by Leia Stone
Midnight Truth
Shifter Island Book Four
Raye Wagner
Leia Stone
Copyright © 2021 by Raye Wagner and Leia Stone
Cover by KD Richie
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Created with Vellum
Contents
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
Chapter 21
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
I trailed behind Reyna and my grandfather as we slipped from the portal in the library at Alpha Academy to the library on High Mage Island. The clicking of my shoes against the stone floor shattered the heavy silence, and I paused to slip out of them before resuming my sluggish pace with Honor close to my side. I stared around the shelves loaded with leather tomes in fascination, their golden scripts barely visible in the pale moonlight. Tables lay bare and unoccupied interspersed between the shelves. As we approached a large rotunda, I gaped at the golden statue of a female mage in the center. Like a water fountain, the shimmery blue liquid in the basin at her feet was somehow pumped up and into her hands—where it transformed into flames that licked upward in a magical heatless fire.
Wow.
My gaze followed the magical fire several feet into the air and continued toward the ceiling. My jaw dropped. With high arches in dark-stained wood and hundreds of panels of intricately stained glass, the luster and richness of this library were ten steps above the one on Alpha Island.
Only Honor’s occasional herding kept me moving.
“Come on,” Reyna grunted, drawing my attention away from the atrium’s architecture as she stepped away from the domed area and into a wide aisle. “Let’s get you hidden.”
She jerked her head to the side, and I lurched toward her, worried she might drop Grandpa Geoff. He leaned into her so much that she practically dragged him along. Was he even conscious? Honor was close on my heels, not even letting a full foot of distance come between us.
Reyna and Grandpa made their way toward a side door on the far wall of the library that was marked with the symbol for spirit. Gramps groaned in her arms, and Reyna slowed even more.
“Do you want help?” I asked my grandfather’s shield.
“No. I’ve got this,” she growled under Grandpa’s weight.
Stubborn ass.
I took a moment and glanced down the other aisles to the surrounding walls of the library and noticed four other doors, each marked with the symbol representative of the element—just like the ones on my body. Water, fire, earth, and air.
Cool.
“Today would be nice,” Reyna called back to me.
Yikes. I lifted my skirt so I wouldn’t trip over it and ran after her.
“Why are we hiding me again?” I whispered.
After throwing open the door to spirit, Reyna dragged Gramps across the threshold and into a dim foyer. Her breathing had grown hard and labored, and she leaned against a wall and sucked in a ragged breath.
I stepped inside after her, taking note of the two accent chairs and end table between them, but Reyna didn’t bother to set my grandfather down. Instead, she waited for Honor to come in, and then, after he nudged the door closed with his snout, she heaved Gramps upright once more.
“Because,” she grunted, resuming the effort to move my grandfather—this time down a hallway of dark wood shiplap—“he’ll have to claim you as his heir properly first or you could be attacked.”
Attacked? That didn’t sound fun.
“Here, let me help you.” I stepped forward, but she pinned me with a glare.
“It’s my honor and duty to care for him,” she snapped, baring her teeth.
I backed off with wide eyes, and my grandfather lifted his chin and grinned at me. “She’s all prickly tooth and nails on the outside,” he whispered weakly. “But inside, she’s warm and squishy.”
Seeing him conscious, I sighed with relief, totally disregarding his playful banter.
“I am not,” Reyna growled. “Take it back.”
He merely wheezed with laughter.
We walked halfway down the heavily lacquered hallway before entering a cluttered study that I assumed belonged to my grandfather. It was filled with books—although many of them were scattered about the floor—two tables, and several wooden chairs. Just as colorful as the books, dozens of crystal clusters and points in a variety of colors were strewn about the space as well as glass bottles in all shapes and sizes.
The place looked like it had been robbed.
I watched as Reyna maneuvered through the chaos, which was the only reason I saw the mostly clear “paths” through the disarray.
His shield pushed a thick leather-bound book from a silver crushed-velvet sofa with her foot, and then she deposited my grandfather onto it before plopping next to him. “You need … to consider … the cane … I bought you,” she said, panting. “It will only get worse.”
Just inside the room, I leaned against the wall, dismayed at how quickly my grandfather’s illness was weakening him. Merely half an hour ago, he was begging for my help at Rage’s coronation, and now he looked on death’s door. Honor sat on my right, pressed against my leg, and I absently ran my fingers through his fur.
I thought Grandpa Geoff would huff about not needing a cane, but he simply raised his chin to her with a look of sad resignation and nodded once. “Fine.”
Okay…
I needed more info. The last few hours had been a whirlwind of activity with little time to think or process or just be. I was beyond exhausted after Rage and Clive’s fight to the death—and while I definitely knew I didn’t want asshat Kian or the other high mages of the council getting Grandpa’s power … I needed to sit down and figure crap out.
Rotating slowly, I did a 360, looking for an empty seat while taking in the giant study. Behind a large desk, a door stood slightly ajar, and with its light on, I identified it as an attached bathroom. On the other side of the bathroom door, closer to where Grandpa and Reyna sat, there was a little kitchenette with a sink, hot plate, microwave, and refrigerator.
“Is this where you live?” I asked.
It was small but cute. Maybe it was all a single guy needed, though I would’ve thought a legit bed might’ve made the list…
He chuckled, and Reyna burst into laughter.
“Mother Mage, no!” she snickered. “The master of spirit has the nicest castle on the island. This is his, and soon to be your, secret study. It’s spelled to not allow any of the other master mages inside.”
He pointed to Reyna. “What she said,” he rasped.
He shuddered and then reached for something on the desk, his arm falling to his side as Reyna stood. She plucked a small crystal bottle filled with what appeared to be black syrup. “Not much left,” she told him, her brow furrowing as she held it out to him.
He waved off her concern and then popped the cork, downing a small swig.
Color flooded
his cheeks; his ragged breathing evened out. He recorked the bottle and sat up, looking younger than he had since Rage and I returned from the Realm of the Dead.
Whatever that black stuff was, I needed some. Or sleep. Maybe both. My adrenaline was definitely waning, and the stress of the last few days was catching up.
Speaking of stress … how long had I been gone? Probably at least twenty minutes or so, enough that Rage would start to worry. I’d only wanted him to not stop me from going, but now that I was here…
‘Rage, I need to tell you something,’ I sent through our mental link, suddenly desperate to talk with him. Guilt bubbled up while I waited for him to respond. He was probably pissed—and could I blame him? If he’d left me…
The reality of what I’d done hit me. What the mage was I thinking! I shouldn’t have left without talking to him. What kind of a person did that—to their mate?
‘Rage?’
Panic clenched my chest, and I sucked in a ragged breath.
‘Rage!’
I didn’t even wait for a response before I glanced down at the black wolf at my side. ‘Honor, can you reach Rage?’
Grandfather stood, and I was vaguely aware of him rummaging through some books on his desk.
‘No.’ Honor looked up at me. ‘I lost the connection to my brothers the second we passed through the onyx door at the library.’
Crap!
We couldn’t communicate while here?
Rage was going to kill me. He’d think I left on purpose—which I had, but not to cut him off or be away permanently! Or what if he thought I got kidnapped or something worse? I needed to let him know I was okay.
“Umm, Grandpa Geoff?” I asked as my stomach sank with dread.
“Hmm?” He continued to riffle through his things, not even bothering to look up at me.
Meanwhile, Reyna must’ve felt more confident about his health because she now stood in the kitchenette, washing dishes at the sink. When we were all in that room at Rage’s coronation, they’d made it sound like getting here to High Mage Island was critical and time was of the essence, but now that we were here…
“I can’t reach Rage through our bond,” I said as dread and shame pressed in on me. “He’s going to worry—”
“Ah, yes,” Grandpa said, straightening. He stopped his search and faced me with a frown. “About that … you’ll be cut off from Alpha Island and anything in that world while you are here.”
My breath hitched in my throat. Say what?
I sucked in a sharp breath and pressed my hand to my chest—just in case my heart decided to jump out and flee. “Okay…”
Only it wasn’t okay. Not at all.
“Can I pop back over there and talk to him really quickly, then?” I asked, filled with remorse for my selfish actions. I’d wanted to avoid a confrontation, but abandoning Rage was taking it to a whole new level. “I could run and be back in five—just so he knows I’m okay?”
“Of course.” My grandfather nodded, but he didn’t quite meet my gaze. “But … first, we need to have you complete your initiation. If Kian knows you’re here and I’m about to claim you … I fear he’ll try to stop the process.”
I swallowed, wishing I had done things differently. Suck it up. I’d own my mistake when I went back. Besides, how long could initiation take? A few hours? Rage knew me, he knew I wouldn’t just leave him. Everything was going to be fine…
Grandpa Geoff let out a whoop and held up a water-clear crystal, six or seven inches in length and an inch in diameter. “Come now, let’s go to the castle so you can meet your ancestors.” Then his gaze dropped to Honor. “I’ll not tell you what to do, but if the high mages see Honor here, and you’ve not successfully completed initiation, they’ll try to kill him. Only after you’ve been recognized as my heir would you be permitted to have a shield, and even then, it’s a rare privilege.”
My eyes widened as my mind spun. What the what?
I looked at Reyna, but she continued to wash dishes, oblivious or uncaring. If I didn’t already know, I wouldn’t have believed she was a Harvest girl. Other than her red hair, she was nothing like the bubbly, chatty sisterhood I’d come to know and love from the Harvest sisters at Alpha Academy. Was she always like that, or was it this place? Did things happen here that muted her sparkle?
‘I’ll stay back with her,’ Honor told me. ‘If you need me, just holler, and I’ll come—consequences be damned.’
I nodded, because what else could I do?
My grandfather hobbled down the hallway, one hand on the wall and the other holding his cane. I followed him, watching him as he walked. After a dozen paces, we turned the corner, and the walls changed from wood to stone. Glass sconces burst to life with purple flames, lighting our way as he kept on, leading us through an endless stretch of corridor—at least a quarter of a mile long. This was the longest hallway I’d ever seen, and it had no doors. It reminded me of the passageways in the alpha king’s castle.
“This hallway connects to our estate,” Grandpa said. “But the study attached to the library is the only place Kian and the other high mages can’t access. Only those who share blood or shield bond with a master mage of spirit can gain access to that place. At least, for now,” he muttered ahead of me.
Good to know. Hide from Kian in the study if necessary. Check.
The hallway opened up, widening into a large foyer. Two large wingback chairs occupied the space on either side of the stone entryway, and a breathtaking crystal drop chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting small rainbows through prisms of light.
Between the two seating areas and occupying the majority of the entry hall was the base of a wide stone staircase. Six steps led to a landing that was bigger than my bedroom at Alpha Academy. On either side of the second landing, another set of stairs led to an additional entrance hall on the second story. Windows stretched from the third story to the top of the first, but the vestibule where I stood had only one obvious entrance point from the outside: the set of double doors on my left. They drew my attention, and Grandfather Geoff waved at them dismissively.
“Those are the formal entrance to Spirit Estate. When someone knocks, you don’t have to answer.”
Good to know. He made this place sound like a den of enemies.
He continued walking through the space, leaning on his cane, while I gaped at the giant freaking castle. This place was huge, and it wasn’t covered in dust like the dorm at Alpha Academy. This place shone with gold and crystal finishes all over.
I followed Grandpa Geoff down a wide hall, taking note of a sitting room, an office, and a library, as well as several closed doors. As we neared the end of the hall, the smell of cake wafted in the air. My stomach rumbled with discontent, having missed the party celebrating Rage’s triumph and all.
“Pappy!” a male squealed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
I stepped up to the wide doorway and saw a teenage male rushing toward us. I froze at the entrance to an enormous kitchen, and the tall male, perhaps sixteen years old, skidded to a halt, his mouth dropping open as he stared at me. He held a chocolate cupcake in one hand; frosting was smeared on his lips and chin.
He was dressed in a simple black t-shirt and jeans. His feet were bare, and his pale silvery hair fell into his eyes and brushed against his cheekbones.
“Elia’s dead,” he said, his forehead furrowing. He dropped his gaze to the floor, avoiding mine, and his eyes filled with tears. “She’s gone.”
What the…? The mention of my mother shocked me. Did he think I was her?
“Donovan, this is Elia’s daughter, Nai,” Grandfather Geoff said as he shuffled over to the young man. “She’s your cousin.”
Cousin?
Holy crap! I had another cousin? One that wasn’t a douchebag like Nolan?
“Family?” he asked Grandpa.
“Family,” Gramps affirmed.
The young man nodded, mouth opening in surprise, before he wiped at his eyes, smearing streaks of
chocolate frosting across his face. He sniffed but didn’t look up from the ground. “Where’s Mom?”
“Your mother is on duty at the portal. She should be back in a couple more hours,” Grandpa said with a soft smile. He pointed to the kitchen counter where several dozen cupcakes were lined up, each with a heavy dose of chocolate frosting and chocolate shavings. “Annette has been baking for you, I see.”
“Chocolate,” my cousin said, training his eyes on my shoes. “I like chocolate.”
I didn’t know much about autism, but it seemed to me my cousin was on the spectrum or something like it.
“I like chocolate, too,” I said, glancing at the cupcakes. Lona used to make cupcakes like that; she called them death by chocolate. Shaking myself from my reverie, I offered Donovan my hand. “I’m glad to meet you.”
Grandpa Geoff beamed at me and then turned his smile on Donovan, who was staring at the ground and hadn’t taken my offered hand. I let it fall to my side and cleared my throat. Grandpa slowly raised his hand and set it on Donovan’s arm, giving the young man plenty of time to move if he’d wanted to avoid contact.
“Nai is here for training,” Grandpa said, crouching to look Donovan in the eye. “Will you be a nice cousin to her while she adjusts at school? Help her out?”
The weight of what I was doing here settled on my shoulders, and I nearly groaned. “I’ll take all the help I can get.”
At my declaration, Donovan raised his chin and glanced at my nose, but if he saw my smile, he gave no indication—nor did he meet my gaze. “I can be helpful.”
Gramps squeezed his shoulder lightly. “Yes, you can!”
I kept my smile firmly fixed. “I’d love a cupcake if you’re willing to share. I missed dinner.”