"I'm hardly dropping anything, aside from you!"
Jasmine had to laugh at that, not so much at the teasing nature Seth's sister had with him, but at the God awful face Seth made, to feign his hurt feelings. "I am truly hurt by that statement, Brigid."
"I think he's up to no good if he didn't even mention not showing up to your date." Jasmine said.
"Arrggg," Brigid screeched, "you're just saying that because my brother's charming personality won you over."
"No, I'm saying that from experience. I just got out of a bad relationship, and it started exactly that way."
"And how did it end, with you standing him up?" Brigid quipped.
"No, with him beating me so badly, he put me in the hospital. Thankfully, the police were finally able to lock him up."
"Oh, my God, I am so sorry. I didn't mean to be so flippant," Brigid insisted.
"It's okay, you didn't know. But I would trust your brother's instincts on this one." Jasmine smiled and then gathered her things to leave.
"I hope we haven't run you off with our rudeness," Brigid said as she noticed.
"No, I have to get back to work. You would think art would be patient, since it just hangs around all day waiting to be admired, but my boss is less so. I'm about to be late." Jasmine started on her way to the arboretum entrance, and Seth soon caught up with her.
"Hey, listen, I feel bad for getting you in the middle of that and having to tell a total stranger what happened to you. Could I make it up to you over coffee?"
"Umm, I'm not so sure..." Jasmine hesitated, and then didn't say anything else as she continued walking.
"At least let me make sure you get back to work okay?" He smiled back at his sister, "Brigid will be standing guard behind us in case anything happens, we can duck and run while she takes care of the bad guys."
"Some big brother you are!" Jasmine said.
"What? She's a cop when she's not pestering me!" Seth's smile was infectious and Jasmine soon found herself entranced with him as they walked back to the art gallery she worked for. “By the way, I’m Seth.”
“Jasmine,” she stated softly as they continued to walk, occasionally bumping into one another as they went.
~Ash~
"Ash, don't try to wake just yet. I have some things to tell you." The soft, lilting voice of his mother sang through his head like tinkling bells.
"I feel the pull of my body though, I'm not sure how much longer I can stay this way." Ash looked around nervously. He had never felt his own body trying to pull him from the dream realm or Faerie before. "What happened? I don't understand, I was looking for Caislyn, and then... I don't know, it was dizzying, really."
"Son, your friends Caislyn and Jaxon have really screwed things up for us." At Ash's incredulous look, she continued, "the Fey are no longer able to walk both worlds. Those of us who were here in Faerie when they performed their little ritual are stuck in this realm forever now. Those who were in the human world, well, they have been transformed, and are lost to us. It was a great loss my son, there were far too many of our kind on the other side during that transition. They are no longer of the Fey. You are one of the few, possibly the only who was trapped between the two worlds at the time of transition. You were walking the Fey realm in your sleep when they purged their world. Therefore, I believe when you wake, you will seem fully human over there, but when you sleep, you will still be able to tap into our world here." She reached out to stroke her son’s hair. “At least, that is what I am hoping, because it would be too heartbreaking to think I lost all my sons in one night.”
"What do you mean they purged their world?"
"They fulfilled the prophecy we fought so hard against. They've purged magic from their world, in order to lead happy fulfilling lives as humans."
"What does that mean for the baby, for Caislyn, for me?"
"That baby was conceived under magical circumstances, I'm pretty sure it no longer exists."
"How could she? Why?"
"I'm not sure she fully understood the ramifications of their actions, son, do not blame her for that. In all honesty, she probably won't even remember anything of her past. She will only remember the one that magic created for everyone as it left their world.
"Can it be undone?" Ash asked, heart broken as he tried desperately to cling to his dream a little longer. The pull of his body becoming stronger still with each passing minute.
"I'm not sure, son. We captured one of their Brotherhood just before the veil between the worlds closed. He spoke of the prophet, and of one who can sway the balance and change things back to the way they were."
"Who?"
"One who can walk two worlds."
"But I can..." Realization dawned on him just as his mind lost the fight to his human body. He thought he heard his mother's voice vaguely as he was waking up.
"Exactly, my son."
**** BEYOND THE AWAKENING ***
For every ending, there is always another beginning. While The Awakening Trilogy is coming to an end, Ash's story is just getting started in Beyond the Awakening. Look for the spin off series to start in Fall 2012.
For information and updates, check out the website:
http://awakeningtrilogy.moonlitdreams.org/
***
PLAY LIST
I have never included a play list with my books before, but music is a huge inspiration for certain scenes. So, before I start listing, let me introduce you to one very important track for this book:
Call Me by Shinedown - was pivotal to Gregore's plight in this book. I think it summed up how he was feeling. He loves Caislyn, and will always love her, but at some point he realizes that it's all too much. That realization that it would be best for Caislyn if he just took the choice away and left kind of guides what happens between the two of them.
I wrestled with the idea of Gregore staying and fighting for her, but that age old adage, "if you love something, set it free" kept creeping into the back of my mind. Sometimes, I think it truly is better to just walk away, before even the good memories are tarnished by the fight. And, for Gregore, it all turned out okay in the end anyway!
Also, Get Out Alive by Three Days Grace was an amazing mood enhancer for the fight scene with the Brotherhood.
Pandora Internet Radio stations:
Daughtry Station - which includes the following artists:
Daughtry, Shinedown, Seether, Saving Abel, Three Days Grace, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd, Disturbed, Hinder, Apocalyptica, and too many more to name...
Amos Lee Station - which includes the following artists:
Amos Lee, Nina Simone, Ray LaMontagne, Colbie Caillat, Ben Harper, Adele, Matt Nathanson, Yael Naim, and quite a few more... for the more mellow moments in the book!
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
While Christine M. Butler is a gypsy at heart, and loves to travel, she currently resides in the middle of South Carolina with her four children. She's also slightly addicted to social networking, so feel free to find her at any of these places online:
Moonlit Dreams Website:
www.moonlitdreams.org
The Awakening Trilogy Website:
awakeningtrilogy.moonlitdreams.org
The VooDoo Follies Website:
voodoofollies.moonlitdreams.org
On Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/M00nlitDreams
Facebook Fan Page for The Awakening Trilogy:
www.facebook.com/TheAwakeningTrilogy
Twitter:
twitter.com/#!/M00nlitdreams
Google+
Christine M. Butler
***
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank yous go out to the following people who put up with my craziness when I am in the "writing zone"
my children: Bella, Devlin, Alex, and Lexy
my parents: Linda and Frank Hickman
I would also like to thank the following people, because if it weren't for them this series would have never been seen
by anyone:
Jennifer - for helping in the beginning - when I had not much more than a dream and an idea of where to go with it. You helped with the first book, giving me the confidence to know I could finally see a book to its end.
Carolyn - for printing that first copy - and for listening to my ideas, and putting up with me jotting down notes on napkins when I should have been listening to you!
Stacey - For being one of my biggest cheerleaders and for doing it for so very long.
Patria - for all your encouragement. You kept me excited about this trilogy, even when I thought I wanted to scrap it all. And you inspired me to think of things that I hadn't before. They've given the story another dimension that it was missing. You are my rock in this crazy publishing world. I don't know what I would do without you.
Don - who I met while writing this book - it’s not always easy being the new guy in a woman’s life, especially when she’s a crazy writer chick! Thanks for being there to make me smile during the frustrating parts of this process, and for inspiring Caislyn’s ending!
Also, a huge thank you to fans of the series who have taken the time to let me know what they think of the books! That is the number one reason why writers write. We want to tell stories, and have people enjoy them! :) Thanks for letting me know you what you thought! Also, thanks for being patient with this book in particular. It was written during a period of time that was just plagued with bad luck. Between my son’s health, mine, my divorce, and the loss of some of this book’s original material to a computer crash... it has been a difficult process. Writing is a lot of fun - but definitely not always easy!
***
Incarnations Page 9