Guardian Witches, page 1
Guardian Witches
We Witches Three Seasons, Volume 4
Humphrey Quinn
Published by Rachel Daigle, 2019.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.
GUARDIAN WITCHES
First edition. January 6, 2019.
Copyright © 2019 Humphrey Quinn.
ISBN: 978-1386108566
Written by Humphrey Quinn.
Also by Humphrey Quinn
Fated Chronicles Fantasy Adventure Bundle
The Fated Chronicles Books 1-3 (Heirs of Magic / Prophecy of Fire / Trials of Initiation) A Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure
The Fated Chronicles Complete Series Fantasy Adventure Bundle (A Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
The Fated Chronicles Contemporary Fantasy Adventure
Heirs of Magic (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Prophecy of Fire (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Trials of Initiation (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Child of Chaos (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Destroyer of Worlds (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Brothers of Flame (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Curses of Glass (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Throne of Ghosts (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Game of Fate (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Wings of Fury (Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
Bonds of Blood (A Contemporary Portal Fantasy Adventure)
We Witches Three Seasons
Cursed Witches
Ancestral Witches
Guardian Witches
Charmed Witches
Standalone
Witches of Fate Box Set
The Fated Chronicles Books 4-7 (Broken, Divided, Taken, Control)
The Fated Chronicles Books 8-11 (Forsaken, Sacrifice, Redeem, Ascend)
We Witches Three: The Complete Series (Charmed Witches, Cursed Witches, Ancestral Witches, Guardian Witches)
Witches of Fate
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Also By Humphrey Quinn
WE WITCHES THREE PART 11: ISLE OF JUDGEMENT
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
WE WITCHES THREE PART 12: ISLE OF MAGIC
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
WE WITCHES THREE PART 13: ISLE OF PROMISE
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
WE WITCHES THREE PART 14: ISLE OF DAWNING
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
Epilogue...
Special Note from the Author
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Further Reading: Awaken: Heirs of Magic
Also By Humphrey Quinn
WE WITCHES THREE PART 11: ISLE OF JUDGEMENT
Courtney Jessup was about to finish her first night watch in White Pines, keeping an extra lookout on the area around the Power Source on behalf of the Howard Witches—people she was eternally grateful to, for helping her out with her new predicament—becoming a vampire. And people she was so quickly falling in love with and held great respect for.
She didn't blame them at all for what had happened to her.
More and more, as each hour passed, she had begun to blame herself more so than anyone else. It was her own blind determination to seek revenge for her murdered coven that had gotten her into this mess. She could have come to The Demon Isle and sought her revenge differently—well, there were much smarter ways she could have gone about things. Ways that would not have ended with her sneaking into the woods and getting into a fight with a tortured vampire on a rampage.
Had she bothered to get involved and find out what was happening and get off the revenge wagon for just a minute, she'd have known Eva Jordan didn't deserve saving and Courtney would still be walking around as a human.
The Howards, and those they held company with, really lived up to the expectation and the rumors she'd heard over her lifetime. And were now her lifesavers and anchors as she tread the waters of her new life. One she was adapting to almost too easily, but it wasn't without its hardships.
Mostly, all the dang blood.
Sniff sniff here—blood.
Sniff sniff there—blood.
Sniff sniff everywhere—blood blood blood.
It was like a constant track playing over and over and over.
Keeping busy helped.
Keeping super busy helped more.
But being out here in the woods was far easier than trying to be around too many people—erm, human blood bags. The Howards were used to dealing with vampires and they trusted her. But she didn't hold that same trust in herself yet. But she'd offered to do this watch to give them a much needed reprieve.
Lizzy Deane dying and coming back to life, to almost be possessed by a super old and powerful witch who'd gotten into dark magic. Only then to mate with werewolf Charlie, and use this new power to kill her fiancé, Grayson Moone. A once good vampire who'd killed too many innocents to count.
And never mind the Feyk attack and battle, and just overall nonstop supernatural trouble.
But being out here in the woods all night so close to where it happened, also gave Courtney too much to mull over. Mostly, how it had all happened—she'd been trying to take out the Feyk, Stricker, otherwise known as Sir Tinkham Sickereaux. But had accidentally gotten in the way of the vampire, William Wakefield, and his attempt to take out Eva Jordan. A woman Courtney had mistaken for an innocent, and therefore gotten into a fight with the vampire, died, and been turned.
But tonight, all was quiet around the Source. Nothing nefarious going on at all.
And yet there was something else lingering in the shadows. Not an evil presence, but just that general sense that she was being watched, and was not alone. She sniffed outward, darting here and there, but smelled nothing living but a few scurrying woodland creatures.
She checked Michael's alarm system for the tenth time, it was still working fine. But she couldn't scratch the itch that someone or something was close by. Watching her. Even as she moved at vampire speed around the Power Source.
What possible thing could keep up with her?
And that's when she saw it. A wisp of hazy white off in the distance amongst the trees. Or was it just a silvery shadow from the moon overhead?
Courtney shoved off to find out and slammed to a stop right in front of the thing.
She stilled herself, eyes peering at something impossible.
Her mouth fell open in shock.
A ghost.
Hovering in the woods like it was waiting for her.
"Bree?" Courtney breathed out in ragged disbelief.
The ghost smiled and lifted its arm as if to caress the vampire's cheek, but of course, it slipped right through her skin like an icy sleeve.
"Is it really you?"
The ghost nodded serenely. But there was no way for the dead woman to speak. And yet Courtney saw relief in the spirits gaze.
"Were you—looking for me?" Courtney's vocal chords faltered. She hadn't even imagined such a thing. Bree nodded, and though satisfied that she'd finally accomplished this, there was a clear mark of stress in her ghostly gaze.
Damn. Courtney never wished so hard for a ghost to be able to speak.
"Oh, Bree. I didn't even think any of you would stick around. I thought you'd all moved on. I guess I wanted to believe you had moved on, and were at peace. Are the others here too?"
Bree shook her head.
"Just you. Okay. Why haven't you moved on? If it's because of me, don't stay here for that. I got myself into some trouble but I'm going to be okay. Promise."
Bree smiled, but shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I know. I can't ever stay out of trouble. But I came here for all of you." She spoke of her murdered coven. "I tracked that Feyk here
Bree glided ever so close. For a ghost, the stress lines lining her eyes were prevalent.
"You didn't just stay behind for me, did you? There's something else?"
Bree nodded. But she had no way to share this information.
"Too bad Emily Morgan isn't still on the Isle. She's a Spirit Vessel. You could have used her to speak to me. And I—" Courtney clipped herself off. "Oh, God, Bree. I miss you so much. I'd give almost anything to hold you one more time. We didn't really get to say goodbye."
Their once bright future stripped down to nothing.
Bree, dead.
Courtney, a vampire, who'd live for a very long time. Maybe even forever.
This has been weighing on her more than she realized. Along with human feelings and memories, still quite present in her vampire mind. Her need to seek and fulfill this vengeance—to make that devil, Stricker, pay for his crimes. For taking away the woman she had planned to marry and live out her life with. For stripping away her coven—her true family when her own had pushed her away.
Oddly enough, they hadn't tossed her out on her butt because she was into chicks. Not that they were totally down with it, but they'd handled it. Mostly. But when she came out to them as a witch, it tipped the scale to some previously unrealized level of too far.
And her being a witch made no sense because neither of her parents were witches and she had no idea how this had happened. It was the only reason she'd even tried to talk to them about it, trying to figure out which side of the family came from a witch bloodline. Instead, they called her an abomination they wished they'd never taken into their family. It was also the day Courtney learned they weren't even her real parents, she'd been adopted.
But it wasn't long after this that her coven had been murdered and she'd been so focused on revenge, she hadn't spent any time at all trying to find out who her real parents were.
"Will you move on now?" she asked Bree in a soft whisper.
The ghost shook her head. She lifted her hazy fingers and kissed two of them, then placed them against Courtney's lips. It was their see you soon goodbye that they'd used daily, whenever they spent any time apart, for work, or whatever.
Courtney closed her eyes wishing to feel those fingers as real against her lips. It was partly encouraging to know Bree was still around and wasn't leaving today. But equally heartbreaking as Courtney wanted her to be at peace, and she wasn’t.
The vampire opened her eyes to silvery shadows of the moon. Her beloved Bree was gone. If she still had a living, beating heart, it would have broken through her chest with the pure ache of this visitation. As it was, it still hurt deep within her soul and she hoped Bree was able to find closure on whatever was keeping her here so she could move on.
A vehicle door slammed shut in the distance.
Her watch was over and her relief had arrived.
Putting her human life behind her was proving difficult. She had so many unfinished things to deal with herself. Revenge for her coven. Finding her real parents. And now Bree...
And don't forget her new life, too.
Don't feed off humans and adjust to life as a vampire.
Which might last forever.
She had a sick thought about Bree sticking around, even as a spirit... perhaps life would be bearable in a hundred more years if the ghost of her fiancé was still with her... but it wouldn't be fair or right to Bree. As painful as the thought was, Courtney would do anything she within her power to make sure Bree moved on.
CHAPTER 2
Emily Morgan plunked down on the swing outside on the back porch of her Aunt Lucy's home in Georgia. The heat was sticking to her skin like an oven on constant pre-heat, even as night set in. And they'd spent the entire day practicing how to control her power as a Spirit Vessel.
Basically, the spirit of her dead mother tried to possess her, and her aunt was teaching her how to block that from happening. So far, Emily had only succeeded once, and she was pretty certain her mother had gone easy on her to give her a win.
But now, it was late night mojitos under the bright mooned and starry sky.
Emily only wished there was a way both her aunt and mother could join her at the same time. Still, she'd not trade a moment she could take with her mother because the reality was at some point too near, she'd have to move on. And they'd have to say goodbye.
"Is it really possible to block spirits?" Emily questioned Lucy, exhausted from the effort of trying.
"It is. But it takes time to learn, like anything."
"And what happens if I get possessed before I learn how to do this?"
"You have me, and my skills to exorcise the spirit out of you."
That was a bit of relief, at least.
"How does that work?" Emily asked.
"There's a few ways. It depends on the depth of the possession and how strong the spirit has attached themselves to you."
"Okay." She shuddered at that idea.
"There's a potion, that if drunk can usually do the trick and force a spirit out. There's a spell, but the more witches saying it the stronger it will be—and, you need witches hanging around. And, well, there's also simply just—asking..."
"Seriously? Ask it to leave?"
"Sometimes, a spirit doesn't fully realize what they've done and simply need to take care of some unfinished business, and is quite willing to leave and move on when finished. Sometimes, they just want to pass along an important message and will voluntarily leave when done."
"Let's hope that's the case if it ever happens to me."
"The issue is, once they are back inside the body of a living person the feeling can be addictive and they don't want to leave. Once they get back a sense of humanity and being alive again, they don't always want to give it up. And if you're invaded by a supernatural being..."
"Like Eva Jordan." Emily winced at that name.
"Yes, like her. It's just like being alive again. The memories. The gifts. The skills. Their entire person downloaded into yours."
And that was something Emily didn't want to feel again. She hadn't been present and aware right as it was happening. But the memories of her possessed time had slowly come back to her and it was overwhelming to feel so helpless. To hold onto those vicious memories. To Michael and Charlie manhandling her like she was really Eva Jordan because they'd believed she was. They'd thought Eva had shifted into Emily to confuse them, but it was actually her body they attacked. And stabbed. And wrapped burning silver around.
Emily was smart enough to see that they'd done their jobs the best they could. And she didn't even disagree with what they'd done when they believed Eva was playing games with them. And in the end, they were not responsible for her father's death, for what happened to her, or to William or Melinda or anyone.
Without her ring to protect her anymore, though, thanks to Stricker stealing it, she had never been so vulnerable. The Feyk known as Sir Tinkham Sickereaux—just thinking the name made her cringe—would hopefully get what was coming to him.
In the end, the fault was with Eva and Stricker and the Feyk.
Not the Howards. Not her own ability. Not Riley's curse. Not anything else.
But even though logic told her all of this, her heart just wasn't caught up yet.
And more so than this, it was the reality of what she was and what frightening possibilities that led to. She was more and more grateful to be here with her aunt to learn how to make sure a possession like that never happened again.
"You okay?" Lucy asked. Emily caught her aunt's concerned smirk. "Your jaw is grinding pretty hard."
Emily relaxed her jaw. "Just thinking. About what happened on the Isle."
"That's good. The jaw grinding is progress from the hardened scowl that would scare my crows away."
Emily's mouth lifted in the smallest of smiles. "The distance is helping. I just needed some Demon Isle free air I guess." Of course, that meant Michael too. She'd lifted her phone more times to count with the thought of reaching out, but she still had no answers for his questions, so she had chickened out every time.
"A change of scene can give some clarity to things. But, you might also consider that returning, at some point, would have its benefits as well."
"How do you mean?"
"Meaning you can't run from what happened any more than you can run from what you are. Take it from an aging woman who's learned the hard way." She spoke of the spat that split up her and her twin, Lily.
