Fragility Unearthed Read online

  Fragility Unearthed

  The Cascade, book 3

  Rebecca Royce

  Fragility Unearthed

  The Cascade, book 3

  © Copyright 2018 Rebecca Royce

  Original Publication 2016

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-947672-39-0

  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

  Fragility Unearthed

  Malcolm is missing. Levi is taken. And all the light from the world has gone with them.

  Kendall Malcolm thought the world ended when her marriage ended and her life fell apart. She was wrong. Things could be a lot darker. She stands at the precipice—leader, mother, warrior—placing herself between the world and darkness.

  But does she have to do it alone? It’s looking that way.

  Chapter One

  The second time someone shot me, I had a carton of eggs in my fridge, frozen waffles in the freezer, and potato chips in my pantry. I wished I’d left a more complete selection of food so my family wouldn’t have to grocery shop right after hearing that I’d died. Funny, the things I thought about while I was dying. I wouldn’t be going to the grocery store today.

  The ambulance sped through traffic. Next to me, Victoria spoke a lot. I couldn’t understand her at all, but I appreciated her presence just the same. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten into the ambulance or of anything that had happened since the shadow-possessed person fired at my stomach. I kept seeing Michael and Gabriel. Everywhere I looked, their gazes met my own. So far Rafael hadn’t shown up. He’d told me he’d see me when I died. His not arriving yet had to be a good thing.

  Where was Malcolm? The last time I’d died, he’d been with me, and I’d been able to pretend to be brave. Were my kids okay?

  I tried to speak, and it came out more like a groan. Victoria squeezed my hand. “Don’t try to talk. This is almost over. Trust me.”

  Suddenly Malcolm was there. How had he gotten into the ambulance while it was moving? He stood over me, his eyes serious. He pulled something out of his shirt. The world dimmed a bit, but I could see it was the phoenix statue that I’d recovered and Malcolm had hidden.

  “Okay, I’ve got it.” He spoke aloud. I found it odd the EMTs were not confused by his presence in the ambulance, except—oh, it was Michael and Gabriel looking through their eyes. Like my father, when possessed by the Others, they had no idea what was going on.

  “Do it.” Who was he talking to? He couldn’t possibly mean me. I wasn’t going to be doing anything anymore. Agony consumed my thoughts. How much longer would this have to go on before it would be over? Did the universe hate me? I had to die this way twice?

  “I’m serious.” Malcolm’s voice again. “Do it.”

  Chase stood next to him. Where were they all coming from? Oh. Doubletime, one of our more painful abilities that let us few Talented move really, really fast. They’d somehow used that power to get on the ambulance with me?

  My body cooled, some of the pain disappearing. I opened my eyes, trying to see exactly what the hell was happening. A giant bird flew over me, hovering right above my body. Its wingspan covered the length of the entire ambulance. Purples, greens, blues, and black coated its wings. I couldn’t remember ever seeing anything more beautiful in my life.

  I reached up to touch the feathers. “Hello, beautiful bird. How lovely you’ve come to see me off at the end. Thank you for the visit.” My words slurred.

  Victoria grabbed Malcolm’s arm. “What is she talking about? Is she delirious?”

  “Sshh.” He stared at me. I knew the look in his eyes. Utter and pure fury. I hoped it wasn’t directed at me. “You see a bird, honey?”

  I stared back at the bird flapping above my body. “You can’t tell me you don’t see him. He’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

  As I spoke, something happened. Flames popped out of the wings of the bird, and in front of my eyes, the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen exploded into ash. I gasped, crying out. If I could have moved, I would have darted out of the way. The ash rained down on me, like tears from the bird that only I could see.

  “It’s closing up. Look at that,” Victoria cried, covering her mouth with her hand.

  “That’s what it should do.” Malcolm hung his head. “Fix the rest, Chase.”

  “They won’t remember a thing.”

  The world tilted, and I heard the sound of a bird weeping. I knew I’d never forget the echo for as long as I lived.

  I woke up in my bed. I sat, the movement tugging at my abdomen, which was sorer than I could ever remember it being.

  Next to me, Malcolm lay on his side, his eyes wide open, regarding me. “Are you okay?”

  “Sore.” I rubbed my stomach. “What happened?”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What do you remember?”

  I groaned. “Question for a question? Gee, thanks.”

  “Tell me.” He touched my arm, tracing the length from my wrist to my shoulder.

  “I was shot.” I could see the dead person whose body the shadow wore staring at me in the backyard. He’d raised his gun. I really, really hated guns. Fired. “Then nothing. The ambulance. You were there. Victoria first. Chase. The bird.”

  He lay back, putting his head on the pillow. “You were shot, yes. That shadow has been dealt with. I couldn’t get to you in time. By the time I heard, you were on the ground. I thought you were dead.” His voice cracked. “I screamed and yelled. Victoria came out, too. I couldn’t think what to do. I rushed home, doubletime, called Chase, and grabbed the Phoenix. Michael appeared, the bastard. Told me there was enough energy in it to heal us all once. That’s why you could bring back Mary and Chelsea if you wanted to. Save us each from death. Once. I met the ambulance. You’re back here.”

  I rolled, although it hurt like hell to regard him. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry you had to be scared like that.”

  “Michael told me I could save you as long as the shadows didn’t have you. Once they do, all bets are off. One time deal. I can’t do it again. Your kids didn’t realize what had happened. Levi got there. Victoria sent them on and called him. They’re all fine. They think you fell.”

  I stroked the length of his nose. “I’m sorry.”

  “Fuck, Kendall. Why did you go out there?” He raised his voice.

  There he was. His temper. As long as we yelled at one another, we cared. The day it stopped, we were probably over. Healthy relationship? Maybe not. Ours? Absolutely.

  “I thought I heard a noise in my backyard in the middle of the day. I thought I’d see if there was an animal out there.”

  He breathed hard, his nose flaring. “Do you watch horror movies? What happens when the girl goes to check out a noise?”

  “It wasn’t midnight. It was the middle of the day. And I have powers. I thought I was relatively safe.”

  He shook his head. “You weren
’t.”

  “I know.” I kissed him, and after a second he finally responded. I fused our lips together. Over and over until it wasn’t clear who led who through the embrace. I loved this man. Right or wrong. Forever or not. I loved him completely. If he’d almost died on me, I’d be utterly distraught. He’d saved me. I loved him.

  He pulled me against him, which hurt. At my wince, he loosened his grip. “Fuck. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “Just be gentle. Okay? I need you too. I really do.”

  He rolled me over until he was on top. “I always want to be gentle. It’s you who wants it otherwise sometimes. You’re my most precious. Gentle always.”

  Malcolm sometimes lost the ability to speak in complete sentences when he was really worked up. I was used to it when he moved deep inside of me. This was something else.

  I helped him undress while he took off my clothes. My abdomen was red where the newly knitted skin healed. The amazing work of the Others. The last time they’d be able to save my life.

  His cock pointed out, hard and ready for me. It wouldn’t take much to get him off. Sometimes sex was as much a healing as it was about the exchange of pleasure. I’d read that couples often went home and had sex after a funeral. Sometimes we needed to feel alive, to show we lived and breathed. What was more life affirming than making love?

  I ran my hand down his length, and he shuddered. “Not yet. I’m not coming in your hand like some kind of teenager.”

  He pushed my legs apart, spreading them wider. Scooting down, he pressed his mouth against my pussy. I gasped. I was sensitive everywhere and nowhere more so than inside of me. “Too much?” His voice was quiet.

  “No, please go on. I’m very … turned on.” His breath was warm when he found my clit and circled it with his tongue. I cried out, jolts of electricity travelling up my spine. He moaned and closed his eyes. Malcolm loved to give me pleasure. He liked it as much as he did getting completion himself.

  He opened his eyes and looked up at me. “Do you remember the first time we did this?”

  “Didn’t go so well.” I laughed despite myself. I’d kicked him in the head. It had been an utterly horrible moment. We hadn’t tried oral pleasure on each other again for months.

  “Great memory, though. I love this.”

  He proceeded to show me. Every taste, lick, swirl, and press of his mouth against my pussy showed me he loved me. Inside, my body was on high alert. I wanted more. Needed him. The orgasm that overtook me surprised me. I didn’t think I was near ready. Usually, I had to work at getting there, even beyond the care Malcolm took of me.

  I came hard and all around his tongue. He moaned, his hips jerking. Malcolm adjusted himself until we were face-to-face. His eyes held my gaze, forcing me from the high of the orgasm to the world around us. He was here. I was too. And we weren’t done—far from it.

  “You.” He shook his head. I didn’t know what he was going to say and apparently the words weren’t working for him. “Show you.”

  He kissed me. I swore I could feel his love in every breath he took. His tongue finding mine joined us together, seconds before he pushed gently inside of me. I’d told him to be careful and he was. With one arm he kept his weight off me, and he moved, slowly—ever so—in and out of my body.

  “I love you.” I reached up until our mouths touched again. Once. Twice. He moved like I might break. He was right. I was usually the one who forced his hand into rougher play. He did want to worship me, always, like I was his most precious possession. Tonight I would let him.

  Time moved slowly. It might have even stopped for all I knew. We weren’t in any hurry. When he spoke to me, it was in another language. I could never tell what he said, but I loved the sound of it. Like poetry from Malcolm’s lips. Eventually, he made a noise somewhere between a sigh and a moan.

  “I can’t.” He shook his head, and I kissed him hard.

  “Take me. I’m okay. I won’t break. I promise.”

  “You first.” He always cared. Even when we’d been so new at it that the mechanics of the act had sometimes been an issue, he wanted me to enjoy myself. It was never a problem. He ran his finger over my clit, and I came.

  He kissed me all over my face before I felt his cock throb and empty inside me. Sometimes sex was more than the explosion of pleasure; sometimes it was the joining of souls.

  Minutes later, I held my love against me. He’d never admit it, but Malcolm needed to be held sometimes too.

  “You don’t die without me. That’s something we do together. You and me. Together,” he rambled, his eyes half closed while he spoke.

  I rubbed his back and kissed his neck. “Okay.”

  My agreement seemed to settle him. I couldn’t promise him not to die without him, and he knew it. Sometimes the lie was what the other person needed to hear.

  He rolled, pulling me with him until my head was on his chest. His finger traced circles on my back. “Chase has maybe found one of our people. Troy, he thinks. If you can believe it, he lives in Fredericksburg.” A beautiful town located in the hill country of Central Texas an hour away. “We’re going in the morning to see him. Troy didn’t have his mind wiped. He’ll know us. We’ll see what we can do. I’ll be back by dinner. You should rest. With the kids away, you can actually take the time to sleep.”

  I kissed his cheek. “Sounds like a plan.”

  The night was warm and so was Malcolm. Morning came slowly. He kissed me awake, his breath on my cheek and then on my forehead. He’d interrupted a dream. Something about birds and fire. I wasn’t sure if it was a good dream or a bad one. It slipped away fast.

  “I’ve got to go. I thought about sneaking out, but I wanted to see your eyes first thing in the morning.”

  I tugged at his neck until he leaned down, and then I kissed him squarely on the lips. “Make Chase get you back for dinner. I’ll cook.”

  He smirked. “I’ll get take out. You stay in bed all day. Don’t burn the house down using the oven. Or if you must cook, let your mother help you.”

  “Thanks, Malcolm. My ego is bruised. You haven’t even been with me that long, and you’re already criticizing.”

  Malcolm pressed his forehead to mine and closed his eyes. “I’ll text you before I’m coming home. Hey, babe?”

  “Hmm?” He smelled so good. I wanted to roll around in it. “What’s up?”

  “Last night was different, wasn’t it? I mean it’s always amazing with you, with us. Last night felt like …”

  I finished for him. “A return. To us. To everything. Yes. I agree”

  His eyes were warm. “I love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  He slipped out of my room. I heard the door open and close downstairs. I thought about coffee, but the bed was still comfy. I’d been shot the day before. That kind of event warranted a lazy day.

  I rolled over sometime later because my phone buzzed. It was Victoria checking in on me. You doing okay? Also, I think Chase is in love. I mean it’s too fast, obviously but he has really fallen for Annika.

  The clock read noon. I actually couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept this late. College? I set them up. And yes, I’m okay. Tired. But not in pain anymore.

  See you tomorrow? We should have lunch. A lunch where nothing bad happens.

  Sounds like a plan.

  I rolled out of bed and let the shower beat down on me for a while. My muscles loosened under the spray. Things were looking up. I’d gotten shot, and I’d lived through it. My kids were having a wonderful time in San Antonio, or I’d have heard otherwise. I turned off the water and towel dried my white hair. Even my scary-looking locks couldn’t put a dour spin on my day. I sent Levi a text letting him know I was okay and asking for an update on our babies. 90210 was on Netflix, and I sat down to binge watch with popcorn.

  I used to love the show.

  At some point I must have dozed off. When I woke up, it was dark. Really dark. I turned on the light and, half-asleep, groped around
for my phone. It was ten o’clock at night. Malcolm should have been back hours ago.

  Did you get held up? I sent him a text. For good measure, I sent Chase the same message. My stomach rumbled. I needed to put something in it besides popcorn. Maybe the knitting together of skin burned a lot of calories.

  My parents were nowhere to be found. A note on the fridge said they’d be back on Monday. My father was trying to spend as much time doing things with my mother as he possibly could before she couldn't anymore. I rubbed my eyes. There wasn’t much to eat in the house. Soup turned out to be my best option.

  I warmed up the tomato and ate it slowly, staring at my phone like I could will it to buzz back at me. When I’d finished eating and it hadn’t, I decided I didn’t care if I looked like a psycho girlfriend and I sent Malcolm another note.

  Worried. This is the deal with being my guy, you have to check in if you’re not going to be here when you say you are.

  It dawned on me I’d never heard back from Levi either, which was also startling and weird. What the hell was going on? I texted again. Everything fine?

  This time I got an answer from Levi. It would be if you’d leave me alone to enjoy our children without you.

  O-kay. I set down the phone. Had Levi fallen and hit his head? We weren’t together, and I knew he didn’t love my choice, but he’d saved me during the light fight. We were friends; he’d said so himself. All right, I was going to leave him alone. Maybe I was being unreasonable in expecting people to check in with me. Maybe it was super annoying.

  I climbed back up my stairs and sat down on the bed to wait. Malcolm would be home soon. He’d apologize with a grin; he’d have Chinese food for us to share. I’d needle him and let him make it up to me. There had to be a good reason he hadn’t answered me. Maybe they were hiding. We’d been trained to do that really well. They’d turned off their phones, and they were stuck. Malcolm and Chase were amazingly resilient and smart. Together they’d be really unstoppable. I didn’t have to worry.