When the evil you fear is born from within, who will save us…from ourselves?
Sometimes our souls hear what our minds and hearts refuse to accept. It will whisper its continuous cadence until we're strong enough to glimpse the truth. But when the soul's whispers morph into screams, we're forced to gaze into the mirrors of time and see ourselves for who we really are.
Grappling with her newfound leadership position, Stasia begins to experience a recurring nightmare of murder, as well as curious reveries about a violet-eyed girl who can control the moon. When tragedy grips the Tydes and several important relics are stolen from the Sons of Daimon, Stasia’s Council leaves for the forgotten island of Atlantis. Unfortunately Atlantis harbors its own secrets, and they are all calling to Stasia. As her nightmares become worse and she begins to lose control of her mind, those around her must find a way to reach her…and fast.
Olivia Campbell is used to getting what she wants, when she wants it. But destiny never asked Olivia what she wanted. Being Chosen to be a Paladin at birth had not been something she wanted, and she definitely hadn’t wanted her charge to be Anastasia. Unfortunately their irritatingly persistent Atlantean guide, Sebastian, seems to know all about her and the secrets she’s been hiding. As she fights to protect Stasia from an unknown force, Olivia’s own courage and loyalty will be tested in ways she never imagined. Will she be able to tell Stasia the truth before it’s too late for them both?
Excerpt
Stasia
The sound of crashing waves lightly stirred me from my sleep and I stretched my arms over my head with a happy yawn. I shook out my hair and scratched an itchy spot on my cheek lazily. Just as I was about to peek out of my eyelids to see why waves were crashing into Finn’s underwater chamber, I realized I wasn’t lying on his bed anymore.
Something prickly snagged against my left thigh and my eyes flew open. The first thing they focused in on was the silver moon above. The second thing they found was the light fog rolling in off the ocean that stretched out before me. The last thing they noticed was my very naked body with the exception of a thin strip of silk I liked to call underwear. I quickly scurried into a sitting position in an attempt to cover myself with my legs and arms. The grass beneath me was poking up through a thick mass of heavy sand and swaying gently in the breeze coming off the water. When I leaned forward onto the balls of my feet I began to fall forward, so in an attempt to correct my balance, I overcompensated and tumbled backwards instead. Even though my arms shot back to catch me like my reflexes had intended, the rugged white cliff behind me did the job instead. I cringed as several fresh scrapes were etched into my bare skin.
I really had to remember to wear pajama pants to bed. And a bra. And a shirt. The only thing worse than waking up half-naked on the beach at Lorelei, was waking up half-naked in a reverie in the middle of nowhere. There were no convenient cottages or dorm rooms with extra clothes for me to shrug on. I was stranded.
My only reprieve was the knowledge that if anyone happened upon me, the chances of them being able to see me were slim to none. That ability was reserved for a select few individuals who were related to me, like my father, or those I had a close connection with, like Finn. And considering I was lying in bed with Finn and most of my family was already dead, I considered myself relatively safe.
A chiming, melodic crooning stole my attention away from my bare skin to a spot farther down on the beach near the crashing waves. She was perched on the wet sand with her back to me; both legs curled beneath her. Long, thick waves of pale blonde hair cascaded down her back and brushed across the sand below as she swayed back and forth as if in a trance. Her essence settled over me like a fresh ocean mist of dewy hibiscus and sparkling water lilies.
With the grace of a wounded elephant, I crept closer to get a better view of the mystery girl. Making my way toward the surf, the soft sand I’d woken up on abruptly switched over to small cobblestones that stuck to my feet and poked into my heel. Where was I? Each step took a great deal of concentration, because the last thing I needed was a twisted ankle. I glanced up at the moon that still hung high in the sky and guessed it was early morning.
The pale moonlight gave my surroundings a black and white photo appearance, altering any colors to various shades of silver. The waves beyond danced black and gray as the moon rays reflected over its rolling surface. The sparkling white stones at my feet shone a bright sterling, and created a direct contrast with my skin that now appeared more tungsten than tan. The sky above was black as coal with blinking platinum stars.
Amidst the dark and light contrasts, the girl’s presence shimmered and brightened with each note she sang. I became enchanted by the lustrous light that danced across her skin and gave her body a ghostly transparent quality. My heart began to pound in my chest and I felt an unsettling dread wash over me. I’d had my fill of ghosts, and I wasn’t looking for any other dead spirits to make friends with.
The breeze from the ocean ruffled the white sundress she wore and tousled her already messy hair. I could just make out her mouth moving ever so slightly, however the enchanting song wafting over the beach didn’t match up. I watched her and listened in an effort to reconcile the two, but to no avail. She couldn’t be singing. The other oddity was that the language of the unearthly song was completely foreign to me. I didn’t understand. We were completely alone from what I could tell, so I began to wonder if maybe the singing was only in my head. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Giving up on the mystery song, I crept even closer; curiosity getting the better of me. I carefully rounded the spot where she sat; keeping my eyes on her and deciding to kneel in the surf where I would have a direct line of sight. Unfortunately, my mind refused to accept what my eyes were seeing.
Her heart-shaped face, thin lips and high cheekbones gave away her youth, and I guesstimated that she was about my age, if not a year or two younger. Her most stunning feature had to be her eyes. Their severe tilt gave them a feline quality that matched her keen movements, but it was their light purple color that took my breath away and seemed to transcend this world. I didn’t know if angels existed, but I remember thinking that if they did she would definitely be one. The ethereal glow she exuded complemented the stars above, and her essence calmed my nerves like a midsummer night’s dream. Her slight hands waved slowly in front of her; diffusing what looked like a white puff of smoke.
A delighted grin lit up her already glowing features and she rested her hands on the cobblestones, palm up. She slowly closed her eyes and titled her face toward the sky. When she reopened them moments later, I gasped and nearly fell backwards. They now blazed a breathtaking violet hue that illuminated her face, and reminded me of the Auras Selene had brought with her to the beach that fateful night only a few months ago. The only difference was that their eyes had gleamed a bright silver, not violet. But the damage they had done was unforgettable. My defenses immediately went up and I crouched down with suspicion.
She glanced back skyward as several individual moon rays lit the area where she sat and appeared to empower the orb dangling from her neck. It began to pulse the same violet of her eyes, and that was when I witnessed something I would never forget. She began mouthing words I couldn’t hear and the moon rays that shone down on her split down the middle and detached from the moon. As I looked on in sheer disbelief, the two strips of light descended from the sky like two silk ribbons cut from a spool. After gathering into her upturned palms, they melted into two gleaming puddles of swirling moonlight.
Apparently satisfied with the moonlight’s reaction to her silent request, she began flipping and clapping her hands together over and over, as if patting a piece of dough into a ball. The malleable moonlight easily rolled into a compact ball, and she held it up at eye level for further inspection. Her mouth began to move once more as she pinched the top of the ball. In one slow, deliberate exercise, her pinched fingers rose higher and higher with steady concentration. A single strand of light was pulled upwards, lighting the smile on her lips. Without warning, the hand holding the ball retracted and the orb unraveled like a ball of yarn onto the stones in front of her.
With renewed concentration, she picked up the ribbon of light at both ends and pulled in opposite directions; stretching it taut. She snapped the fingers of both hands, and the ribbon burst into hundreds of twinkling lights that flickered momentarily before flitting back up toward the moon and leaving me spellbound.
She wiped her hands of something I couldn’t see, glanced around with what resembled mild paranoia, and produced a sparkling ring from her pocket. She carefully slid it on to the middle finger of her left hand and ran a loving finger over its stone. From where I crouched, it was difficult to tell exactly what kind of stone it was, but I could tell it was clear, oblong in shape, and at least three inches in length. The moonlight shone off its surface like the sun glinting off metal. The longer it remained on her finger, the brighter it became. Her violet eyes began searching for something on the beach and I followed her line of sight, which now rested on a small ghost crab several yards away.
She resumed her silent speaking and the crab actually began to scurry towards her. I could feel his excitement at being noticed. She held out her left hand and it eagerly crawled up into her palm and sat down obediently. With apprehension, I watched as she stroked its shell with a single finger and then lifted it into the air. A flash of light knocked me off balance and I fell into the water with a splash. Once I regained my composure, I gasped when I noticed that not only was the crab gone, but the ring was glowing an eerie, bright purple. Unfortunately, her now predatory violet eyes were fixed on me.
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