Mazy (Protectors of the Elemental Magic Book 3) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Part Two: Meg

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Part Three: Mara

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Meg's Winter

  Epilogue

  Connect with Me:

  Mazy

  Protectors of the Elemental Magic

  Book III

  Marnie Cate

  Copyright (C) 2017 Marnie Cate

  Layout Copyright (C) 2017 by Creativia

  Published 2017 by Creativia

  eBook design by Creativia (www.creativia.org)

  Cover art by http://www.thecovercollection.com/

  Edited by L.E. Fitzpatrick

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. 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 the author's permission.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to those who pushed me to believe in the magic when it seemed gone. Without you, the story would not have continued:

  ∞

  My sister for reminding me every day how strong a sister's bond is

  My muse kitty, Lil for always bringing me back to reality

  Jane for your endless support and encouragement

  Dame Judi Dench for reminding me to never give up

  Tommi Ann for believing in the story & its potential

  LE for prodding & pushing me to dig deeper

  Ben, my future fan club president

  And for Gram - you are always and forever in my heart.

  Mazy

  adjective, mazier, maziest.

  full of confusing turns, passages, etc.; like a maze

  ~ dictionary.com

  Chapter 1

  “Come quick, Mommy! Mommy! Mara!”

  Setting the kitchen knife down next to the vegetables I was cutting, I went to investigate. As I stepped out of the house, I could see the black hair of the child as he ran through the long blades of golden grass.

  “Quick, come see what Daddy has made,” the small boy said when he reached me. His dark brown eyes twinkled and he wore a mischievous grin.

  I followed him through the field and down the hill to where the grass was no longer tall. I stopped as a wall of fire appeared with the words, WE LOVE YOU.

  “Isn't he great?” the boy yelled. He ran towards the fire creation and into the open arms of the dark-haired man that stepped out of the flames. The man's golden eyes flickered as he saw me.

  “What do you think of my creation? Aidan said that he wanted to make something special for you. Did we succeed?”

  He set the boy down and kissed me on the cheek. “Why are you so quiet, love? Are you not happy with your surprise?”

  “What are you doing, Kai?” I asked, not hiding my anger. “What game are you playing?”

  “Why is Mommy mad?” the boy asked Kai, his eyes welling with tears.

  “She's not mad. Mommy is just having one of her sad days. She is just a bit confused,” Kai said, patting the child on his head. “Why don't you go practice what I taught you. I bet Mommy will be feeling better later and will bake some cookies for you.”

  The boy looked at us both hesitantly before nodding and running off.

  Kai took my hand but I yanked it out of his grasp. “Why is he calling me, Mommy and you, Daddy?”

  “Mara, I don't know how to help you remember us. You haven't had one of your spells in so long. You can't start this again. It is too confusing. Aidan is our son. We are married. We have been married for over six years now. Why must we do this over and over? Why can't you remember us?”

  “Lies!” I screamed and stepped away from him. “I am married to Cole and I am having his child.”

  “You're not pregnant, Mara,” Kai said, softly.

  I touched my stomach to prove him wrong and gasped. He was right. I was not pregnant.

  “What have you done?” I cried.

  Whirling around to run back to my home, I saw a small red cottage with yellow trim. I scanned the area for anything familiar. For miles around me, there was nothing but rolling plains of copper grass. I realized I was not in Starten. Falling to my knees, I began to cry.

  “Mara,” Kai whispered in my ear. He wrapped his arms around me. “I know you miss him but Cole is gone. Losing the baby was too much for him. He blamed himself for it. There was nothing you could do to save him. You need to forgive yourself. Can't you stay in the present with us and release the past?”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks. I felt the air inside me deflating. Was he telling me the truth? Did I lose both Cole and our child and not remember?

  “Our son needs you to be here with us. He doesn't understand why you keep forgetting who he is. Mara, I won't keep putting Aidan through this over and over.”

  Painful images flashed in my mind telling me that Kai was not lying. I had lost everything I loved. The image of Cole lying dead in my arms consumed me. Trembling, I fell into his arms. Kai held me tight. The heat from his body could not remove the chilling realization of all I had lost. Pressing myself closer to him, I nestled seeking more of his heat. The fieriness of his touch began to cool and I gasped as it turned ice cold.

  “Did you really think I would let a child of my blood be born to you? I told you I would take everything you love. How nice of you to assist me with this family. You are destroying them yourself.”

  The arms around me were no longer Kai's. I struggled to break the hold, trying to get away from the familiar body. She released me. Instead of running, I turned around to face her. Her cold gray-blue eyes glared at me - Snowystra.

  “Did you expect that I would let you live happily ever after?” she snarled. “Pity that I had to let my beautiful boy die to punish you. Although watching you relive that pain has been worth it. But, I have grown bored with finding ways to hurt you. Now it is your turn to die, Marina.”
>
  The dagger I had summoned when Snowystra had tried to stop me from leaving Snowstrum appeared in her hand. Her eyes gleamed with satisfaction at my surprise. Before I had time to act, she plunged it deep into my stomach. Her long nails dug into my shoulders, holding me close to her. I struggled to pull away but I could not free myself. All that I could do was scream and listen as her cold laughter filled my ears.

  Chapter 2

  “It's okay, Mara,” Meg said, smoothing my hair. “It was just a dream. Wake up.”

  Opening my eyes, I touched my stomach and I was relieved when I felt movement. My baby was still inside me and definitely alive. Trembling, I sat myself up.

  “Same dream?” Meg moved closer to me.

  “Yeah,” I said, unable to quiet the shaky feeling I had. “I don't know how to make it stop. Danu promised me that Snowystra was dead but it feels like she is still here. I need Cole to come home. Why isn't he here if he is doing better each day?”

  “You need to talk to me. You can't keep all of your worries built up inside,” Meg said.

  She was right. I was full of fears I could not stop from playing over and over in my mind. But, I was not Meg's burden. She worried about me too much. I was supposed to be her protector, her big sister… not the weak patient that needed to be coddled.

  Not wanting to say aloud what really had been worrying me, I said, “I need to see Cole. I need to see him myself. I need Cole to tell me that he is ok.”

  When Cole was lured to Snowstrum, Snowystra made him the Shah of her Winter. As the Shah, Cole was a different man; he became cruel and abusive and I had been naive to think returning home would fix everything. The night he left, he tried to talk to me about his fears but I silenced him. If I had listened, Cole might not have gone. I hated him for the way he left with only a note saying he needed to fix himself before he could be with me. Why did he sneak away in the middle of the night like a coward? Why didn't he force me to listen to his concerns?

  I left my unspoken words hanging; I needed Cole to tell me that he loved me and that he wasn't leaving me. I needed to know that he did not leave me because he was grieving the death of Snowystra.

  “You know that he will return when he is better, Mara. Have faith that he will return soon.”

  Leaving Gram's bed we had been sharing since Cole's departure, she opened the curtains and let the sun shine in on me. “It is going to be a beautiful day. So, get out of bed. Let me finally show you the room that was built for you. You can't hide forever in here pretending nothing has changed.”

  Sighing, I resigned myself to the fact my little sister was not going to let me wallow in my sadness today. While Cole and I had been in Snowstrum, I thought we had been gone for only a few months. Instead, we had been gone from Starten for almost five years. During that time, Meg had grown up and many days I had begun to feel like I was the little sister. The fourteen-year-old had more wisdom inside her than I remembered at that age. Her positive outlook was so different than mine.

  I reluctantly threw on a flowing summer dress. Nothing I owned did much to conceal my pregnancy. How would I explain being pregnant with a missing husband to everyone? Running my fingers through my curly hair, I inspected the roots of the white streaks that had been created by Snowystra's touch. My hair had grown but it did not look like it would be returning to its raven black color, serving as my reminder that even if I was free from Snowystra she had forever tainted my life. Sighing, I decided to not bother fixing my hair. Meg would redo anything I did anyway.

  Images of Cole the last night I saw him ran through my mind as I brushed my teeth. Four months had passed and I had thought that I had forgiven him for leaving. But, I hadn't forgiven myself. The guilt I felt for not listening to his concerns and dismissing his worries grew stronger each day. If I would have just listened to him when he tried to tell me his fears, I would not be alone.

  “She said you were getting ready. I think your teeth are probably clean enough,” the soft voice of Essie said. My stepmother took the toothbrush from me and wiped the toothpaste from the side of my mouth as if I was a small child. Essie had become the person to me my mother never could be. Every day I felt closer to her and appreciated her taking care of my family while I was gone. “Meg told me that the dreams are getting stronger. What can I do to help you?”

  Her green eyes filled with such warmth and love. Stroking my cheek, she took my face in her hands. I could feel the heat from her magic.

  The baby growing inside you needs you to heal your heart, Mara. Cole will be home soon. You need to believe in the love he has for you.

  Essie's family had been followers of Brighid hundreds of years before my grandmother had been gifted. The Goddess kindly referred to them as her Ateissa – her calming balance. Unlike my ability to control all four elements, Essie had been gifted with telepathy and a calming touch.

  “How do you believe in his love when I doubt it every day? I need to see him. If we are over, I need him to tell me.” My voice was as cold as my heart.

  “Oh Mara, you don't believe that,” Essie said, taking my hands in hers.

  “I need to see him, Essie. I am going to go to Danu and ask her to bring me to Cole,” I said. She loosened her hold on my hands but I stopped her and held her hands tighter. “He has been gone too long. If he is not here for the birth, he will hate himself and I don't think I will be able to forgive him.”

  Sighing, she calmly said, “I will help you go to Cole if….”

  “If what?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

  “Meg has planned a day for us. She wants to take you to Main Street to pick out items for your suite,” she said. “It is time to leave Gram's room. You can't hide here forever dwelling on your sadness and anger.”

  Closing my eyes, I took a slow breath. “Ok. I will give you this day but tomorrow I am going to Cole. Gram always told me to follow my heart but it feels like my heart stopped beating the day he left.”

  I joined my family at the kitchen table as they were finishing up. Charlie babbled as she scooped her food into her mouth. My father doted on my two-year-old half-sister. My half-brother, Miles was at his normal station at the stove. He loved cooking and experimenting with using his Air magic to enhance the recipes. Carrying a plate of food towards me, he grinned.

  “So what are you up to today to make you smile like that?” I questioned.

  His big green eyes twinkled with mischief. “Nothing special. Just working on how to make the pancakes fluffier. I think I have mastered the recipe.”

  “No secret spices?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

  “Just the usual vanilla with a pinch of lemon zest,” he said. When I narrowed my eyes, he laughed. “Don't use your dark queen look on me. Should I call in the royal food taster?”

  Miles never missed a chance to mock my former queen status and lived for the stories I shared about my time in the dark court. I wondered if he sometimes missed the formality of living in the Drygen mansion.

  Setting the plate before me, I admired his presentation: a stack of pancakes with butter and maple syrup next to a fruit salad of blueberries, strawberries carved into roses and star shaped apple slices.

  Waving my hand at him in a dismissive manner, I said, “This is acceptable. I will trust you today.”

  He kissed me on the cheek and plopped down on the seat next to me. “I feel honored you approve. Now eat before it gets cold.”

  The pancake melted in my mouth and I was unable to restrain an audible moan. My senses seemed heightened since I had returned home. It may have been the liquid diet I was on in Snowstrum or the pregnancy.

  “I will take that as a compliment,” Miles chuckled. “What does my Neep think of it?”

  Since we didn't know the sex of the baby, Neep had become Meg and Miles nickname for the child inside me.

  “So far so good,” I said. My period of nausea and an overwhelming aversion to food had passed and I was thankful to be able to enjoy meals again.

  “What a
re your plans for us today?” I asked Meg. Reluctantly finishing my breakfast, I had decided to be positive about the day.

  “I thought we would start in your room. Then, we should go to Jackson's to pick out a bedspread and some things for the new space,” Meg said excitedly.

  Hopping up, she stood over me. “We better get going. We have a lot to do today, Mara.” She offered me her hand. “First thing, let's fix your hair.”

  Meg twisted and turned my hair, hiding the white streak and creating a long, thick braid.

  When Meg was done making me presentable, I followed her past Gram's room and down the hallway towards the patio. The house had been renovated while I was gone and there had been several additions made. Before my grandmother's death, she had talked to Cole about her wishes. Gram had always wanted a spot in our home where she could watch the sunrise and appreciate the morning view. My father had honored her ideas and the patio now wrapped around to the east. At the far end of this, there was a white door.

  “This part of the house is all yours,” my father said, opening the door to a wide-open space. “We didn't do anything yet down here. I thought you and Cole would want to talk about how to use it.”

  At one end of the room, there was a circular staircase. Following my father, we slowly climbed the stairs. The handrail, made of the same light wood as the rest of the space, was engraved with trailing flowers and butterflies. When we reached the top, my eyes filled with tears.

  The room had several glass pane windows looking out into Starten Forest. It was clear that my father had made all the furniture in the room, from the king size bed with a dark wood headboard to the dressers and desks. Trailing my fingers along the smooth wooden surface of one of the armoires, I struggled to find my voice.

  “Oh you don't like it?” my father said, wringing his hands. “We can change anything you want.”

  Choking back my tears, I said, “No. It's not that… it is perfect. Everything is so nice. It must have taken you forever to make everything.”

  “Five years to be exact. Making the furniture was my small way of keeping you close while you were gone. There is a piece missing. I didn't bring up the crib yet but I think it would be perfect over there,” he said, pointing at a small section of the room.