His Angelic Keeper Hidden: His Angelic Keeper, #2

By Melinda Kucsera

Sovvan wants to save her mage-gifted brother from the demon bent on devouring his soul. But first, she needs to stop her ex-guardian angel from completing a spell that could destroy the repository of all memory and with it, the last fourteen years of her strange existence. If only this bizarre band of creatures would stop kidnapping her, she could make a start on that. But those creatures have plans, and they won't take no for an answer.

There's no rest for the dead, especially not for someone who's caught between angels and demons in a world where magic is real and just using it can kill you. The afterlife is turning into more of an epic fantasy adventure than Sovvan expected. But one thing will never change. Family comes first. Scroll up to start this epic fantasy adventure now.

The His Angelic Keeper series is a humorous sword and sorcery series starring Sovvan from the Curse Breaker series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melinda Kucsera
• Release date: Dec 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201932169

Melinda Kucsera

I write fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories usually at sword point. Everyone should have such eager characters......Hello readers!Yes, this is a fictional character speaking to you. My fellow characters just locked our scribe (Melinda) in a tower. She needs to finish our latest adventure.Want to meet us? Hop on over to get our first adventure for FREE: http://www.mkucsera.com/enchantedWe’re eager to entertain you with our magical mayhem. So go download our book! We're waiting for you.

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Copyright

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER HIDDEN © 2021 by Melinda Kucsera

The cover is a collaboration between Melinda Kucsera and Aklat Covers, (https://facebook.com/aklatcovers)

The 3d render of Sovvan is © by Melinda Kucsera 2020

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Table of Contents

Copyright

Table of Contents

His Angelic Keeper Series

The Curse Breaker Series

Want Free Stuff?

Would You Leave A Review?

About His Angelic Keeper: Hidden

This is Fantasy

Dedication

A Note from the Other Side

I’m Fading Away

Get That Apple

A Strange Offer

Don’t Interfere

Sometimes I Whisper

The Agony of Fate

What Have I Done?

Don’t Mess with the Queen

Not What I Expected

I’m Not Brave

They Want Your Light

Ask A Tree

Chasing Demons

Not Just A Passenger

Falling into the Red

Why Did I Agree to This?

Your Magic is Showing

Bargaining with a Dragon

A Run-in with Fate

Travel Problems

Missing Time

Them Gray Bones

Strange Allies

Are You My Friends or Foes?

Time to Talk to the Angels

Revenge of the Memory-Eaters

Hell is a Marketplace

Angelic Intervention

Spying Fate

Contrary Trees

Searching for the Devil

You’re Magic is Gone?

Connecting the Dots

Kidnapped by an Angel

Get Out of Hell

The Agents Are Coming

For Whom the Bells Toll

Who Will Save You?

Monster Mode Engaged

Open for Trouble

Hell is a Battlefield

Cut the Tethers

Unleash Hell Upon Them

Last Flight of the Dragon

Not So Safe Collapse

Would You Leave a Review?

Want Free Stuff?

Memoriam

About the Author

I’d Love to Hear from You!

His Angelic Keeper Series

The Curse Breaker Series

Curse Breaker’s Companion

Robin of Larkspur

Divergent Heroes

His Angelic Keeper Series

A high-fantasy action/adventure series full of magic and mayhem with a Christian bent that takes place in the same world as the Curse Breaker Series.

Other books in the His Angelic Keeper Series:

(Suggested Reading Order)

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER: HIDDEN

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER: FALLEN

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER: TEMPTED

CHAOS RISES*

*Forthcoming

The Curse Breaker Series

A high-fantasy action/adventure series full of magic and mayhem with a Christian bent.

Other books in the Curse Breaker Series:

(Suggested Reading Order)

Prequels

RELIC HUNTER

Main Series

CURSE BREAKER ENCHANTED

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER

CURSE BREAKER DARKENS

CURSE BREAKER FALLS

CURSE BREAKER BOOKS 1-4

(Includes Curse Breaker Enchanted, Curse Breaker Darkens, Curse Breaker Faceted, and Curse Breaker Falls)

CURSE BREAKER SUNDERED

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER HIDDEN

CURSE BREAKER HIDDEN

SPELL OF SHADOW & LIGHT

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER FALLEN

HIS ANGELIC KEEPER TEMPTED*

CURSE BREAKER FALLOUT*

CURSE BREAKER TRAPPED*

CHAOS RISES*

*Forthcoming

Want Free Stuff?

So do we! Who are we? We’re the stars of the Curse Breaker series. Subscribe to our newsletter to get advanced previews, and our weekly adventure series delivered safely to your inbox by our digital dragon. Go to  www.mkucsera.com/welcomecharacters now to sign up.

We’re also on Patreon, and we offer a lot of goodies to thank you for supporting us. Join our community of fantasy fans now on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=6244689 to get copies of our books before anyone else and exclusive content. 

--The cast of the Curse Breaker Series

Would You Leave A Review?

As fictional characters, we appreciate the feedback we receive. Reviews also help readers choose our book. Since we exist only when someone’s reading our stories, reviews are very important to us. So, if you’re enjoying the magical mayhem in this book, please consider letting everyone know by leaving a review. And tell everyone you meet about us.

Thank you for reading His Angelic Keeper: Hidden!

About His Angelic Keeper: Hidden

Sovvan wants to save her mage-gifted brother from the demon bent on devouring his soul. But first, she needs to stop her ex-guardian angel from completing a spell that could destroy the repository of all memory and with it, the last fourteen years of her strange existence. If only this bizarre band of creatures would stop kidnapping her, she could make a start on that. But those creatures have plans, and they won’t take no for an answer.

There’s no rest for the dead, especially not for someone who’s caught between angels and demons in a world where magic is real and just using it can kill you. The afterlife is turning into more of an epic fantasy adventure than Sovvan expected. But one thing will never change. Family comes first.

The His Angelic Keeper series is a humorous sword and sorcery series starring Sovvan from the Curse Breaker series. 

This is Fantasy

His Angelic Keeper: Hidden speculates about how Christianity might express itself in a traditional epic fantasy world with its own pantheons of pagan gods and magic. Or it did until the characters hijacked the original story, His Angelic Keeper #1, and changed the premise. They’re in unexplored territory now.

Enjoy the trip. Just stay away from the clockwork insects. They bite. 

Dedication

For Carolyn Kucsera, 1984-2014.

Rest in peace, Sis.

O Guardian, most dear,

I’m lost and nowhere near

the ones that I hold dear.

O Guardian, most dear,

help me stop the puppeteer

before I disappear.

O Guardian, most dear.

-Traditional Shayarin Prayer

A Note from the Other Side

Hi readers,

I’m back. I’m Sovvan, the ghost who might be turning into an angel. I still find that hard to believe. I’m also the hero of His Angelic Keeper, the first book in my breakaway new series. 

When you last saw me, my guardian angel had fallen to the dark side. He also threw an Agent of Chaos at me, and it injected something into me when it bit me. Now, I'm fading away, but the goddess of Fate, (I didn’t know she was real), poked her nose in and reminded me about the apple she’d given me.

 It turns out that apple is a concentrated burst of creation, and it supposedly disrupts the Agents of Chaos’ disintegrating effect. Who knew? 

That crabapple didn’t come with instructions, so you’ll forgive me for not knowing what to do with it other than to pocket it. I’m still stuck on the fact that a goddess from a fallen pantheon is still wandering around. What’s that all about? 

I have a sinking feeling I’m about to find out. 

—Sovvan, sister of Sarn and guardian angel-in-training (fingers crossed!)

I’m Fading Away

The blackness faded to a peculiar shade of gray Sovvan hated so much, and that grayness turned transparent. That was strange. But an Agent of Chaos had bitten her a little while ago, so maybe that was normal?

Bits of her body peeled off in a slow motion spray and grayed out. Like cinders on the wind, they flew away, moving in time to that damned metallic clicking, which grew nearer as Sovvan lay there semi-conscious on a branch in the Grove of Memory. This place stored the memories of those who'd died over the centuries. Sovvan still found that hard to believe. Something held her body and soul together. Perhaps it was the bond to her twin, Sarn. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

Beside her, Misriah froze, magical crabapple in hand. The red apple looked like any other ripe apple, just smaller. According to Fay, the ex-goddess of Fate, it could reverse the effects of that bite. Misriah threw back her head and howled one word, No! Purple lightning danced over the angel’s armor as it consumed her. I’m sorry, Sovvan. Your brother needs me. Misriah let go of the apple, and it fell on Sovvan’s lap.

Pick it up. It’s the only way to fight whatever the Agent of Chaos did to you. But her hand wouldn’t obey her, no matter how many commands Sovvan sent it. Instead, her hand lay limply on the waist-thick branch supporting her. The apple remained on her lap, doing nothing magical. It didn’t even shine.

Misriah vanished in an explosion of purple sparks. Great, now Sovvan was alone with her floating ex-guardian angel, who was working some sort of magic, but she didn’t know what. Are you trying to summon your dark lord?

He didn’t answer, but what else could he be doing? Malachiah gathered more power to him, and it ringed him in an invisible cloud Sovvan could sense but not see. That power made her skin crawl and bile rise in her throat at the stench of death and decay in the air. His magic had a bad odor, or maybe that stench of burning garbage came from him.

Below her, metal creatures skittered around the leaf-covered floor of the grove. They were the mysterious Agents of Chaos. What did they want? One had already bitten her, and the rest just massed there like an army of clockwork insects. What were they waiting for?

Probably for me to fall off this branch. And Sovvan would too since she was fading in and out of consciousness. Where would she end up when she finally blacked out? The Gray Between again? Sovvan didn’t feel its pull, nor was she seeing gray anymore.

A metallic insect crawled up her arm, across her shoulder, and finally up the side of her head. The clockwork roach stopped on the tip of her nose and regarded her with softly ticking eyes. Tiny black hands wound around its coin-shaped eyes, keeping time.

Don’t bite me. Once was enough. Sovvan stared at the creature until it became blurry. She closed her eyes. Before she could freak out too much, the link to her brother yanked Sovvan off the branch and dumped her onto a carpet of red leaves below. They must have cushioned her landing because nothing hurt from the fall. What a relief. Something had finally gone her way.

Sovvan ran a hand over those red leaves, crinkling them. Each five-pointed leaf stored someone’s memories. Births, deaths, holidays, wars, all were recorded by these leaves, and one might have some information she could use. As Sovvan touched the leaves around her, a compulsive urge to absorb as much information as she could overtook her, and she grabbed handfuls of leaves.

Fragments of conversations about historical events flashed through her mind as Sovvan reached for more leaves. One leaf had even saved an argument about the Adversary. Sovvan paid attention to that one because her ex-guardian angel had tried to hand her over to that creep. She needed to find out as much as possible about him in case he showed up here. Sovvan couldn’t rule anything out at this point. Only Malachiah knew what his spell would do when he completed it.

None of the memories that had been stored in the leaves within reach provided any answers about that spell, or the army of tiny clockwork insects marching toward her. Damn. Someone must have encountered them in the past, and their memories must be here, somewhere. Hers were too, but there were billions of leaves to search through.

Which ones held the information she needed? Not the ones she’d landed on. Damn it. Oh well, the answers only fell into the hero’s lap in stories. Sovvan put all thoughts of reclaiming her lost memories out of mind for now. The Memory-Eaters had just been doing their job when they’d taken them. She had larger problems than the holes in her recollections.

I’ve wasted enough time. Sovvan let go of the spent leaves, and they slipped, gray and lifeless, through her hands to land on their red brethren.

Sovvan blinked as those leaves blurred. She fought to keep her eyes open as two people whispered about chaos and order and agents who tried to maintain some sort of balance between the two. But there was no one else here except her and the trees and the clockwork creatures coming toward her. Numbness crept up her body. Those whispers must have come from the many memories she’d absorbed.

That sounds like something Misriah would drone on about, Sovvan said to the voices arguing in her head. What are the odds I’d land on the handful of memories about some old debate about those two arcane powers?

Too small for Fate not to have played a role in that. Too bad Sovvan wasn’t aware enough to pay attention to those fading voices. Hopefully, those memories would become information she could access later when she wasn’t so damned tired.

The Memory Trees shivered in the increasing wind from whatever Malachiah was doing. Was it too much to hope the God Misriah served would smite her ex-guardian angel? Probably unless Fate lent a hand.

Fate. Fay, that ex-goddess had given her something. An apple! Sovvan forced her eyes open. Of course, that crabapple was still rolling away from her. A spent leaf fell from her numb fingers as she willed her hand to reach for that beautiful apple. It might cure her of whatever the Agent of Chaos had injected into her if she could just grab that apple before it rolled out of reach.

But her arm refused to obey her. Shades, fades, and blades. Why is no one ever around when I need help? Sovvan blinked away the gray, edging her vision. So the Gray Between was coming to collect her again. Not good unless the portal to this place was still in there.

But Sovvan couldn’t remember where the only Memory-Eater who was on her side had created that portal. Everywhere in the Gray Between pretty much looked the same as everywhere else except for the forest, but Four hadn’t made the portal near there. Hopefully, that portal will be visible from a long way off on that gray plain. But it probably wouldn’t be because her luck was never that good.

Worry about that later. Right now, you need to get that apple. Sovvan tried to move her legs, but they wouldn’t obey her either. Damn, and Misriah was gone; Red, the guardian angel of this place, was still unconscious, and only God knew what had happened to Four. That memory-eating pachyderm had vanished before the fight with Malachiah.

This can’t be the end. Sovvan railed against that. But her very being was slowly unraveling into white-glowing strings. How Strange. What did that Agent of Chaos do to me? Sovvan stared at her disappearing hands. Did they want Malachiah to win?

Sovvan could still raise her head, so she checked her feet, but they were gone, taking with them the dull throbbing pain from kicking a certain ex-guardian angel, and her ankles and calves were unraveling too. As Sovvan watched her unmaking, part of her detached from her body and floated upward past the red-and-white blur crawling toward her. What on earth was that?

Get the apple! Fay shouted from somewhere nearby. Was that ex-Goddess back again?

I thought she couldn’t manifest without throwing things seriously out of whack. Though maybe that restriction had been lifted since things were pretty screwed up right now. Sovvan glanced around for that ex-Goddess, but everything had become blurry and indistinct.

Maybe Fay had appeared on a leaf again. But everything was fading to that hateful shade of gray as Sovvan floated up into the roiling sky above.

What’s happening to me? Since she was already dead, Sovvan couldn’t die again. But what did that leave? What happened to souls that unraveled? Was there one last reprieve? Or was the darkness sweeping her consciousness away from the last thing she would ever see?

I’m sorry, bro. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you or your son. I wish I’d met him. But now, Sovvan might never do that, not if this final darkness was it for her. She mustered all the energy she had left for one last prayer. Forgive me, O Lord. Send me back. I’ll get things right this time. I just need one more chance.

But if the God Misriah believed so heartily in heard, He gave no sign. The darkness consumed her mind, snuffing out its light for a while. Sovvan dissolved into a cloud of shimmering motes and floated out of the Grove of Memory and back to the Gray Between, the crossroads of the afterlife where all souls were sorted.

***

The shining cloud that had been Sovvan descended in a shower of sparks onto a foggy hill. Gray light filtered through a break in the thunderheads, and it shined on the metal carapaces of the clockwork beetles crawling up that hill. They each grabbed pieces of the entity that had been Sovvan and pushed them together, reassembling her.

More clockwork insects scurried about until a ghost of a girl lay on the brow of that hill. Her dark hair and white skirt blew in the wind, whipping across the plain. Job done; those insects scuttled away, and a fog bank chased them. It rolled over Sovvan, hiding her from view as she stirred.

Get That Apple

As Fay stared at the flame flickering on her palm, an image of Sovvan appeared in its heart finally. Thank you, God. Because she’d tried to find out what had happened to that girl a few times since she’d broken the connection. Time moved slowly in the afterlife, but it did move. Unfortunately, no one else had. The scene looked the same as it had the last time Fay had checked it.

Sovvan still lay on a branch, her dark hair and white robes waving in the breeze like she was some kind of damsel in a bard’s tale. White wasn’t a good color for Sovvan, not even with the wide purple hem and edging on the sleeves. It washed the girl out and made her look even more pale and pathetic when Sovvan was anything but.

Fay fought the urge to roll her eyes. Sovvan was no damsel in distress. She was far too plucky for that, but where was that pluck now? Come on, girl. Get up. This isn’t the time to lay about.

While Sovvan did nothing to save herself, her ex-guardian angel cast a spell Fay didn’t recognize. Why was that girl just lying there? Wake up. But Sovvan didn’t. Why not? What am I missing? Fay poked the flame, but nothing happened because she was impervious to fire.

Something must be preventing Sovvan from waking up. Could the Agent of Chaos do that? Fay reviewed what little she knew of those creatures, then shook her head. No, her gut said something else was going on. Come on, girl, wake up. I gave you a reprieve. Not something the old goddess of Fate would have done, but Phadrassen wasn’t that woman anymore. She technically wasn’t a goddess anymore and hadn’t been for a millennium or two, not since the last uprising when she’d pledged herself and her family to serve the Father of All Creation.

He should have smote us from existence. It was His right to do that. But He hadn’t. Instead, He’d accepted her service, reduced her power, which had been a relief, truth be told, but she would never admit that to anyone. After that, Fay had done what she could to uphold this tenuous ‘Balance’ thing. That last war had nearly broken it and the world she’d lived in for years beyond counting. So keeping the Balance was imperative for her family’s survival, and Fay tended to eviscerate threats to that Balance with extreme prejudice.

Come on, girl. I gave you a get out of trouble-free card—I mean apple. Use it! Why hadn’t Misriah forced the apple she’d given Sovvan down that girl’s throat? The cure wasn’t a complicated ritual—bite, chew, swallow, and let the apple do its work. Why weren’t they doing that?

Do I have to do everything myself? Fay fought the urge to clench her fists. She didn’t want to quench the flame or the future she was studying. It was sort of like scrying, except her fiery power rendered every image in red, orange, and gold. But the flame could only show her the immediate future, not the present, and not a damned thing happened there.

What in blazes was that warrior angel doing? Communing with the soul she was supposed to be guarding? That would explain why Misriah knelt there with her head thrown back and her arms akimbo, but this wasn’t the time for that. Unless her mortal was in danger. Was he?

Fay held out her other hand and summoned another flame. Show me Sovvan’s twin brother, Sarn. A flame shot out of her palm, but it didn’t show a vision of his immediate future, just an image of a luminous silver tree, shaking a branch at her in consternation.

Fay laughed. She couldn’t help it. Well, hello to you too, your majesty.

Why are you trying to view his future? asked the Queen of All Trees.

Why are you hiding him? Fay poked the palm-sized image of Shayari’s queen with her gift, just to see if that entity would give up any information, but no, the Queen of All Trees deflected that magical probe right back at her.

Ouch. Fay smothered the flame that licked the sleeve of her favorite dress. It was a cream-colored silk sheathe with dual slits, so she could run when one of her children called.

The Queen of All Trees didn’t answer. Well, that was fine. Fay knew where to find Sarn. He’d be somewhere under or around Mount Eredren since the promises he’d made wouldn’t allow him to go far from there.

Who are you hiding him from? Is it just me or someone else? Fay bet good money it wasn’t her because she had no reason to harm him.

No answer came, not that Fay had expected one. They were at a stalemate for now. You know I could pop over and look, right? When He limited my powers, He didn’t touch my ability to teleport at will.

The Queen of All Trees nodded her glowing mushroom-shaped crown. Interesting.

You want me to flash over there, don’t you? Fay narrowed her eyes at the Queen’s apparition. Why? What is it you want me to see?

Maybe something, maybe nothing. Only you can judge that. The Queen of All Trees raised and lowered her branches in a kind of shrug, then her image winked out.

How mysterious. What trouble are you in now, Sarn? Fay searched through the immediate futures for him just in case the Queen of All Trees had relaxed her guard. But she hadn’t. Fay hadn’t expected her to. Still, this all raised an interesting question. What the heck was going on in Shayari?

Fay relaxed her muscles and let her mind wander down the fiery paths of the future, but they were tangled, and their images were too jumbled to make out. Sarn’s future must be in flux. If so, then every decision he made would change it. Damn.

If she couldn’t use her powers to see what was going on, then she’d just have to visit Shayari. Well, why not do that now? It’s not like she was getting any answers by sitting here. Fay snapped her fingers and a tongue of flame enveloped her. It wasn’t a real flame, just the physical manifestation of her power.

***

When the flames subsided, Fay stood on a balcony overlooking the river. Alright, Sarn, where are you? Not on this balcony, damn. Movement caught her attention. Fay choked down a lungful of the Adversary’s putrescence as her red-swirling eyes locked onto a woman in her early thirties.

What the hell’s going on here? Something interesting? Fay rubbed her hands together, anticipating the kind of drama she could sink her nails and maybe even her blade into.

As she inhaled that stink again, she sifted through it, seeking information. Her mocha lips turned down in disgust. One of the Adversary’s lesser minions had been here less than a month ago, but not the big guy himself. Damn. Fay’s ebony skin boiled as it thickened, and a dragon struggled to break free from her confining human form. Before all vestiges of her pretend humanity puddled on the floor with her fast-shredding gown, Fay strengthened the glamour hiding her from view.

Thankfully, she’d appeared on a balcony and the next level up was about forty feet overhead. Fay needed every foot of that space to calm down and reverse the change before she remodeled the exterior of the mountain stronghold and upset Shayari’s sylvan queen.

Like any other dragon, she had a horde—her descendants. When people messed with her kin, she eviscerated them. But the Adversary was sealed out of this world, so rending him limb from limb was impossible for the moment. Fay sheathed her claws and didn’t gouge the tiled floor.

With an inaudible pop, her body shrank and cloaked her in a thin veneer of humanity. A snap of her fingers swapped her impractical skirt for her favorite suit of armor. Blood had stained her dragon-scale armor a deep red.

Fay winked at her reflection, then her smile fell. The Blood Knight might be back in business, but her favorite damsel-in-distress, Ariadne the Pure, was gone. Squaring her shoulders, Fay packed away the grief for another time. Someday, she’d find out what had happened to Ariadne and take her back, but not today. Her trusty sword sheathed itself at her hip as Fay approached her seated descendant.

Inari didn’t know she had a goddess as an ancestor, nor was Fay about to inform her. Only the first four generations out needed such intel to deal with the side effects of their peculiar heritage. Once the percentage of godhood shrank to below ten percent, it wasn’t worth mentioning. Besides, Inari only had a drop of her blood. Any effect it had was so minor, no one would comment on it. But it did grant the girl an affinity for mages and a magic-accepting physique. Both were great adaptations for a woman living in a country riddled with enchantments.

So, Inari continued reading, never noticing the goddess in her presence. Fay studied her. There was a mark all right, but it wasn’t the Adversary’s. It was more like a piece of someone’s magic had gotten caught in her descendant’s chest. Since this unknown mage had life magic, it would help rather than harm, so it was safe enough to leave in place. Still, Fay disliked anyone marking up her descendants, however distant they might be.

Sensing eyes on her, Fay glanced over her shoulder at the view. Right on cue, the Queen of All Trees appeared just beyond the outer circle of menhirs. Fay winked at the giant silver tree and vanished. But she didn’t fly far before she felt the corruptive influence of the Adversary and the slight tug of family.

What have we here? A diversion? Fay drifted unseen toward a longship anchored in the tiny port about a mile from the mountain. A woman paced the deck bearing both the Adversary’s mark and a drop of her blood. Fay floated there, her bare black hands on her blood-red hips as she considered what to do about this abomination until a whisper interrupted her fuming.

She’s chosen her path. You can’t change it.

Of course, I can. I am the Final Fate, the author of the future. Fay clenched her fists and glared at the hapless woman in her late twenties. What an utter fool she was to side with the abomination known as the Adversary.

Leave her be. Interference is forbidden. You know the rules.

The Queen of All Trees was correct, much as Fay hated to admit it. Yeah, yeah, it’s that whole ‘free will’ thing—worst idea ever if you ask me. So, who let that creep back in? Answer me that, and I’ll go in peace, for now.

He’s still locked out of this world. While the seal remains, he can only whisper.

You’re naïve if you believe that. Fay flashed herself home without waiting for the Queen of All Trees’ response.

The Adversary had targeted Shayari this time. Fine, let him try to break through there. Fay’s home lay a thousand miles as the dragon flies to the southwest. She had time to safeguard her horde—her family—from his corruptive influence. Claws pricked her fingertips, drawing blood as they parted her flesh. Fay raked them across a stone parapet, leaving a six-foot gash behind. Smoke curled out of her nose.

To the perfect blue sky overhead, she roared, You won’t take any of mine this time, Corrupter. I’ll barbeque you if you try. And wouldn’t that be a fine time?

***

Fay blinked at the sunbaked land of her home and cursed as she leaned against the balustrade again. She’d gotten so caught up in her thoughts about the Adversary and her many-times great-granddaughters, she’d forgotten about Sarn. I bet you planned it that way, Queenie. You knew I’d take the bait and that my powers don’t allow me to flash myself under mountains. Well, not without a stop on the side of that mountain first to orient herself.

She could flash herself back, but what would be the point? Fay didn’t know where to find Sarn, and the thought of heading underground to search for him sent a shudder through her. No, he’d resurface eventually, and that was soon enough to find him. Besides, the Queen of All Trees hadn’t looked all that worried about him, so he was probably fine. But his sister was another story.

Fay conjured another flame. Show me Sovvan. That unconscious girl appeared in the heart of the flame, burning on her palm. Beside Sovvan, Misriah vanished into a purple blaze, leaving Sovvan alone as bit by bit, that girl faded away. Where was that damned apple?

Fay panned the view, but the flame guttered on her hand as Sovvan’s future divided. Fay cursed. Damn, she had to wait for the girl’s future to settle, so she could see something. Or she could stress the Balance even further and just flash herself over there. Fay drummed her fingers on the balustrade. Hmmm, that idea had merit. Sitting about just wasn’t her thing.

Movement in the flame she was about to snuff out caught her eye, and Fay zoomed in on the red-haired angel gripping her head. She didn’t know her name. There hadn’t been time to ask when Fay had used a loophole to talk to Sovvan earlier. Maybe she didn’t need to physically manifest to save Sovvan. Fay closed her eyes and sent part of herself to the Grove of Memory as that angel sat up.

Psst. Over here. Fay waved from the flame she manifested in the Grove of Memory. Her fiery aura singed a few leaves, but Fay couldn’t help that. It was her nature to burn things. But no information was ever truly lost anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Who said that?