Mind Games

by Christine Amsden

  “My father.”

  “Your father doesn’t even want anything to do with Alexander.”

  “He does if Alexander can right a certain wrong.” I looked significantly at Evan.

  He sucked in his breath. “And you’re warning me?”

  My face went scarlet. Staring down at my shoes, I shrugged. “I’m crazy, all right? Just get the hell out of here.”

  “Why are you warning me?”

  “Why does it matter?”

  “It matters to me.” Evan reached for my arm, but I flinched away before he had a chance to touch me.

  “Just get the hell out. I could still raise an alarm.”

  This time he didn’t hesitate. Pushing his way back through the crowd, he put his head together with Scott, the two men whispering furiously. A minute later, Amanda Lee joined her brother and his best friend.

  “Welcome, ladies and gentleman!” A man I didn’t know stood at the podium, his voice magnified, though not through any technological means.

  My head swiveled back to Evan, who still seemed to be deep in conversation with his allies.

  “It is with great pleasure that I introduce to you a man who has been working hard to bring justice to the magical world. A man…”

  I tuned out the man at the podium, concentrating instead on Evan. Since I had always gotten the impression that the Lees were good with magical illusions, I took out my phone and swung it around to focus the camera on Scott, Amanda, and Evan.

  Only Evan wasn’t there. Somehow, he’d gone, leaving only an image of himself in his wake. I fought back a smile, because it wasn’t going to be pretty when Alexander discovered his disappearance. He would lose support here in Eagle Rock, and it would be my fault. I’d warned Evan, knowing it would hurt Alexander’s cause, one I had gradually come to embrace.

  Hopefully, he would never find out what I’d done. In the meantime, I decided, I would accept his offer. It might even be good for me to get away from Eagle Rock, at least for a little while. It would definitely be good for me to get away from Evan.

  Epilogue

  EVAN BLACKWOOD REMAINED WITHIN THE PROTECTIVE confines of his own home for the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening, allowing his conflicting emotions to roil within him.

  Alexander had betrayed him. Evan had no illusions that Alexander’s plan to arrest him had been out of a sense of justice. It had been a power play, pure and simple, and the worst thing was that if Cassie hadn’t warned him, it would have worked. Sure, some of his allies would have resented the arrest, but others would have been too impressed by the show of strength to care. More importantly, Edward Scot and his allies would have celebrated the victory.

  Yet despite his anger at Alexander and his fear that an army might still descend upon him, Evan felt an odd sense of euphoria for one important reason: Cassie’s warning.

  She hadn’t said why. Quite possibly, she didn’t even know why, but Evan knew, or maybe he just hoped. Maybe his grandmother wasn’t crazy after all. Perhaps there was hope for the two of them.

  Somewhere, under her hurt and anger, she still loved him. There was no other reason for her to warn him off, not when letting Alexander’s troops arrest him might have gotten her everything she had always wanted.

  The real question was, how did he convince her that she still loved him? More to the point, how could he convince her without going through several months of unimaginable pain, after which he would lose half of himself? He could handle the pain, he had decided long ago, but it was the loss of self that really frightened him. The magic was his. It had always been his, and however he had come by it in the first place, it defined him now.

  Long before he came up with an answer to his questions, the doorbell rang. Evan looked out the window and saw, to his surprise, Matthew Blair. The man had never been to Evan’s home before and Evan didn’t trust his presence now. He opened the door, but crossed his hands over his chest and did not invite the sorcerer in.

  “What?” Evan asked.

  “I have a proposition for you.”

  “I can’t think of anything you have to say that I would be the least bit interested in.”

  “You may not want to jump to any conclusions,” Matthew said. “This is bigger than our differences.”

  Evan glanced meaningfully at his watch. “You’ve got two minutes.”

  Matthew grinned. “I’ll make it quick, then. Alexander lost face when he tried to arrest you at the conclave and it turned out you weren’t actually there.”

  “How do you know?” Evan asked. “Your family didn’t go.”

  “Of course not, but we’ve got sources. Anyway, he’s leaving town, but I don’t think he’ll be gone for good.” Matthew paused. “I don’t trust the man. I thought we might have that in common, after what he tried to do to you.”

  “I don’t think we have anything in common.” Evan looked at his watch. “One minute.”

  “Don’t you think it’s odd that the group at that church got so out of control, just when he came to town? They’ve never been pleasant, but my family has never had trouble like this.”

  Evan didn’t answer, but despite himself, he was listening.

  “I think he intentionally created a situation that he hoped would unite the community.”

  Evan checked his mental shielding, but it seemed to be holding firm. So either Matthew was sliding around the shield or his arguments actually made sense.

  “He had some good points,” Matthew continued. “I think magical unification may be just what we need, but I don’t think he’s the one to lead us.”

  “Let me guess,” Evan said. “You are.”

  Matthew smiled. “I am uniquely qualified.”

  “I don’t think so.” Evan started to close the door.

  “I need you,” Matthew said in a rush. “I need a partner in this and I can’t think of anyone better than you.”

  “I bet.”

  “You need me too. I heard about some of the things you did over the summer. You’re getting a lot of respect from people and could do a lot of good, but you know you’re finished with Alexander.”

  Evan grunted.

  “You still want to make a difference, don’t you? And take down Alexander?”

  “I don’t care that much about Alexander and I don’t want to work with you.” Evan started to close the door again.

  “One more thing I thought you should know,” Matthew said, sounding casual. “Alexander has Cassie.”

  Evan opened the door and stared at his nemesis for only a fraction of a second before stepping aside. “Come in and start talking.”

  End

  List of Characters

  Adams, David – Eagle Rock’s Sheriff Adams, Jennifer – A newcomer to Eagle Rock in search of magic Atkins, Bethany – Elementary school teacher and 47-year-old wannabe who made Cassie’s witch hunt list Bane, Eric – A distant relation of Cassie who made her witch hunt list Blackwood, Evan Warren – The man who has been in love with Cassie all his life Blackwood, Laura Hastings – Evan’s mother Blackwood, Victor – Evan’s father and Edward Scot’s arch nemesis Blair, Caroline – A powerful empath, James’s wife Blair, Grace – A powerful seer, James’s mother Blair, James – Eagle Rock’s mayor; he knows when people lie to him Blair, Matthew – A powerful mind mage and telepath who has taken an interest in Cassie Blair, Robert – A powerful mind mage and empath, James’s son Blake, Wesley – Cassie’s partner at the sheriff’s department Blane, Jason – Cassie’s cousin and vampire hunter Blane, Sherry – Cassie’s maternal aunt; her mother’s identical twin Carter, Madison – One of Cassie’s best friends and a songbird Clark, Ben – Made Cassie’s witch hunt list Clark, Mrs. – A recently drained sorceress sold into marriage with Ben Clark DuPris, Alexander – The leader of a nationwide magical unification effort Eagle, Barry – A fifth grader who can become insubstantial; he is also a maternal cousin of Evan’s Eagle, Clark – Current head of the founding family of Eagle Rock; Nicolas Scot’s mentor Ea
gle, Linda – A witch midwife married to Clark Eagle Hastings, Abigail – Evan’s maternal grandmother and a powerful seer Hastings, Danielle – First grader with the gift of foresight, a great-granddaughter of Abigail Hastings Hastings, Kevin – Evan’s maternal uncle (Abigail’s son) Hewitt, Belinda – Local witch who ensnared men with love potions until her death in book 1

  Hewitt, Jasmine – Local witch who loves to throw curses, Belinda’s mom Hewitt, Tom – Elementary school pupil, Belinda’s nephew Jackson, Larry – Works for Alexander DuPris for magical unification Jenkins, Bruce – Elementary school pupil (farsight) Lake, Tyler – An associate of Alexander DuPris Lee, Amanda – Another cousin of Evan’s, she is Scott Lee’s sister and has the gift of invisibility Lee, Brenna – Elementary school pupil (invisibility) Lee, Jenna – Elementary school pupil (auditory hallucinations) Lee, Scot – A werewolf, powerful intuitive, Evan’s maternal first cousin, and Evan’s best friend Malloren, Paul – 17-year-old sorcerer from a family known for stealing Matthews, Mr. – Sarah Roberts’s father McClellan, Cormack – A dealer in cursed objects; David’s brother McClellan, David – A dealer in cursed artefacts who has caused Cassie trouble in the past; now deceased McClellan, Nathan – Elementary school pupil (David’s son) Meyer, Kaitlin – Cassie’s best friend and a waitress at the Main Street Cafe Mueller, Angie – A former friend of Cassie’s and member of the Gateway Church Roberts, Amanda – The 9-year-old daughter of Pastor Mark Roberts Roberts, Mark – The pastor of Gateway Christian Church Roberts, Sarah – Mark Roberts’ wife, killed in a fire Scot, Adam Francis Solomon Arthur – Cassie’s 6-year-old brother; charismatic Scot, Cassandra Morgan Ursula Margaret – Narrator and main character (Cassie) Scot, Christina Pamela Evangeline Medea – Cassie’s 3-year-old sister; farsight Scot, Edward – Cassie’s father Scot, Elena Moina Athenais Tabitha – Cassie’s 9-year-old sister; medium Scot, Isaac Walter Nostradamus Edward – Cassie’s 12-year-old brother Scot, John – Cassie’s paternal uncle Scot, Juliana Isobel Circe Marie – Cassie’s 15-year-old sister; healer Scot, Nicolas Merlin Apollonius Roger – Cassie’s 18-year-old brother; firestarter Scot, Sheila Blane – Cassie’s mother Travis – A clan of blood mages Wolf, Henry – Respected and powerful sorcerer; Evan’s mentor Jane – Dispatcher at the sheriff’s department Rick – Cassie’s former partner; currently a security guard at the Gateway Church Sam – The fire chief

  About the author

  Christine Amsden has been writing science fiction and fantasy for as long as she can remember. She loves to write and it is her dream that others will be inspired by this love and by her stories. Speculative fiction is fun, magical, and imaginative but great speculative fiction is about real people defining themselves through extraordinary situations. Christine writes primarily about people and it is in this way that she strives to make science fiction and fantasy meaningful for everyone.

  At the age of 16, Christine was diagnosed with Stargardt’s Disease, a condition that affects the retina and causes a loss of central vision. She is now legally blind, but has not let this slow her down or get in the way of her dreams.

  Christine currently lives in the Kansas City area with her husband, Austin, who has been her biggest fan and the key to her success. They have two beautiful children, Drake and Celeste.

  http://www.christineamsden.com/

  Cassie Scot Mystery series

  Cassie Scot: ParaNormal Detective Book 1

  Secrets and Lies Book 2

  Mind Games Book 3

  Stolen Dreams (forthcoming July 2014) Book 4

  Other novels by Christine

  Touch of Fate (paranormal suspense)

  The Immortality Virus (SF suspense)

  If you enjoyed this book, please post a review

  at your favorite online bookstore.

  Twilight Times Books

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