Did we do the wrong thing by saving her? I had always thought she was happy, that this was what she had wanted, but perhaps we shouldn’t have done it. Martun had changed when he came back. He had been wrong and hated me for bringing him back, but I had assumed it was because of the time he had spent in the Veil.
Or maybe Regan just hated that she felt like she owed Cam something.
I noticed that I had stopped walking and was standing in front of a door. Cam’s door specifically.
My hand moved on its own and knocked.
There was the sound of movement behind the door and a muffled thump and groan of pain. She was leaning to one side when she opened the door.
“Casey,” she whispered. She was standing in just a pair of dark blue boxer shorts and a tank top, obviously getting ready for bed or just lounging around her room in comfortable clothes. “Casey, what’s wrong?”
“What?” My voice shook.
She reached her hand out and brushed her thumb against my cheek. “You’re crying. What happened?”
I hadn’t even noticed. I wiped away my tears angrily and swallowed a sob crawling up my throat. “Regan and I fought again.”
“Come inside.” She stepped to the side, inviting me into her room.
I walked in and quickly found her bed, falling into it ungracefully, but that wasn’t my primary thought right now. I was lying facedown and trying to keep myself from crying uncontrollably. The bed dipped beside me, and I chanced a glance up to see Cam sitting beside me, looking at me with sad blue eyes.
“Tell me what happened.”
I sighed and sat up. My hands were fidgeting in my lap as I told her what happened and I soon felt tears rolling down my cheeks again. “What if we did the wrong thing?”
“She’s frustrated, we all are. It’s been hard. We’re not just fighting for lives, we’re also taking them. Everyone has been running low for a while. Of course she would say things she doesn’t mean. And then add on the fact that she is the weakest one in our group. No magic, no connections, she’s average. And last year average wasn’t a bad thing. It was manageable and still helpful, but it’s just not enough anymore. And she knows it. She loves you. She’s just frustrated right now,” Cam assured me.
“I’m not sure I can do this anymore,” I whispered, fidgeting with the engagement ring around my neck. “I’m not sure if I even want to.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure I want to be with someone who makes me feel like this all the time. She refuses to take me seriously, and all she can do now is yell at me and get angry. She punched a wall today, and when she looked at me before I left, I was afraid I was next on her list. There’s something in her that never used to be there. And it scares me,” I admitted quietly.
“Hey, you don’t need to be frightened of her.” Cam draped an arm across my shoulders and pulled me against her tightly. I felt her chin on the top of my head, and we just sat there for a few minutes.
It was comforting to be held like this and to be so close to someone who I wasn’t so worried about all the time. I felt safe and happy for the first time in months, and it wasn’t even with Regan.
I slowly untangled myself from Cam, who frowned curiously. “What’s wrong?”
“I just—I’m not sure,” I managed to get out as I tried to ignore this odd feeling in my gut.
“Casey, you can talk to me.”
There it was again, that feeling that flared up whenever she said something.
I bit my bottom lip and finally met her eyes. I tried swallowing past the lump in my throat, but to no avail. She had to look down, and I was looking up, painfully aware of the couple of inches between us.
I was the one who moved closer. I glanced at her lips. Her tongue darted out to wet them, and her blue eyes shone with a mixture of confusion and excitement.
And then I could feel her lips just barely brushing against mine, both of us unable to make the final step and fully press into the other, so our lips just stayed there, hardly touching.
I pulled away so fast I almost fell over. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry, Cam. I have to go. I’m so sorry.” I scrambled out of the bed and to the door, banging my foot on a small end table as we went. “Son of a bitch!” I shouted as I rushed to the door, hopping slightly as I went. That must have been what happened to Cam too.
I ran back to Regan’s room and threw the door open, bursting in without waiting for an invitation.
“What? Back to tell me I’m doing something wrong again?” Regan snapped.
“I’m sorry,” I gasped.
“Sorry? Really? You’re dropping to fake apologies?” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.
“No, I’m sorry. I almost kissed Cam. It was completely my fault and I was just emotional after our fight and I’m so sorry. I lov—”
“What did you say?”
“I’m sor—”
“No, after that part. The part where you almost kissed Cam. Repeat that. I want to make sure I’m not hearing things.” She was surprisingly calm for once.
“Regan, I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I whispered.
She didn’t say anything but shouldered past me and stormed out of the room.
“Regan, wait!” I started to chase after her, following her down the hall and then down the stairs, shouting her name and trying to explain, but she wouldn’t even acknowledge me.
Then we arrived in the main hall, and she was heading toward the door when she finally stopped and turned to face me. “How could you?” She was crying, her thin body shaking with each breath and her face looked even sicker now.
“I didn’t mean to. We’ve been fighting so much and I never see you anymore and I went to Cam for advice. I was just there and someone was finally there for me and you have changed so much, I barely recognize you now. You won’t even talk to me anymore. And for a moment I had someone who was close and I was emotional and I needed comfort and I’m so sorry.”
“Nothing happened.” Cam sounded breathless and I could hear her coming down the stairs behind me.
Regan didn’t even say anything but instead lunged toward Cam with her hands outstretched, reaching for her throat. Cam dodged easily and held her hands up in the universal sign for not wanting to fight, but Regan didn’t even seem to notice.
“Calm down, please. Let’s talk this out for a minute. It’s my fault. I got too close and I knew she was emotional and having a lot of trouble and to be honest I took advantage of that a little bit, it’s my fault. Casey is the one who stopped it.”
An angry roar tore from Regan’s lips, and she went to take another swing at Cam who dodged once again.
“Regan, please! Stop this!” I shouted, trying to draw her attention away from Cam.
It worked.
She instead turned toward me and knocked me to the ground. My head smacked against the marble floor as Regan straddled my waist. She was able to get in two hits before her weight was lifted off me.
There was yelling that I couldn’t make out through the fog of pain and then the sounds of a fight once more, though this time I wasn’t sure if it sounded so one-sided. And then there was another exchange of harsh sounding words before one of the large wooden doors slammed.
“Regan,” I groaned.
Cam rushed over to me and dropped to the ground. She touched my forehead gently and began pouring her Life Force into me. “She shouldn’t have done that.” She sounded like she was doing everything in her power to remain in control.
“Where is she?” I started to sit up, but Cam forced me back down and continued healing me.
“She left. She’s probably going to cool down and come back when she’s ready to talk things out. She knows that the war is more important than this. And she better know that what she did was unacceptable. I should have stopped her earlier. I’m sorry, Casey. I didn’t know that she would ever do something like this.”
“It’s not your fault. Something isn’t right in he
r. I don’t understand what changed, but she’s not the Regan I know. We have to find a way to get her back, Cam. We can’t let this devour her. We have to bring her back.”
“We’ll start looking for her tomorrow if she’s not back yet,” Cam said quietly, “Now please try and rest.”
“We have to find her,” I whispered as I fell unconscious.
Chapter 22
IT HAD been a week since Regan left, and I was falling apart.
The first snow came the night that she left, and I expected her to come back, to take me outside and kiss me as the white flakes fell down around us.
She didn’t.
Alex and Liam ran the meetings, and I just nodded along, Cam often having to step in to get them to stop fighting. Ston had left to check in on Lynne two days ago, probably to get away from Liam and Rose. Wulf’s visions died down, and he spent most of his days flirting with women rather than coming up with solutions to problems. Naldri was giving me daily reports on the research that was taking place on the tree. Twitch and Flick had gone as well, mostly because Twitch was one of the head researchers, and Flick felt uncomfortable leaving his brother alone. Cinder barely moved. He spent most of the day sleeping and moping around. We didn’t talk much anymore, neither of us had the energy or heart to try.
And I was somewhere else entirely.
I spent most of my time in the library, sitting in the armchair by the window. The one Regan had taken from me before she knew me. Sometimes I swore I could still smell her, even though I knew it was impossible.
I hadn’t been in her room yet, and I told everybody not to go in. When she came back, I wanted her to know I respected her privacy. I also didn’t think I would be able to handle going into her room right now.
A meeting had been called, and I was staring out of the window and ignoring what was being argued about at the table, probably troop movements or the next attack, whether we should focus on defense or offense, something that everyone liked to argue about. And the door opened, drawing my attention and making my stomach twist at the idea that Regan had come back.
Instead it was Naldri who stood in the door. They were wearing a pair of slim jeans and a neon blue crop top that showed the line of hair in the center of their stomach, looking as cute as ever. “I finally got through to them,” Naldri said breathlessly, a smile lighting up their face.
I tried to hide my disappointment by feigning interest. “Who?”
“My people. I got an audience. They finally scheduled a debate for me to speak against what’s been happening. There will be a vote after. It’s tomorrow. They tried to throw me off and set it up, thinking I wouldn’t have time to prepare. I have to leave now. I have to go back.”
“That’s amazing!” Liam exclaimed. “You’re right, you have to go. We’ll leave now.”
“No.” I didn’t even recognize my own voice. “You and Alex should stay here, focus on what’s going on here. Cam can act as the voice of reason between the two of you. Naldri and I can handle this alone. If we need anything, we’ll send for help. I’m sure there are people in the area.”
Alex frowned. “I’m not so sure about that, Casey. It doesn’t seem like a good idea. I think you should take someone else with you. Cinder isn’t enough backup.”
I looked over at him, lying in the corner. He had been sharing my pain, feeling everything I was feeling, and piled on the guilt of not being there to stop her. “Cinder needs to stay here. He deserves a break after how hard he’s worked. When I come back, Cinder and I will both be taking a break. We’ll of course be kept in the loop, and I’ll be making decisions and everything, but I think we need to be away from the Temple for a little while. Maybe go to the elves and work there or back to the city. I think we’ll be able to think more clearly somewhere else. But until I come back, Cinder will stay here.” His tail thumped, and I could feel a quiet warm thought come from him, not in words but in emotion.
We could go back to the elves in the mountains. Be in nature for a while. The kids there loved you, I told him softly.
Maybe Regan is there.
Maybe. Our hearts ached for her. Me for my love and him for a lost piece of his family. She’ll be home soon.
“I don’t like that,” Liam admitted after a moment of stunned silence.
Cam stepped into the conversation. “She won’t take no for an answer, you know that. She has magic, and she has Naldri. No matter what you say, she won’t take anyone else with her, so instead of wasting time arguing about it when she is just going to do it anyway, why don’t we focus on things we actually have some control over?”
I gave Cam a small smile but quickly let it drop as the guilt churned in my stomach. “Right. So Naldri and I will be heading out now. I’ll see you when they are in control of the dwarves again.” And then I rushed us out of the room and to the ferry to take us back to the mainland.
I COULD tell Naldri wanted to talk, but thankfully they didn’t push it, and we walked in silence for the most part, leaving me to focus on the layout of the underground system we were in at the moment.
But our silence couldn’t last for long and Naldri finally spoke up. “Regan will be back. She just needs—”
The rest of their sentence was cut off by gunshots.
Naldri whipped out two pistols—where they were keeping them I’m not so sure—and I began pooling Life Force in my palms. I held my hand out to shoot a blast of fire in the direction I thought they were, but nothing happened.
“What the—”
“Now!” a voice called out from behind me.
I whirled around, and dark elves swarmed us. Naldri called for help on an earpiece Twitch had made to reach over long distances. They were listing off our coordinates while shooting. They got a few more shots off, but before they could do any more a dark elf hit Naldri with the butt of his gun, and they dropped to the ground. Dark elves stepped over the dwarf and surrounded me, every single gun pointed at me and fingers on the triggers. I tried again to use magic, but to no avail.
There was shuffling in the crowd as they parted for someone.
The dark elf I had seen in Scanton. His red hair was tied in a ponytail and a dangerous smirk played along his lips. “We’ve got someone who wants to see you.”
“This is where it starts getting good.” Jaysun’s laugh echoed in my ears as the butt of a gun slammed into my head made the world go black.
I GROANED in pain and opened my eyes to a dim room. My head throbbed and my mind was fuzzy. I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position and touched the back of my head. My hair there was matted and damp, probably from blood, and the wound was partially closed. As if I was healed just enough to keep me alive.
I tried to use magic once more, but I couldn’t get the Life Force to leave my body. I slammed my fist against the concrete floor and pressed my forehead against the cool surface, trying to remain calm.
Cinder.
No answer.
Cinder, please. I’m in trouble.
Nothing.
Not even the familiar presence of him. I couldn’t feel him at all. It was like our connection had been severed altogether.
The idea of losing him like this broke my attempt at maintaining my control and sobs wracked my body. The door opened, and I pushed myself into a sitting position once again, but I couldn’t find the strength to stand. My body tensed when I saw the dark shape in the doorway.
“Hello, Casey.” The silhouette stepped forward and into my light.
My breath caught in my throat, and my heart threatened to stop beating altogether. “Ston.”
More from Nikolai Joslin
The Fires of Destiny: Book One
Casey Kelley, a powerful young mage, has spent her whole life inside the walls of the Temple. The day she leaves to venture into the real world, the Old Ones task her with killing a dangerous necromancer who is gaining strength. She is joined by knight protector Regan Cartmell. Society may despise mages, but Regan never did, and she has sworn to protect
Casey, even at the price of her own life.
Pickpocket Cameron is a mage whose father escaped the Temple, choosing to raise her in secret. After her parents were killed, she was forced to live on the streets, gaining a deep distrust for mages. She wants nothing to do with the Temple or magic of any kind.
The three friends must put aside their differences and defeat the growing evil before it spreads.
NIKOLAI JOSLIN was born into a military family and has traveled all over the country. He found solace in reading and writing fantasy and science fiction. He never truly found a place to call home until he went to college, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, where he studies the Baking and Pastry Arts. He hopes to one day open up his own bakery and microbrewery.
By Nikolai Joslin
THE FIRES OF DESTINY
Life Beyond the Temple
Cold Front
Published by HARMONY INK PRESS
www.harmonyinkpress.com
Published by
HARMONY INK PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
[email protected] • harmonyinkpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cold Front
© 2017 Nikolai Joslin.
Cover Art
© 2017 AngstyG.
www.angstyg.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Harmony Ink Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or [email protected].
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