DEDICATION
Melissa, you know why this story is for you.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
There is never one person who makes a book come together. I wasn’t alone as I wrote this story, and hoped that the characters were brought to life. The woman who works magic creating the cover art on my books isn’t just a co–worker. She’s my friend. And every story I write, she works through with a fine–tooth comb, making sure to tell me when something sounds crazy. Alecia, I couldn’t do this without your help or support.
Also, Sarah… You deciding to pick up this book and give me your insight showed just how crazy you really are. Thank you for standing by my side through draft after draft.
DOOR IN THE GARDEN OF SHADOWS
Book Three of the Destruction of Magic Series
Copyright © 2018 by April Canavan
Published by April Canavan of Maine. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
Email: [email protected]
Cover Artist/Editor: Alecia Goodman www.aleciagoodman.wordpress.com
This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogues in this book are of the author’s imagination and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is completely coincidental.
ISBN 978–1984944801
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty–One
Epilogue
About the Author
PROLOGUE
There was nothing she could do. That’s what she would have to tell herself over and over. The battle would come, no matter what. Lives were going to be lost, and all she could do was follow orders. They were fighting to save the fae realm, but the darkness had already cracked the land into two.
There were two separate factions forming, and it wasn’t making the upcoming battle any more manageable. She tried to tell them to work together, but they were determined to bury their history and move forward alone. When they commanded her to destroy the darkness by herself, she wasn’t even surprised.
It was dangerous, and she wouldn’t let any of her covens assist her. It was a battle she would fight on her own. But in the end, the darkness almost won. She did the best she could, but there was no doubt in her mind that it would return. In the meantime, all she could do was try and convince the magical families that they needed to prepare. It was necessary to train their children, to use the power that the mother of all had given them so long ago.
Not one of them stepped forward. These rulers were content in their separate realms, not caring enough to help one another, and they grew lazy. As a result, she stopped caring. When the darkness returned, she wouldn’t help them. She had already lost so much because of these people, there was nothing she had left to give–except herself. She knew that she wasn’t going to provide them with the last part of her that was untainted.
One of her powers, the gift of eternal life that she had been granted by the mother of all was a gift that she had not even shared with her daughter, yet. She would not share it with anyone lightly. They would have to be pure of heart. Worthy of the change. She would never let the power into the hands of those that would abuse it. She would only give them the gift of true immortality when they were ready for it. There was too much at stake if it was abused.
Instead, she forced herself to think about the generations to come. Thinking about the future, she hoped that she would be able to train the younger generations the importance of working together. She feared that the day would never come when they would fight on common ground. If they could, though, nothing would be able to stand in the way of the fourteen magical realms. The mother of all had given them equal power so that none could destroy the other. Instead, their most significant strengths would be exposed only when they could learn from one another.
Inhaling deeply, she willed a vision to come to her. She let the power roll over her body, and she waited for the magic to show her what she wanted it to. She was old in the eyes of the humans already, but the Oracle did not age. She had the power to see the future, and when she could see an image of what it held, the revelation could change the world.
A woman in red, bound to the fates of all those she knows, afraid and alone. She will open the door. Fate cannot be changed; she pays her price. To let her escape without sacrificing every bit of herself would bring the destruction of the fae.
Smiling to herself for the first time in a long time, she knew it was time to talk to the young fae princess, Moira. The future was looking up, indeed. Now they just had to prepare for the years to come.
CHAPTER ONE
“Well, what did you expect to happen? You brought her here, against the very express orders of your king. She isn’t one of us, so you had to have brought her here to die.”
“What do you know about love? All you have ever done is a fight. She is beautiful, and she is mine.” The monster that had taken her was pointing in her direction and staring at a tall, blonde man. Dante, that was the name he had given her, but he was nothing more than a monster wrapped in the skin of a man. She stared at him, wishing she could crush his bones in her hands. He was stronger than her, faster. He had beaten her senseless and when she had woken; she was staring at the tall man from a slump on the ground.
“Everyone knows the Queen’s heart is weak. She’ll allow any union so long as she thinks it is made from love.” He wanted to marry her? Disgusting. She tried to hold the vomit back but was unsuccessful, hurling all over the expensive looking leather boots that Dante was wearing. He looked down at her with hate in his eyes, and she knew that marriage was the last thing on his mind.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and looked at the other man, the tall man. Dante may be a small and disgusting monster, but the other was taken straight from a romance novel. Ridiculous, that these two men could be talking about her like this. She stared up at the taller one, still feeling the sickness rolling in her stomach. They were both ignoring her now, caught up in their argument, and she had no choice but to listen to them.
“You think Sarah will allow your union? She can see into the souls of those she rules over. Do you think your queen won’t see that you plan on killing this woman for your enjoyment? See how she knows, deep in her soul that she has come here to die? Either by your hand or mine–there is nothing you can do. Come, we’ll take the matter before the Blood Court and see how Zander likes you disturbing his bride.”
Terrified, confused, and ready to scream–instead she decided to laugh. It bubbled up inside, and before she could catch it, she was in hysterics in front of two crazy people talking about killing her and blood, and unions. It was mad, and she must have gotten extremely drunk last night to think this was actually happening. She co
uldn’t stop laughing, gasping for air it continued on for several minutes. The two men just looked at her like she had grown a head. The tall one actually seeing her for the first time.
“What is wrong with her? Did you break the human?” His eyes burned with golden light, and she realized that he had no concern for her safety. He merely wondered if she had been broken and it did was make her laugh harder. Breathing was difficult; she started crying and trying to breathe but still the laughter poured from her throat.
And then she wasn’t anymore. The laugh had caught in her throat. Her body was racked with heaving sobs. They were going to kill her, and she had so much that she hadn’t done yet. She wished she had been able to get a message to Jessica before she had been taken.
Dante grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up. She didn’t even put up her hands to fight him off, she didn’t stand a chance against him anyway. “Don’t you dare vomit on me again, bitch.” He was hitting her in the face, his fist making contact with the side of her head. All she could hear was ringing, and it seemed to go on forever. She couldn’t fight it. Just wanted it to stop. She couldn’t even lose consciousness because all she could think about was the pain. Finally, when she didn’t want to take any more of the pain, she let out a blood–curdling scream. It made him pause for a moment. She used her few seconds and kicked out, hitting him in the solar plexus. Monsters had to breathe, so kicking him had to make him feel some sort of pain. Well, he certainly did at least, letting go of her and clutched himself where her foot made contact.
Before he started moving again, she pushed herself away and scuttled across the floor into the corner of the room. She didn’t want to look at either one of them, instead deciding to take in their surroundings. The tile was white, and the walls had gray streaks through them. She could hear them moving around, but their words were muffled. She was focusing on the wall, trying not to pass out. Willing herself to stay awake and conscious was taking far too much of her energy. Pins started to dance in front of her eyes, and the world was moving out from under her feet. Then she landed on something leather, that smelled of pine. She couldn’t open her eyes, not without vomiting again. So she sat there, held by a monster that wanted to kill her.
“Come, you’re going to see the queen, and when she hears you called her weak, I can’t wait to see the look on her face.” The taller man was the one holding her. His voice was like gravel across her skin, and she shivered in his arms. Dante was there somewhere, whimpering behind the giant.
“I don’t see how that needs to be said. She’s already going to take away my toy, and I haven’t even been able to taste her.”
“You’ll be lucky to have teeth by the time we get to the throne room if you don’t shut your mouth.”
They were moving now, and she slit open her eyes to see where they were going. It didn’t seem right that she was going to die before she had ever even lived. This place, this castle–it was beautiful, so much like the place where she had grown up. The marble walls continued for a few hundred yards in front of them, with hallways turning off in random places. There were no decorations, no paintings on the walls, and no lights yet she could see everything. Nothing was hiding in shadows, and the walls seemed to hum with warmth and happiness. It was the exact opposite of her home. Where there was kindness in the people, her land had been filled with anger and pain.
It was strange, for the home of monsters to have happiness instead of misery and blood. For it to have light instead of darkness and warmth instead of cold. She was warm in the giant’s arms too, but that was probably from the leather he was wearing and the fact that she had worked herself into being sick. Man, would her shrink have a field day with this. She enjoyed being in the arms of a man that was probably going to kill her before the day was through. What did she do to even get involved in whatever this was? She had kept to herself since moving to the city; she hadn’t yet contacted Jessica unless it was an emergency.
Sighing, she opened her eyes all the way and wriggled into his arms, feeling him tense as she did so. Half expecting him to drop her, she prepared herself mentally for the fall. Instead, his arms flexed and then tightened around her body, effectively squishing her against his chest.
“I don’t know why you have to carry her. She’s mine.” Dante sounded petulant even to her, and she had no idea how to gauge the emotions of a monster.
“She isn’t yours, and if you don’t stop there’ll be nothing left of you to offer an explanation to the Blood King and his Queen.” Her giant sounded amused, like what they were walking into would be a game for him. When she looked up at him to see a smile on his face. An evil, terrible smile; sending a chill through her–which only made him squeeze a little harder.
The Blood Court, that meant that they were vampires. Zander would have taken the throne after Jonathon, and Sarah must be his bride. Jessica would know what to do, but she wasn’t here. Instead, found herself staring into the giant’s eyes. When he saw that she was looking at him, he tore his eyes away.
She really looked at him for the first time. The smell of pine seemed to come from his pores, not his cologne. It was part of who he was, written into his very DNA. Just above the collar of his black leather jacket, she could see tattoos, but not modern ones. These had been etched into his skin a long time ago, and she had no doubt that if she touched the markings that she would feel the ridge of the ink underneath his skin. While she was looking at him, he didn’t spare her a glance. He carried her and continued to walk down the never–ending corridor, holding her as he went.
Dante didn’t say another word until they came to a stop. To their right was a pair of solid oak doors with no handles. How would it open? By some creepy vampire magic, no doubt.
“You know, you can go ahead and take her in. I’ll find someone else, someone more suited to this lifestyle.” All confidence had left Dante, and his words were more pleading than anything.
“Oh no, you’re going to face the wrath of the court. After all, you called her weak.” His grasp on her didn’t loosen, and she snuggled into the giant’s chest as if doing so would prevent the onslaught that was bound to lie behind the doors. Still, she prepared herself mentally while they continued to bicker.
“Really, she doesn’t need to know all that. I was only trying to have a bit of fun with the human. I think I’ll just head out.”
“I don’t think so.” He was angry, the giant. Without dropping her, he let go of the hold he had on her back and grabbed Dante by the throat. “Don’t even think about squirming. Trust me; it still hurts to break your neck when you’re a vampire.”
“I’m sorry.” Dante was coughing and gasping for air while trying to grovel to the much more powerful vampire. “I’ll wait. Just. Let. Go.”
With that, the giant released his throat, but not before she heard a sickening crack. He had snapped Dante’s neck. Good. That prick deserved it. Mentally, she stuck her tongue out at him. Why wasn’t she more afraid? They were about to kill her. Look what he did to one of his own, and she was ‘just a human’ that could die, as far as they knew. Yet she wasn’t afraid in the giant’s arms. He could have let her fall and hemorrhage or something from hitting her head. Instead, he caught her. He was probably a big marshmallow. A big, burnt marshmallow that looks harsh on the outside but is nice and squishy on the inside.
“I wouldn’t ever say that aloud.” A new voice came from behind them, and she jumped a little, even though she wasn’t able to physically move. She couldn’t see the new person, but he sounded normal. Maybe even cute. She craned her neck trying to get a look from around the giant but didn’t have any luck. The new voice continued with a laugh in his throat. “Oh, I’m definitely cute. I wouldn’t let Anna hear you say that, though, she might kill you. Anyways, Tyler would rather kill someone than get called anything other than deadly.” Then the speaker’s head popped into view.
He was tall, but not as tall as the giant. He also had blue eyes, strikingly so. He was cute but in a little brother
’s friend sort of way. The way that could get you into a lot of trouble. Younger than she was, without a doubt. She could feel all of their eyes on her… so she stopped looking at him, turning her head against the giant’s chest.
“Tyler, why are you holding a human? On that note, why is Dante on the ground like a sad little dog? Or is this the reason mom’s on high alert? Oh, I pity you, Dante. She’ll rip out your throat if you’ve hurt the human.” Dante was looking at him with anger in his eyes–still unable to speak.
“Ha! You can’t even fool me into thinking you love her. You don’t stand a chance against my mother, and she doesn’t even have all my skill. I can’t wait. Someone should make popcorn. Maybe she’ll conjure me up some to snack on.” With a wave of his hand, the doors swung open. “I don’t see why you couldn’t do that, Tyler. It’s not like your hands were full or anything.”
“Oh stuff it, mama’s boy. It’s not like you were doing anything when she said to fetch them. You could easily have been the one in this predicament.” Annoyance and affection clouded the giant’s tone. Tyler, the giant’s name was Tyler. Hmm, seemed to fit him.
“Ha. I know my wife better than to be holding another woman in my arms. She looks good in yours, though. I can’t wait to hear what they all think when you bring her in.”
He moved to stand in front of her, and she was caught by how youthful he looked once again. “Don’t worry, he really is a big marshmallow. Yeah–I can read your thoughts. Comes in handy when my wife is mad. Ha. I’m Jackson, I’d shake your hand, but I’m pretty sure Tyler’s got a death grip on you there. Come on in–they won’t bite your pretty human neck.” With that, he turned away from her, but not before he winked.
She wondered what they would do when they found out that she wasn’t actually human. Even as the doors opened in front of them, she saw that Jackson’s body stiffened for a minute, and she knew that he had heard her thoughts. He didn’t say anything, sparing her the embarrassment. Instead, he just moved in front of her.
Door in the Garden of Shadows (Destruction of Magic Book 3) Page 1