Fighting Fate

Fighting Fate IMMORTALS OF FATE BOOK ONE SARAH WEIR ELSHARA PUBLISHING, LLC This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are products of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously. Copyright © 2023 by Sarah Weir. An Elshara Publishing production. All rights reserved. Production Team: Cover Design by Covers by Aura Edited by Courtney Umphress Early Readers: Dr. James Caplan, John Ashmore, Larry Omans The distribution of this book without permission is the theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights. Elshara Publishing, LLC P.O. Box 454 Langhorne, Pennsylvania 19047 Version 1.00, January 2023 eBook ISBN: 979-8-9872343-0-3 Print ISBN: 979-8-9872343-1-0 To my husband, who supports me, loves me, and is the best man I know. Trigger Warning If you like sarcastic and snarky humor, brooding, sexy men, and strong, kickass women, then this book is for you. If you like a few choice words, some heat and romance (but no sex scenes), and bloodthirsty, passionate people… then this book also may be for you. If rethinking mythology freaks you out, or treating what we know about the mythical legends as if it’s been an adult game of telephone upsets you, then this definitely is not a book for you. If you are triggered by violence, abuse of any kind, or torture, then please be kind to yourself and do not read this book. Most of the time it won’t be depicted, aside from violence, but it will be discussed. If you are good to move forward… read on to enjoy a series of stand-alone romantic adventures within an overarching series plot line, featuring snarky, stabby Immortals who fight off evil and darkness. Fighting Fate * * * He’s running from his past. I’m trying to escape my future. After a hellish childhood and a lifetime of chaos, I needed order in my life—a life I’ve now been living just fine on my own for a long time. Then Hadyn rings my doorbell, asking for help to break a curse. Yes, he’s that desperate. Obviously, there’s something wrong with me since I jump right back into the chaos. Now, we are working together to resolve his curse while denying a distracting inner pull to each other. Only, I don’t like the direction this trail of breadcrumbs is leading us. Something bigger is at play here, which causes all my inner alarms to go off. I’m Karma Destiny Fate. No one, not even fate, will control me ever again! Contents Prologue Chapter 1 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 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Epilogue Author Notes Acknowledgments Found an Error? About the Author Also by Sarah Weir “If you don’t like the hand that fate’s dealt you, fight for a new one.” —Masashi Kishimoto— Laugh so hard that even sorrow smiles at you. Love so true that even hatred walks out of the way. Live life so well that even death loves to see you exist. Fight so strong that even fate accepts defeat. —Unknown— Prologue KARMA ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO One by one and two by two, the tethers snap. The voice reverberates around me. I sense emptiness and pain . . . Earth cries out in agony. The darkness rises to destroy us all. Shadowed figures are hazy in the distance, laughing as the earth trembles beneath them. The chosen may ascend at the call . . . First the catalyst, the daughter of fate and destiny. One after another, immense beings of light spark into existence facing the shadowed figures. What will you choose . . .? The words echo around me as my vision blurs and swirls. My heart begins to race. What will you choose . . .? The loud reverberating echo becomes all I hear as darkness rises in my mind. What will you choose . . .? I awake with a start, gasping for air. Once I recognize my surroundings as my bedroom, I begin to relax. This isn’t my first nightmare. In fact, they have become rather common, especially lately. Focusing on my breathing, I let the peacefulness of the room affect me. Knowing how often my nightmares occur, I purposely decorated my house, especially my bedroom, with things that help relax me. Scents permeate the room from the diffuser in the corner. Pictures and paintings of my favorite places and people decorate the soothing ocean blue walls. My bedding is the softest I’ve been able to find in colors that match the walls and cream trim. The shades are specially made so that when I sleep, even during the day, the light in the room can only rise to a soft twilight. I keep the shades closed at night, as it helps me feel safe. I even got those new programmable smart ones so they can open and close on their own at certain times. I don’t like living in a potential fishbowl, thanks but no thanks. You never know who could be watching in the dark. As I hug my pillow with a small groan, not wanting to be awake, my mind drifts back to my nightmare. Sometimes my nightmares are just nightmares, and sometimes they are memories. But this one? I’m at a loss with this one. It seemed almost like a prophecy, but since I’ve avoided those ever since I was a child, I can’t really be certain.