The Ghost, The Dragon, and The Lost King (Fated Chronicles Book 4)

by Humphrey Quinn

  “Welcome back, friend. It’s a load off to see you.”

  “You as well. And I’m sorry, I did not mean to eavesdrop. Couldn’t be helped.”

  “Do not worry yourself,” Aloyna insisted. She dragged the man to the table and rushed to get him a hot drink and a bowl of stew. “Anyone else hungry?” No one else was at the time.

  “Oh, did I miss your cooking, Loy.”

  Loy. Her grandmother had a nickname. There was so little Meghan knew of her blood family.

  Aloyna smiled. “Oh, um, sorry, everyone. Introductions. Robert, this is Meghan and Sebastien.” He nodded at them. She turned, “And this is Robert Motley. He’s a good friend, and to be trusted.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Sebastien greeted.

  Robert nodded. “I guess I can see it in the eyes,” he aimed at Meghan. He’d heard a lot of their conversation it seemed. “I heard all of it actually.”

  Meghan’s mouth dropped open, and she slammed it shut.

  “Never fear, Red.”

  Meghan frowned. Did this guy refuse to call anyone by their true name? And no one had ever called that before, even in all the years her hair had been red.

  “You’re a Firemancer.”

  “How…” she didn’t finish.

  “Oh, Robert. Stop. You’ll give the poor girl a heart attack,” claimed Aloyna.

  The man laughed. “I read minds,” he explained. “Not all the time. That’d give any man a complex. But I had to be sure this place hadn’t been compromised before I came in. Got here right after you all did.”

  “But a Firemancer,” Aloyna noted, thinking hard about that.

  Robert tossed Sebastien a glowing sort of grin. He cast his gaze downward, air getting trapped in his lungs. Robert smiled at him, and shook his head. “I’ll keep your thoughts to myself,” he jabbed.

  Meghan got hot in the face. Just what was Sebastien thinking?

  “Well, enough of the not so serious.” He pushed his empty bowl back.

  “I might have found out where they are headed. They were using some pretty powerful magic. But I managed to break through a little.” Robert eyed Sebastien for a second. “You’re wondering what I am. I’m a Projector, like Jasper. We’re not all freaks.” He laughed hard, at that. “Or like Jasper over here, needing all kinds of serenity to make it through the day.”

  “Do you not have a second soul?” blurted out Meghan. “Sorry, if that’s a personal thing.”

  “No. I’ve never had the need to have a second soul.”

  “Robert has an uncanny ability to…”

  “Not give too many cares about things, and let them go,” Robert finished Jasper’s explanation with a hearty laugh.

  There was something comforting about the guy. Kind of a big, brutish, lovable teddy bear thought Meghan. Her eyes went wide. Crap, can he read what I’m thinking right now?

  “Just don’t feed me any honey.” He winked at her. He really did just fly with things. She’d never met anyone like him.

  “How do you do that?” she asked. “Just let things fly?”

  “Natural born gift. I never really even had to try.” He slapped Jasper’s back. “This one’s always been jealous.”

  Jasper grunted.

  There was a question on the tip of her tongue, although now didn’t seem like the time. But she might never get the chance again. There were two Projectors sitting in front of her.

  “Just ask,” Robert grinned out.

  “Well, it’s um, without going into all the reasons why, in my day, Projectors are feared. Like people freak the hell out at the thought of one being in existence. But you guys seem, kind of, normal. I am confused.”

  “I can’t say why everyone despises us so much in your future. But, there’s not many of us, and we tend to stick together,” explained Jasper.

  “We are powerful, if let loose,” Robert continued.

  “I’m not sure I get what that means.”

  “Our powers have no boundaries. We are essentially freaks of magic. We didn’t get the typical natural born limits most everyone gets.” Jasper rubbed his chin. “The real problem lies in emotions and not living in the present. When we get overwhelmed, our magic gets overwhelmed.”

  “And that’s when things get crazy,” said Robert. “But we don’t all need second souls to help control the chaos. Well, most do. It’s a smart idea. I may even choose to at some point.”

  “The real danger lies in our own hearts. If we give in to the power. If we let the power take control of us. The more magic we let loose, well, there’s this addictive sort of high. If you let too much magic out, and give in to that high, you can lose yourself. And then…”

  “That’s a bad day for everyone.” Robert got more serious then.

  “Which is why we tend to stick together. Keep each other in check. Find things that anchor us to even ground.” Jasper’s gaze drifted to Aloyna.

  “And why really, using magic is not always such a great idea. We train ourselves, and test ourselves. Our limits. And we stick to those limits if at all possible. And truthfully, less magic and less chaos equals a fairly stable life.”

  “Which is hard in a time of war,” included Jasper. “We are tempted to try many things in order to stave off potential loss of life, or whatnot. In the end, it’s a bit like knowing you are one of the most powerful people in existence, but also knowing if you give in, and really let that power free, it will end up doing more damage than it’s worth.”

  So this is what Colin and Colby had to look forward to. Colin, she trusted to try to do the right thing. Colby? He wasn’t lost yet, but he was close.

  Robert had the look of trying to get into Meghan’s mind a little deeper and she twisted her mouth in a smirk.

  “Okay, now. Robert,” started Aloyna. “Turn it off. Let’s all get back to business. You said you may have found out where my son is heading.”

  Now the conversation was getting interesting.

  Robert sat back. “Yeah. He’s got that Stone of his under heavy guard by the entire Vetala clan. Your son is on the move.”

  “Wait,” Meghan found herself saying. “So the Immortality Stone is not created yet?”

  The three adults stared at her, and she watched Aloyna’s hopes fade right before her eyes. Meghan realized she might have said too much. Broken one of the no talking about the future, rules.

  “So he succeeds,” Jasper assumed.

  “Yes.” She left out the part that she was immortal herself, and hoped this Robert guy wasn’t listening in. There’d be no secrets left about the future then.

  “Could you have been sent here to help us stop the creation?” Aloyna wondered.

  How did she know what the heck she’d been sent here to do? Everything was always a guess. Always some riddle wrapped up inside another riddle.

  Maybe the future they’d come from no longer mattered. Maybe the future they’d return to, was nothing like the one they’d left. Sebastien had to be thinking the same thing because his hand had snaked into hers under the table. Whatever was going to happen, they were staying together.

  “I’m sorry, child.” Aloyna reached out and grasped the hand she left on the table. “Clearly, you are caught up in the middle of a terrible mess. Dragged in because of who you are. Because of the blood that courses through your veins.”

  This wasn’t the same Aloyna she was used to. Although, she hadn’t spent much time with the woman, and she had not yet spent hundreds of years imprisoned in glass.

  That thought nearly made Meghan vomit. Neither she nor Jasper had promising futures to look forward to. Apparently, neither did this Robert Motley, as she’d never met him in the future. And he was a Projector, very hard to kill.

  Sebastien tossed Meghan a side glance. How did this woman in front of them become the woman who created a prophecy that was the entire reason Meghan was even born in the first place? And it sounded like the war was just beginning, not ending. And if the Stone had not yet been created, neither had the
Grosvenor. So Aloyna and Jasper didn’t know they were sitting in front of an immortal child born out of a fake prophecy, that she had created.

  All of this was starting to seriously hurt Meghan’s brain.

  “You know,” started Sebastien. “We might be thinking about this all wrong. We’re always trying to figure out his plans, what he’s going to do next. Get ahead of him. Perhaps the real issue is, how does he stay ahead? It’s almost like he’s getting fed information.”

  “A seer?” Meghan suggested, instantly poo pooing it. “A seer would be helpful. But they still wouldn’t be able to keep him that ahead of the game. And he’s smart, there’s no question about that. But yeah, it’s like he’s getting fed his information.”

  “How?” Aloyna asked no one in particular.

  “Do you think my father is traveling back in time?”

  “That could be one crazy theory,” Jasper replied.

  “If he was doing the time travel thing, wouldn’t he be messing with changing the future though?” Sebastien put in. “He can’t be right all the time. Sometimes plans backfire no matter what.”

  “It’s a farfetched idea. And really, he’d need to be able to see into the future, not so much the past.” Jasper took on a curious frown.

  “Is that possible?” Aloyna asked.

  “If one can go to the past, why can’t one go into the future?”

  “Even if he has somehow figured this sort of thing out, it does not help us tonight.”

  And they were right back at square one.

  “Why don’t you two get some rest.” Aloyna showed them to a room and shuffled them inside. There was a laugh from Robert. But he said nothing, only shook his head and belly-laughed while passing his gaze between Meghan and Sebastien as the door closed.

  “I’m guessing he knows we’re not actually married,” glowered Meghan.

  “He can read whatever he wants, I’m still not staying in another room. And that’s not me trying to be, you know, romantic or anything, it’s just… this is all…”

  “Yeah. I know. And we need to stick together. Like almost literally I think.” She plunked down on a not so firm mattress and bounced a little. He deflated a little, seeing that she agreed. He was afraid she might try to argue. “We can’t chance only one of us getting yanked out of the past, or something crazy.” She patted the seat next to her on the bed. He joined her there.

  “This is so many levels of crazy, Meghan.”

  “So many,” she agreed. “I wonder though, why we are here? Are we really meant to change the future? To a possible one that doesn’t include ourselves, in it?”

  “What if we’re not meant to go back?” he posed.

  “You mean, we’d live out our lives back in this time?” She hadn’t even thought about that as a potential outcome. Not going home. But he might be right. If they changed the future, there might not be a place for them to return to.

  Well didn’t that kind of suck.

  And wouldn’t Meghan eventually show up in the future again? She was immortal. If she lived forever, she’d eventually catch up with that life. Only much older. And perhaps, wiser.

  Sebastien let out a telling exhale. Meghan got that sinking feeling again, he really wanted to talk. About them.

  Part of her wanted to, and the other sort of no longer cared.

  Part of her was angry and might always hold a little resentment, and part of her was thrilled he was back in her life again, because she’d missed him.

  But reeling in this new reality, of them being stuck in time, or maybe even making themselves not exist, it did feel like the right moment to clear the air. They might not have another chance.

  “Sebastien.” She decided to just get it over with. “I, um, get there’s stuff you want to say. The truth is, I don’t think I care anymore.”

  He flinched a little. “I’m not sure what you mean by that.”

  “I’m not even sure. I think it’s mostly I want to focus on the here and now. And the future, if we have one, and not so much the past. No pun intended,” seeing their current living conditions.

  He chuckled. “I get that.” But he still had no idea how she felt about everything, or him, or if she was still angry.

  “Sebastien, there’s a very small piece of my heart that’s always going to despise all the things you didn’t tell me. But it’s lumped together with all the secrets no one else told me, either. And I do understand, mostly. We’re all living out other people’s plans. You too. We’ve all been pawns in other’s people’s games.”

  “I just need to be able to look you in the eye, and honestly say I did everything I could to make up for it. And to be able to apologize, even if you can never fully forgive me. I know I can’t ever forgive myself.”

  “You’ve been my friend for a long time. I really missed you. I think that’s the part I’m struggling with. Not all the lies and secrets, or Amelia Cobb, or all the stuff you did or didn’t do. It’s that one thing. You were supposed to be my best friend. And I was scared. A lot.” That was one of the hardest things she’d ever admitted. “Colin and I were suddenly stripped out of one life and thrown into another. Cut off from that old life. We had no idea if Uncle Arnon was alive. But you did know. And you had contact with both worlds. We believed we were stuck.”

  Sebastien started to speak but she cut him off, needing a minute to finish. Now that she’d started, she found he had plenty to say.

  “I know in the end it probably doesn’t matter. Magic was going to find us, and mess up our lives. I know you were bound by your side of the crazy. It just hurts. To know how close you were, all that time.”

  “If Amelia had caught on that I was unsure about my job, she would have called me back, and I would not have been allowed to watch over you at all. I chose the lesser of the evils. Although, I’d maybe rethink all of it, if it brought us back to this moment and you were not mad at me. Because I really missed you too.”

  “I’m not mad. And the truth is, if it wasn’t for you, we’d probably not be sitting here right now at all. Because you saved my butt too many times to count. So many times I thought for sure I was probably just doomed to die.”

  “Except you can’t.”

  “Yeah. And there’s that little problem.”

  “Why is that a problem? You can’t die. That’s a good thing from where I sit.”

  “But you can. You will. Some day. Hopefully very, very far into the future.”

  “That would be preferred.” But he saw her point, loud and clear. Just another roadblock to muddle through, in his mind. But something much larger, in hers.

  “For what it’s worth, Sebastien, I want to put it all behind me. I don’t know what my, or yours, or anyone’s future’s hold. Which seems silly being that I’m a seer and shouldn’t I be able to know some of those things?”

  “I am sorry, Meghan. It doesn’t make up for it. And it’s hard to put the past behind when it keeps rearing its ugly head.”

  “Yeah.” An awkward silence came over them. The tension suddenly quite thick. Exhaustion weighing them down. Sebastien pushed himself back against the wall behind the bed.

  “Come here.” It was a gentle order. Which Meghan obeyed, seeing as it was what she wanted but had been too chicken to ask. And was partially disappointed in herself because she’d never wanted, no needed, this before. She tucked herself into him, and he wrapped his arms around her like he was holding her together, since she struggled to do that herself.

  Getting older sucked, she decided.

  She might be sixteen, but she might as well have been going on sixty.

  CHAPTER 37

  There was a knock at the door. Then another, a little louder and with more impatience.

  Arnon and Kanda passed a knowing glance between them, they’d expected this to happen. They set aside their coffees, which were doing nothing to help their morning get going anyway, there was only so much caffeine could do with being overly tired. Arnon clamored to his feet as the third knock
hit the door with even impatience.

  “Morning, Nashua.” The Tunkapog leader nodded curtly at Arnon and invited himself in. He did, greeted his sister, but refused to sit. And he was not alone. Billie was with him, along with Curtis Bevins, the temporary leader who took the place of Amelia Cobb after her demise.

  “We know why you are here,” Kanda spoke softly. “Unfortunately, you can’t speak with her.” She meant Meghan.

  “Why not? We’ve had enough waiting. We’ve given her time, as requested. We will,” Nashua was cut off by Arnon.

  “Meghan is gone.”

  “What? Where did she go?” asked Billie.

  “Couldn’t tell ya,” answered Arnon rather gloomily. They saw it in his demeanor, not to bother pressing to see if he was lying. It was clear he was not, and was worried.

  “Look, we all want to know what the three immortals are up to,” said Curtis. He shook his head. “But maybe we are not meant to, no matter how much we wish to.”

  “I just want to get to the Svoda island,” muttered Billie, sounding defeated. “And if we can help Meghan, or Colin, in some way, then I would do that too.”

  Nashua’s harsh quiet indicated he was a lot more miffed about not knowing where Meghan had gone off too, or what her plans were. And truth be told, he wasn’t the only one worried about their youth, or lack of experience in battles. Or magic in general, really. Fated, or not, Nashua was not going to go easy on the youngsters. Although he was a leader and had a lot of people to watch over, a lot of futures, to preserve.

  “We should all be working together,” he stated.

  “As long as by together, we all want what you want,” Curtis retorted.

  Billie rolled her eyes. “And here we go again, more rounds of chasin’ or own dang tails!”

  Another figure appeared in the door, timidly so.

  “Maria,” welcomed Kanda. “Please, come in.” It was getting a little crowded.

  Nashua confronted her before she made it three steps. “I am assuming Ivan Crane has followed his sister.” His statement also demanded her to tell them, where to, at once.

  “He did go with her, yes. I’m sorry, I don’t know where. Or for how long,” she sighed out worriedly. “Only that I promised to be waiting here for him whenever he did return.”