Awakening Fate (The Chronicles of Elizabeth Fairbairn Book 4)

by Cheryllynn Dyess

  The sprite answered back, “That’d be great. It’s Jaquie.”

  “Okay. Black? Sugar and cream?”

  “Black is fine with me,” Jaquie responded as she now stood next to Sara.

  Jumping and grabbing her chest, “Oh my god.”

  “Sorry. I forget humans aren’t always use to our movements. I always go slowly when around people, but I guess I got comfy here,” the sprite shrugged.

  Taking some deep breaths, “No worries. I’ll catch on.”

  As she drove up to Elizabeth’s she saw several cars in front of the house, so she pulled off to the right and parked. No sooner than she stepped up on the porch, did the door open and Reba step out smiling. “You ready for all this?” She took Sara into a hug.

  Sara sighed, the hug was welcoming. “As ready as I’ll ever be. To be honest, I’m a bit nervous.”

  “Oh honey, this will be a walk in the park. That Zach fellas idea was ingenious, and we got some of the things started already.”

  “Things?” Sara questioned as they went inside.

  Elizabeth ran up to her and hugged her, “Girl. I’m so glad you came,” she pulled her friend’s hand and tugged her into the den. “Sara this is Zachary. Zachary, Sara.”

  Zachary stood, “Sara,” he held his hand out to shake, “it’s nice to meet ya.” He smiled and his eyes twinkled. Everyone but Sara noticed this.

  “Nice to meet you too,” Sara’s cheeks turned a deep red.

  Wesley came up behind Elizabeth, putting his arms around her from behind before he spoke to Sara, “Morning. How are things at the house?”

  “Weird, but I’m getting used to everyone. Jacquie was a bit of a surprise this morning,” Sara chuckled.

  “She always is,” Wesley responded.

  “Okay everyone, come into the kitchen and let’s get some food while we talk over everything,” Raina called out. Everyone obeyed and piled into the kitchen.

  Once everyone had a plate and was seated around the large table, Zachary spoke first, “Jeremy took the bait already y’all.”

  “Really?” Elizabeth quipped.

  “Yup. I got a text about an hour ago. Figured I’d just share when everyone was here.”

  “What’s it say?” Sari asked from the opposite side of the table.

  Zachary pulled his phone out, laid it on the table, entered the code to unlock the phone and tapped the icon to open the messages. He took a sip of juice then spoke, “At 9:05 he sent, You shouldn’t mess with another man’s girl. So, I, of course, replied, A man doesn’t leave his woman alone and she doesn’t belong to anyone.”

  “You instigated him?” Sara looked baffled.

  “Yup. Best way to get under his skin. He then replied I’ll see you later. She is mine, step away. So just before you pulled up, I responded, See you soon.” Zachary spoke with confidence but with an air of mischievousness. The smile plastered on his face spoke volumes.

  Elizabeth burst out laughing, “Oh my god. That was perfect. His ego is insane, and he hates thinking anyone has one up on him. He’ll surely be here soon if he’s not already.”

  Wesley’s phone rang, he answered. “Hey. Yeah. Uh huh. Okay. Got it. Thanks.” He hung up the phone and when he looked up everyone was looking at him. With a slight lean of his head and raised brow, “Well, seems like Devlon was spotted outside your workplace. Just sitting in his car, just before his tire went flat.”

  Sara’s face paled, “So it begins?”

  Zachary put an arm around her, “No one and I mean no one will get to you. We have it all covered. We just need you to be the smart and beautiful bait.”

  “Beautiful?” Sara asked.

  It was Zachary’s turn to blush, “Well, my girlfriend can’t be ugly.” This made everyone at the table laugh including Sara.

  There was a light knock on the back door causing everyone to go silent and all turn in unison to look and see who it was. Jasmine.

  Elizabeth got up to answer the door, swinging the door wide open she spoke, “Come on in Jasmine.”

  “Thanks. Hey everyone,” she spoke softly but everyone could hear here with as quiet as the room had gotten.

  “I invited her over. Thought she could help,” Elizabeth announced.

  Reba stood and left the room. Jasmines face paled until she saw her return with another chair. “Come on, join in. Want a plate?”

  “No. I ate earlier. Thanks.”

  Elizabeth looked across the table at Jasmine, then spoke to everyone, “Jasmine seems to be Devlon’s newest love.”

  Jasmine shook her head, “Oh that man!” Her voice raised a few octaves. Everyone laughed.

  “We more than understand. He’s messaged me too. I know he isn’t your favorite, but we could use your help if you are willing to be an inside eye for us,” Elizabeth replied.

  Looking down at the table, “I. I can do that. It’s the least I can do. I had no idea what kind of witch he was.”

  Sara looked at her curiously, “Are you a witch?”

  Jasmine looked shocked, “Oh no. I’m a … Is it okay to say?” She looked to Elizabeth who nodded affirmatively, “I’m a fairy sprite mix. So, I look very human, even Devlon doesn’t know.”

  “How do you keep him out of your head?” Sara asked.

  Jasmine tapped her temple, “I’ve been given a few gifts from my parents. One is the ability to close my mind off. Sadly, I didn’t get the ability to read minds,” She looked towards Wesley with a snicker, “or I’d have avoided a lot of trouble.”

  Sara nodded. She understood perfectly, “Thank you.”

  “Oh, honey not just for you but for all of us witches, elves, fairies, sprites and any others here… I do it for us all. We need peace,” Jasmine looked Sara in her eyes and sent a wave of calm over her, a gift few knows she has. “We will get through this, together.”

  CHAPTER 13

  “It’s finals week. Are you ready?” Sara asked Elizabeth across the table as they munched on fries.

  Wiping her fingers off, Elizabeth glances over at Sara, “Yeah. With everything that is happening it’s weird to think that we are also still just college students trying to make it through another round of finals.”

  Sara shrugged, “With the class load you have, I don’t know how you do it. I can’t do that many and have half the stuff going on. Oh, did you finish those other books yet?”

  “Sure did. But… I don’t have a job on top of it.” Elizabeth smiled proudly, both Sara and she were accomplishing a lot.

  “Oh! Yes, you do. Yours just pays with insanity or peace instead of money,” Sara chomped on another fry.

  Chuckling, “Yeah, I guess you go that part right. I have a goal to finish my basic herbal courses by summer. I think an Associate’s degree will be all I go for then I’ll work on getting a shop opened.”

  “So ambitious.”

  Elizabeth drank down her soda then sat back in her chair as she watched her friend finish off the last of the fries. “How are you doing, with all this happening?”

  Sara wiped her mouth with the crumpled paper napkin, “Actually not too bad. Everyone is really nice and most of the others really don’t show themselves. If I look hard enough, I can find them but if I didn’t know they were supposed to be there, I’d not know. Jasmine has turned out to be a great asset.”

  “I agree. Knowing what Devlon is up to and being able to feed him info is essential to this working. What about Zachary?”

  Blushing instantly, Sara smiled, “He’s actually really nice. I was worried after Jeremy and all but he’s playing the boyfriend role really good,” she rolled her eyes, “maybe a little too convincingly sometimes but he never oversteps.”

  Elizabeth laughed silently, “He is an eager one. He really likes you, ya know?”

  Sara’s eyes shot up, “What?”

  “Tell me you knew! You can’t be that oblivious to that boy’s affections.”

  “No. I didn’t know that. Wow. Really?”

  “He is quite eager to
impress you. I know you find him attractive. Ever consider taking it to a more realistic level?”

  Sara was a bit shocked. She knew she was attracted to him but never thought it was a mutual thing. Looking around slowly, she found the dwarf on shift and gave him a little nod. Elizabeth turned to see and smiled, pleased her friend was always covered. “I’ll consider it. But for today and tomorrow, finals!”

  “Deal.”

  The two young women gathered their things and headed to class. Finals for the next two days meant no coven business would get done and Elizabeth hoped that nothing would distract them from school.

  “Four finals today! Oh, my goodness I feel like my brain is now mush!” Sara exclaimed as Elizabeth and she walked into her apartment.

  Sitting on the couch was Jaquie eating a bowl of ice cream, “Hey Jaquie. Went straight for dessert today?” Elizabeth joked.

  “I can do that!” Jaquie replied as she got up to give the two women a quick hug, “Long day huh?”

  Sara plopped into her oversized chair, her head lolled backwards, “Yes. A full day of finals. I have one left tomorrow then I’m done.”

  Elizabeth dropped her bag on the floor next to the other chair and sat allowing her body to relax, “Four more tomorrow for me. Then two more classes and I’ll be done! For good!”

  “Lucky!” Sara replied.

  Rolling her head to the side to look at Sara, “You wanted the four-year degree, not I sister!” All three women laughed. “I’m just glad things were calm today.”

  Jaquie sat up straight and her face turned serious, “Well... not really.”

  Both Sara and Elizabeth sat up quickly and stared at Jaquie, “Huh?” They replied in unison.

  “Wesley said not to bother y’all cause of finals and all, but I can’t not tell you. Jeremy is in town. He was spotted this morning at the college campus. He stayed his distance, but he was watching you,” she pointed at Sara, “Zachary is coming over in an hour to take the last shift until Jewel comes. He said with Jeremy in town it needed to look real.”

  Sara sighed and looked at Elizabeth, “Guess we didn’t get that peace after all.”

  Jaquie continued, “Well to make it even worse…Jasmine hasn’t responded for a while. Seems like Devlon is out of reach for now.”

  Elizabeth’s face went from calm to angered in a second, “Damn it! Can’t we get a break!”

  Jaquie’s eyes went wide, “You good hun?”

  “No. No, I’m not. I just wanted two days without a concern, threat, or chance of chaos. I swear my limits are getting tested,” Elizabeth ranted. The room temperature rose at least five degrees and the other two women shared glances. She looks at them both, “What?”

  Sara tries to look innocent, “Well, I know your mad and all but your heating up the apartment a bit.” Elizabeth’s jaw dropped, she hadn’t noticed she was that angry. Looking over at Jaquie, the young woman just shrugged.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it. I’m just so frustrated. I really am sorry,” Elizabeth spoke sincerely but with frustration as she laid back in the chair and closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths to help calm herself down.

  The other women remained quiet in their thoughts for some time until Sara looked over at Elizabeth and realized she was asleep. Slowly getting up, making sure she stayed silent, she went and grabbed a blanket to cover her friend with. Motioning to Jaquie to go to the kitchen area to give Elizabeth some quiet, both women went and sat at the table to talk.

  Sitting across from the other that had given more than just her time to protect her, Sara found herself at a loss for words. Jaquie smiled knowingly, “It’s okay if you want to go lay down yourself. The two of you have been through a lot and I’m sure you’re wiped out from finals today.”

  “It wouldn’t be too rude of me?”

  “Nah, plus my times almost up tonight. We all volunteered to help. We know you have your own schedules to keep as well. Get some rest hun. You’ll wake up to a new face, or different one at least,” Jaquie tried to remain upbeat and jovial.

  Thinking hard, Sara asked, “Do you think he’ll really try something?”

  “Yup,” she shook her head as she spoke.

  “Great,” Sara sighed. She was exhausted both mentally and emotionally and just wanted normalcy to return.

  Jaquie put a hand over Sara’s and gave a little squeeze, “Look, you have some good people watching over you,” she glanced back towards Elizabeth, “and some good friends. No one wants this to be over more than her.” She jutted her chin in Elizabeth’s direction.

  Sara looked at Elizabeth as she slept, “she's an excellent friend.”

  “She did all this for your safety. She could’ve done nothing, but she wanted to make sure you were okay. Her heart is definitely in it.” Jaquie looked at her watch, then at the door just as she heard a knock. Getting up she smiled at Sara, “My relief is here. My time is done.” She reached over and gave the young woman a quick squeeze.

  Sara stayed in her chair, putting a foot up and hugging her knee, she waited to see who would be here next. She could hear Jaquie talking to someone at the door, back and forth. She looked back at Sara then went back to talking to the unknown individual at the door. She tried to keep her voice down, but Sara could tell she was upset. “Everything okay?” She called out.

  Jaquie stiffened at the sound of the woman's voice. Suddenly she was thrown backwards, and the door flew open crashing into a table and causing a vase to crash down to the floor. Elizabeth jumped straight up with the sound of the crash and looked back and forth around the room. Standing in the doorway above Jaquie, who was holding her nose as blood gushed from it, was Jeremy. Looking back at the other two women, Jaquie yelled out, “Run!”

  Sara jumped at the sight of Jaquie being thrown back and was in motion by the time the woman yelled at her. Elizabeth jumped up from her seat and stood her ground facing her brother. Jeremy should have cowered in front of her, but he just smiled.

  CHAPTER 14

  “Get out!” Elizabeth growled as she held her hands out by her side.

  Jeremy’s smile only broadened as he stepped closer to his sister, who refused to back down. Jaquie was trying to stop the bleeding that now soaked the front of her shirt so she could help while also texting Wesley and the others about the intrusion. Just as she hit send, she saw a form rushing in, jumping over her and slamming into Jeremy’s back.

  Taken by surprise by the form on his back, Jeremy toppled forward. Elizabeth sidestepped just as her brother landed on the floor. Holding her hands up and moving back out of the way. Elizabeth watched as the men tossed around the floor rolling back and forth. The man on Jeremy’s back wasn’t loosening his group and it made the magic-less man grunt in frustration. Swear words were being thrown around and the unknown man just laughed at them.

  “Get off me!” Jeremy grumbled.

  “Not a chance in hell!” The man replied. His face buried in the intruders back since he was much smaller. “You entered the wrong apartment!”

  Sara stood in the room, hand over mouth in shock as she saw her living room turn into a wrestling ring. “Terry! Be careful.” Elizabeth turned and gave her a questionable look. “Neighbor, just below us.” The young witch made an O with her mouth in surprise.

  “What in the hell is going on?” Zachary yelled when he rushed in the doorway. Jeremy stopped wriggling and glanced toward the door just long enough for Terry to get him in a headlock. He held his arms out in surrender allowing Terry to remove himself from his back. Jumping up and stepping back, Elizabeth was able to see Terry for the first time. He was a well-built man with a short stature who looked like he could take on any man and win. He stood by Elizabeth as Jeremy stood to face off with Zachary.

  “Hello friend,” Jeremy spit out.

  Zachary smiled, “Friend? Last I remember you were trying to burn my mom’s house down you…” He looked around and smiled, “You need to leave and never come back.

  Jeremy turned tow
ards Elizabeth, “Sister, aren’t you glad to see me?”

  Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief, “How are you even talking? Didn’t I-” She stopped suddenly when she realized Terry was fully human and wasn’t aware of the others and their powers. “Didn’t you leave? Why did you come back?” He stepped towards her and instantly Zachary stepped closer to him but stopped when Elizabeth held a hand up to stop him. “I’m not afraid on him. It should be the other way around. You weren’t invited, brother. You need to leave.”

  Jeremy was now with arms reach of his sister, smiling down at her he spoke calmly, “I met up with some… some friends and was taken care of. They did a wonderful job repairing the damage that was inflicted,” he glanced towards Terry knowing he shouldn’t say more, “so I thought I’d come home and recover what I’ve lost.”

  Clenching her fists at her sides, Elizabeth held her temper when she responded, “You lost? You pushed it all away. You were told what the repercussions would be.”

  While Jeremy and Elizabeth were speaking, Terry turned to Sara and asked with sincere concern, “Are you going to be okay?”

  She nodded, “Yes. And thank you. You saved us tonight!”

  “It’s what friends do, I’ll go now and let your other friends finish this up. Remember I’m just downstairs if you have any more trouble,” he gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before stepping around the siblings and leaving. Zachary watched this interaction and a bit of jealousy rose up in him, he had to quickly tamp it down because after all, he wasn’t really her boyfriend.

  When Sara turned back to the conversation Elizabeth was having with Jeremy, she could tell Elizabeth was running out of patience. Once Terry was gone, Jaquie closed the door to the apartment and everyone heard the click of the deadbolt. Jeremy turned and looked at the door and at Jaquie, who was standing by it no longer holding her nose but looking satisfied that he was now locked in.

  Elizabeth snickered causing her brother to face her once again, “What’s wrong? A little concerned that you are cornered.”