The Kingdom Journals Complete Series Box Set

by Tricia Copeland

  “I know the child. I have watched her for a while. I did not allow her to know of your existence until the time was right. Now you are of age, and I have found the sword. Tell me, Alena, why have you come at this late hour, and how did you find us?”

  “I opened my mind and reached out and found Theron. I realized he is the only other being like me. I have never fit in. I want to belong.”

  “Theron will join my coven and receive the lance, and then you may complete the coven training and join him in freeing our fallen comrades.”

  “Lance? Is that what’s in the box? I thought you had to be eighteen to join a coven.”

  “The training and union can be any time within the eighteenth year of life. Are you willing to renounce your family’s coven?”

  “As I’m sure you know, I do not know my father. Orm is not my true family. I wish to form a legacy that I was not offered.”

  “And what of your disagreement with Theron.”

  I raised my chin to convey conviction. “I realized some minds are weak.”

  “And what of your mother, what does she say?”

  “She is the one that sought out this path for me. This is what she prepared me for all my life.”

  “You speak with maturity beyond your years.”

  “I have lived two lives for a long time. I want one of my own.”

  “Come join us.” He held out his hand. “The others will be here soon.”

  “This is not my ceremony.” I took a few steps back. “I will watch from here.”

  Backing almost to the trees, I prayed our forces were near. Not knowing the direction of the other coven’s arrival made me nervous, but I decided to leave the strategy piece to Dimitri. They would have heard our conversation and planned accordingly.

  Before I could blink, an arm wrapped around my waist, and Aaron snatched me off the ground, slung me over his shoulder, and ran through the trees away from the clearing.

  “Alena?” I heard Theron’s voice behind me.

  Although angry, I knew better than to make a sound. Will, Jacob, Dimitri, and a host of other vampires sped past us, headed towards Theron and his father. Looking back to the glade, I saw creatures begin to descend from the dark sky. Realizing the coven had arrived, I beat on Aaron’s back.

  “Let me go!” I whispered.

  “Not my orders.” He kept his pace steady.

  At the vehicles, he slowed and set me on the ground beside Hunter, pinning me there with his hands.

  “Release me.” I spit at him.

  Orm appeared in front of me. “Do not loosen your grip for a second. She may look small, but she can escape.”

  “Got it, boss. Hear that, princess, you’re with me now.”

  Noticing one of the vampires stood in front of Hunter, I called out to Orm’s retreating form. “Why can’t I help?”

  “Chalondra keeps repeating children of light, that’s all I got,” Hunter said beside me.

  “This is ridiculous.” I wriggled my arm under Aaron’s grip. “I am more powerful than any of you. I could use my magic on you in a second.”

  “Well, that’s the good thing about this little circle Chalondra spelled,” Aaron said.

  “They used salt, common table salt that Chalondra brought from Fahim’s kitchen.” Hunter looked at the ground.

  “Of course they did,” I huffed. I only had my vampire strength available to me and pondered how to escape. Letting Aaron think he’d won for a few minutes, I used my most melodic voice. “You’re pinching my skin between your fingers.”

  “Oh, sorry—”

  He loosened his hands enough that I was able to jump from his grip and out of the circle. Racing to the trees, I scaled the first one and hopped from tree to tree to the clearing. With fifty-and-some-odd beings skirmishing in the field, I couldn’t spot the sword, much less Mother, Elizabeth, or Orm.

  Looking to the sky, I jumped. As soon as I hit the apex of my leap, I called the wind to bear me up. Floating over the mash-up of beings, I found each of my family members holding their ground. Seeing Theron grab the lance’s wood box and run into the trees, I threw my arms out, propelling my body at him. Not ten feet from the trunks, I felt a surge come from the group. Turning my head to view the energy stream, I realized Thanatos’s eyes were set on me.

  Thinking I had speed on my side, I kept my trajectory. A wave washed over me and sharp pings, like quick jabs of a needle, shot through my brain. The short blasts grew to prolonged pierces, causing me to lose focus and fall to the ground a few feet shy of the trees. Seeing Theron sprint off, I turned to the source of my pain. A feeling of nausea flooded my senses as I tried to stand. Run, my instincts told me, but my feet wouldn’t respond. Pulling forth my magic, I pushed a wave back at Thanatos, giving me a second to dive roll between the pines. Staying low, I scrambled through the bushes in the direction Theron had gone.

  Within a couple of feet, another stream of energy hit me, and I tripped over a fallen log. My stomach heaving, I fought to stumble away, but my feet felt like bricks in the heeled boots. Checking over my shoulder, I saw Thanatos striding towards me. His face held no tension. Confidence radiated from his squared shoulders.

  Why hadn’t I stayed put? No, I am Alena Scott, daughter of the Queen of Vampires, hybrid witch, and Child of Light. This evil High Priest will not defeat me. Jutting my arms into the sky, I called the wind. A tree behind me snapped and broke off, flying at Thanatos. He lifted his hand, and it fell to the ground in front of him. Stepping over the log, he stalked towards me.

  “Do you think you can best me, child? Look, your protectors have no idea I have you.”

  Catching Theron’s scent again, I turned my head and dashed towards him.

  “You think you are a match for me?” He spun to face me.

  “She knows she is no match for me.” Thanatos appeared above me. “I give her kudos for being fast. And she does seem to have mastered flying.”

  “Your coven is dying, and you run?” I yelled at Theron.

  He blinked, and I jumped into the air, aiming my legs at the box positioned under his arm. Being as quick as me, he ducked and rolled away, and my foot missed its mark.

  “This is ridiculous child’s play. You have no idea how to save your people.” Thanatos’s voice boomed over my head.

  He wanted me. He would’ve killed me already if he didn’t. And here I was giving him exactly what he desired. I put all my energy into running back to the group and got halfway there before the throbbing in my head stopped my movement.

  “See.”

  There was a break in the pain, and I shot off again.

  “You resist because you do not understand.”

  Fighting the agony threatening to overtake me, I loped into the clearing to the bodies locked in various stages of combat. Turning to face my pursuers, I let out a guttural call. The earth shook beneath me and Theron fell to the grass. A wind tunnel formed around me, lifting me off the ground. I struggled against the pressure of the gale, but to no avail. Thanatos’s form appeared under me.

  Seeing Elizabeth hurling to Thanatos, I screamed. The wind ceased, and I fell to the grass. Looking up, I saw Thanatos hold his palm up to Elizabeth and shut it. Her body dropped.

  Running to her, I picked up her limp body.

  Thanatos loomed over us. “Anyone who threatens me or my son will fall.”

  “Father!” Theron’s voice rang out.

  Chalondra, Orm, and Hunter stood in a circle behind Thanatos. Above their heads, I saw Theron seemingly frozen in mid-air, a cyclone surrounding him.

  Spinning, Thanatos locked his gaze on Hunter. I jumped over the High Priest, landing in front of Hunter to block the energy wave.

  “You will not win this fight.” Mother’s voice erupted from the chaos, and silence descended.

  I scanned the crowd, realizing all of Thanatos’s coven members lay lifeless on the ground. Wide-eyed, Thanatos surveyed the clearing. Looking at his son, Thanatos closed his eyes and punched the dirt at
his feet. The ground trembled, and I nearly lost my footing.

  Diverting her attention to Thanatos, Chalondra held her hand out to him. Each of them grimaced, bearing the waves of energy hitting them. I summoned the wind, aiding Orm and Hunter in their effort to keep Theron trapped. With a nod to me, Hunter moved to stand beside Chalondra. He raised his hand towards Thanatos, who dropped to one knee.

  “We do not wish to kill you. We want the lance,” Chalondra called to Thanatos.

  Orm and I instructed the winds to lower Theron to the ground.

  “Sonia!” Thanatos screamed and looked to the sky.

  Lightning cracked in the distance, and the wind picked up, hurling sand dense enough to block my vision. When the squall died and the sand dropped out of the air, a woman stood beside Chalondra.

  “My son and grandson will be released.”

  Flames emitted from the trees, surrounding us in a ring of fire.

  “Sonia.” Chalondra’s and Orm’s voices were barely a whisper.

  Thanatos rose and glided to Sonia, dipping his chin slightly. Orm nodded, and I released the wind tunnel encircling Theron.

  Quick as a whip, Theron bolted to Hunter. “Your betrayal will not be forgotten, Alena.” Theron pulled a knife and slid it across Hunter’s throat.

  “Until we meet again.” Sonia’s voice echoed through the clearing.

  I blinked, and Sonia, Thanatos, and Theron were gone, the sword with them. Hunter dropped to the ground. Darting to him, I tore a shred of my dress and pressed it to the wound. Sending healing energy to the skin, I tried to get the bleeding to stop. Cradling Hunter’s ashen face, the dream from the day we’d met replayed in my head. This was my fault. I led him to this fate. I couldn’t lose him.

  “No, Hunter, come back.”

  Fahim wrapped his arms around my shoulders. “Would you mind if he could always find you, dear?”

  “No, of course not. What do I do?”

  “Use your fangs, give him your blood.”

  Releasing my teeth and digging them into my wrist, I pressed my wound to Hunter’s mouth.

  “How didn’t I know this?” I looked to Orm and then Mother.

  “We have bigger problems. I am out of juice and so is Chalondra.” Orm eyes darted to the flames surrounding us.

  “We have to get out of here.” Aaron ran through the space.

  I called to the air, drawing the heat from it. The water in the air condensed, forming a gentle rain. “What happened? Who was that?” I yelled at Orm.

  “I thought her long dead.”

  Hunter roused in my lap. “How is it raining?”

  “You’re okay.”

  “The last thing I remember is Theron slitting my throat. How am I alive? Did someone get him?”

  “I healed you but Theron escaped with the sword.”

  “Alena.” Mother’s gaze bore down on me. “Look at what you have done with your lies. Elizabeth is dead. Theron almost killed Hunter. You will be exposed, and I’ll be tried for treason. Theron will use the sword to raise Hell on Earth. I rule a kingdom of embers. All for what? A boy you fancy?”

  “Mother.” I pleaded for her forgiveness.

  “Queen, if I may.” Fahim crossed the space to us. “As for me and my family”—he motioned to the other vampires gathered in the smoke-filled meadow—“we swear to keep your secret and protect your family.”

  “You are wrong, Queen.” Chalondra looked up to the sky. “All is not lost. Theron has the sword, but he is not a Child of Light.”

  “We do not have a trinity. I have searched the globe. It will be a thousand years before this opportunity comes again.”

  “Again, you are misinformed. We have two, and the third lives. She is weak but not lost.”

  My eyes locked on Hunter’s. Ivy.

  The End

  For a preview of the second Kingdom Journals

  Vol. 2 –Camille’s Story, Kingdom of Darkness

  coming on the summer solstice, June 21, 2017, read on!

  Readers count on reviews to help them make good book selections. If you enjoyed Kingdom of Embers, please let others know what you liked about it on the site you purchased it. You can leave reviews on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00YHN5Q4G, or on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14055439.Tricia_Copeland.

  Kingdom of Darkness

  Kingdom Journals Volume 2 – Camille’s Story

  “Death lies on her like an untimely frost

  Upon the sweetest flower of all the field.”

  -William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

  “That must have been some dream last night. Was the guy hot?” Tyler taunted me as he sat down at the breakfast table.

  “It’s not like that.” I slapped him on the shoulder.

  “Camille, Tyler, seriously,” Mom scolded. “Don’t start the weekend fighting?” She squatted down so we were eye to eye. “You had a dream? Why didn’t you say something?”

  “It wasn’t a big deal.”

  “Well, what was it about? Who was in it?”

  The dreams had started four weeks before, but I hadn’t told Mom because I knew she would freak out and double my counseling sessions. The first was a scene with a girl and her mother at a library. They studied a boy who sat at a table reading. The next day the girl and boy met at the library again. I never heard words, only saw pictures. It wasn’t like I thought the dreams were real, but it fascinated me the way the storyline continued.

  I’d had imaginary friends when I was younger. My pretend scenarios got so out of control, Mother put me on medication. She moved us from Los Angeles to the Arizona desert, seeking a healthier environment. Then she relocated us to Cheyenne, Santa Fe, and Bismarck, trying to find a solution to my health problems. Bismarck had been better but still not perfect, and we packed up and relocated to Iceland, the healthiest country on the planet. Tyler had pushed for Honolulu, but in the end, cost of living won out.

  Reykjavik seemed to have solved all my problems. We’d been there over a year, and I hadn’t had any episodes. Then the dreams started. Granted they were just that, fictitious stories created by the overactive limbic part of my brain. My research indicated this to be the emotional part that gets highly active during REM sleep, when our prefrontal cortex, the mastermind of the brain, rests. The limbic portion of the human brain causes emotional, vivid, irrational scenarios to play out in our sleep.

  My dreams were more like a silent movie, continuing where they’d left off the previous night. The plot included a girl who didn’t eat normal food save sushi, avoided human contact, and had witch-like powers. The boy developed these powers, and he and the girl assembled an army of vampires and witches to fight another group of witches. So, of course, the scenarios playing through my head each night couldn’t be real.

  The whole issue was that, even with medication, I’d had visions of my imaginary friends after we’d left Los Angeles. The girl and boy, Violet and Chase, searched for me and sat outside my door waiting for me to come play. The doctor switched my medication, and the hallucinations stopped just before my fourth birthday. I hadn’t seen Violet or Chase since, but the characters in my dreams had similarities to my imaginary friends. Maybe their features wouldn’t have stuck with me so vividly, except each time we moved I saw a new psychiatrist. He or she always reviewed my history, so I had to relive being three every other year or so. Violet’s reddish-brown hair, her milky white skin, and Chase’s dark hair and eyes, became etched into my brain.

  For the past month, I’d watched the characters on mute. But the previous night’s dream, or whatever it was, ended with a name I heard clear as day, as if the people were in my room. “Ivy,” the girl and boy had recited together. It was the pretend name my Violet and Chase used for me. As soon as the sound of the name vibrated through my head, I’d woken with chill bumps covering my body.

  Sitting up, I wrapped the blankets around my shoulders, wondering how the girl and boy in the dream knew my nickname. A buzzing sound, like t
he type you hear just before you pass out, grew in intensity until I thought my eardrums might explode, and then it stopped suddenly and images filled my head.

  The boy hugged the girl. “Thank you for saving me. I can’t believe Thanatos didn’t kill you.”

  “He wanted me alive.” She buried her face in his chest. “What have I done? This is all my fault.”

  “Alena.” A woman pulled the girl from his grip. “We must attend to Elizabeth.”

  “Mother, I’m so sorry. Elizabeth–” Alena’s chest heaved with sobs.

  “It’s going to be okay. All will be fine.” Her mother kissed the top of Alena’s head.

  They walked to a body that lay lifeless on the ground. Kneeling beside it, the mother closed the woman’s eyes. “I pray that you have had the blessing of a good, fulfilling life and were consoled and sure about your death. May your body rest at peace in the earth.”

  An older gentleman stooped over and kissed the dead woman’s forehead. “She knew her anam cara many years ago.” Lifting her in his arms, he walked towards the trees.

  Alena grabbed her mother’s arm. “Why did you only say her body would rest in the earth? What about her soul? Won’t she always be with us in spirit?”

  “This is not the time I would have wanted to bring this up. We are not eternal like other creatures. We only are given one lifetime.”

  “What? How can you know this? Is it some type of curse?”

  “It is what we are given. I for one am grateful to have lived so many years and to see my daughter become a woman.”

  Alena released her mother’s arm and turned to face a pile of bodies heaped in the center of the clearing. Alena approached one of the men standing near the fallen creatures. “How many did we lose?”

  “Two. Not bad for a battle with witches as strong as these. We were lucky to have outnumbered them three to one. If you hadn’t drawn Thanatos away, it would have been much worse.”

  “Not Aaron?”

  “No, not Aaron. He is attending to one of the departed. Stand back.”