The Skye Trilogy: Isle of Skye, Isle of Night, and Isle of Dawn. * Bonus: Scrumptious Skye Confections Cookbook* (77 page)

Isle of Dawn

Book Three of the Skye Trilogy

By Shannon Barczak

All Rights Reserved

Copyright@ 2014 Shannon Barczak

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without the prior written permission of the author.

You must not circulate this book in any format.

Thank you for respecting the rights of the author.

The author acknowledges the trademarked status

and trademark owner of various products referenced

in this work of fiction, which has been used

without permission. The publication use of trademarks

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trademark owners. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance

of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely

coincidental.

www.shannonbarczakbooks.com

Cover Design by Shannon Barczak

Acknowledgements

I want to thank all my family and friends

who have given me a tremendous amount of support

during
this process.

You know who you are!

I want to give a quick shout out to a few important people

To my Aunt April, I love you so much, you’re more than

an aunt to me. Thank you for always listening.

To my Aunts’ Joanne, Jane, Kathy, Debbie and Mary

I love you ladies and thankful you are in my life!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to two very special people.

Dick and Karen T. you have been like another set of

parents
to me and I love you both very much.

Thank you for being you!

Part One

Extinguish thou my eyes: I can still see thee,

Deprive my ears of sound: I can still hear thee,

and
without feet I still can come to thee,

and
without voice I still can call to thee.

Sever my arms from me, I still will hold thee

with
all my heart as with a single hand,

arrest
my heart, my brain will keep on beating,

and
should thy fire at last my brain consume,

the
flowing of my blood will carry thee.

~ Extinguish Thou My Eyes by Rainer Maria Rilke

Prologue

Mathias
                                                 

The darkness still enveloped the Isle of Skye. I knew that it was late in the afternoon, but I welcomed the perpetual blanket of night. I sat on the deck of Willa’s house, where I had been for the last five days. I was waiting. I had promised not to come after her, but that promise only extended for a certain amount of time.

If she wasn’t back by tomorrow, I was going to Fairlia. If I had to walk through the bowels of hell to get there, I would. I had to bring her back. I needed her. I couldn’t eat or sleep without her. It wasn’t just the fact that we were true mates.  It was the fact that without her my life had no real purpose. She was the very reason for my existence.

I was fully aware of how dramatic that sounded. A year ago I would have scoffed at anyone who would dare utter those words in my presence. It was ridiculous to rely on someone for your own happiness or survival. I never truly understood until I saw her clear blue-green eyes staring back at me in her parent’s living room in Yuma, Arizona.

She not only captured my attention, but she captured my soul in that one look.

I had not wanted her to travel to Fairlia and go beyond the different realms without me. Ever since she stepped through the portal with Patcoena, a sense of wrongness had almost overwhelmed me. I knew that she could handle herself. I had seen her fight, not only with her words, but with her power, and she was remarkable. That still didn’t lessen my worry or my fears. I had been born to protect her. Patcoena and his wife Summer could call me her watcher all they wanted, but I was her Guardian.

After arriving back on the Isle, I had thought that I would be thrown back in my cell. My secret was out in the open. I was neither a Guardian of Solas nor was I the Rau. According to Patcoena, I was a true hybrid of Rau, Guardian of Solas, Gypsy and Fae. The only thing I wanted was to be Mathias, head of security and Willa’s mate.

Winifred, the Queen of the Gypsies, had taken one look at me and demanded I get back to work. I had smiled slightly before I explained who Summer was and then I took off to Willa’s house to wait. Our two dogs Cupcake and Oscar hadn’t left my side. The three of us were waiting for our mistress to come home safely.

I stood up when I thought I saw a flash of light. I shook my head and went to sit down but then I realized that the light wasn’t in the sky. The light was coming from me. A small spot of light had appeared not before my eyes but in the pit of my stomach. That’s when I felt it, her presence was surrounding me.

Willa was back on the Isle of Skye.

I shot off into the air and flew as fast as I could to the castle. Her very being was calling to me. It wasn’t until I landed outside the front doors that I became aware, not of her presence, but of her pain. I quickly raced up the stairs and climbed to the family living room. When I opened the door, I breathed a sigh of relief to see Patcoena.

It didn’t register at first that he was standing with Sidra, Queen of the Fae, Summer, Winifred, Cecily and Cormac. They were standing there looking concerned, but it was what exactly they were huddled around that caught my attention.

Willa was on the floor. She was moaning and writhing in pain. I was so shocked I couldn’t speak. I didn’t know where even to begin. I tried to focus on the conversation around me, but it was almost impossible.

“What happened?” I growled. Everyone turned to look at me, but no one answered my question. I fixated my steely gaze on Patcoena and willed him to speak.

“As I was saying,” he started. “The good news is that Willa is alive. She absorbed the King’s power and didn’t die. The bad news is that her power was greater than we ever imagined. I’m afraid the combination has engulfed Willa.”

“What do you mean by that?” Cecily asked, looking frightened

“It means the power has overtaken not only her body but her mind as well,” he answered sadly

Everyone gasped, but I still hadn’t moved. There was no way I was going to let anything happen to her. I racked my brain to think of a solution. There had to be something we could do for her.

“Well, I think we can help with that.” Winifred said as she knelt down. I saw her start to chant, and I let out a prayer to anyone that was listening.

“NO!” Patcoena and Sidra both yelled at the same time. Willa immediately started screaming and thrashing around on the floor. My fists clenched and my body tightened.

“You mustn’t Winifred.” Sidra said. “Any more power, even that of a healing nature, just magnifies her pain.”

“What are we to do?” Cecily sobbed. Cormac put his arm around her and together they quietly cried in agony.

Patcoena looked at me, and it was then I sprang into action. Her screams had become more intense, and I knew that I had to do something. When she started raking her nails up and down her face, I could feel the animal clawing to get out inside of me. I pushed everyone out of the way to grab Willa’s hands that had blood smeared on them, but for once, I couldn’t care less about the intoxicating smell. The only thing I cared about was getting her out of here.

“Mathias, you’re the only one that can help her.” Patcoena said. “You must take her away from here. Somewhere where there is no magic. I’m afraid your island has too many powerful enchantments.”

“Why on earth is Mathias the only one that can help her?” Winifred demanded. “We’re her family. We’re the ones that have the necessary resources to bring her back to health.”

“Only Willa’s true mate has that power.” Summer said gently

I heard Winifred’s sharp intake of breath, but I ignored it. The second I put my arms around Willa; her screams died down to a whimper. Her tears and blood streamed down her face.

“Why is she hurting herself?” I wondered aloud

“She was trying to release the elements and the power from her body.” Sidra answered sadly

Cecily and Cormac cried even harder. Winifred looked like she was also going to have a breakdown. I saw Sidra go over to her and put her arm around her. The two grandmothers had never looked less like queens. They looked heartbroken at the sight of their granddaughter who was lying on the floor covered in dirt and blood.

I don’t know if it was because their defenses were down but even I could feel the magic that started emanating from them. Willa started to scream and thrash more in my arms, and I barely had enough time to get out of the way of her fire.

This time though, it wasn’t coming from her hands it was pouring out of her mouth. A blast of air erupted in the room, and we were all flung back. I watched as Willa jumped up and landed in the corner. She looked like a wild animal in a cage.

That was enough for me to lose control and I slammed Patcoena so hard against the wall that I could hear his teeth rattle in his mouth. “What the fuck happened to her?” I roared

“I didn’t know,” he answered helplessly. I dropped him to the floor the second I could feel my fangs descending in my mouth. A red haze began to cloud my eyes before my vision became even sharper.

The animal was loose. I didn’t even try to contain him. I was aware of the scared shouts as everyone took in my appearance. I walked over to Sidra and grabbed her by the neck.

“Open the portal.” I ordered

“Where?” she asked

I was keenly aware that I didn’t trust a single person in this room right now. I racked my brain until finally I thought of a place where I could take Willa. I leaned down and whispered my demand. Sidra nodded weakly, and I released her so she could do what she had to do.

I turned to Willa and stalked over her to her as swiftly as possible. I knelt down and nuzzled her face with mine. When she didn’t fight me, I felt a small measure of relief. I gathered her up in my arms and said softly. “Willa, you have to trust me, I’m going to take away the pain.”

I turned and saw that Sidra had indeed opened the portal. I stopped right before I stepped into the waving air and turned to address everyone.

“We are leaving. Do not try to follow us. We will come back when Willa is well.”

“Mathias...” Cecily cried. “Please be in touch. I will go crazy not knowing.”

I looked at Winifred. “I will be in contact with you soon. There are decisions we need to make immediately.”

“I understand,” she said. “I agree.”

I had nodded once before I sprinted through the space in front of me. I breathed in the clean, crisp air and shut my eyes. When I opened them, Willa was staring at me. Her eyes were darting back and forth across my face. I leaned my forehead against hers before I jumped up in the sky and flew with her trembling body against mine.