Uniting The Fabled

by Rebecca Bosevski

  King Blake joined us, sword still in hand and dripping with green and red. “We used some of the elf’s magic to confuse them. It won’t last. If they can see it now it is already waning.”

  I tensed beside Jax. “We have to spell them.”

  “How can we spell all of them? They don’t know it was magic, they think it was a normal human fire. Leave it, there is no proof it was anything else,” he said, looking to King Blake for confirmation.

  “They should not have seen the bubble, or the lights from the cast, but they could have seen the elves or dragons.”

  “They will explain anything they saw away, they are good at that. Most don’t want to admit they could be witness to something supernatural. Remember how much convincing you took?” Jax said, raising a brow.

  “You sliced my hand, if I remember correctly.”

  “A trick knife you thought, even after that.”

  “Fine, I will leave it alone, but if it starts to spread or if someone gets a shot of us, I will spell them. I will find a way to spell them all if it is what I have to do to keep you both safe.” I pressed a hand to my head as a dizzying wave swept over me. I shook my head to clear the fog that covered my vision.

  “Whatever you wish, my dear,” Jax conceded, taking my hand and sending a calming wave over my body. Ava smiled beside me.

  “What are you grinning at?” I asked her.

  “It isn’t that I can’t see you properly when you are together,” she said, taking one of each of our hands. “It is that your energy becomes one.”

  I pulled her in for another hug. My daughter was safe and in my arms. Jax was safe and in my arms. Everything was going to be okay. Sure, I opened the mouth of hell and set free a plethora of demons. With the help of the fabled, I took care of most of them, and with the elves helping to track them down, we would have the last of them returned to the darkness in not too long.

  A familiar shiver ran through my spine. I spun, feeling eyes on me. But none was there. I turned back to consider the ground where Ava and I stood. It was as protected as we were and now stood as the only evidence something other than a natural fire took place. I glanced towards the humans, none of them seemed to be paying much attention to us, so I ran my hand over the grass and took from it the life it held so green and good. The blades darkened and withered to the dirt.

  Ava’s hand joined mine and some of the sludge water that glossed over the parklands coated the area we stood on.

  “Now it looks like the rest,” she said, frowning.

  “I know it looks terrible, but it will be okay. It will grow again.”

  “We could help it grow.”

  “No!”

  “But we made it like this.”

  “It is too late now, they have seen it. To do that, we would have to spell everyone here.”

  “But you were going to do that anyway,” Ava grumbled

  “I was, yes, but this is different. We don’t have to heal the earth, if you look for its energy you will see it is already starting to heal itself.”

  Ava squinted as if trying to see something that wasn’t there.

  “You have to see past the soot and grime, through to the roots. See? They are alive and ready to birth new shoots.”

  Ava’s eyes brightened and Jax leaned over, nudging me with his shoulder.

  We needed to get out of there. It was still dark but the sun had just broken the horizon and I didn’t want to chance anyone seeing us.

  “We have to go find the rest of the demons that escaped. Do we have a way to track them?”

  Jax shook his head. “But most won’t go near the humans, not yet. They will have to grow their power, most couldn’t break their ethereal form when they came through.”

  The river of darkness.

  “But how will we find them? We can’t wait until they attack a human and then go after them, it doesn’t seem fair,” I said, looking at the collection of young and old men and woman who had gathered around the burnt parkland.

  “Well, that is the price they will pay for what we did,” Jax said, resting his hand on my shoulder.

  “You mean what I did.”

  “You did it to save me. I understand that, Des. I would have done the same for you.”

  “We have no idea how many demons came through, what if it was enough to overtake this world, what if we failed after all?” I asked.

  A scream rang out, “Oh my god, there are bones, human bones. Call the police.”

  More voices, “There are so many.”

  “It looks like they were all together.”

  “Do you think they started the fire?”

  “There are more over here, but this one looks weird.”

  Sirens sounded, growing with each passing second. I looked to Jax, “what have I done?” Before he could answer me my head spun and I felt myself begin to fall.

  Jax’s voice was distorted. “Ava, portal us home to Baldea.”

  “But the humans?” she protested.

  “Do it now!”

  Through a fog I saw her wave her arm and then everything went black.

  When I opened my eyes I recognised the ceiling immediately. I was home in my father’s house in Baldea. Turning my head to the side I saw my father, husband and daughter all watching me, all with the same desperate eyes.

  “What happened?” I asked, my voice scratching the back of my throat.

  Jax leaned down. “You fainted... again. Your magic has been off too, are you tired, or is it something else?”

  “Mum, it is all my fault, I am so sorry,” Ava cried as she rested her head against the bed.

  “What is?”

  “Your magic, I shouldn’t have tried to help him. I messed it all up.”

  “No, Ava. I should have found a way to give it back by now, you thought you had a way to return Tai’s magic so you gave it a shot. You couldn’t have known.”

  “Couldn’t have known what?” Jax asked, running his hand over the back of Ava’s head and down her curls.

  “Ava gave some of my magic to Tai. I think it is why he won’t wake up. There is too much inside him and his own power is using all of its energy to contain it. I tried to take it back before and it didn’t work.”

  “What about the yowie fur?” Jax asked.

  My father’s eyes shot to me, wide and full of fear. “How did you get yowie fur?”

  “We needed it for the cast to seal the portal, we asked for it. We had to promise to use it all for the cast though,” I replied as I scooted up the bed to sit and Ava raised her head, grinning at me.

  “But you didn’t,” she said, reaching beside the bed and lifting my bag up. “Did you?”

  “No, I didn’t.” I took the bag from her and reached inside. I pulled out the little pouch holding what remained of the Fur. It was just under half the initial bunch, probably fifty or so strands. I removed a single strand and returned the pouch to the bag. “Let’s go wake up Tai.”

  I climbed out of bed, thankful that no one had removed my clothes. It wouldn’t have been the first time I had woken from fainting naked. Ava clasped my hand and walked with me out of the room and down the hall to where Tai slept. Sarah and Mark were at his bedroom door when we arrived.

  I didn’t stop to talk, I strode past them and went to Tai’s side. They didn’t protest, instead I heard them shuffle in behind me.

  I held up the strand of fur in front of me.

  “What is that?” I heard Sarah ask someone behind me. They didn’t answer. Neither did I.

  I looked for the magic Ava had given Tai, it still sat in his middle, swirling in an energy his little body couldn’t handle. I directed my desire for it and the strand began to glow between my fingers. The bed shook and the power that once lived in me drew forwards. As it funnelled from his sleeping form to my centre, the strand began to blacken, and once the power was back where it belonged the strand dissolved to ash.

  I left the magic that was his. I only took mine. His orange glow illuminated his
core, then in a flash of fire light Tai phased into his angel like form, slowly rose above the bed, his head back, eyes closed. Mouth wide open.

  Crap what have I done?

  Tai’s body collapsed back to the bed and his eyes shot open.

  “The dark one is free,” Tai said, staring up at the ceiling, his voice stiff, sombre.

  We all looked to one another for answers. But then Tai spoke again. “Through the mouth of hell he has returned.”

  “It is okay Tai. We sealed the mouth. Nothing else is coming through.” I tried to assure him.

  “He is here.”

  I looked at Jax, “did you hear anything about a dark one when you were... ?”

  “I was held inside some kind of cocoon of mud for the most part. I didn’t see anything but the logaras. Do you think the dark one is another demon?”

  “I don’t know. Up until a six months ago I was a fashion photographer living a normal bloody life.”

  Wow, has it really only been six months?

  Tai opened his eyes and sat up quickly, scurrying back as if the end of the bed were trying to attack him.

  “No, he is back, and he is angry!”

  Sarah rushed to him and enveloped him in her arms, trying to soothe him.

  “Tai, who is back?” Ava asked, and he peeked out from under his mother’s arm.

  “Traflier.”

  Epilogue

  “HE CAN’T BE,” SARAH said, as she ran her fingers through Tai’s hair. “You are confused sweetie, but it is okay, we are here. You will be okay now.”

  He turned his head up to face her then repeated his words. “Traflier is back.”

  She looked at me, eyebrows raised. “You destroyed him.”

  “Yes, she did,” my father reasoned. “He can’t be. There’s no way.”

  “Except I think he is.” I whispered, standing and stepping away from the bed. “Tai needs to rest, let’s go.” I didn’t wait for a response. I left the room and headed for the kitchen, not sure who followed, but not really caring either.

  I entered the room and stood at the bench spreading my hands flat on the cool stone surface. I stood there looking at the white marble trying to remember a time when my life made sense.

  Ava shuffled around the room. The others filed in behind her.

  A glistening round chocolate wheel appeared in front of me and I picked it up, then looked at Ava who held in her hands a bundle of them.

  “How, Desmoree, how is he back?” Max asked, pulling out a stool and taking a seat beside me.

  “I must have done something wrong, I must have sent him to the dark realm, and when I opened the mouth—”

  “I watched you destroy him!” He interrupted, snatching a wagon wheel from the bundle in Ava’s arms. He unwrapped it and took a bite all without moving his gaze from the wall behind me. He didn’t blink. He didn’t move a muscle except for the hand shovelling the chocolate into his mouth.

  “Dad, I saw him.”

  “You what?” Jax asked, spinning me to face him. “You never said you saw him, when did you see him?”

  “Well, I can’t be sure it was him. But in the river of mist something reached out and tried to grab me, its face was twisted and sunken. It had to be him.”

  “But you are not sure?” Max asked, finally turning his stare from the wall. “You can’t be certain it was him.”

  “Well, no, but Tai says he is back and... Oh my Fey, the cop! He said I already sent him there, the one who had promised to give officer fuck face control of the human world. It must be him”

  “Language, Desmoree!” Maylea chastised entering the room unheard. “And what have I told you about those obsessions of yours? You should teach your child to eat well.” She snatched the wrapper from my father’s hands and took the bundle of Wagon Wheels from Ava, but not before I snagged another one.

  “I think we have bigger problems right now,” I said, ripping the pack open and breaking it in half before passing one part to Ava. She smiled and gobbled it up quickly while Maylea’s back was turned.

  “Here, have some berries, you like berries.” Maylea slid a tray of a selection of Baldea’s finest berries between Ava and I. In the thirty seconds she had her head in the fridge she had managed to arrange a platter that could have appeared in any food mag. That is, if they knew about half the berries on the platter. One was spotted red and green, and another had thousands of tiny bumps tipped with yellow specks. Not exactly normal by human standards.

  “So, what is all the fuss about?” Maylea asked as she passed Ava an elder berry.

  “Des thinks Traflier is back,” Jax blurted out before anyone could stop him.

  Maylea said nothing. She walked slowly around the counter, took my hand and led me to the far wall of the kitchen. Pressing her hand against one of the tiles, I heard it click, then the tile sunk into the wall. Another click and an entire section of wall sunk back, the shape of a door.

  Maylea pushed the sunken section and it slid sideways behind the wall to reveal a second pantry, only this pantry was stocked with bottles. I immediately recognised the gleaming liquid inside.

  “I guess we better start handing this out,” she said, flicking on the light switch and further illuminating the potions. “‘Cause I’ll be dammed if that bastard will get his hands on any of the fey’s life-force again.”

  “It’s not only the fey he has been taking it from though, it was all the fabled,” Ava said, coming to stand beside us.

  I looked at the fully stocked shelves. Litres upon litres of potion, most of it already complete, some of the bottles still needing my imbued blood. It was barely enough to protect the fey.

  My mouth went dry. I cupped my face in my hands and took a slow breath in and out.

  “We are going to need a bigger kitchen.”

  Before you read the epic conclusion to the Enchanting the Fey Series - Destroying the Fallen, take a detour to the dark side with The Fall.

  Behind every bad guy is the dark that led them there - do you dare to understand the dark?

  Book #2.5 - The Fall (Traflier's Story)

  The epic conclusion to the Enchanting the Fey Series - Destroying the Fallen.

  Also by Rebecca Bosevski

  Enchanting The Fey Series

  Book #1 - Enchanting The Fey

  Book #2 - Uniting The Fabled

  Book #2.5 - The Fall (Traflier's Story)

  Book #3 - Destroying The Fallen

  Standalone

  Alpha Nine

  Watch for more via Rebecca Bosevski’s FaceBook page.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

  I WOULD LIKE TO THANK you for taking the time to read Uniting the Fabled, Enchanting the Fey book 2.

  I set myself a goal to publish two books in 2017, and after the release of Alpha Nine in June, I thought I was right on track. Then I suffered a huge loss. I didn’t feel like editing Uniting the fabled, I didn’t feel like creating the cover or doing anything creative, really. But then one day I opened the final draft and my edit notes and got to it. It was slow as is all editing, but as the cursor of my notes moved closer and closer to the bottom of the screen, my energy rose. I wanted to finish. I wanted to share this story with you all. But even more than that, I wanted to continue the story. To begin book 3.

  I am not sure if you know this about me or not, but I am an avid pantser, (someone who writes with no real idea of where the story is going). To write Uniting the Fabled, I tried my hand at plotting. It was new and scary, but ultimately helped keep me on track, and is what I will do again to get book 3 to you by the end of 2018.

  I hope that you enjoyed the second instalment of the Enchanting the fey series and I look forward to sharing the final book with you.

  I love sharing stories with you all, and I love connecting with readers, so come find me on Facebook, or twitter and let me know what you thought of book 2, Uniting the fabled.

  If you would like exclusive sneak peeks then subscribe to my newsletter via my Facebook page and
you will be gifted with the 1st chapter before an official release.

  Or you can join my street team, with a chance to become a reviewing member where you will be gifted with eARC’s of upcoming releases.

  I look forward to sharing a fantastic 2018 with you all.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  THIS BOOK WOULD NEVER have come to be without the support of so many people. Heather, you are amazing. I say it all the time. But you really are. This book would not have come to be without your initial complaint about the original ending of book one that would have seen no sequel ever arise.

  Story Queens, you are an unmatched resource and support system, thank you all.

  My editor Heather Bosevski, you are brilliant. Sisters by marriage, we make a great team and you were a pleasure to work with. Thank you for helping me to make Uniting the fabled what it is today.

  My children, thank you for waiting patiently by my side for me to quickly type out a sentence before answering your requests and for telling all your friends that mummy is an author.

  My husband John, thank you for giving me the time to write, edit and create. Without your support I would not have been able to become who I am today.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  REBECCA BOSEVSKI is a speculative fiction author living on the east coast of Australia.

  Blogger and reviewer with Aussie Owned and Read, and a royal member of Story Queens of Aus, Rebecca barely has a free moment. When not blogging, reading, or writing she can be found binge-watching her favorite vampires in True Blood all the while drinking copious amounts of coffee.

  You can follow her on Twitter or subscribe to her newsletter via her Facebook page to keep up to date and be treated to exclusive content, deleted scenes, and short stories.

  https://facebook.com/rebeccabosevskibooks

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