“No. I don’t have any magic; there is nothing there.”
I was lying though. Within my veins the golden fluid river of energy rushed into every cell. I had no clue what to do with it though.
“Of course, you do.” The woman with the silver hair and smooth skin stepped closer. “We’ve been waiting a long time to get it.”
“Mum,” Phil managed to squeak from under her gag, but the woman didn’t turn. I was going to be sick.
“I don’t have anything that’s any use to you. Nothing. I’m just a girl from Queens.”
In slow motion Mae’s father lifted a jewelled dagger and thrust it into Phil’s chest. I screamed but no sound came out as I crumpled to the floor, watching blood run from my friend onto the stones.
“This was all you and him.” The woman pointed between me and Tristan. “If you hadn’t ruined our plans all those years ago this would never have happened.”
I crawled forward, ignoring her words. My hand slipped in a river of Phil’s blood. Her eyes were vacant as they stared at the sky.
A burning rampage coiled within my body. My legs trembled, my hands shook. The earth rumbled under my knees.
I grabbed the blade from her chest, gripping it firmly in my palm. It slid from between her ribs with more ease than I was expecting. With a slash, I swiped it across my palm, mingling our blood.
The Druid priest and his evil sidekick watched laughing as I stumbled from the ground. “You don’t know what you’re doing,” he scorned. The gathering of Druids lowered their hoods and I exhaled sharply as I saw all the teachers from Fire Stone. Was this whole place about me—about me getting my magic and wielding it?
Ignoring him, I stepped for Tristan. Under the moon his face was pale, his eyes sought mine. “Mae?”
“I’m going to discover my magic.” I brushed my lips against his cheek.
“You can’t. You will die. You died on the stones. We both did.”
I shook my head. Picking his hand in mine, I cut across his skin with the blade and he hissed. I gripped our palms together tight, meshing my bloody hand with his. Mixing Phil’s blood with both of ours. “They won’t know who I am. I’ll have the upper hand. The only place for me to learn is back then, back when magic was normal.” The two of them stepped closer, clearly our time was up. Tristan gasped as he glanced at the ground. Where our blood had dropped blooms of purple sprouted from the earth.
“Don’t try to save me this time. It’s the only way we will live.”
He shook his head. “You need to tell that to me two thousand years ago, because I think it’s in my blood to save you.”
“More than love.” I smiled, but it was watery. “I’ll tell you.”
I went to turn away, ready to run for the past, but he gripped me tight. “How will you know who you are? You aren’t prepared, you can’t just go time walking.”
“How do I know anything, Tristan? I don’t, but at the same time I do.” Time was running out. The circle of Druids drew closer. “If I stay here, we die, again.” I clutched at him in one brief moment of weakness. “I have something they want; how can I stop them if I don’t know what it is?” I whispered into his ear. After the briefest of pauses he nodded, the skin of his cheek grazing mine. I turned and faced Phil’s lifeless form. “Give her a real burial, Tristan.” I didn’t give him time to answer as I ran for the stones, placing my hands towards them. A deep crack met my touch and behind me a shout lifted through the air.
The stones were mine. It was what Mae’s father had never realised, but the one thing I knew above anything else.
Whoever I was, and whatever I contained, the stones would always connect me to the things I loved. I glanced back as the image of the future faded. Tristan was watching me, and my heart pounded.
“Curse the land.” The cry went through the air as the vision of the future evaporated.
It didn’t matter. They could curse what they liked. By the time I’d finished, there would be no breath left in their bodies for them to curse us with.
To be continued … The Realm of Bone and Dust
June 3rd 2019
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Acknowledgments
This book has been lurking on my computer for nearly a year. I fell in love with Tristram and Mae when I initially wrote their story in a novella for an anthology. They swept me away with their magic and I was desperate to know where I could help them go. This book is the first step in that journey.
My thanks go to Lianne, Nikki and Andrea who all in their way helped me shine this into something wonderful.
My special thanks to Leah, if you tell me you love it then I know I’ve done something right?
To my family. I love you.
To my readers I thank you and love you from the bottom of my heart.
I shall see you all in the Realm of Bone and Dust.
Anna
Surrey, UK
About the Author
A book hoarder and coffee addict by heart Anna Bloom loves to write extraordinary stories about real love. Based south of London with her husband, three children and a dog with a beard, Anna likes to connect with readers, fan girl over her favourite authors and binge watch Supernatural while drinking lots of wine.
Also by A B Bloom
Gravity YA Fantasy (The Complete Boxset)
Gone YA Mature Contemporary Romance
The Realm of Bone and Dust
