by Tricia Owens
It was snowing.
He inhaled something down his windpipe and coughed sharply. The sound broke the eerie silence of snowfall. Bewildered at the weather, he lifted his hand and caught the sleet upon his palm. But as he rubbed the thin flakes between his fingers, the snow smudged and darkened his skin.
The sky wasn't raining sleet. It was raining ash.
He climbed painfully to his feet. Now that the energy had left him, he ached from what Gavedon had done to him. His skin felt raw. His bones felt hollow. Dizziness washed over him and for a moment he thought he might faint. But he blinked back the spots before his eyes to look around him with growing confusion.
For an absurd moment, Hadrian thought he was dreaming. He didn't understand where he was. Had he been magicked to another place? He didn't recognize the blackened fields and hills that rolled out on all sides. Where were all the trees? Where were his father and the Order?
He stepped across the charred ground which was rapidly collecting a thick layer of ash that swished in the constant wind. Through the thick ash fall, he saw the ruins of a castle. The walls had tumbled to the ground and were blackened with soot. Hadrian's step faltered as he peered into the interior of the structure. The broken furniture lying inside was that which had once been inside his own home.
He spun, sending up a cloud of ashes around his shins. The gray hills in the distance weren't the topography of a strange new land. Hadrian had climbed them in search of rabbits.
The dead plains which stretched to his left weren't part of a foreign desert; they had once held a path which led to the boats used for rowing to the Graying Cliffs. He couldn't see the cliffs for the ash, but he knew with rising horror that they were there.
This was Shard's Point.
He was responsible for this. He had lost control of the immense power he had drawn and he’d destroyed the entire island with it. He had burned it to the ground just as he had burned down Rhiad.
"No," he choked out, this horrific crime too much to bear on top of the other.
It wasn't possible for one man to inflict so much damage. It was impossible! He would wake up from this and find his father standing before him, mocking him for dreaming. Maybe even Rhiad had been a dream...
But the ash that brushed against his cheeks like butterflies' wings was real. The smell of smoke and burnt...things, was real. And when he scanned the ground, he saw the impression of many footsteps leading to the shore and he knew that this was real, too: Gavedon and the Order had survived. They had escaped. Hadrian had been abandoned on the island which he had killed.
It wasn't until one final thing clicked in his awareness that Hadrian lost all the strength in his limbs and collapsed against the remains of the castle wall.
It was the silence. The all-consuming silence. Since the day he had learned of magick, Hadrian hadn't known silence. The beat of Life's pulse had filled his being like a second heart. It had been his source of comfort in the dark, lonely days of his childhood. It had existed in his consciousness like a friend, reminding him that the world was full of wondrous entities greater than himself.
Yet now it was gone. Silenced. Because everything was dead. Or maybe...because he had lost his magick.
"I can’t," Hadrian whispered brokenly. He was at the end of his strength; at the end of his sanity. "Anything but that."
Taker of Life, he remembered hearing. Had that been his conscience speaking? Or―a sickening feeling of dread overcame him―had it been Life Itself that he'd heard?
He fell onto his side in the ash. This was Life's punishment. He had killed the only man he had ever loved. He had attempted to murder his own father. He had stolen from Life that which was not his to take.
For those heinous crimes he had been stripped of his power and condemned to a life without magick, to a life void of Life.
The sky continued to weep its tears of death, but Hadrian had none of his own to share. He closed his eyes and let himself be buried beneath the ashes. The wind that rushed past was pitiless.
Acknowledge-ments
Much love to the readers of JuxtaposeFantasy, who made Hadrian and every other character possible.
Read more from Tricia Owens
Sin City series
Ethan Winter has known since he was a kid that he wants to work for the FBI. Until then he's stuck modeling underwear and photographing cheating spouses for a private investigator. But when a trip to Las Vegas for a security conference brings him into contact with the magnificently dominant Maxmillian Poole, Ethan finds himself faced with a dilemma: pursue his childhood dream or become the partner of a man who seems to know him inside and out and who offers him a life any submissive would crawl for.
Read the Sin City books on Amazon.com.
Juxtapose City series
The young police lieutenant Black has his hands full removing the drug, Bliss, from the streets of his city. But when he's forced to bring onto his team a street-wise empath who's determined to seduce him, Black is pushed to his limits. The timing couldn't be worse, because an enemy from Black's past has risen to attack him and doesn't care who he harms along the way.
Seduction is the name of the game for a sexy empath and the enigmatic police lieutenant who has become his target. Resistance is delicious.
Read the Juxtapose City books on Amazon.com
A Pirate’s Life for Me series
After breaking up with his girlfriend, Lucas is eager to get away from reminders of their failed relationship, so he answers an ad to join a pirate show in the Caribbean. What he doesn't learn until he gets there is that there are two shows: one gay and one straight, and he's been hired for the gay show. Determined to stay, Lucas vows to 'play gay', but he hasn't counted on becoming the target of the show's pirate captain, Adam, and his first mate and lover, Tyler. Adam will only let Lucas stay in the show if he plays by Adam's rules. But Adam wants more than a good performance from Lucas, he wants Lucas to surrender to an attraction he's about to learn he can't resist.
Read the A Pirate’s Life for Me series on Amazon.com
LoLLA series
Lots of Love, Low Angst
The Bucket List
When Quinn nearly dies in a skydiving incident, his life flashes before his eyes...and it's pretty boring. Even though he's moved to Las Vegas to rebel against his strict Mormon upbringing, he still hasn't done much to liven up his life. Quinn worries that he really is a dud, until a gorgeous man walks up to him and makes an indecent proposal.
This is book one of the LoLLA series, standalone novellas featuring lots of love/sex, low angst, and a Happily Ever After ending. Perfect for when you want a quick dose of happiness!
Read The Bucket List on Amazon.com
Christmas Cookie Charmer
After a year of dating disasters, Elijah is back home in Zephyr Heights to lick his wounds and pursue the one true love of his life, his childhood best friend Ricky. Ricky is straight, however, Elijah doesn't see it as a problem. He's convinced that his love is strong enough for both of them and that it's just a matter of time before Ricky returns his feelings. Yet before Elijah can make his long overdue declaration of love, he's sidetracked by a competitor to his mother's reign as the town's cookie champion: his new neighbor Scott.
Read Christmas Cookie Charmer on Amazon.com
Discover many more m/m novels and standalones on www.TriciaOwensBooks.com