Ascend (The Last Oracle, The First Seer's Gift, and a Prophecy Fulfilled) (A Fated Fantasy Quest Adventure Book 11)

by Humphrey Quinn

"And then I told him, before we can fight with the desire to win our freedom, we must experience what it means to lose it. Only then, can any of us ascend to greatness and truly appreciate what it means, to live."

  Jae reached up with his free hand and swiped away a stray tear in Colby's eye. These were the only tears he shed now. Never because of fear, or shame. He sucked inward, and upon exhaling, released the last tendrils of his father's hold on him.

  He gazed in loving awe of his perfect husband, and the two of them together at the unbelievably gifted little girl with the ancient soul. Then out to the carriages pulling away, filled with loved ones smiling back at them in a surreal moment that only reminded each of them of the journey they'd been on together.

  It was over now, and a new journey still awaited. But it didn't take magic, or the gift of sight, to see that this happily ever after had been forever, Fated….

  A special note from the author…

  Thank you so much for joining me on this journey—for many of you, right along with me since the summer of 2009 when I first published book one. Life has thrown me many ups and downs since I first began this series, and there were a few times I wasn't sure I'd ever get those final words written. So, thank you, again and again, for all your support over these years. I truly appreciate it more than you know.

  I'd also like to thank the following Book 11 Beta Readers: Tonya Hanson, Sandra Monica, and a few others who wished to keep their privacy. Your efforts are much appreciated!

  It has been one heck of a journey and I hope you'll stick around as I've got many more books and stories to come.

  It's a bittersweet time for me. I love these characters as if they were real and dear friends to me. I've already been asked if I will ever revisit the world of the Fated Series again. While I have no exact plans right this moment, it is possible. I do have lots of other stories that could be told within this world. If you're interested, make sure you're on the VIP EMAIL LIST and you won't miss future news.

  UPDATE 11/13/2017—it's been six months since the adventure ended. AND, coming any day now is the Fated Fantasy Extended Edition of Books 1-2, which includes over 25 pages of added bonus scenes and story. AND best of all, you can get it free!

  Depending on when you finish this book, you can either get it in the Kindle Store (borrow via kindle unlimited): https://www.amazon.com/Humphrey-Quinn/e/B01GUO91W2

  Or Find Links HERE:

  http://www.jackallanternbooks.com/p/fated-volumes.html

  Start the series all over again, or reminisce how it all began…enjoy!

  If you haven't read it,

  I've also included a free preview of another series, We Witches Three.

  AND… a thousand times over, thank you!

  For all your patience, book reviews, and support!

  Rachel D'aigle/Humphrey Quinn

  Page Down for a Free Preview of We Witches Three.

  WE WITCHES THREE FREE PREVIEW

  Welcome to The Demon Isle, where the Supernatural hides in plain sight.

  This series is compared to Charmed, The Vampire Diaries, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

  We Witches Three is an episodic supernatural suspense series about twenty-something witches struggling to balance love, life, and duty. It's heavy on romance and action and should be read in order. These books are rated similar to a TV14 rating. There is mild language and behind closed doors adult situations. If you would rather have all the adulting stuff with the doors wide open, please see the sister series, Wicked Good Witches (same story but written for readers over 18).

  From Book 1, Isle of Bones…

  Melinda Howard poured a potion into a small glass vial. She used a funnel, not trusting her unsteady fingers. It was her first time making this particular potion and if the results were anything less than perfect, the consequences would be fatal to the vampire standing in her kitchen.

  He was across the room. A good fifteen feet away. But she’d swear he was hovering just inches behind her, watching her every move. Movements that suddenly became heavy and awkward.

  Pay attention! She chastised herself silently. Keep it together, you’re almost done.

  She exhaled, letting out a surge of flustered breath, shuddering as an electrified pulse fired down her spine at the thought of him watching her. Her heart quickened, fingers quivering as she removed the funnel, the vial nearly filled. Just one final step to complete the potion. She shoved her chin-length chestnut bangs behind her ear, grabbing an already filled dropper and added the contents within to the vial.

  The mixture sizzled, a small plume of steam erupting from the vial before the clear liquid inside turned to deep red. Melinda smiled, relieved by the outcome. She let the buildup of nervousness escape with her next breath, corked the vial, turned, and tossed it to the vampire.

  It went high, threatening to fly over his head and crash into a wall. He deftly jumped into the air, caught it, and landed without a sound.

  “Good catch, William,” Melinda said, winking playfully.

  The vampire silently scolded Melinda with a stern gaze before drinking the contents of the vial.

  “Like you’d miss,” she responded as innocently as possible while averting her gaze, unable to linger in his for long.

  “I never miss,” William replied matter-of-factly. The vampire straightened his black pullover, the dark color only further accentuating the paleness of his neck and face.

  “Did it work?” Melinda asked, venturing a fleeting look in his direction.

  “It tastes correct.” He paused, savoring the warm sensation the potion gave him as it forced its way through his veins like the blood that no longer willingly pumped its way through his body. “I do believe you did perfect, Melinda. Well done.”

  She curtsied, nodding in appreciation to her one vampire audience, hurriedly turning away again to avoid making eye contact.

  His eyes narrowed in a questioning manner. “Are you okay this morning?”

  Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. He noticed. I so suck at acting. “Um, yes,” she answered too hesitantly. She cleared her throat. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

  “You seem on edge.”

  On edge? Really? You have no idea, her thoughts exclaimed loudly. She wished she could tell him the truth- that her edginess was completely his fault.

  Melinda had dreamt about William the night before. A dream that while in the middle of, painted her the image of a goddess adored by a vampire. But once awakened from, left her restless with skin far too tight, and achy. And now, normal daily actions she’d never given a second thought to turned clunky and awkward, sitting at the forefront of her thoughts while in William’s presence.

  Was he watching her, right now? What did she look like through his eyes?

  She’d had a crush on him for years, but she’d never dreamt of him, not like this.

  “There it is again,” the vampire noted, disrupting her wandering mind. “I’ve never heard your heart flutter like that before. Are you ill?” He stepped closer, concerned.

  Stupid super vampire hearing! Melinda held her breath for a second, blood racing to keep up with her stammering heart. “I’m fine. Promise. I was just nervous about making the potion, and was recalling my dream from last night.” This was a partial truth. There had been a second dream. A much less pleasant dream, one she had shared with him. Her skin flushed and gaze lowered.

  “Very well,” he conceded with a narrow stare. She was holding back on him, something she never did until recently. What had changed? What was she hiding? Why did she not feel at ease enough to confide in him, as always?

  Melinda refused eye contact, keeping herself busy and her gaze downward. And if she chewed her bottom lip any harder she might draw blood… she shivered, though it was a warm summer day. That flutter returned, blood rushing through her veins in an attempt to keep up with her erratically beating heart. It got stronger the longer his eyes lingered on her movements.

  What was she hiding from him?

  He cast
his gaze across the room looking at nothing in particular, focusing on the pulse of her blood, a sound he was familiar with. This flutter though… it was… different. Strangely enticing. Although he could not ascertain why. Somehow, each flutter called out to him, almost reaching out across the room to him, jolting him with electric sparks of… of what? And why did it matter?

  Because all things Melinda Howard mattered. That’s why. And if she was ill, he needed to know. His ears tuned into her heart, his eyes closing, his mind sinking into each beat. Each pulse of blood.

  Unconsciously, he licked his fangs.

  What would she taste like?

  He sucked in, eyes opening in disgust. A scowl etching his face.

  This reaction displeased him immensely. It was not normal, appropriate, or acceptable behavior. Not for him.

  It was too bad he needed to have a blood-empty stomach before drinking the potion. He’d have to wait thirty minutes before partaking of his typical breakfast of warmed, week-old animal blood. It hardly sounded appetizing compared to the lovely blood-filled creature standing just out of reach…

  “William,” he barely heard Melinda call out. “Would you put this away for me? I can’t reach.” She outstretched her arm, holding a jar filled with herbs. She lifted her head when he did not reply, the jar slipping through fingers suddenly unable to maintain their grip.

  William caught the jar with ease and spun around to put it away, too late to hide his mistake. He might have controlled his fangs and kept his distance, but his eyes had turned a ravenous black.

  Normally, being around humans was tolerable. He’d had hundreds of years of practice. This morning, however, was particularly difficult. Melinda’s blood had always smelled appealing. But this morning it was practically calling out to him. “Please drink me. I belong only to you.”

  His hungry black eyes were something Melinda had witnessed before. She didn’t understand why it startled her so badly this time. Perhaps it was that she’d never been alone with him before when it had happened. She’d never had steamy dreams about him before, either.

  Embarrassed by her reaction, she grabbed a few potion supplies and busied herself putting them away. She took a glance and noticed William’s typical emerald greens had replaced the greedy black.

  Man, I love his eyes. She let out an exasperated breath, wishing she could just forget every detail of last night’s William dream. It would never come true anyway.

  William was a vampire. She was a human. A witch, but still human. And William had a strict no-dating-humans policy.

  As she cleaned up the potion-making mess, a young man entered the kitchen, at the same time running his gel covered hands through his spiky hair. He quickly regretted that choice thinking instead that he needed to plug his nose. “Potion time again,” he realized, rinsing his fingers off in the sink.

  “Good morning, Michael,” said the vampire to the young man, who was Melinda’s twenty-three-year-old brother. “The taste is as loathsome as the smell.” William made a face that said, be glad you’re not the one drinking it.

  Michael was about to reply when a voice startled them from the hallway, behind them. “Good thing the potion’s worth the price, then.”

  “Charlie!” Melinda raced past Michael and jumped into her eldest brother’s flannel covered arms.

  Charlie twirled his sister in a circle, hugging her fiercely. He was not just older than her and Michael, but much larger, too. A broad shouldered, rugged man of twenty-six.

  “Hiya, Kiddo.”

  “God, you reek!” she choked out sarcastically. “More so than the potion, and that’s not an easy feat!”

  “That’s what happens when you take a three day fishing trip,” Charlie said, letting her slide back down to the floor. “I had to come home before the full moon.” His words really meaning, if it wasn’t rising soon, I’d still be gone.

  “Yeah, of course you would. It’s just nice to have you back in the house again.”

  “Which just proves my point that you’re still not getting out enough, Sis.”

  “Don’t start with me again about that! I’m getting out plenty. Remember that date I went on, like, a month ago,” her voice trailed as she recalled the date had actually been over two months previous.

  “My point exactly.” Charlie poked her side, affectionately.

  Melinda had tried to forget that last date. It ended badly. Not that it had started all that great. But she’d given in and gone home with him. He’d proceeded to call her something along the lines of adorable. She was pretty sure when he said adorable, he meant chubby. Which she wasn’t. Not really.

  Yeah, she’d eaten too much during their date, but that was mostly because he never shut the heck up and gave her a chance to speak. So yes, her pooch was a little bigger than it might have been normally. But it was the way he’d spoken his goodbye. Like he’d done her some charitable favor by going out with her.

  She’d left that part out when telling her brothers how the date went. The guy was a total Jerkface. Her evening had been empty. Meaningless. And a complete waste of time.

  But he’d gotten what he wanted.

  Of course, if her brothers or William had found out how Jerkface had treated her, they’d probably have killed the guy. Or at the very least, injured him severely.

  Charlie grabbed a mug of coffee and nodded toward his brother Michael, who refused to return the gesture. Charlie had hoped to avoid another argument so soon after arriving home.

  As it turned out, Michael didn’t feel like arguing either. “Meeting Emily for coffee,” he explained, promptly leaving.

  Charlie shook his head, disappointed.

  “Give him time,” the vampire advised kindly.

  “Why does he have to be so darn stubborn?”

  Melinda snorted. “Um, gee. Maybe because he’s a Howard.”

  “Exactly. He is a Howard, and like it or not we have a responsibility to uphold.”

  “Michael gets that, Charlie,” Melinda cut him off before his rant continued. “He’s just not as accepting of his fate as we are,” she added dramatically. “He sort of has a point though. I mean, why should he be forced to spend his life protecting the Isle, just because he’s a Howard?”

  “We don’t get to make that choice, Melinda.” Charlie stated it with finality. He glanced at the vampire, searching for approval, but William’s face showed no sign of his true feelings on the matter. Charlie had not thought it possible, but the vampire appeared distracted. When William didn’t answer he changed the subject.

  “Thanks for making the potion for me, Sis. I left for my trip so fast I completely forgot about it.”

  “No worries. You’ve had a lot on your mind. Besides, I’d do just about anything for My William.” She decided the best way to move past last night’s dream was to treat William as she always did.

  The vampire breathed out testily. “Melinda, you must stop calling me that. It is not right. Not only am I nearly four hundred years old, but until quite recently I was your legal guardian. Must I keep reminding you of this?”

  “William,” she retorted innocently. “I’m twenty-one and you’re the only man I can flirt with in this testosterone filled house. Besides, you make it so easy. Have you looked at yourself lately? That’s right, you can’t. So I must take it upon myself to remind you how handsome a vampire you are.”

  Yes, she thought. Ridiculously handsome. No, he was beyond handsome now, especially after last night. He’d gone straight from handsome vampire she had a crush on to forbidden fanged hotty in a matter of a single dream. She tapped her fingers on the counter as if this movement would somehow drown out the racing heartbeats thudding against her chest.

  Apparently, forgetting about the dream was not going to be easy.

  And the truth was, William did have a reflection. But it wasn’t one his own eyes could see. A side effect of the potion he’d just downed. It made looking into glass difficult. Things had a fuzzy appearance. One bad side effect that w
as worth the freedom the potion gave him.

  William noted the change in her heart rhythms again but ignored it, tossing Charlie a look that pleaded for his agreement in the matter of her affections.

  “Maybe, Melinda, you would be better off saving your attention for someone your own age,” Charlie said, backing up the vampire. “And not to bring it back up again, but perhaps if you got out of the house more often…”

  “Charlie, you’ve scared off all the guys I’ve dated!” Except for Jerkface, which she’d done herself apparently, by just being her. And there had only been two other guys she’d dated before him. Three whole guys, twenty-one years old. So beyond pathetic. Melinda tensed. She had chosen Jerkface, to give herself to. She was never going to forgive herself for that choice. But she hadn’t wanted to carry the label virgin anymore.

  How stupid that label seemed now. She still felt like a virgin. At least she hadn’t told Jerkface he was her first, not that the fact redeemed her decision at all.

  She put her stubborn gaze back on. “Charlie, between you, Michael, and William drilling my dates with questions no normal human would comprehend, it’s no wonder they never call back for second dates.” She lashed out, preferring to believe it was them and not her, driving them away. But how could it not be her? She just wasn’t date material. Or perhaps the other two had just wanted what she’d given Jerkface, and when she didn’t…

  Dating sucks.

  But she’d blame it on her brothers, just the same.

  Charlie patted her shoulder. “I’m just looking out for you, Kiddo.”

  “Well, you can’t have it both ways,” she argued hotly. “If I leave the house and start dating more, you have to accept the guys I go out with. No more scaring them away.”

  “Okay. You’re right. Why don’t you go out now? I can clean up this mess.”

  Melinda shook her head, a hesitant tingle creeping into her gut. Talking about leaving was easy, but actually leaving the house was a much scarier thought. And going on another date with another guy she didn’t know, just a bad idea.