Authors: Tina Folsom
Blake!
He heard his name echo in his head.
What’s happening to me?
Don’t be afraid, baby.
She clung to him, her lips still on his shoulder, drinking from him.
I’m not afraid anymore. I’m with you now.
I’ll keep you safe, forever
, he promised.
Epilogue
Wesley hiked into the woods until he reached the old cabin that Scanguards had raided only a week earlier. When he saw it appear in the darkness, he could sense that his locking spell was still in place. Nobody had entered the house, not even an animal.
He set his backpack on the ground, removing the accelerant he’d brought together with a box of matches. It wouldn’t take much to destroy the house and every sign of the illegal drug manufacturing that had gone on there.
Wesley opened the door and stepped inside. A stale smell greeted him. It got stronger when he reached the kitchen. This was where he’d start the fire. He glanced around and gathered a few old newspapers, a wooden cutting board, and a few books, and piled them up on the kitchen table. Slowly he poured the accelerant over the pile and tossed the empty canister to the floor. He pulled a match from the box and struck it. A small flame lit up.
“Good riddance,” he murmured to himself and tossed the match on the pile.
The flame shot up instantly, but he didn’t wait to watch it burn. He turned on his heel and left the cabin. Outside, he grabbed his backpack, collected the crystals he’d left on his previous visit, and hoisted the backpack over his shoulder.
He waited for a few more minutes until the flames grew and engulfed the house, breaking the windows and pushing through the old tiles on the roof. Only now did he exercise control over the blaze and command it to remain contained to the house.
He chanted the spell and waited for the fire to react. And just as he’d commanded it, the fire consumed only the house and didn’t jump to the surrounding trees. There would be no wildfire.
He exhaled, satisfied. The Höllenkraut drug was destroyed. He could only hope that nobody else would ever try to mess with the dangerous herb again.
Turning his back on the smoldering embers that remained of the old cabin, he headed in the direction he’d followed the stranger a week earlier. Thanks to the notes he’d found in one of Francine’s books, he was almost one hundred percent certain, that he’d chased a Stealth Guardian, a preternatural creature who could not only render himself invisible—which would explain why he hadn’t been able to see him during the chase—but also pass through solid objects like walls and doors. If Francine’s research was to be believed, the Stealth Guardians were a benevolent race who’d made it their mission to protect humans. Just like Scanguards had. Which was reason enough to establish contact with them and see if they could help each other.
Who would have thought that one day he’d be grateful to Francine, the witch who had very nearly killed him and his siblings over two decades ago? After Francine’s well-deserved death, he’d had the foresight to appropriate any of her possessions related to witchcraft. Francine’s books and tools had become the foundation for his quest to regain his powers. A quest he’d won. Though he could never truly forgive Francine, he could appreciate her research and her dedication to her craft.
It didn’t take long until he’d reached the shack in which the stranger had disappeared. Everything was quiet. Still, he entered with caution. The interior was empty. Wes pulled a flashlight from his pocket and pointed it at the stone boulder. At first, he couldn’t see the dagger that was carved into the stone, but when he shifted the light, he recognized it. He hadn’t imagined it.
According to Francine’s book, the portal, which worked as some sort of transporter, opened only to the touch of a Stealth Guardian. However, Wesley had experimented with a variety of spells that could unlock all kinds of locks, and he knew just what this particular lock wanted.
He himself had to become the key. It was the only way in. But he was prepared.
Chanting softly, Wes started putting himself into a trance, while focusing on the face of the stranger he’d burned into his mind. He felt his facial muscles move, his skin shift and stretch, his hands curl and uncurl, his breathing change.
“I am you,” he continued his mantra. “I am you. I am you.”
Gently he placed his palm over the carving. Beneath it, he felt warmth. It turned hotter with every second, but he didn’t dare open his eyes, didn’t dare distract himself. He only thought of the stranger and that he was like him.
Something suddenly shifted under his hand, and a second later, he felt nothing. He opened his eyes. The boulder was gone.
Not losing a moment, he stepped into the portal that had opened before him and looked around for any buttons or signs, anything that would tell him how to operate the portal and close the opening.
But there was nothing. The walls on the inside of the portal were smooth, free of indentations.
How the hell was he going to get anywhere now? It was like that time he’d been traveling with some of his college buddies, and had run out of money and gotten stranded. Where had that been? Yeah, somewhere on the East Coast.
Suddenly the boulder moved and closed the opening. He was hurled into the air, floating, losing his balance.
“Oh shit!”
But it was too late now. The portal was in operation.
He could only hope that he wasn’t going to end up in hell.
~ ~ ~
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Master Unchained
, where Wesley enters the world of the Stealth Guardians.
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Other Books by Tina
Samson’s Lovely Mortal (Scanguards Vampires #1)
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US
or
UK
Amaury’s Hellion (Scanguards Vampires #2)
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US
or
UK
Gabriel’s Mate (Scanguards Vampires #3):
US
or
UK
Yvette’s Haven (Scanguards Vampires #4):
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or
UK
Zane’s Redemption (Scanguards Vampires #5):
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or
UK
Quinn’s Undying Rose (Scanguards Vampires #6):
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or
UK
Oliver’s Hunger (Scanguards Vampires #7):
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or
UK
Thomas’s Choice (Scanguards Vampires #8)
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or
UK
Silent Bite (A Scanguards Wedding Novella #8 1/2):
US
or
UK
Cain’s Identity (Scanguards Vampires #9):
US
or
UK
Luther’s Return (Scanguards Vampires #10):
US
or
UK
Mortal Wish (A Scanguards Vampires Christmas Novella):
US
or
UK
Blake’s Pursuit (Scanguards Vampires #11):
Available now
A Touch of Greek (Out of Olympus #1):
US
or
UK
A Scent of Greek (Out of Olympus #2):
US
or
UK
A Taste of Greek (Out of Olympus #3):
US
or
UK
Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1):
US
or
UK
Venice Vampyr #2 Final Affair
:
US
or
UK
Venice Vampyr #3 Sinful Treasure:
US
or
UK
Venice Vampyr #4 Sensual Danger:
US
or
UK
Lawful Escort (Eternal Bachelors Club #1):
US
or
UK
Lawful Lover
(Eternal Bachelors Club #2):
US
or
UK
Lawful Wife
(Eternal Bachelors Club #3):
US
or
UK
One Foolish Night (Eternal Bachelors Club #4)
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US
or
UK
One Long Embrace (Eternal Bachelors Club #5)
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US
or
UK
One Sizzling Touch (Eternal Bachelors Club #6)
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UK
In collaboration with Lara Adrian
Cut and Run (Phoenix Code 1 & 2)
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US
or
UK
Hide and Seek (Phoenix Code 3 & 4)
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US
or
UK
Audio Books
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About the Author
Tina Folsom was born in Germany and has been living in English speaking countries for over 25 years, the last 14 of them in San Francisco, where she’s married to an American.
Tina has always been a bit of a globe trotter: after living in Lausanne, Switzerland, she briefly worked on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean, then lived a year in Munich, before moving to London. There, she became an accountant. But after 8 years she decided to move overseas.
In New York she studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, then moved to Los Angeles a year later to pursue studies in screenwriting. This is also where she met her husband, who she followed to San Francisco three months after first meeting him.
In San Francisco, Tina worked as a tax accountant and even opened her own firm, then went into real estate, however, she missed writing. In 2008 she wrote her first romance and never looked back.
She’s always loved vampires and decided that vampire and paranormal romance was her calling. She now has 30 novels in English and over three dozens in other languages (Spanish, German, and French).
For more about Tina Folsom:
http://www.tinawritesromance.com
http://www.twitter.com/Tina_Folsom
http://www.facebook.com/TinaFolsomFans
https://www.facebook.com/PhoenixCodeSeries
You can also email her at
[email protected]
Copyright
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.
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