by G. Bailey
Tales & Darkness
Lost Time Academy:Book Three
G. Bailey
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Contents
Description
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Also by G. Bailey…
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Note From The Author.
Stay in Touch
About the Author
Tales & Darkness © 2019 G. Bailey
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edits by Polished Perfection.
Created with Vellum
Description
What if fairy tales wanted to destroy the world? What if you are the only one who can stop them...
With Lost Time Academy and the rest of the island fast asleep, Madi and her men set off to find the secrets hidden in the council of good tales before they wake up.
With a goddess declaring war on earth, Quin’s uncle missing, and no one else stepping in to help, Madi, Warren, Quin and her Tale brothers need to save everyone.
With dark powers arising, hidden prophecies coming true, and a world to save, Madilynn Dormiens needs to become what she was always meant to be.
What the world needs her to be.
Even the Darkest Fairy Tales can fall in love…
18+ Fairy tale Reverse Harem Romance.
Prologue
Grandmother Raven.
“When the ravens come,
The ancient tales will succumb.
The raven crows, the raven knows.
When the raven dies, sleep will arise,
For sleep and war are destined for only ruin.
The raven will fall, the world will sleep.
For only a beauty can survive the deep sleep.
Dark and good are destined to fall when time is lost.
The council will be replaced,
and there will be Masters no more.
For there can only be one leader of them all.
Words will be spoken in the great war,
Only the sleeping raven can save them all.”
“Why are you telling me this?” I ask them, staring at the five Masters who have called me here today. It’s very unusual for anyone to be called to the Masters and actually be in front of more than three of them at the same time. I can’t help but feel guilty; my secrets could very easily be the reason I am here and in trouble.
“Miss Raven, may I suggest you do not lie to me,” the woman, the clear leader of them all, states. She has long blonde hair all pulled up into a tight bun, pulling so tightly it’s a wonder she has any wrinkles left on her forehead. I haven’t ever paid interest to the Masters in charge now, or who they are. Maybe I should have. “Dark and good, that line from the prophecy, it means your relationship with a dark tale.” My hands shake as I instantly go to deny it, but she talks first. “We know, there is no point hiding the truth from us.”
“He isn’t evil!” I exclaim, standing up from the wooden seat I was in and glaring at them all. “I’ve known Horace for years, ever since he saved my life, and he is not evil. He is not a monster, and he will never be one. His father will die soon, and Horace will take the throne. If we could all get along—””
“I’m sure he is not evil, for he is only a boy now, but it matters neither way,” she states with a cold tone, her expression one of nothing but disgust for my love of Horace. They don’t do anything but kill dark tales, how could they ever find out what some dark tales are truly like? One evil king does not make all them evil. “The prophecy is clear; you will cause nothing but chaos if you continue this relationship. Now, we have found you a husband, a good tale from a brilliant tale line. You are to leave Lost Time Academy tonight and be brought up in his community where the dark tale cannot find you. It is best for everyone.”
“If I don’t?” I nervously ask, my sweaty hands trembling still, and they see it. I hear my ravens outside; their squawking echoing the pain in my heart. I know the answer.
“Then we will be forced to terminate him and then you afterwards,” she replies, and the other Masters bow their heads in agreement.
I don’t say anything as my heart breaks into small little pieces, never to be fixed again. I spread my wings out and fly into the air, hovering above them.
“If it isn’t me, it will be my child. Or her child or someone else’s. The prophecy will always come true.”
“No, it won’t, because our children will become Masters and make sure it never can. We are needed to keep this community a secret from the rest of the world,” she replies, keeping her head held high as my eyes drift to her hand resting on the bump she has. They have their world and don’t want anything changing it, more like.
“Can I be excused?” I ask.
“You are excused,” they reply, and I reluctantly bow my head before flying out the window and over the city as my tears fall onto the houses below. I stop, hovering in the air as I look back at the council building.
One day, they will all fall.
One day.
Chapter 1
I gently brush Sin’s hair off his forehead before carefully gliding the tips of my fingers down his cheek, thinking about everything that has happened in the last day. Not long after Warren healed Sin, I woke up to find we are all in Knox’s dimension. After that, it has been a waiting game to see when Sin wakes up, while we just hope that he does. Warren swears he will be okay and that he needs to rest. I just desperately need to hear Sin’s voice. I need to know we didn’t just give up a chance to save everyone by coming back in time and unleashing a dark goddess into the world. We all know he is healing still, but we are all anxious to hear his voice, to know this is actually real. Even though he is here, breathing, we all still have that grief in our hearts. It isn’t something anyone can just shut off. I turn my head up, locking eyes with Knox and freezing for a second. His dark eyes pull me in, making me relax and forget everything for longer than I want to. I can’t just be happy already; we don’t have everything fixed yet.
Our war isn’t over.
“I can’t believe he is here,” I whisper to Knox, breaking the moment. He is looking extremely tired. Considering he hasn’t slept in the last forty-eight hours, it’s no wonder. I get up off my seat and walk around Sin’s bed to the other side, resting my hand on Knox’s shoulder. I squeeze his muscular shoulder through his thin blue shirt, feeling his warmth. Knox is always warm, like he is just waiting to be held. He takes my hand and gently kisses the back of it before looking up at me. I can read so much emotion in his eyes, possibly just because I know hi
m so well.
“This is our second chance. We were given a gift,” Knox tells me, looking back to his brother, and then he yawns. “But the lazy bastard could wake up soon so all of us can rest.”
“Do you want to sleep for a bit?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.
“No—”
“I promise to wake you up in an hour or two. Or straightaway if Sin wakes up. You need to sleep, Knox,” I tell him, and he looks between me and Sin for a second before slumping his shoulders and nodding once. He must be seriously tired, or he would never have agreed to that. I walk with him over to the sofa, where he lies down, and I grab a blanket off the chair before covering him with it. He rests his hands behind his head, looking up at me for a moment.
“Sleep dust?” he asks me, and I nod, kneeling down at his side.
“You never did tell me why you struggle to sleep,” I ask him, curious to know the answer.
“Do you really want to know?” he asks me.
“I want to know everything, Knox. I love you,” I tell him, and he smiles sadly at me before leaning closer, kissing me ever so softly.
“I love you too,” he tells me before resting back, placing his head on his bent arm. “One mission we were sent on was to get a woman back from a dark tale keeping her hostage. They sent us to this small village and to an even smaller house in it. The dark tale attacked us straightaway, literally from the moment the door was open, and it was a hard fight. He could make us see things, our worst nightmares, to be exact. I saw nothing but my family dead, all of them. The blood, their glossed over eyes and so on. Somehow, Tobias wasn’t as affected by the powers, and he got the man and killed him.”
“That was good, right?” I ask, somewhat confused by the sadness in Knox’s voice.
“No, Sleepy. We went into the house, and a heavily pregnant woman was shaking in the corner, her arms wrapped around a little girl no more than two years old. The child and mother were covered in blood, and they were horrified. That was the child’s father, and they loved him,” he explains to me. “They ran away from the good tales because the Masters found out about the child and wanted to kill her.”
“The child was half good and half dark?” I ask in shock.
“Yes,” he coldly replies. “It was the first time I saw who my parents were, how evil they were. They sent us there with strict orders to kill first and not ask any questions, like good little soldiers.”
“What did you do? The council would have—”
“Killed them, and we all knew it. Turns out the woman has a cloaking ability, making it impossible to find her unless you have her blood. The council had only found them because the dark tale made a mistake and was seen. We helped her get a car with no license plate, a bag of cash, and sent her away. We told the council that only the man was there and gave them his body.”
“Why does that haunt you then?” I ask. “You saved the—”
“I see the nightmare every time I close my eyes, and on bad days, I see the child and mother covered in blood,” he almost whispers to me. “I was inches away from being the bad guy. The council turned me and my brothers into monsters, and I never wanted to be that.”
“You are not a monster,” I firmly state.
“I have no choice but to follow the council orders, do as I’m told, fight their war that no one else wants,” he explains to me. “Some may call that a soldier, but I don’t. We might be fighting a war, but there are innocents who don’t ask for this. Falling in love with someone different should not be a reason to be hunted and killed. Falling in love is something to be celebrated.”
“We both saw what will happen and who will be in charge if we do nothing. I will not let the council of Masters come out as the winners in this,” I reply to him with a sigh. “This can’t all be for nothing. We travelled back in time, for god’s sake. We will not let that go to waste.”
“You are beautiful when you are determined, you know that?” Knox tells me, another yawn leaving his lips.
“And you need to sleep. Clearly you are getting delusional,” I reply, and he chuckles, resting back as I call my power. My hand fills with dust, and I lean down, kissing his cheek as I open my hand over his face, letting dust sprinkle onto him. He gently falls to sleep, his eyes slowly closing and his lips staying up in a smile as his breathing deepens. I lower my hand and wipe the rest of the dust off on my cloak before tucking Knox in and standing up. I walk back toward Sin, only to pause when I see he is sitting up, a cheeky grin on his lips.
“What happened?”
Chapter 2
“Sin!” I exclaim, running into his arms and flinging myself around him, hearing his cough from the jolt as I nearly knock him off the bed we had moved into the middle of the living room of Knox’s hut. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t, Sleepy,” he playfully tells me as I pull back a little and place my hands on his cheeks, looking into his eyes. “Not much anyway,” he teases, and before he can say another word, I kiss him. He is clearly shocked for an inch of a second, and then he kisses me back, sliding his hands into my hair. I deepen the kiss, taking control as his one hand slides to my waist, pulling me harder against him. He pulls away from me, smiling widely. “I’m a little confused, but I like confused. We can do confused all day if you want.” I chuckle at his teasing as he wipes a few tears away from my cheeks, and I struggle to know what to say. A million sentences run through my head, each one of them not feeling enough to describe the moment between us and how much this all means. I guess only one thing does, and I need to tell him that first.
“It’s a long story, but I want you to know I realised something,” I tell him, pausing just to look into his eyes for a second. I never knew how much I missed seeing them.
“Yeah?” he asks me, sensing I’m being serious.
“I love you. I really, deeply love you, and my life is not complete if you aren’t in it.” He stops my rambling by kissing me once more and holding our faces close together as he pulls back.
“I’ve always loved you. Always, Sleepy.”
“Good to hear,” I chuckle, and he grins before leaning back with a confused look once again, but this time, it isn’t about me. He pats his chest and stomach a few times before he pulls his shirt down, clearly looking for the wound that isn’t there.
“I remember being hurt, badly hurt; how is there nothing there?” he asks me. “I thought…well, clearly I’m not dead, but I don’t understand how we got saved and who managed to heal me like this. Knox can’t have healed me to the point of having no wound; it would have killed him. He didn’t—”
“Knox is alive. Everyone is, but you…but you died, Sin,” I whisper, the memory of him on the ground, being dragged away, will never be something I can forget. It makes me want to hold him close to me and never let go.
“Don’t be silly, I’m here—”
“We went back in time and saved you, but for a long time, you were dead. We had a funeral, we grieved and searched for a way to get you back,” I explain to him.
“Time travel?” he asks with a frown and in complete disbelief. “Did you hit your head somewhere, because—”
“Sin, I’m not joking. Quin’s uncle killed you and sent your body to the Masters’ council. The shock of losing you meant the masters didn’t fight like they should have, and the dark tales took over the town, they took over Lost Time Academy and won the war,” I tell him, moving away and pacing as he stays silent. “Though now we have come back, none of that has actually happened yet. Everything is so messed up, but it doesn’t matter to me. I soon realised I’m selfish, because I would have given up everything to save you.”
“You’re telling me the truth,” Sin whispers as he slides off the bed and takes my hands in his. I close my eyes, loving the simple way he holds my hands, the warmth I can feel from his hands. It’s not cold; he isn’t cold anymore. “I can see it in your eyes. Hear the pain in your voice.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you about thi
s,” I tell him, but he knows that. It’s just a shock and extremely hard to understand and believe. No matter who told him.
“I know, it’s a lot to take in,” he replies to me. “Is Knox alright?” he asks, seeing his brother sleeping on the sofa. The snoring should give away how fine Knox is.
“Just tired. I did promise to wake him when you woke up, but he hasn’t slept in days and just went off. I doubt I could wake him up from the dust this soon,” I tell him, and it makes me wonder how the rest of the island is sleeping after I put them to sleep. I’ve never felt my power like that, so out of control.
“No, he should sleep. Where are the others?” Sin asks me. We have been taking it in turns doing the essential things for the last few days, and last I saw, Tobias and Noah were arguing over who cooks bacon the best way by the fire. Everyone knows it should be crispy, but I’m not getting involved with that fight.
“This way,” I say, nodding my head towards the door. Sin comes to my side and links his fingers through mine. “I missed you.”
“I’m going to make sure you don’t have to miss me again,” he replies to me, and I nod, knowing we will figure out something. We could just hide in this place forever, but I know that wouldn’t be the right thing to do. The academy needs us. The tales need us, and I don’t trust the goddess being alone out there, causing havoc most likely.