by RJ Crayton
“The Talisman. It worked?”
He grinned. “I didn’t have the power to really tap into its full strength. That’s what I’d need to heal myself.”
“How?”
He inclined his head toward the room we’d just entered. It was small. Too small. Just a few feet in front of me was a wall. That didn’t make any sense. I walked to the wall and realized it wasn’t a real wall. It was just a mirage. Some sort of magical cloaking spell. But it seemed odd to make such a spell that was so obvious. I walked through the wall, and on the other side, lying on a bed, was my mother.
Chapter 32 - Promises
I didn’t understand. I walked over to her, and she was still and unmoving. Yet, she didn’t seem to be dead. She couldn’t be dead and still look like this. Exactly the same as my memories. Exactly the same as she was ten years ago when he’d killed her.
“She’s in stasis,” my uncle said.
I turned to him for a moment, just to see his face. He seemed completely serious. But I realized didn’t care. I didn’t care what he looked like or what he said. I turned back to her, and tried to confirm what he’d said was true. She was in stasis. I felt her hand. Cool to the touch, but not frozen like in death. And I leaned down, pressing my ear to her chest. I could hear it. Her heartbeat. Not strong and steady, but a slow thud every few seconds. She was alive.
“They said you killed her.”
“I let them believe I did,” he said. “I realized once I’d taken her, that if they didn’t believe she was dead, they’d coming looking for her.”
I turned back to him, standing between him and my mother. “Why would you do this to her?”
He sucked in a breath and hung his head. “I’m not proud,” he said. “I was angry, and I wanted her to stop, to freeze, to pause. I wanted her to see what I was trying to do. I thought that if I could show her your power, show her that everything I said was true, she’d finally understand. I just wanted time. The time I hadn’t had with Idris. I wanted the time to make things right.”
I felt a surge of anger in me. I wanted to hurt him. “You took her from me,” I said. “I should have spent all this time with her, and instead …” I felt the hot tears trickle down my cheeks, as I looked down at her. “Instead, she was here.”
I could feel the air around me crackle. I could feel the anger in me rising.
“Your power is beautiful, Kadirah,” he said.
“Fix her,” I spat. “Wake her up.”
“I can’t,” he said. “Not without the rest of the Talisman.”
“You’re lying,” I said.
He looked me in the eye. “I’m not lying. I am simplifying. I could wake her in the next hour, but then we’d both die. She tied her fate to mine. It saved my life, but it doomed hers. When I put her in stasis, I realized exactly what she’d done. Within moments, the shared fate spell had revealed itself. That’s one of its hallmarks. It gives you time to reflect on what you’ve done before it carries out your fate. If it’s a reversible spell, you have time to repent. Instead, what I did was brought her here. The temple wasn’t this grand then. It was small, a workspace I’d been sneaking away to erect. I took her and the Talisman, and I performed a containment spell with it.”
“What is that?”
“It’s brilliant,” he said with a chuckle. “I don’t mean to brag, but it truly was. It didn’t change your mother’s shared fate spell, but it contained it to one part of me — the Ghazer. As long as your mother is in stasis, so is the Ghazer that threatens to kill me. It will not spread throughout my body. But the moment I lift the spell, it will return. And because she has linked our fates, as I grow ill, so will she. We will both die.”
I shook my head. That couldn’t be right. I looked down at her. She was right here, alive. She looked the picture of health, pristine. “Shared fate is to keep you from casting new spells on the person,” I said. “You had the Ghazer before. It shouldn’t hurt her.”
“Your understanding of shared fate spells is limited, Kadirah,” he said. “They truly tie your fate to the other person. Why do you think people don’t perform shared fate spells? They are dangerous. Your mother thought I was someone I’m not. Just as Pylum does. I want to help mages. I want us to live a life to our full potential. I want you to fulfill your destiny. I want you to reach your full potential. Your mother, too.”
A memory of the way she used to hold me and sing me to sleep bubbled to the surface of my mind. I wanted her back. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Zygam, offering a sympathetic look. “You miss her,” he said, more of a statement than a question.
I pulled away from him, and walked to the room of the wall. I needed a minute to think, to figure this out. I sat down, putting my back against the wall, closing my eyes. My mother was alive. She was here, and she could be roused. We could be together again. I could be a good daughter for once. Not the awful daughter Zygam had turned me into in her memories, but a kind and loving daughter. The kind of daughter I’d been to Auntie.
And Auntie. She could have her sister back. She would want that. They were close. There were still tears in my eyes, tears of joy to know my mother wasn’t lost to me, but tears of sadness for all the time I had already lost with her.
“Kadirah,” Zygam said. “I know that Pylum has given you the other piece of the stone. You have the alab Elpida needs to work.”
I looked up at him, and it was in this moment that it all clicked. This was the room. This was the scene. This was the moment that Pylum had foretold.
“I know this is hard for you, Dirah,” Zygam said, as he knelt in front of me. “You have to know I don’t want things to be hard for you.”
I nodded and sucked in a deep breath. “If I give it to you,” I said. “It will work? It will be a cure?”
Zygam smiled at me, a kindness in his eyes. “I promise you, it will work.”
And in the vision Pylum had shown me, I’d handed him the alab. Just that easy. Right now, more than anything, I wanted that necklace back. I wanted that craggy little rock so it could cure my mother. I nodded to Zygam. “I don’t have it anymore,” I admitted. “But I’ll get it. I promise you.”
Also By RJ Crayton
Prophecy of Light – Trapped
(Book 1)
“Be careful what you say. Words have power.”
Kady can’t remember a time in her life when she wasn’t in hiding.
When Kady awakens in the middle of the night with her house crumbling around her, her aunt hustles her into the night and tries to protect her -- through words, magic words.
While her aunt succeeds in hiding Kady, the woman falls victim to the mage who has been searching for them the past 10 years. Kady knows that she must find her aunt and save her. But will she be able to tap the power trapped within her to do it?
This is part one of a four-part series. Kady’s story continues in subsequent books. Available on Amazon. FREE for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
PROPHECY OF LIGHT – UNLEASHED
(Book 2)
This is book two in the Prophecy of Light series.
Kady must learn to unleash the magic trapped inside her if she is to help the mage Pylum rescue her aunt.
As Kady learns her way around the Temple of Light and takes classes to help her understand magic, she makes new friends like Jasper and learns more about the mysterious mage who helped her in book one: Akilah.
Will Kady be able to unleash her power, and what else might she find when her bonds are broken?
Order it on Amazon. FREE for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.
SCENTED
Scented is powerful tale about life, death and love, woven through the tapestry of characters with unique abilities. If you enjoy stirring, supernatural tales with love at their center, you'll adore Scented.
Sixteen-year-old Bryan Harper has felt alone since the day eight years ago that a sickening, unfamiliar scent wafted from his mother. When he realized too late the new odor was a prelude announcing death, he knew hi
s new sense of smell is a gift, not a curse.
At a young age Lauraline Reese escaped death, yet its specter still haunts her. Unable to let go of the feeling that death has not forgotten her, Lauraline finds it hard to find peace with the storm that almost took her life.
When Lauraline walks into his life, Bryan knows instantly that she is different from the others. He doesn’t know why she appeared, but there is one thing he is sure of: his life is about to change. He just doesn’t know how.
As the two grow close, Lauraline helps Bryan discover a vital message, and Bryan finds himself in a race against death to set things right.
Can Bryan live a normal life despite his talent in scenting death? Or will he be forever marred by the curse of knowing when someone will die next?
Grab it FREE when you Subscribe to the Mailing list or Order it on Amazon.
CONCEALED
(Virus Series, Part 1)
They said we were safe. They were wrong. When pandemics destroy the world above, the safety promised underground proves elusive. Start this page-turning series today.
Seventeen-year-old Elaan Woodson is supposed to be one of the lucky ones. She received placement in the subterranean protection unit designed to keep select families safe from the deadly virus ravaging the world above.
She’s found happiness in the routine underground, and even a budding a romance with another teen lucky enough to get a coveted spot away from the virus.
But, as Elaan hears snippets of conversations from those closest to her and those in charge, she’s beginning to think things aren’t as safe as she believed. While Elaan has heard that what you don’t know can’t hurt you, she’s beginning to think otherwise.
The truth may be the only thing that can keep Elaan safe. But can she discover it in time?
Order it on Amazon
(FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers)
EXPOSED
(Virus Series, Part 2)
She is their chance for safety. Now they must find her.
The safety of the underground bunker is left behind. Elaan and her friends are out in the open, exposed to the world above. Exposed to a world that has been ravished by the virus. Can they make it to the one person they’ve been told can provide them safety?
Order it on Amazon
(FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers)
CONTAINED
(Virus Series, Part 3)
No place is Safe.
Elaan, Lijah and Josh have been searching for safety ever since they left the Scientist Protection Unit.
As they're forced to leave their latest home, they find old friends in new places. Just as they think things are finally coming under control, the ground shifts beneath them.
In this exciting final book, our leads search for the solutions that have evaded them thus far, in hopes of reaching a happy ending for themselves and the world in peril.
Order it on Amazon
(FREE for Kindle Unlimited Subscribers)
LIFE FIRST
"I was completely intrigued by this book from the very first page. There were fairly few characters in-keeping with the story, but they were all extremely well thought out. I really think RJ Crayton should be expecting calls for film rights because this played out in my mind as I read it like a really great film.... It gripped you like King Kong and would not let go until you had finished the book."
- BestChickLit.com
Strong-willed Kelsey Reed must escape tonight or tomorrow her government will take her kidney and give it to someone else.
In this future forged by survivors of pandemics that wiped out 80 percent of the world's population, life is valued above all else. The mentally ill are sterilized, abortions are illegal and those who refuse to donate an organ when told are sentenced to death.
Determined not to give up her kidney or die, Kelsey enlists the help of her boyfriend Luke and a dodgy doctor to escape. The trio must disable the tracking chip in her arm for her to flee undetected. If they fail, Kelsey will be stripped of everything.
FREE from Amazon.
SECOND LIFE
“This thriller based on government conspiracies and lives that are twisted around is captivating! I just can’t give the twists away but you will be sat on the edge of your seat.”
-Amazon Customer Review
Susan Harper is being held captive by her government. As the normally feisty Susan's hopes of freedom dwindle, a mysterious stranger sneaks into her room and promises to help.
Susan and mystery man Rob grow close as he tries to orchestrate her escape. When the duo discovers the truth behind Susan's captivity, they realize they must act quickly if they're to save her. Susan and Rob will need more than passion for each other and their wits to succeed. They will need help from old friends, including Kelsey Reed.
In the previous book, Life First, Susan gave Kelsey a chance at a second life. But now will she get her own?
Order it on Amazon
Third Life: Taken
"This was the best book of the series and the perfect conclusion to the story. It was a stomach churning, tension filled rollercoaster of emotions as you followed the two distinct but intertwined plots."
-Chuckles Book Cave
When Kelsey Reed fled her country to escape a forced kidney transplant, she was sure she’d never return. However, when her brother-in-law shows up on her doorstep, he commits an act of betrayal that changes everything.
Forced to head back to the nation that tried to kill her, Kelsey will need the help of her husband Luke, and friends Susan and Rob to escape with her life.
Order it on Amazon
Life First Boxed Set
Step into a society that values humanity over individual humans, where your body is important because it might be able to save others. This box set includes the three books in the thrilling dystopian Life First series.
Includes:
Life First
Second Life
Third Life: Taken
Order it on Amazon.
Four Mothers
Four stories. Four mothers. Four crises. One great read.
Our notions of motherhood run the gamut from the mythical Super Mom to the dreaded Mommy Dearest. None is entirely true, as a mother's love is always unique, and all mothers are both perfect and flawed. Four mothers tells four sagas of mothers who each face a crisis, either real or perceived, in their parenting life. Change the way you see motherhood.
In The Beads, Iram is a mother coping with crisis -- a child in a coma after nearly choking to death — when something happens that affects her entire outlook.
In Almost Perfect, we see our Mommy Dearest end of the spectrum with Bitsy. She wants her grandson, whom she is raising to be perfect, and with Bitsy, we are reminded, it's not just stepmothers who are wicked.
Tilda, the mother we meet in As Luck Would Have It, exudes luck from every pore. She would love to be the super mom who saves the day for her family, but she has one problem - her daughter’s seeming lack of luck. In fact, Tilda’s luck fails whenever her daughter is around. Tilda's solution to this problem could prove problematic.
Felicity is relishing her overbearing husband's absence on a business trip, when her Two-Day Break suddenly turns into a nightmare.
Also included in the collection is a bonus story, Lynch Party, about a mother who has a different perspective on what makes a great party activity.
Order it on Amazon
About RJ Crayton
RJ Crayton is the author of the three book series. The Prophecy of Light series includes Trapped, Unleashed, Foretold, and the soon to be released Fulfilled. The Virus series includes Concealed, Exposed, and Contained. The fast-paced dystopian Life First series include Life First, Second Life and Third Life:Taken. She's also author of the paranormal novel Scented and the short-story collection Four Mothers. Prior to becoming an author, Crayton was a journalist. She reported for several publications, including The Kansas City Star and Education Technology News. Crayton live
s in Maryland with her husband and two children. When she's not writing, she enjoys eating cupcakes, walking, reading, sewing or watching TV (she's partial to Star Trek, super hero flicks and gripping dramas). To find out more about her, visit her website, www.rjcrayton.com.