Magical Compass: A Supernatural Prison Story
Jaymin Eve
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
MAGICAL COMPASS
Supernatural Prison Story
Jaymin Eve
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Magical Compass: Supernatural Prison Story
Copyright © Jaymin Eve 2017
All rights reserved
First published in 2017
Eve, Jaymin
Magical Compass: Supernatural Prison Story
*1st edition*
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. All characters in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Stay in touch with Jaymin: www.facebook.com/JayminEve.Author
Website: www.jaymineve.com
Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/bQw8Kf
This is for Heather.
And my review team (you know who you are).
I adore your faces, thank you for being everything that is right in the book world.
Catch up on the Supernatural Prison World
There are magically hidden towns around the world entirely occupied by the five supernatural races: Shifters, Vampires, Magic Users (witch/wizard, sorceress/sorcerer), Fey (Faerie), and Demi-Fey (Ogres, trolls, harpies, gargoyles, mermaids, etc). They all live together in relative peace.
Bordering many of these towns are prisons that house supernatural criminals. These criminals are contained there to keep the world, and humans especially, safe from them. Except for the Guilds – specially chosen families who help the supernatural communities acquire things in the human world, and integrate if needed – no humans know about these races.
Stratford, Connecticut, is the supernatural prison town in the USA, controlled by a council of five powerful supes, one from each of the races. Tyson Compass leads the magic users. His quad brothers, Maximus, Braxton, and Jacob, are the vampire, shifter, and fey leaders.
The quads are pack mates with Jessa Lebron, wolf shifter, and her twin sister, Mischa Lebron. Grace, their friend and talented healer, aided them during their battle with the dragon king.
This is Tyson and Grace’s story.
Other terms
True Mate – A fated mateship. Mates have a physical and mental connection, but only between supernaturals of the same species (i.e. shifter and shifter). Dragon shifters are able to speak in the minds of their mates.
Chosen Mate – A mateship chosen between supernaturals. Length of time is up to the couple involved. Can be between any of the races, and sometimes even with humans.
Half-Breed – The offspring of supernatural and human mating. They generally have nothing more than some advanced senses. Live normal human lives.
Hybrid – Offspring between two different supernatural races. Vampire and shifter offspring will be a hybrid of both races. Weaker in some ways than full-blooded supernaturals.
Dragon Mated – Dragon shifters are not genetic, and cannot be inherited. They are born only when a dragon soul chooses to bond with a supernatural. The two become dragon mated. Very rare, and very powerful beings are dragon shifters.
Tyson Compass
“You must have some information about where Grace might be!” I’d been arguing with members of the Trinity coven for twenty minutes. Twenty minutes I did not have to waste.
So far they’d told me that they thought her family possibly moved to Oregon, or Chicago. Maybe even Canada. Basically they didn’t have a damn clue.
“All supernaturals have to leave record of where they’re moving. For magic users, that is with their coven and the council. I don’t have time to scour through the council records, so I need you to tell me.”
Kat was a tall, leggy brunette, with skin as dark as a midnight sky, and eyes a startling green, like a foamy ocean swell. She sucked in a deep breath and furrowed her nose in my direction as she said, “Grace never told us anything. She left no record of her family’s location. I mean, she left almost a decade ago, and even though she returned for that short time, she spent nearly all of it with your pack.”
A sense of desperation began to slowly claw its way up through my gut. That out of control feeling was back. As my unease grew, a part of me feared I would actually destroy the world we’d been working so hard to save, just to find my witch.
Turning away, I slammed the door open and left the coven’s central hut without another word. A surge of relief from all the witches inside followed me, which immediately raised my suspicions that they were hiding something. Of course, in the supe world, all the different races had their secrets and held them very close to their chests. Even as a council member, I could not command them to reveal information to me. Not without a very good reason. Which, at the moment, I didn’t have.
The sun was high as I strode back through Stratford. Classes were on for most of the young, and also some of the older supes who were still in specialized training. Technically, my brothers and I were in college still, but with all of our responsibilities we rarely made it to class. It didn’t sit well with me that we were going to graduate early, without finishing the special classes. But again, there was not much I could do. Our job now was to run the American supes. There was no time for school.
I glanced around as I crossed through the business section: technology stores, IT departments, gaming sectors. Keeping an eye out for anything amiss was becoming part of my daily routine. We received complaints and requests through a special mailbox and email server. Once a week we went through them all. This, for the most part, kept Stratford – and the rest of the American supes – running smoothly. But I also liked to keep an eye out as I made my way around.
Our town was self-sustaining. The supernaturals who lived here ran businesses, grew food, engaged in trade, and rarely had to interact with humans or venture into their parts of the world. For those few things we couldn’t procure or magic ourselves, we used a specialized group of highly trained humans who kept our secrets for great reward. The guilds.
I was starting to think I might have to turn to them
for some other avenues of tracking Grace, through bank accounts and such. I’d already inquired through the supe prison network. Grace had not registered with any of those communities, which more than likely meant she was out of the supe world. So I might have to think like a human to find her.
There had to be a clue out there to her whereabouts, and I wouldn’t rest until I found it.
Bypassing the front porch, I skirted the forest, hoping the trees would work their normal magic. Soothing me. I felt … out of control. I was a magic user, for the most part, but apparently my brothers and I were not the pure-souled supernaturals we had believed. We were hybrids, and ever since we joined in the quad bond I’d been receiving a huge dose of shifter, fey, and vampire – intermingling and changing my wizard magic. I was not dealing with it very well. Controlling myself like this was a new thing, and frankly, I was pretty much shit at it.
“Any news about Grace?”
The soft voice drifted over to me and I turned to find Mischa on the back porch. With no effort I vaulted up over the railing to stand at her side. Her calm energy wrapped around me, and some of my anger inside eased. A few months ago Mischa’s presence would not have had this effect. I hadn’t trusted her at all. But now … well, now she was a valued friend and member of our pack. One of my best friends, actually.
Mischa was petite, with hair as dark and shiny as a black diamond; turquoise eyes, and arms full of a tiny supernatural. She might have been one of my newer friends and packmates, but I adored the hell out of her. She made my brother happier than I’d ever seen him, and had been there for me a lot lately, helping me deal with my shit. I could barely remember our lives before she came into them.
“It’s like she just dropped off the earth,” I answered her previous question, frustration leaking out in my words.
I held my arms out and Mischa placed Lily, my niece, straight into them. I took care to cradle the baby’s tiny head, calming even more as I cuddled the little girl. Closing my eyes for a beat, I breathed deeply, tucking Lily against my chest. She smelled of wild magic, nature, and energy. With her dark curls and blue eyes, she was one of the cutest little supes I’d ever seen, powerful and perfect.
Supernaturals had been trying for years to figure out what would control us. Turned out tiny demanding babies would do the trick – like Lily, Evie, and Jackson – the last two were Jessa and Braxton’s twins.
Seeing Maximus and Braxton happily mated, settled, with young … it was enough for me to crave the same. I could have had it a long time ago had I not had my head up my ass when Grace first expressed her interest, but the timing had not been right back then. So I had pushed her away. Not ready to settle.
I’d always known she was different, though. Her spirit had called to me, and I’d ignored it.
The Stupid Asshole of the Year award was definitely mine.
Mischa leaned back against the railings – railings I had built by hand a few years ago – and both of us stared out into the forest bordering the back of our house. She was waiting for me to elaborate on the Grace thing, so I tried to get my thoughts in order, starting with the most important part: “I have to find her. I can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I waited this long because of my promise, and because we got caught up in the Kristoff battle, but … fuck, I should have gone after her the first day she left. I should have followed my instincts and made sure she was okay.”
Lily wiggled and I patted her back with gentle taps – I was now an expert at this maneuver. I’d had no choice but to learn quickly; Jessa was always dropping one of her twins into my arms while she tried to figure out how to shut the other one up. She got the loud children; Lily was quieter. I loved them all though, with a fierceness that took my breath away.
Young had a way of doing that to you, capturing your soul and never letting go.
Mischa’s pretty face creased in concern as she laid a hand on my bicep, instinctively offering comfort the way all shifters did – with touch.
“Can you feel her? Any mental connection? Try again.”
Mischa was new to our world, and didn’t fully understand the intricacies of the different race powers. She didn’t understand that my power had subconsciously been reaching for Grace since she left, to no avail – that I had used all of the tricks up my sleeve to make sure she was okay.
But, like her twin Jessa, Mischa had a stubborn streak – hidden under a gentler nature, but there – and I could tell she expected me to try right now. I felt the corner of my lips quirk up as amusement trickled through me. I was surrounded by bossy women.
Closing my eyes, I slowed my breathing to a deep rhythmic in and out, needing to calm my center before I connected to the vast crisscrossing ley lines of energy of the world around us. As a magic user, a wizard, my power was nature-based. Everything in nature contained energy … particles that vibrate … heat that exists, that can be tapped into.
I could sense the energy, and see the lines that powered the world. Wizards can tether their energy to the lines and absorb some of the power to use in spells. The ley lines were strong beneath Stratford, which was one of the reasons this area was initially used for the prison.
As I connected, the hot pool of magic in my center absorbed energy from the ley line and I used it to boost my power. I didn’t always have to use the lines, I had magic of my own, but if I wanted the most bang…
Magic users are taught to use words, ancient and powerful, to guide their energy. The words don’t create the spell, they’re just to make sure your intentions for the spell are directed in the right way. Only a very well-trained mind can shape power without words. You need absolute focus. Even a lot of sorcerers – which I wasn’t yet – had trouble with this.
“Revealisa localian … Grace Carter. Show me,” I murmured, releasing my energy. It flung from me with force. I kept my focus strong. I needed to know she was okay.
Grace! My mental shout echoed through my magic, and I felt the dark tinge to the energy. This spell was designed to find her general location – like, was she in the state of California? It wouldn’t have been more accurate than that, but it should have told me she was alive, and somewhere in America.
But there was nothing.
“I’ve been trying for over two months to trace her,” I growled in Mischa’s direction, keeping my eyes closed as I searched fruitlessly. “To assure myself that she’s okay, without breaking my promise … but it’s like she doesn’t exist. At first I thought she was blocking me, somehow, but … now I’m worried.”
There was a brief pause, before Mischa asked, “Have you tried to find her while connected in the quad bond?”
Exhaling heavily, I opened my eyes. “Yes, I tried with my brothers last week.” When we joined, our supe energy increased exponentially, giving us an unprecedented level of power. “How could she just disappear…?” I refused to believe she was dead. That wasn’t even remotely an option.
My magic flared within me; only Lily in my arms kept my energy from exploding. Mischa made a sad noise; she liked Grace. Both of them had a calm aura, soothing to others. Soothing to me.
“I don’t quite understand how the witch and wizard stuff works. Could you find any magic user if you wanted to?”
I shook my head, lifting Lily higher so she was resting against my shoulder. She started gurgling happily, excited to be able to see around. “I can only get a general vibe if I know their energy well. Grace … I should be able to find her effortlessly. It should be stronger than any other.”
Except if she’s not your true mate. That inner thought cut through me like a blade, deep and biting. It didn’t matter how many times I reasoned with myself that true mate or not I could choose Grace … I wanted the bond. I wanted it all.
Mischa’s sadness deepened. I could sense the swirl of low, pressing energy around her. She was reacting to the disappointment that was surely clear on my face. “Maybe Max will have an idea about how to find her. He was just in a meeting, but it’s done now. He
should be here in a minute.”
Her eyes glazed over for a moment and I knew she was mentally speaking to my brother. Somehow, through a beautiful quirk in fate, the sharing of our quad powers meant that Maximus had enough of Braxton’s dragon shifter energy to be able to hear the thoughts of his mate. Which, generally, only dragon shifters were blessed with. Lucky bastards.
Chilly vampire energy filtered up onto the porch; Maximus was closing in fast. His urgency was not a surprise – he hated being away from his mate and daughter. Which was understandable. It had barely been a month since a crazy sorcerer had almost destroyed us all.
A smile tilted up Mischa’s lips, washing away her previous sadness.
“I’m glad you two got the mental connection. I imagine it brings a whole new dimension to the mate bond. A joining like that is special.”
The moment I spoke of their bond, Mischa’s face really lit up. Lily shifted in my arms, like she was reacting to her mom’s happiness. “The mental connection is the best thing I could have imagined. I thought I would hate the intrusion. The human-raised part of me rebels at the thought of someone being in my head. But with Max … it’s perfect.”
Her tone softened as she added, “I know you’ll experience it one day. Grace is your true mate, Ty. I feel very strongly that this is true. We just need to get her back to Stratford, give the bond some time. Max’s and mine wasn’t instant.”
There was truth in what she said, and I loved her confidence, but it was hard for me to get on board with the hope stuff. Shit had been dark for a while now, after Larkspur – the dragon king – and then Kristoff tried to destroy us. One crazy bastard after another had been attempting to take us out lately. It was probably to be expected, we were strong and powerful, and the youngest leaders of the supernatural council in America. But I could use a break from megalomaniacs for a while.
