision before disappearing behind my eyes, leaving me gobsmacked by what I was seeing. “How…?”

  Nessa smiled. “There is a lot you don’t know about.” She gestured toward the van’s open door.

  21

  I gaped as I stared at the scenery before me. Where there had been dense bushland, now stood a community of modular homes. Some looked like basic shipping containers, and others were put together like architecturally designed master pieces. Men, women, and children wandered around, casting long glances in our direction, obviously intrigued by their new guests. “How?” was all I managed to say.

  “Magic.” With a grin, Nessa hopped off the van.

  Following her, I spun around and saw the village was surrounding us. It was absolutely insane.

  “Come with me,” Nessa said and headed across a stretch of dirt toward a blue container ship.

  Taking a few seconds to adjust, I raced after her, catching up as she arrived at the door.

  “Ideally, I would’ve liked to give you more time to settle in before we got down to business, but time is not on our side. The Society will be scouring the lands for the last piece.”

  “Piece to what?”

  “To undo the spell binding your powers.” She gestured to the door. “Go inside.”

  A prickly sensation spread across my back as I stared at the darkness through the door, unable to see anything. It was like a pitch-black cave, void of any light, which made absolutely no sense considering there should’ve been sunlight filtering in through the open door. But then I heard Max moan from inside, followed by Mason’s voice asking if he was okay.

  With bated breath I waited for his response, relief flooding through me when I heard his reply.

  No longer concerned that Nessa was luring me to my demise, I headed inside and was surprised to find that even though I couldn’t see anything from the outside when looking in, the small medical facility was illuminated in a soft blue glow.

  What was with everything being blue?

  Finn and Kade were attending to my father, helping him onto a bed as he groaned, still out of it.

  Max was sitting on top of a hospital bed of sorts, his legs hanging over the edge, and his hand pressed against the wound in his chest.

  Mason hopped onto the bed beside him and looked at me. “Your boyfriend’s going to be fine.”

  My cheeks flushed as anger swirled around inside me, wanting to be released into the form of a punch to Mason’s gut. Instead, I swallowed my anger and said in my most dry tone, “Very funny. I thought you would’ve grown up a little after your time with the vamps, but it’s good to see you’re just as immature as ever.”

  I didn’t dare look at Max for fear of his reaction.

  Mason feigned being hurt with a hand over his heart. “How could you be so insensitive after everything I’ve been through?”

  Max knocked his elbow into Mason’s side. “Be careful. The tables have turned, and your sister can now beat the shit out of you.”

  A small sigh escaped my lips, knowing Max wasn’t taking Mason’s words the wrong way. I wondered if he had any siblings—or parents. I really had no clue about his past other than he’d been an offering to the fledglings.

  “Enough bickering.” Nessa strode a short distance to a tall cabinet on the side of the room and retrieved a jar containing a bunch of herbs—or grass. I really couldn’t tell the difference. She twisted off the lid and placed it beside Max.

  “What are you doing?” I asked as Nessa shoved a handful of the grassy herbs over Max’s wound. I stepped forward, going into protection mode.

  “Removing the remainder of the poison so he can quickly heal on his own,” she said, unaware of how close I was to ripping out her throat. Because you know, I still had no idea who I could trust. The video seemed real, but after what I saw with the magic hiding this place, I couldn’t look past the possibility that they had made me think I had seen my mother on the video.

  Argh! When had trusting people become so hard?

  Kade grabbed my hand, not lacing his fingers through mine, but holding it like you would a child’s—or a sister’s. He gave my hand a gentle squeeze. “He’s safe. You’re safe,” he said, his voice barely audible.

  Nessa put down t
he jar and smooshed her hands together. A faint blue light shone between her fingers, quickly growing with intensity until her hands were glowing. Still cupping her hands together, she placed them over Max’s wound, slowly opening her hands until her palms were flat against his chest that was now illuminated with the blue light shining from under his skin.

  What the hell?

  “She’s healing him,” Kade said as if he could read my mind.

  Nessa slowly removed her hands. My jaw slightly dropped when I saw the ignited grassy herbs combusting in the blue light until they completely vanished, taking the blue light with them. Only a soft glow illuminated Max’s skin surrounding what had been an angry wound but was now no more than an ash-smudged circle.

  Not missing a beat, Nessa spun around to face me as three men walked into the room. “Now that everyone’s here, we need to discuss the key.”

  I was guessing that was the last piece of the puzzle.

  Nessa gestured to the three men, starting with the one on the left who had red hair, blue eyes, and looked a little older than Finn. “This is Joel, Parker, and Liam. They are members representing an arm of our coven from the three regions of the Southern Hemisphere.”

  Parker looked to be in his early to mid-thirties with blonde hair and brown eyes that held more sorrow in them than any person his age should feel. And Liam appeared to be mid-twenties with dark brown hair and kind hazel eyes, but there was also a darkness behind them. It wasn’t like the darkness I saw when I looked into Orphelia’s eyes. This was different. Like as if he’d also seen things that left a permanent scar on his soul.

  “Hi. I’m Kali,” I said, giving them a small wave, immediately feeling like a dork. Of course, they knew who I was. We wouldn’t be there if they didn’t.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Liam said. “We’ve been eagerly waiting for the day of your return.”

  Nessa leaned against the bed. “Now that the formalities are out of the way, we need to get down to business. We need to know where your mother hid the key.”

  “I’m assuming the key is the item needed to unbound me.”

  “That is correct,” Parker said.

  “What does it look like?”

  “It’s not a literal key. It is a labradorite crystal,” he explained. “Your mother wouldn’t have left it lying around for anyone to take. But she would’ve made sure you’d be able to figure out its location should anything have happened to her.”

  Something had happened to her, but I couldn’t think of a single thing that stood out. I slowly shook my head. “I have no idea.”

  Joel ran his hand through his red hair. “That’s what your brothers said.”

  “You all need to think,” Nessa said. “This is important. Did she leave you anything? Give you anything? Tell you any weird bedtime stories—or stories for that matter?”

  The three of us stared at each other, willing one of us to have a light bulb moment but—

  My eyes widened as I reached inside my pocket and retrieved the broken necklace and pendant. “Mom told me to wear this at all times.” I held it up in front of me. “Could this be it?”

  Nessa took it from me. She studied it and shook her head in disappointment. “This isn’t it. Keep it though, as it offers you protection and reinforces the spell we cast on you.”

  My shoulders slumped. I had no freaking idea what this key could be, and by the looks of it, neither did my brothers. “Don’t you guys have a backup plan? You know, a spare in case anything happened to the original?”

  She released a harsh breath. “It will take time. And unfortunately, we don’t have much of that to spare. Right now, the best option is to figure out where your mother put your key for safe keeping.”

  I tried to rack my brain for any little thing that my mother had mentioned, or held dear to her. But she didn’t have any worldly possessions that seemed any more important than the rest. She always put us above all else. Family was her most prized possession.

  “How big is it?”

  She held her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart. “About this big. But she could’ve had it embedded into another object to hide it better.”

  “Maybe we should head back to our home to search through her stuff.”

  “We’ve already done that.”

  I frowned. “That was you guys who destroyed the house? Was all that really necessary?” Upturning every piece of furniture and rifling through all of our personal belongings felt like a kick to the gut.

  “We didn’t destroy anything. I’m assuming the demons had the same idea we did and wanted to make sure there was no way you could complete your transition, negating their plans to use you for themselves.”

  “That means that for all we know they’ve already found what we need and have destroyed it.”

  “That is a possibility,” she admitted. “But your mother wasn’t foolish enough to leave it somewhere that could be easily found.”

  I groaned, frustration boiling inside of me. Where was my mother when I needed her the most? I missed her. I needed her—now more than ever.

  My eyes stung with tears, and I had to turn away.

  Finn put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Mason and I can’t figure it out either.” He tugged me toward him and wrapped his arms around me when my head hit his chest.

  I hadn’t been hugged by my brother in the longest of times. Actually, I couldn’t remember the last time he’d comforted me. Maybe dredging up memories of Mom was getting to him as much as it got to me. There was only so long he could hide behind his hard exterior. Plus, there was the big reveal that Finn missed his own mother’s funeral because some group of assholes pretended to be something they weren’t and forebade him to have any contact with his family. It must’ve been eating away at him—even if he didn’t say so.

  Finn, Max, and Kade were all… Blood drained from my face when I realized how Max must’ve felt after learning the truth. He lived and protected those who were responsible for the scars he wore on the inside and out.

  Kade? I had no idea what his backstory was, but there wasn’t an ounce of selfishness in his body. He would’ve felt just as betrayed as Max and Finn.

  All of that newfound knowledge—or realization—made me feel shittier for always having the focus on me.

  Pulling back, I looked up into his saddened eyes. “I’m sorry.”

  Understanding passed between us, and he gave me a small smile. “You have nothing to be sorry about. We’ve all made mistakes, trusted those we shouldn’t have, and betrayed those who needed us the most. But we will make up for it. We will make her proud.”

  I thought about the ghost of a woman I saw both those times. There wasn’t an ounce of pride in her eyes. They were consumed by fear and a longing to reach me, speak to me, tell me something.

  A nagging suspicion was slowly eating away at my insides, trying to get my attention, begging me to take note, to understand something that seemed completely implausible.

  What I was about to ask was probably going to make them think I was insane or that the Society had given me magical brain damage to ensure I remained under their control. But I had to put a voice to the question tugging at my thoughts. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but I need to know. Are ghosts real?”

  Mason’s gaze shot to mine, stirring an undeniable feeling inside of me that he knew exactly what was on my mind.

  “What the hell kind of question is that?” Finn asked, concern for his baby sister swelling in his eyes.

  Nessa furrowed her brow, her suspicious gaze pinning mine. “Did you see something?”

  I opened my mouth, but no words would come out. Thinking I’d seen her was completely looney. Ghosts didn’t exist.

  “Mom,” Mason said, surprising the hell out of every single person in the room. “I saw her, too.”

  22

  My whole world seemed to explode in that very instant as Mason’s declaration was on a loop in my mind. He�
��d seen our mother, too. Which meant I wasn’t insane. And if I wasn’t insane, then what did that mean?

  With all air knocked out of me, I stared at Nessa, willing her to say something that would make all of this make sense. Because from where I was standing, I had a very real ghost of a mother haunting both me and my brother.

  Snapping my head in Mason’s direction, I said, “When did you see her?”

  “I saw her a couple of times during my time with the vampires. I thought I was going insane and projecting Mom there to fill the empty void and torture I experienced at their hands. But then I saw her again when you rescued me and again right before you grabbed the wheel flipping us into that ditch.” He paused, visibly shaken and trying to get his shit together. “I thought I was seeing things. I thought I was going insane. That’s why I didn’t say anything. But then I noticed things. Whenever I mentioned her, you’d get this strange look.”

  Finn stayed deadly silent, his face pale like he was about two seconds from passing out.

  “Shit,” Nessa said. “We had our suspicions, but most of us thought she’d died by accident.”

  “What the hell are you saying?”

  She shook her head. “I’m not speculating until I know for sure.”

  “You can, and you will,” I snapped.

  Nessa backed away to the door. “I don’t want to get your hopes up.”

  “You just did,” I said.

  “Tell us,” Mason said. “We deserve to know.”

  Finn stumbled over to the bed and leaned his palms against the frame. He looked over his shoulder, his gaze pinning Nessa. “Stop.” He twisted around and rested against the bed. “Whatever it is, you need to tell us. It could mean the difference between us finding what we’re looking for and us never knowing. Mason and I want to know, but Kali… She’s like a bulldog, never stopping when it comes to protecting those she loves. If our mother’s death wasn’t natural and there’s something else going on, we need to know.”

  Nessa bit her lip, unease settling in her eyes. It was a very unusual concept when it came to Nessa. There didn’t seem to be a thing she was unsure of. Then again, I’d only known her for two seconds.