Endless (30 page)

I drew in a deep breath and
focused on calm. On light and love and peace. I pictured my little
daughter resting in my arms. Closing my eyes, I thought,
I love you little one. Mommy loves
you.

When I looked down, she was
staring up at me, focused on my face. Almost as though. . .she had
heard me.

She looked deeply into my
eyes, and she smiled.

Photo: Marilyn Bellinger

Tawdra Thompson Kandle lives in central
Florida with her husband, children, cats and dog. She loves
homeschooling, cooking, traveling and reading, not necessarily in
that order. And yes, she has purple hair.

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Through the Valley Love Endures
by
Eddie David Santiago

All for Hope
by Olivia Hardin

The King Series
by Tawdra Kandle

Fearless

Breathless

Restless

Endless

The Posse
by Tawdra Kandle

And now for a special preview of the
soon-to-be-released paranormal novel

DREAM JUMPER

By Mandie Stevens

Coming from Hayson Publishing

Elsie Ponce has lost her
magic.

Being the former king of
the fae’s granddaughter comes with expectations. She's supposed to
be a leader in society, wielding a power that leaves lesser fae in
awe. Instead, she's become a disgrace to her bloodline, and no one
quite knows what to do with her.

But in her dreams, she
finds sanctuary. She can do as she pleases, and it's there she
meets with a human boy who helps her find happiness and confidence.
She even discovers that she has a rare talent for dream jumping.
But she can't live in her dreamworld forever.

A dark presence threatens
her existence, and she must face reality before she loses
everything. Elsie isn't just a dream jumper,-she's much
more.

Chapter 1

“Dang it, I said NO. It’s dangerous and you
know it. Stop acting like a two year old.”

Derek stared down at me. With his arms
crossed, his biceps bulged out of his too-tight black shirt. I
thought about challenging him, but I knew in his current mood,
it wouldn’t do me any good.

My official guard and pain-in-the-butt
cousin was even worse when the moon was full. He had to change, so
he couldn’t do his job.

I sank into the seat next to Kris. “It isn’t
fair. You can run, and Kris can go to college. I can’t do anything
until something happens, and it isn’t. “ My voice caught. “I feel
like I’m stuck in between two worlds, and can’t really be part of
either. I may as well be human.” My whining annoyed even me, so I
laid my head on the kitchen table.

Derek rested his hand on my shoulder. I knew
he wanted to be sympathetic, but chaotic energy radiated off him. I
lifted my head to look at him. He had to leave and didn’t need to
deal with me. He gave my shoulder a little squeeze and looked to
Kris.

“All right, I’m out. Don’t let her
leave.”

Kris smirked. “I never do.” Derek nodded and
headed out the back door.

My eyes narrowed at Kris. As if he could
really stop me if I wanted to leave. Okay, maybe he could; my magic
was so weak. But still. .

Kris looked up from his book. “Are you
ready?”

“Do we have to? I’m still feeling off.” I
fumbled with my teacup, not making eye contact. The truth was, I
hadn’t had the desire to even try anything lately.

“All the more reason for you to practice.
We’ll start with something simple.” I winced. Kris had to report my
progress to my grandfather, the former King of Fae, the
self-proclaimed ruler of my life. And lately there hadn’t been
anything good to share

He held out his hand. A tiny orange spark
appeared, slowly growing into a ball of fire. The ball rose above
the table, waiting for me.

“Okay, grab it and move it to you,” Kris
commanded.

I nodded and focused on the floating light
that hovered over the kitchen table. I attempted to move it with my
mind. It should have been easy; it was something every Faerie could
do, something I had always been able to do until now.

Depressed, I turned away, set my teacup in
the sink, and stared out the window. The moon was full, and it
pulled at me, calling for me to run under its light. It was just my
body that wouldn’t cooperate.

“No.” Kris interrupted my thoughts. “Elsie,
you need to try again.”

I rubbed the back of my neck as I turned
toward him. His blue eyes met mine, and he pushed his glasses up
onto the bridge of his nose. It was yet another reminder of my
failings. Every month when we had our lessons, I would spell his
eyes to make his vision better. He couldn’t do it himself, and his
pride wouldn’t allow him to ask anyone other than me. Now I
couldn’t even do that to help him.

Kris took after his human mother, but my
grandfather, Oberon, the former King of Summerland, considered him
valuable. The very idea of my grandfather viewing my friend as a
commodity to be used made me cringe.

Kris was an elf, meaning his race were once
Faeries who had interbred with humans. Their bloodlines weakened,
and they became a new race. Faeries and Elves didn’t socialize in
Summerland, but things were different here. Kris and I were the
only two Fae born since the cross over thousands of years ago had
changed social norms. The funny thing was that neither of us were
full Fae.

A wolf howled in the background. My mind
paralyzed, I stepped around Kris and made my way toward the back
door. Kris grabbed hold of my arm.

“Where are you going?”

I blinked; I didn’t know. All I knew was that
I wanted to run.

“To the gardens?”

I shrugged and looked over my shoulder into
the night. Kris dropped my arm and shook his head.

“You can’t, and you know that.”

“Yeah, yeah, the Fae think I’m going to wolf
out.” Every full moon, the Fae met in the gardens to dance and
celebrate. I hadn’t been welcomed since I’d turned fifteen, for
fear that I might turn. Kris stayed with me, just in case.

On the other hand, I had never shown any
signs of changing, so I was never invited to run with the pack,
either.

Kris hesitated. “Well, I was going to wait
until your birthday but I-”

“So you’re going to bribe me to come back?” I
smiled.

“Maybe.” Kris turned and walked back into the
kitchen. I could have made my break for it, but I shrugged and
followed him back inside.

This would be interesting. Kris always had
the most unique gifts. Last year, he had brought me plants from the
gardens to place around my bedroom so I wouldn’t feel left out. He
and Derek switched them after every full moon with plants that had
been magically charged.

We sat on the couch, and he placed a small
box into my hands, keeping his palm over it. Kris’ closeness made
the box even heavier.

I’d had a crush on Kris for as long as I
could remember. My grandfather wanted us betrothed, but my parents
wouldn’t hear of it. When you live forever, marriage isn’t a
priority. Kris was sweet and kind to me, but I was always his best
friend’s cousin, and he always had a girlfriend. Even now there was
someone else, but those girls never lasted long.

“Come on, come on, open it.” He rustled the
top open, exposing the wrapping paper. I folded it back, revealing
a gold chain attached to a small purple stone pendant.

“It’s amethyst. It’ll help
you focus your energy.” He pulled the chain out, moved my hair to
the side, and placed the necklace around my
neck.
“Do
you really think it will work?” I asked, hope seeping into my
voice.

“It won’t hurt. Besides, we need to do
something before Oberon finds out.” He winked at me.

I shot him a thankful glance, grateful that
he hadn’t shared the fact that the last princess of Summerland was
a disgrace to her entire bloodline.