Splintered Fate: A Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction Urban Fantasy Novel (Splintered Magic Book 3)

Splintered Magic Series Splinter Cat: Book .5 Splintered Magic: Book 1 Splintered Veil: Book 2 Splintered Fate: Book 3 Splintered Haven: Book 4* *Forthcoming Splintered Fate SPLINTERED MAGIC SERIES BOOK THREE JILLEEN DOLBEARE Contents 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 Please Review Splintered Fate Splintered Haven About the Author Also by Jilleen Dolbeare Chapter One The centaurs marched us by force down the hill towards a white castle gleaming in the sun. I dripped with sweat and shook with exhaustion and terror. Their weapons, mainly crossbows and spears, remained trained on the three of us. I’d always assumed centaurs would be mainly male, but these were all female. They were tall—their heads were probably two feet above mine—not that I was taller than average. I was surprised that their faces and what I could see of their torsos were remarkably human looking except for their ears, which were elongated and pointy—even sharper than the Lord of the Rings elves I kept waiting to see. They wore intricately embossed, bright silver armor on their human torsos and their horse bodies as well. I wanted to take a closer look, but the fierce-looking leader kept us moving, and since I’d been poked once with a very sharp spear, I took it seriously—I wasn’t sure if I should be regularly afraid or over the top terrified. I think I was a bit shocked that I'd accidentally realm walked us to Faerie. Who knew I had that kind of juice? “What is that place?” I asked Mr. Mittens, who trotted along silently in front of me in his fearsome four-hundred-pound Splintercat form. The gleaming white castle looked gigantic in the light of the foreign sun. It is the castle of the High King, he answered into my mind. “The High King?” I trailed off when I stumbled and got poked again with the spear of the centaur apparently assigned to me. “Dammit.” I yelled back at her, but she only poked me again. “What do you think he’ll do to us?” I whispered this time. Mr. Mittens’s mind voice was strained. I do not know. “Do you think he knows my great-grandfather?” I continued to press. Yes. He does. That sent my mind on a tumble. I didn’t know what to think about it. Did that mean they were friends? Enemies? Frenemies? I shivered. Megan bumped me from behind. “Sorry,” she mumbled. I’d have reached back to comfort her, but I didn’t dare. I already had three holes in me and didn’t want a fourth. Who knew what kind of germs those wicked-looking spears had? At least they’d put away the crossbows. I could imagine the damage one of those would do if they went off accidentally—or on purpose. I shivered. “What do they want with us?” Megan gasped behind me. We were marching along a well-used road and going a little faster than we were used to walking. It was hard on top of our general exhaustion. “I don’t know. Mr. Mittens said we are going to the castle of the High King.” Mr. Mittens didn’t add anything. Megan gave an exasperated sigh but didn’t ask any more questions. She was probably also tired of getting poked and deep in her own set of worries. Mainly, what had she gotten into when she’d agreed to come to Oregon to help me? I was worried for us, but part of my mind also worried about Sofia running loose in Faerie. What kind of mischief could she get up to, and what would it mean for us? I should have had Mr. Mittens eat her when we arrived, but I’d been too surprised, and a bit muddle headed from the air and the magic. Also, I wondered if Gabe was OK? I’d left him with the rest of the coven, unconscious and unable to take care of himself. Hopefully, Brightfeather, Goch, Noah, Luke, and the rest of the werewolves had helped him escape safely. I could only hope. Despair weighed me down, and my shoulders hunched. With nothing much to do but wallow and walk, I studied the scenery and the back of the two centaurs in front of us. Faerie was lush and beautiful. The sun was warm, but not overpowering, and the green of the surrounding forests and grasses were intense. The breeze smelled of flowers and the sweetness of spring. In contrast, the centaur females were fierce and hard looking. They wore elaborate helmets that caught the light. The helmets looked more decorative than useful, since they left their ears free and didn’t cover their cheeks or nose. The shine from the silver armor gleamed so much you could see them from space if Faerie had satellites. I had to blink and look away often to avoid blinding myself. The helmets and armor must be some kind of ceremonial wear I couldn’t imagine sneaking up on an enemy in all that bling. The centaurs in front of us also had long elaborate braids under the helmets that swept down their backs like a horse’s mane. Maybe that was the effect they were after, or maybe their hair actually did go down their backs like a horse's mane. The braids seemed secured to the armor, or their flesh, since the hair didn’t sway back and forth as they walked. I wasn’t close enough to see if the hair was attached to their backs or just secured to the armor. Huh. If we weren’t in terrible danger, I’d love to spend time studying these creatures. They were strange but majestic. I stumbled again and got another poke for it. I took it back. They were not majestic, sadistic, maybe. I threw an angry glare at my poker but knew better than to swear at her again. She didn’t