The Heart’s Lost Souls: Part One: The Binding Read online

  The Heart’s Lost Souls, Part One: The Binding, Book Three of the Fantasy is Alive Series © 2019 by Trinity Blacio

  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

  Excerpt from The Heart’s Lost SoulsChapter One

  Terms

  Hierarchy

  About the Author

  Other Riverdale Avenue Titles by Trinity Blacio

  The Heart’s Lost Souls, Part One: The Binding, Book Three of the Fantasy is Alive Series © 2019 by Trinity Blacio

  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, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This 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 coincidental.

  For more information contact:

  Riverdale Avenue Books

  5676 Riverdale Avenue

  Riverdale, NY 10471

  www.riverdaleavebooks.com

  Design by www.formatting4U.com

  Cover by Scott Carpenter

  Digital ISBN: 9781626015173

  Print ISBN: 9781626015180

  First Edition, September 2019

  Chapter One

  The Past

  Shannon couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a decent night’s sleep. For years she had been plagued with weird dreams that almost seemed real. She knew that if a person didn’t get enough sleep, their mind would do some strange things. Could that be happening to her now?

  The only solid things in her life were her children, her best friends, Tabatha and Melody, and her best friends’ families, which were now hers too. If Shannon hadn’t had them over the years, she swore she would have gone mad a long time ago. They had kept the laughter and a little bit of light in her nightmare of a life.

  Every night for the past few years, she’d had the same dream. In it, a handsome and fierce war god, named Morhin, was one of her biological fathers.

  Shannon had learned a lot from these so-called visions over the years. She had absorbed everything in them, writing things down so she wouldn’t forget. Through them, she had learned that—there were at least five realms or universes—though she didn’t know which of those terms they used. that she could tell. Whenever Shannon woke from her dreams, she’d add more details about these other worlds and people to her notebook.

  Earth and the surrounding planets made up one universe, as far as she could tell. The Great Shield Realm was the witches and warlocks’ home. The underworld wasn’t below Earth, but a separate place, which someone named Apollyon controlled. For some reason, his name sent her stomach into knots and her hormones jumping, something that hadn’t happened in a long time. It was also totally annoying when she had no one to take care of the ache—except for her toys, which hardly did the job. She sighed and looked down at one of her journals and shivered.

  Then there was the Realm of the Serpents and other things, spiders. A chill went up her spine as she recalled the spider planet from her dreams. Talk about nightmares. It would have been a great Syfy movie, that was for sure.

  The Reverse Realm was the last universe she had recorded—at least, that was what Shannon had named it. Who knew what it was really called. It was twice the size of any of the other realms, and from what she had seen, it was totally evil.

  Shannon had always felt spiritual, linked to magic. She read whatever she could get her hands on about it, but every time she tried to practice it, she was thwarted. For Pages ripped out of books and shields slammed shut when Shannon had actually found a few spells to help her out.

  Shannon stretched her arms, laid her dream journal on the floor and scanned her surroundings. She ran her hand over the ugly but comfortable couch, which served as her bed. The white upholstery was now a dingy brown from her husband Harold’s smoking. All around her were things she had collected, wanting to make the place seem like something of home for her two little ones.

  Her favorite times of the day were the early morning and late evening. Her children were sound asleep then, and the only noise that disturbed her quiet time was the snoring of her husband.

  It was only 10:00 PM and she was once more alone, which she was thankful for. Harold had gone to bed early, leaving her to deal with the children and everything else on the home front. There was no adult company to talk to unless Tabatha or Melody called. Even if he was awake, her dickhead of a husband didn’t know how to talk about anything but hate.

  Shannon lay back down and curled up in a ball with her head resting on the arm of the couch. She had worked all day at her job as a front-end leader at Bargain Supplies. Her feet, along with the rest of her body, hurt.

  She couldn’t remember the last time she’d actually had time to go out with friends, if she could even say she had friends. The last time Shannon had actually gone out was on her birthday, when Harold, his brother, and his brother’s wife took her to the Polish club. It had been a disaster.

  Her husband had gotten drunk and told her on the way home that he wanted to fuck the DJ woman. That was five years ago. After that, she had never tried to go anywhere with the man.

  Shannon sighed and stretched, then got up and went outside, knowing she wasn’t going to sleep anytime soon. She sat on the porch, soaking up the night air. It was warm outside for April, and she wanted to try to meditate. One of the books she’d checked out from the library had explained how to do it. The book was for teenagers who were just starting to practice witchcraft and had been easy enough for her to follow.

  Ever since Shannon could remember, she’d had dreams that often came true.

  The wind blew on her skin like a gentle caress, calming her instantly. It was if it was part of her. Shannon sat down on the steps of her mobile home and closed her eyes, taking some deep breaths, relaxing just as the book suggested. Once more the wind swirled around her, as if welcoming her.

  In her mind, Shannon saw a stairway that was embedded in a hill. As she climbed the steps, she passed through a forest. Here, roses lined the staircase, and she saw trees that she knew weren’t from Earth. Even the scent of the flowers reached her as Shannon continued exploring. This was the first time she had gotten this far.

  She took a few more steps before realizing she was now in some kind of personal garden. Was she in the Mother Goddess Frigga’s home?

  Her only hope seemed to lie with Frigga. The book had also called her queen of all witches and wife to king of all warlocks.

  Shannon glanced behind her and could see flowers spreading out all around her and the hill she had just traveled, as if they were following her. A small stream ran down the right side of the hill. She could hear the water tricking down onto what had to be rocks.

  She turned back to the garden and moved forward, getting closer to something, but not knowing what was going to happen. She was a little nervous and scared.

  Shannon continued to take in her surroundings, memorizing everything
so she could enter it into her journal for further study. A sense of peace engulfed her. Birds were singing and what appeared to be the sun was on her face. She took a big breath and continued up the hill. As she reached the top, a white wooden gate appeared in front of her. It swung open as if to invite her in.

  Refusing to be scared, Shannon stepped through the gate into a beautiful garden. It was filled with orchards, roses and several other kinds of flowers, and one of the largest ponds she’d ever seen. Everything was surrounded by blue-green grass. Sitting near the pond in a swing was a beautiful woman who seemed to be waiting for her.

  The woman turned, and when her gaze met Shannon’s, Shannon knew instantly it wasn’t good by the surprised expression on her face, the nervous glance around her as if she was looking to see if anyone was around.

  The woman got up as Shannon approached her slowly. “You shouldn’t be here, my dear. I am not allowed to talk to you yet.” The woman looked around them once more as if trying to see if anyone had come with Shannon. “You must leave now,” she whispered.

  “Just great. I can’t even find anyone to talk to here in my quest. I must have really pissed someone off to not even be able to talk to you!” Shannon snapped. She was tired of not being heard and tired of being hurt.

  Shannon needed help. She wanted the men of her dreams. She gasped as she realized it was true. Even after the hell of a relationship she was in, she wanted the men of her dreams, knowing they would protect her. She knew that they would be the kind of fathers who cared what happened to their children, and this was her last hope, unless Shannon brought in Tabby’s men. But Shannon didn’t want to drag her new family into her mess.

  “Hush, they will hear you. Listen, I can’t tell you anything except that you must contact a woman named Randy Kruger. She is a very powerful witch. She will be waiting for your call. I will inform her about what must be done, for this is all I can do. Now you must leave!” the Mother Goddess said, while she pushed Shannon to the gate and down the first step.

  Shannon turned to say something, but the gate closed, and she was alone. She couldn’t believe it; even in her visions she couldn’t get any answers.

  Well, maybe she would call this Randy and see what she would say. What else could Shannon do? It wasn’t as if her life was going anywhere anyway.

  Her walk down all the steps took no time at all. This time she barely even noticed the roses following in her trail. She got to the bottom and took a deep breath with tears in her eyes. Closing her eyes, then opening them again, she found herself looking out at her small treeless yard.

  There were mobile homes all over this trailer park, and no open space. Her family had lived here for the past four years and she hated it, but it was the only place she and her husband could afford.

  Refusing to admit defeat, Shannon got up and went into the house. First, she would look up Randy online. She listened to make sure everyone was still asleep before grabbing her laptop, and once more sitting on her bed: the sofa.

  She turned on the laptop covering herself, hoping this Randy really did exist. Using Google, she typed in “famous US witches.” Several pages of results came up, but on the first page was a Randy Kruger right here in Ohio. She couldn’t believe it. The link went to the website with a picture of a lovely woman in her 40s. It stated she was the highest-ranking witch on this side of the country and the most powerful. From what her biography said, the lady was well known. Going through the website’s pages, Shannon finally found an email address.

  Opening up her email account, Shannon sat there staring at the page. “Shit! What do I write? I don’t want her thinking I’m crazy. Oh hell, if she thinks I’m crazy, she just won’t write back.”

  Shannon stared typing, knowing she had no choice. Her best friends’ weddings were coming up, and she knew something big was going to happen and that she needed all the help she could get. Her dreams and nightmares were about to come true, and she knew deep in her soul that her world was slowly closing and a new scary one would be upon her.

  Hoping Randy would write back, Shannon began writing.

  Dear Ms. Kruger,

  I really don’t know how to start this email, so here I go. I am sorry if I sound a little off-the-wall. I’m afraid my time is running out. I was given your name in a vision when I was trying to talk to the Mother Goddess. She told me to contact you. For some reason, she wasn’t allowed to speak to me. I don’t know why no one will talk to me. All I want is some help. I don’t think you will believe me, but I would like to contact someone who I believe is my great-grandma. I keep having dreams about her, that she is the only one who can help me now before it’s too late.

  I believe this person is not from this planet. On top of that, she is from a different universe and very powerful. You see, I think I have some kind of curse that was placed on me the second day of my birth. In my dreams, the only ones who can remove this curse are she and my grandfathers. Yes, she has two soulmates, I think. I hope you will help me because as I said earlier, I feel something big is going to happen to me and it is not very pretty. I have two children to support and I can’t trust my husband to take care of them if I leave them in his care. He can’t even take care of himself. So, I hope you will contact me. I hope to hear from you.

  Thank you,

  Shannon Kreep

  She let out a breath, knowing the email was a little jumbled, but right now Shannon didn’t care. She had done it: she had told someone on this Earth about her feeling, or at least some of them. They would probably lock her up and take the kids away. She would have to make an appointment tomorrow with a lawyer and make sure her children would be sent to Tabatha and Melody. Her mother was long dead, thank God.

  Shannon’s mom would have killed her husband by now, if she was still alive. Shannon smiled, remembering her mom asking if Shannon on her wedding day if Shannon was sure she wanted to marry the man. She would not regret her choice, Shannon had her two babies.

  At least she had left a life insurance policy in Tabby’s name, so that she and Melody could see to the children’s every need. Her husband would have to be on his own. Shannon didn’t give a fuck what happened to him. It was time for him to be a man for once. She was tired of raising three children instead of two.

  Shannon was just about to turn off her laptop when she received an email, but it would have to wait, because she heard something slam against the wall. Plus, it couldn’t be what she was waiting for, it was too quick.

  She shut the laptop down quickly, hiding it. Her husband had been in a terrible mood ever since he had found out she was leaving with the children for her friends’ weddings. He was bound and determined to go with her, to make sure her friends didn’t put stupid ideas in her head. Little did he know, the ideas had been there before she had even met him, her first big mistake.

  “Where are you, bitch?” The door to their bedroom slammed open, and her heart was in her throat as the prick came at her. But this time Shannon wasn’t going to take his beating. He was in for a big surprise this time.

  * * *

  Shannon glanced back at the children in the rearview mirror. They were scared, but soon they would be safe. She glanced to the side of the car, where her husband was running and trying to open one of the doors, but she refused to allow him in. The side road leading up to the hotel was too busy to travel fast, or she would have left him in the dust long ago.

  She jumped, hearing his fist hit the window again, but tried hard to ignore him as her drove up the road.

  For some reason, ever since Shannon had contacted Randy, magic spells had popped in her head for whatever situation she found herself in. The dreams were becoming more of a reality, and soon she would die. Shannon just hated that it would happen at her best friend’s wedding, but Tabatha and Melody could protect her children. That was the only reason she was going there now.

  Chapter Two

  Sitting on the bed in the hotel, her children in the room sound asleep, Shannon took a deep breath, fin
ally relaxing. Tabatha and Melody were saying goodbye to their men so they could have a girls’ night out before the wedding.

  She rested her head on the wall behind her, closing her eyes and smiling, remembering what had happened when she and the children had arrived at the hotel. As soon as she stepped inside, Tabatha had been there with Melody, coming to her aid as her dickhead husband rushed into the hotel right behind them, furious.

  Shannon should have known that Tabatha would come out swinging, and boy did she ever after seeing the bruise on Shannon’s face, and the cast on her arm. Shannon had never seen Tabatha move so fast as she decked Harold, sending him flying back into the doors they had just come through.

  She giggled, and smiled even though her lip hurt.

  Shannon didn’t know too much about the men who appeared out of nowhere just then, but they were hotter than hell, even when furious. One who was amazingly tall grabbed Harold by the neck and shook him.

  “What did you do to make my mate furious?” he growled, and Shannon saw his fangs.

  Tabatha calmly went over to the tall man, pulled his head down, and whispered in his ear. At once his gaze turned to Shannon and the children, scanning her from head to foot before he turned his head to her husband.

  “I do believe I owe a gift to Queen Carmen, and you are going to be it.”

  Back in the room, Shannon shivered and shook her head, never believing Harold would be food for the Queen of the Spider Planet. She opened her eyes and looked at her friends as they stepped out into the hallway.

  Her husband was gone for good. It was weird not having to worry about him popping out of nowhere. She had caught herself a looking around a few times, searching for him. Even the children had, but finally they had down settled, believing they wouldn’t have to worry about their father anymore. Her children had stopped loving their father long ago, but she also had a feeling they, too, had dreams that told them wasn’t their natural father. But it was Tabatha who had given them some peace for now.