by Sariah Skye
“Nope. No weirdness. Sometimes my grandmother speaks in my head, and it comes through then but when she realizes what’s happening, she quickly leaves. That’s weird,” I said, wrinkling my nose. And that was true, ever since I’d gotten control of the Avalon magic, sometimes we were able to speak to each other. It was nice, mostly, since my father was missing, and I missed that familial connection. More or less, she was family.
“That is… fucking bizarre,” Summer said, with a chuckle.
“You have no idea.”
“So… which one has the biggest…” Summer set her cup in her lap and made a suggestive motion with her hand.
I smacked at her in the leg, and she had to react quick to prevent her coffee from spilling. “Hey, that’s the rules; what happens in private, stays in private.”
“With each other though; I’m your best friend!” Summer feigned offense.
I grinned playfully. “True.”
“So…?” She prompted, wiggling her eyebrows.
I sighed. “Mathias. Obviously. But all of them are equally as… talented… in their own ways.” I was reminded of that again by the soreness in my glutes and thighs; and I hadn’t been lifting either. I was out of shape. Yeah, that was the reason, and not all my extra-curricular bedroom activities.
She grinned. “Mind you, I don’t care about the peenee but… hey, even a lesbian is curious.” We chuckled. “My being here is putting a crimp in your fuckery, isn’t it?”
I shrugged easily. “A bit. But you’ll be gone during the day, so…”
“True. It’s good, make up for lost time after your other shitty boyfriends before.”
“Oh yeah.” I gave her a smirk. I snapped my fingers, remembering something I was going to tell her. “Remember to tell Naomi that when she gets home, Link and Mathias want to talk to her about helping manage the club. I want to get that up and going, soon.” I’d decided, for now, to keep the club after all. Nostalgia got the better of Bash and Xander, and they’d encouraged me to change the Underground into an old-fashioned speakeasy, like they used to run years ago. And, we needed help keeping it going, especially since I had no idea how to run a club. But I since I left my data entry job officially now, I needed the income.
Oh, and we had to guard that pesky demon connection to the Underrealms below. Also, it was the perfect front for attracting supes, and subsequently, maybe someone with knowledge to Morgaine’s whereabouts. She was still quiet, but that wouldn’t last much longer, I had a hankering.
“I will,” Summer said excitedly. “She will be thrilled! Dancing was just an easy way to make money, but she hated it.”
“What’s to love?” I retorted rhetorically. “Standing in a cage while creepy supes toss money at you?” I shuddered. “I can’t imagine working for Morgaine was the greatest thing.”
“Eh, no one ever saw her. Just the guy you mentioned—that really young-looking dude but…not. Naomi figured he was fae, maybe pixie, but she could never figure him out.” Summer mused, sipping her coffee. “Said he was nice, though…so there’s that.”
“Suppose so, yeah,” I agreed, and we sat in silence for a few moments, before Summer spoke.
“Hey so, when Naomi gets back, we’re totally going to look for a new apartment in St. Michael,” Summer said, with a grin.
“Yeah?” I asked excitedly.
She nodded. “Yeah, I mean, I know your guys invited for us to stay here. And it sounds awesome but, you need your space with them.”
“But…it’s you, Summer. It’s really strange not having you around,” I protested, even though I knew she was probably right.
“It does suck,” Summer agreed. “But, you don’t need me around all the time. And I don’t need to walk in on you getting gang-banged,” she said with a devilish grin.
I slapped her playfully in the arm. “It’s not like that, and you know it!”
“I know,” she said, giggling. “Just teasing.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I retorted, unconvinced.
“You ever hear from your dad’s girlfriend…Gina?” She asked, after we both paused to drink our coffee.
I shook my head. “Nadina. Or that’s what she said it was.” I was skeptic now if that’s who she really was. Bash and Mathias had returned the next day to see if she’d been back to her and Lachlan’s home, but there was no sign of her. They’d left a note telling her to contact us, but we were reluctant to believe she would. That’s when they took the table, gave me the one piece, and Bash was experimenting on the other parts to see if there was anything to them. So far? Just plain wood. Old, but plain.
“That’s kind of sad. Dumped for your man’s ex…girlfriend? In a world far, far away,” she said, with a sad grimace. “I can’t believe that Arthur was—”
“—he’s a fucking mad man.” I wrinkled my nose at the thought. “But, I guess that’s sometimes what happens when you’re locked away for a long time. You go nuts.”
“Maybe.” Summer sighed quietly. “Dude, why is it so quiet? Where is everyone?”
I turned, glancing briefly up at the sky. Grinning impishly, I just shrugged nonchalantly. “Oh, they’re around…”
A shriek from the sky echoed through the trees, and a large eagle swooped down in front of us, pulsing its wings hard enough for us to feel the wind they created. Summer gasped. “Holy fuck, that’s a huge bird!”
I beamed widely, as the eagle craned its head at me, giving me a glimpse of its bright green eyes. “That’s no bird,” I said, watching triumphantly as eagle-Trystan rose back into the clouds. “That’s Trystan.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Trystan? Holy shit! So, all the guys have weird things about them now?”
“They always did, but Trystan’s is the most obvious,” I said, chuckling as the bird shrieked again. Now that we’d regularly been intimate together, Xander’s storm magic and channeling was more powerful, Mathias had better control of his fury…and Bash? Well, we weren’t sure about Bash. Something happened to him that day when I went over the Camelot. We weren’t sure about it. But Link and Rhys’s suspicions that there was something about him? Something…different? Yeah, there was clearly something to that. But we weren’t sure yet what that was. And as such, Bash spent a lot of time in his nerd dungeon, researching. And Rhys always stared at him whenever they were in the same room together, trying to figure him out.
Hell, we couldn’t totally figure anything out. Not my mother, Camelot…least of all, batshit King Arthur, and if he was somehow going to find a way to rage war against humanity. And, while that was nerve wracking, as I watched Trystan fly around in the sky I was reminded that somehow, things would work out inevitably in the end. We had each other, I had Summer…
I was home.
Be strong, Ava. My grandmother’s voice echoed in my head. We’re all here for you. All of us.
I gave Summer a goofy grin, as Trystan tauntingly dove down, startling her and making her jump. “Show off!” I called to him.
He replied with an eagle’s screech, and I waved, grinning proudly at him.
Yep, we were home.
THE END…
FOR NOW
Coming soon
INSATIABLE
The Curse of Avalon #3
Summer 2018*
*work in progress, release dates subject to change
About the Author
Sariah Skye lives in southern Minnesota with her two kids, her husband, and a silly black lab. When not writing, editing, or trying unsuccessfully to be a functional adult, Sariah usually has her head in a book (anything but non-fiction or horror), is watching one of many 90’s TV reruns, obsessing over Star Trek or Doctor Who, or possibly playing World of Warcraft. Maybe. She doesn’t take herself too seriously and makes jokes at inappropriate times. She also hates sarcasm. Hates it. Don’t even bother. She loves chocolate, wine and spaghetti (not necessarily together), but hates selfies, parties and large groups of people. She doesn’t quite get the point of Twitter or Instagram, but she has
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You can also find out more about her ARC and review teams there. If you want. You can also subscribe to her newsletter, Sariah’s Shenanigans, to keep up with sales and new releases. Despite living in Minnesota, the SPAM capital of the world (*makes gagging noises*), she hates it, and will never invade your mailbox unless you ask her to…sign up here at: http://eepurl.com/cqSJWD
Also by Sariah Skye
The Fated Saga
Fated Souls
Fated Magic
Fated Hope
Fated Fury (available 2018*)
The Curse of Avalon
Invisible
Inevitable
Insatiable (available 2018*)
*release dates subject to change