Persuasion Enraptured

  Persuasion Enraptured

  The Cascades, book 4

  Rebecca Royce

  Persuasion Enraptured

  The Cascades, book 4

  © Copyright 2018 Rebecca Royce

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-947672-46-8

  Cover by Lyn Forester

  Formatting by AG Formatting

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. 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 permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  www.rebeccaroyce.com

  Acknowledgements

  I don’t usually dedicate books to anyone. It gets messy and people get their feelings hurt. But I would be remiss if I didn’t stop to thank, in Kendall’s last book, the four people who made writing Kendall, Malcolm, Levi, and the gang possible.

  Heather—For a million things. A million. For seeing the holes and moreover insisting they not just be filled but that they were done in a way that not only enhanced the book but also made it what it is today. (All four of them actually.) Couldn’t walk this path without you. My dear friend.

  Jax—For making them shine, teaching me (or re-teaching me) about semi-colons and for the laughs at the real life Vortex and the years of her friendship beyond the writing world.

  Kim—For the names; you are the name goddess.

  And

  Ripley—For saving me and my writing, even if she doesn’t know she did, when I was lost to it. Thank goodness you answered that day. I hope I have been able to do half for you what you’ve done for me.

  All of my thanks.

  Persuasion Enraptured

  It’s come down to this…

  Kendall sacrificed herself for everyone…but her journey isn’t over.

  Alive and alone in the Shadow Dimension, Kendall has surrendered hope. But those who love her have not. Rescue is not beyond possibility. Saving Kendall is only the first battle. Can she save the world or is it already too late?

  Chapter One

  “Lightbringer.”

  I rested on the floor of cabin and threw sticks into the hearth. The fire cracked and popped. The shadow who wanted me, who said my title with as little disdain as possible, wasn’t someone I felt like making temporarily dead. None of us could die in this dimension. It did feel good to make them turn into smoke temporarily but then less exciting when I had to see them again the following day. The endless loop was too much Sisyphus and not enough Vengeance.

  And I was sick to death of rebirthing here. Over and over. None of us had a real body, and as I had learned, good or bad or somewhere in between, our souls never really died. At least not here.

  “Takita?” I didn’t move, didn’t look at her. I was on a break. Most of these fuckers knew, after one hundred years of this routine, to leave me alone when I was in my cabin. Apparently today was going to be an exception. “What brings you to my home while I have the fire lit?”

  Fire was my tool. Light was my weapon. I could make them hurt. A smart lightbringer reminded them any time she felt it necessary. Or sometimes just for fun.

  “I thought you might like to know Trofeel is gunning for you. He’s mad about last week.”

  I’d been pretty sure he would be really pissed off when he came back to life. If I spent time worrying about the stupid shadows of this world, I’d never rest. If he came, he came. I would deal. I always did. Or I died. Then, I dealt the next time I resurrected.

  I rolled onto my stomach; Takita wasn’t so bad as far as the shadows went. Of course, she was a shadow. While I had become stuck here for some reason I couldn’t remember, the shadows had all done such horrific things that the universal judgment had shoved their everlasting souls into this dimension instead of sending them anywhere else.

  I only knew I didn’t belong here because the shadows constantly reminded me. What did it matter? I’d done so many things to these creatures over the years the universe might deem this dimension my punishment if I actually died.

  “What do you want for delivering this information?”

  Takita stood tall, blond, and blue-eyed. Her ears were too large, and she had a tail. Apparently somewhere out there, existed a planet populated by people with tails.

  Tails were the least strange thing I’d seen. In fact, it had become downright commonplace in the last one hundred years. But who was counting?

  “I want a break. I want a break the next time I do something to piss you off. I don’t seek you out. I don’t bother you. I need to deal with someone, and you won’t like it. I don’t want to be smoked this time.”

  It wasn’t a bad deal. We all had to do questionable things around here. All the time.

  “Okay.” I yawned. “Thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep the fire burning in anticipation, and I won’t fall asleep until after Trofeel’s ashes again. Oh, Takita, if I find out this was you giving me a heads up because you want me to deal with your shit, I’m going to be really pissed.”

  She snorted. “I don’t want to fuck with you Lightbringer. I want you to leave me alone. I’ll snitch for the pleasure of that.”

  “Great. Watch your tail in the flames.”

  She rolled her eyes and went back out into the world. Like the rest of them, she was a shadow. Only in our hellhole of a dimension did they have bodies. Anywhere else they’d be the creatures of nightmares, the shadows who possessed or terrified the living. The dead who never really died. The souls who couldn’t be sent on.

  And I was one of them, for some reason I hadn’t remembered in so long I wasn’t sure I could anymore.

  Sacrifice…

  Sometimes I heard that word, but I had no idea what it meant. Why was I so …sappy? This wasn’t what I did. Life was hard. It hurt. Pain fueled me. All of this was tempered by moments of extreme boredom. Life never ended. I knew all of this.

  I was being punished.

  I was the lightbringer, which at least meant I had more skills than the average killer in this place.

  A noise caught my attention, and I turned around. Just in time for Trofeel to storm into my living area. At least he wasn’t going to make me wait.

  I rose to my feet, stretching my hands over my head. A man, not Trofeel, stood in my tent. He looked familiar, like I’d seen him in a dream—when I used to dream.

  “You’re not Trofeel.”

  He put his hands on his hips. “Kendall.” When he spoke that word, his voice shook. “It worked. Okay. Good. I’m sorry, baby, I’m sorry it took a full week to get this ready. I don’t know how long you’ve been here.”

  “I don’t know anyone by that name. I think you have the wrong place. You look familiar. Were you notorious when you lived on Earth?” He was human. I saw them occasionally. At least they had the sense to stay away from me.

  He placed a hand on his forehead for a second before lowering it. “How long have you been here?”

  “About a hundred years. You?” I didn’t usually talk like this. Yet he seemed so completely familiar.

  He stepped toward me. “I just got here. My name is Malcolm, and although you don’t seem to recognize it, your name
is Kendall. You don’t belong here. I’ve come to take you home.”

  My head buzzed, and I gritted my teeth. “I don’t like those words. You need to stop saying them before I decide I don’t like you.”

  “You frequently don’t like me. In my time, you have only been gone a week. Michael told us time moves differently here. Seems you’ve been gone a long time. I need to bring you home.” He extended his hand. “Take my hand, and we can go.”

  He was by far the most strikingly good-looking man I’d ever seen here. Tall, dark, olive-skinned, and buff like he could take a pounding and give one. Handsome … and crazy.

  I understood crazy, most of the time.

  “Buddy, you are barking up the wrong tree here. Take your brand of la-la to some fool looking for hope, and leave me the fuck alone. I’ve got a smoking waiting for me.”

  He shook his head. “What’s a smoking?”

  Like he’d been summoned, Trofeel pushed his way into my cabin. I had to lean away to look at the giant. He was so tall. All of the creatures that came from wherever he did were huge.

  “Lightbringer.”

  Everyone addressed me as such, except for this Malcolm who had called me Kendall. How did he know that name? It was mine. I didn’t own it anymore. I hadn’t heard it since I’d come here. Names were power here. Better they think of me as the lightbringer.

  My opponent was huge, and he had horns. Other than those factors, his face was human and his extra-large body was too. I’d ashed him the week before because he’d hooted at me when I passed him on my way to get water for my weekly scrub down.

  He wasn’t happy. I didn’t care.

  I turned to the Malcolm-person. “Step back or get blasted.”

  His eyes widened, but he didn’t delay getting out of the way. Light was my friend. The fire made some, but it didn’t matter anymore. When I’d first gotten to the Shadow Dimension, I’d been so weak I hadn’t understood the magnitude of what I could do. I could call upon light without ever having to see it. I raised my hand, and it filled me, instantly. My entire being was soaked in light. I’d shove it straight at the giant’s face.

  He knew my weakness. For one brief moment when I took in the light, I was vulnerable. The last time he’d fought me, I hadn’t been as capable as I was now. I couldn’t strike him with my light until the problem of my weakness passed, but I could burn him until it hurt. He lunged, and I grabbed a rock from the fire. It scorched me, but my skin had long since grown used to the abuse. I grasped it hard and pushed into the giant’s face.

  The creature roared, and it gave me enough time to finish filling up with light. I burned him until he transformed into a pile of ash. I dropped the rock back in the fire and stared at the creature’s remains. Yeah … that was three for the day. Slow killing for me, but who knew what I’d face tomorrow?

  I turned and then jerked, my gaze falling on Malcolm. For a brief moment, I’d forgotten he was there.

  “State your business and get out. I’m tired and bored.”

  His eyes had hardened. “This has been your life? For a hundred years?”

  “That’s what you wanted to ask me? Get out.” I pointed to the entrance. “Before I ash you.”

  “I’m going to kill Michael. Slowly.”

  He hadn’t left. Why did nothing ever go easily? “Am I supposed to know who that is?”

  “Listen to me. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’d prefer the easier because that would be better for the witch. But I will do what I have to do, and she won’t even blame me. Although Henry will, and that’ll suck.”

  He had a nice-sounding voice. I didn’t mind listening to him speak nonsense. His words were like something from a dream. They moved over me, and I could sort of see what he said. The witch. I felt like I’d known a witch once. Had I?

  “Your name is Kendall Madison Fallon. You’ve also had the last name Yates. You’re my wife. You weren’t always. Once, you were married to a guy named Levi. You and he have three children together—Grayson, Dexter, and Molly. They’re waiting. We have a baby. She’s just two weeks old. You named her Abigail. She’s … beautiful.”

  I put out my hand. “Stop it. Stop talking.” I couldn’t breathe. His words were daggers stabbing at my heart. “What is this pain? What is this you’re doing to me? And why would you want to? Who sent you here to do this to me?”

  “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to bring you home. That pain? It’s probably from the memories trying to resurface. I don’t blame you for letting them go. One hundred years? They’d drive me mad. You jumped here to save us all. You did it. You plugged the hole. You sacrificed yourself. But I’m not done with you. I’ll never be. There are three choices. You take my hand, and you come home. I grab your hand, you come home, and the resistance hurts Victoria. Or I stay here with you.” He took another step closer. “If you insist on option three, we’ll make our daughter an orphan. I also don’t know what will happen with the battle. We need to kill the Master. I’m the guy to kill him. Maybe Ross can do it. I don’t know. So what’s your choice, my love? Because I will not live without you. It’s always Malcolm and Kendall. I found you here. I will not lose you. We live. We die. Together.”

  I covered my eyes like I could make him go away. “Why would you do this?”

  “Because I love you. Kendall, open your eyes.” I obeyed him. For one hundred years, I’d not taken a command from anyone. Yet he told me to do something, and there I was following his command. “Take my hand. The rest of it? We’ll figure it out. Your memories aren’t gone. They’re there. You’re feeling them right now. Come back with me. There are people who will help you.”

  “Help me?” I stepped away from him. “That’s hope talk. That’s what makes people lose their minds. I won’t do that.” My hands shook, but I ignored them. “You have The Master up there? He was once a leader here. That’s what they tell me.”

  He put his hand out in front of me. “He’s a very bad opponent. He did this. We need to kill him, and I’m not sure I can without you.”

  “I can kill him.” I stared at his hand. How much would I lose if I took it and it turned out he was lying? Would I cease to be? Would I be a rocking, lost shadow whose only purpose was to let the leadership torture me for their amusement? At least I’d be unaware. Maybe the not-knowing kind of madness was actually a gift.

  Malcolm raised his eyebrows a bit. “Even better. And I’m not lying. I could always read your face.”

  I could see him as he was in front of me and as he had been … once. We’d gotten married and had dinner at a Chinese food restaurant. He’d been so happy and so had I. We’d been kids together … somewhere. There was another world. The one I’d come from. I didn’t belong here.

  “If I leave, will the sac-sacrifice end?”

  He shook his head. “No. You plugged the hole, and we’re not going out like the shadows do.”

  I grabbed his hand. “Go. Go before I change my mind. Do whatever—”

  The room went black, and I collapsed. Strong hands caught me before I hit the ground. Somehow, I knew they always had. Or maybe it was fairer to say we usually caught each other.

  I woke up to bright light burning my eyes. Someone was screaming, and although it was cliché, it took me a second to realize it was me.

  “Okay,” Malcolm shouted over me, and I forced myself to stop. “We’re okay. We’re okay. You’re okay. How long was I gone?”

  A man—Henry—held Victoria to him, and they both knelt on the floor. “An hour. Good work.”

  “Kendall, do you know where you are?” He pushed my hair out of my face. “Do you? She’s been gone a hundred years in her timeline.”

  Victoria, the witch, gasped. “Oh no. No. No. No. It’s been a week. I went as fast I could.”

  Henry kissed her cheek. “No one is blaming you.”

  There was so much noise. So much light. Too much. Everything pounded on me. They were talking. Why wouldn’t they shut up?

  With as m
uch power and force as I could manage, I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Stop.” All the light in the room went off. I took a deep breath. That was better. Dark was better. I could see better. A little light—like the fire— fine. And bursts of it from me I could manage. But not that glare.

  I pulled out of Malcolm’s arms. I didn’t need to be held like a child. Although my body hurt from whatever had happened, I got to my feet.

  “Holy shit.” A woman—Mary—stood by the window, her eyes huge. “She burst out all the lights, and her hair is dark again.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Obvious,” Victoria snapped and walked over to me. “Were the lights hurting you? I’m sorry.”

  I shoved away her hand when she would have touched me. Better not to let them too close until I was sure this wasn’t a trick. Someone could have staged this or messed with my mind. I’d make a judgment before I let them in.

  “Don’t apologize. It’s weakness. If you feel sorry, then feel sorry. No need to go about vocalizing it.”

  I stepped away from her. In the distance a baby cried, and I shivered at the sound.

  “Chase?” Malcolm called to a man across the room. I remembered him. At this point I knew all of them, all of the ones I’d trained with to fight the shadows. If only Michael had known all he had to do was drop us in there and let us live a few years at the hands of the real deal. Our battle would have been over in half a minute.

  Chase stepped in front of me, and instantaneously a wash of warmth moved through my mind. I shoved it out. He wasn’t taking my pain.

  “Stay out of my head.’

  Chase cried out, grabbing his forehead. “Shit. She shoved me out. I’ve never had that happen before.”

  “You’re all like babies. Like dust in the wind. Like you once existed and you should all be dead.” I stretched my hands over my head. “Learn your powers or don’t bother to play. Where is The Master? I’ll get rid of him immediately.”