by E. M. Moore
Who was I kidding? I was definitely going to hell anyway. Maybe this was just a tease.
“Shh, my dear,” a raspy old voice sounded in my ear.
It was Grandpa and it wasn’t until then that I noticed I was screaming. There was nothing, but the shrill shriek of my voice as it echoed around me. It was like I was in a cave yelling my head off and the sound just kept coming back to me around and around again. I clenched my teeth together, forcing myself to stop.
Then, there really was nothing.
Chapter Sixteen
I awoke with the same blinding white except it was only along my peripheral vision. I closed my eyes again.
“Cas?”
It was Damen. I smiled. Emotion sprung to the surface. Heat stung my eyes. I was alive. Damen was alive, too.
“I’m here,” he said. “You saved the goddamn world.”
“Ha,” I chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Well, Salem’s the world to me.” He shifted beside me and touched my arm. “Why aren’t you opening your eyes?”
“I think they’re broken,” I said. “The light was so bright. Frankie really should’ve warned me to wear sunglasses.”
“I heard that,” Frankie said.
“She says her eyes are hurt.”
“Actually, I said they were broken.”
Damen sighed and I imagined him shaking his head. It was his favorite thing to do around me.
“I’m sorry I screwed everything up while you were gone, Damen.”
His hold on my arm tightened. “Are you kidding me? Jake’s been filling me in and it sounds like you’re the hero in all this.”
“Jake’s been leaving parts out then.”
I was going to say something similar, but it wasn’t me who said that last sentence. “Did you just slam me, Frankie?” I was laughing by the end of my question. “And it was a good one, too. You should give him a pat on the back, Damen.”
“I will when he fixes your eyes.”
Shuffling feet came toward me on the side opposite of where Damen’s voice had been coming from. When fingers touched my cheek, I jumped. “Calm down, Guardian. Let me check your eyes.”
He peeled my eyelids apart and the same white singe around the edges was there. “Does it hurt?” he asked.
I blinked a few times. The first blinks were like needles being shoved into my eyes, but by the tenth one, it wasn’t horrible. “A little.” I squeezed them shut and then opened them again. I motioned with my hands like big parentheses in front of me where the white scorched parts were. “It’s all around the outside.”
“I’m going to have to check into that,” Frankie said. “Never heard anything like it. Then again, no one has ever used the amber stone to stop a magical bomb from going off. These are uncharted territories.”
“That’s what happens when the Marston’s are around,” a voice coming from the door said.
I knew it was Jake even before he entered the part of my vision I could see. Damen got up and shook his hand and then pulled up another chair next to his in front of me. I looked back and forth between then, a breath held tight in my chest. I was twelve all over again. Unguardianlike tears threatened my eyes again.
Jake pat my hand. “It’s okay, Cas.”
I let out a big breath. “Whoo,” I said. “Okay.” I fanned my face and then turned toward them again. “What’s been going on? How long have I been out?”
“Just a few hours,” Damen said. “Salem’s safe, we’re all safe. Your Elite friend Sanders is around here somewhere…”
“We heard from Green Eyes and Barbara. They’re good, too.”
“Green Eyes?” Damen asked. “You mean Chester?”
“No,” I said, forcefully. “We are not calling him Chester.”
“What’s wrong with Chester?”
“Just no,” I said. “His name is Green Eyes. Besides, you call every male fae you meet Chester.”
“I’m pretty sure I knew him first, therefore, we’re calling him Chester.”
I smirked and shook my head. “I saved the day. I call dibs on Green Eyes’ name, and it’s Green Eyes. End of story.”
Damen looked at me, his eyes a little narrowed. I could tell he was thinking and from the look on his face, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about what. “He seems intent on coming to check on you.”
Ugh, god. I squirmed on the bed. “Tr— Green Eyes,” I said, catching myself. “He’s helped—”
“Shit. You know his name? His real name?”
“He’s helped a lot, Damen.”
Jake and Damen exchanged glances. I could tell there was a mutual understanding that Jake was going to fill him in later. Whatever. Guys were such gossips.
“What about Mayor Hawthorn?” I asked. “Did they get him? Damn Sasha.”
“No,” Jake stood and paced the room. “For whatever reason, Sasha called in her unit. They weren’t there to help extract Damen or Green Eyes. They were there to get the mayor, but of course he was tipped off. We just missed him.”
“Tipped off?” Hmm. That could only mean one thing. “Inside job?”
Jake nodded slowly. “Someone in her unit, or someone at Command got wind of it and told the mayor.”
“So, someone at Command is behind the magical attacks on ley lines.”
“Not just any someone,” Damen said.
I stared at him. He looked between Jake and me, and then sighed. “It has to be General Etau. From everything you’ve told me, Etau knows what’s going on and for whatever reason, he’s not doing anything about it. It’s like he wants the magical world to implode.”
“We can’t prove it though,” Jake said, sitting back down.
All of this was so familiar. How many times had we sat around and strategized and came up with theories? Hell, we used to come up with elaborate tactical stories and then tried to get the others to work it out in their head, coming up with different scenarios and strategies to take out the enemy. This was the first time we played while one of us was in a hospital bed, though.
After a moment of silence, Jake continued. “And after they’ve arrested Guardian Velo for treason, one of Etau’s loudest critics, I’m not so sure anyone will be willing to go around throwing accusations anymore.”
I groaned and laid back on the bed.
“Tired?” Damen asked.
“No. Just frustrated. We were so close, but why do I think we’ve only scratched the surface?”
The deeper we got involved in Command business, the more we were falling down the rabbit hole. The question was: Just how far down did it go?
The end
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for continuing to read Cas’s journey!
There is a lot more of Cas’s journey to come. I hope you’ll keep following along with her as she kicks some power-hungry, magical creature ass! If you “Follow” me on my Amazon author page, you’ll get an e-mail when I release another book. You can also sign up for my author newsletter here and be the first to know! Until then, Happy Reading!
Loved this book? Can’t wait to find out what happens next as Cas and her friends try to take down the bad guys?
Severed, Book Four in the Chronicles of Cas, is on pre-order now! Click here!
Other Books by E. M. Moore
Ravana Clan Vampires Reverse Harem Series
Chosen By Darkness
Into the Darkness
Falling For Darkness
Surrender To Darkness (Coming Soon!)
Chronicles of Cas Series
Reawakened
Hidden
Power
Severed
The Adams’ Witch
Bound In Blood
Cursed In Love
Adams’ Witch Spinoff Series, Order of the Akasha
Novella Starter — Stripped
Phoenix Series
Flight of the Phoenix available in the CREATURES box set!
Witchy Librarian Cozy Mystery Series
&
nbsp; Wicked Witchcraft
One Wicked Sister
Wicked Cool
Ravana Clan Vampire Series (Reverse Harem)
All my life I've never fit in. Since the accident, I went from foster home to foster home until I just ran away. I thought life would always be like that. Scraping by, barely living. That is, until I was chosen.
The Ravanas saved me. They brought me to The Fort so I could become a part of their world. Wanted. Secure. Training to be their human guardian was the only way they could let me in. Except, it's also the most dangerous. Now, we all have enemies--even me. Together, we must fight to keep the bond between us, or lose the most precious gift I've ever received.