mythean arcana 06 - master of fate
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Authors: linsey hall
Tags: #Fate, #Fantasy Romance, #sexy paranormal, #Paranormal Romance, #adventure romance, #Iceland, #hot romance, #Happily Ever After, #Happy Ending, #Romance, #Fantasy, #Time travel, #Werewolves, #demons, #Series Paranormal Romance, #scotland, #Series Romance, #Witches, #worldbuilding
- TITLE PAGE
- COPYRIGHT
- DEDICATION
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- DEAR READER
- GLOSSARY
- CHAPTER ONE
- CHAPTER TWO
- CHAPTER THREE
- CHAPTER FOUR
- CHAPTER FIVE
- CHAPTER SIX
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINE
- CHAPTER TEN
- CHAPTER ELEVEN
- CHAPTER TWELVE
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- CHAPTER NINETEEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY
- CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
- CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
- EPILOGUE
- THANK YOU!
- WITCH’S FATE EXCERPT
- AUTHOR'S NOTE
- ABOUT LINSEY
Contents
MASTER OF FATE
Linsey Hall
This is a work of fiction. All reference to events, persons, and locale are used fictitiously, except where documented in historical record. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright 2015 by Linsey Hall
Published by Bonnie Doon Press LLC
Digital Edition 1.0
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form, except in instances of quotation used in critical articles or book review. Where such permission is sufficient, the author grants the right to strip any DRM which may be applied to this work.
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ISBN 978-1-942085-50-8 (eBook)
ISBN 978-1-942085-51-5 (Paperback)
DEDICATION
For Emily Keane Smith, one of smartest, most beautiful, and compassionate women in the world. Thank you for always being there for me. In addition to being an awesome friend, your help with my writing is invaluable.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I owe so much to the people who help me create my books. Thank you, Emily Keane, for reading every story I’ve written, no matter how busy you are. Your insight is so helpful and improves the story. As always, thank you Ben for everything you do. And to Doug Inglis, for your wonderful story ideas. You always make a book better. Thank you to Carol Thomas for reading this story and always being there for me.
Thank you to Barbara Ankrum, Shelley Bates, and Jena O’Connor for various forms of editing. The story is much better because of your expertise.
Dear Reader,
Aurora has always been one of my favorite characters, ever since she appeared in Esha’s story. I’ve been dying to write her story and I’m so glad I finally got to share it with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Happy reading,
Linsey Hall
GLOSSARY
Aether - The invisible substance that connects the afterworlds and earth. It is both nothing and everything.
Aetherwalking - A method of traveling through the aether to access the afterworlds or different places on earth. Some Mytheans have this power and can bring another person with them.
Afterworld - A heaven or hell created by mortal belief. Mortals can access them only through death. Some Mytheans can aetherwalk to them.
Immortal University - An organization created thousands of years ago to protect Mytheans and keep them secret from mortals. It was initially founded as a true university, hence the name, but over time it morphed into an institution with greater power and responsibility. The university’s primary goal is to maintain the secrecy of Mytheans and to keep the gods from warring to obtain more followers. They do this primarily through diplomacy. The university also provides services to Mytheans that they can’t get elsewhere, lest mortals figure out that their clients never die. Things like education, health services, and banking.
Mortals - Humans. They are unaware of the existence of Mytheans or that all heavens and hells truly exist. They are immortal in the sense that their soul will pass on to whatever afterworld they believe in.
Mythean - Supernatural individuals created by mortal belief. They are gods and goddesses, demons and monsters, witches and other supernatural creatures. They are immortal in the sense that if they live on earth, only beheading or grievous injury from magic can kill them. If they are killed their soul will pass on to an afterworld. Secrecy from mortals is one of their highest priorities. Some Mytheans, particularly species of demons and some gods, are trapped in their afterworlds. Others have access to both earth and the afterworlds.
Mythean Guardians - Powerful mortals made immortal, or other supernatural beings who serve at the Praesidium. They protect those mortals and Mytheans who are important to the fate of humanity.
Otherworld - The Celtic afterworld. The Celtic gods are forbidden from traveling to earth because they believe that they are required to be in Otherworld to keep it functioning.
Praesidium - The protection division of the Immortal University. Mythean Guardians work here. Their job is to protect those important to humanity and maintain law and order by keeping Mytheans secret from humans and keeping the gods from warring.
Soulceresses - Mytheans who fuel their power by draining the immortal power of other Mytheans’ souls. When fueled by the power of others, they can manifest their magic with a thought. They are hated by other Mytheans because of this. They also have the ability to see the evil in a person’s soul.
Sylph - An ancient air spirit from a religion that is lost to memory. Sylphs and their descendents have the ability to attain invisibility by becoming one with the air. They are also able to manipulate the wind.
Timewalkers - Mytheans who can travel back in time. Too many trips will scramble a timewalker’s mind until they cannot tell which time period they are in. They are forbidden from interacting with the past, which the Timewalker Council monitors. If they break this law, they will be punished, sometimes with death.
Wulver - Werewolves from the Shetland Islands in northern Scotland. Their souls are partially possessed by the spirit of the wolf and they are ferocious and loyal. Full-blooded wulvers can shift into wolf form. Half-blooded wulvers cannot. Instead, the shadow of the wolf bursts from their souls in battle and fights as a ghost beside them.
CHAPTER ONE
Immortal University
Edinburgh, Scotland
Present day
Aurora shot upright in bed. The dark suffocated her, tight as a fist strangling her throat. The crushing sensation felt so real that Aurora clawed at her neck, certain she would pry away hands and that sweet air would fill her lungs.
Nothing. Just the sting on her neck from the bite of her nails. The darkness threatened to swallow her whole, sucking her back into the cold nothing of her prison.
As her consciousness faded, a yellow light gleamed in the distance. She clung to it, trying to tie her soul to the light that promised escape. If she could just hold onto it long enough...
Slowly, the lights grew larger. The gleam coalesced into two distinct points. Cat’s eyes.
Air rushed back into her lungs, cold and life affirming. Aurora drew her own magic into her, then flung it outward in a burst of light that illuminated the room.
“Mouse.” She reached out to the black cat whose golden eyes had pulled her back from the brink.
Her familiar launched herself at her chest and she gripped the warm body close, sinking her fingers into soft fur and focusing only on her cat. Mouse had been her comfort during those long years in the aether prison and still was, now that they were free.
“I am a badass,” she said to herself, her voice shaking only slightly.
Just a nightmare.
Mouse meowed an agreement. Aurora repeated the mantra and tried to ignore how silly it made her feel. By the time the cold sweat had dried on her skin, she felt steady enough to stop.
Then the phone rang. She jumped so hard that Mouse leapt out of her arms and bounded across the bed, a sleek blur of black across the teal comforter.
“Damn it.” Aurora dragged a shaking hand through her hair and sucked in a deep breath. She wasn’t used to the harsh, unnatural tones of the phone. “Get it together, idiot.”
She leaned across the bed and grabbed the sleek little phone off the bedside table. Esha’s name flashed on the screen. It still amazed her that this little device allowed her to talk to anyone at any time. It rivaled her own magic.