Prologue – The Third Realm

When she concentrated she could feel it in the air around her, like a great cold emptiness that wished to seep into her skin and suck the life within her dry. She could always feel it somewhere in the back of her mind. A wrongness. A world without magic. And she had barely any magical ability to begin with! How could the mages who came here stand it?

College is over! Alexa and Jenny finalize the undergraduate careers and plan for two upcoming celebrations.
And one thorn in their sides seems to finally be resolved.

A Second Chance

By Dawn Natelle

The last chapter (but see the note at the end): Dawn

MONDAY, JUNE 27, 2016

Daaad!! ! I am not wearing this monkey suit to Uncle Jack’s wedding . I told Uncle Jack and I’ve told you and Mom the same thing since I was 3 years old . I am your daughter and Kylie’s sister . She gets it and so does Uncle Jack and our future Aunt Cheryl. It’s only you and Mom who refuse to see me for who I am . The only way I’m going to this wedding is in the bridesmaid gown that Cheryl bought me to wear “!

Chapter 36 Chelle's POV

I woke up with my usual fuzzy headedness. Then I went through my usual where am I? What time is it? What day is it? Then I felt a surge of adrenaline as I realised it was Saturday. My goodness it had been a long week, but now it was the day I had been waiting for.

It's been interesting, I've spent the last few days wandering around the city with Commander Ares or E-Girl or someone else from the Compound. I'm still a raw newb there as far as they are all concerned, but they admit my electrical skills have come in handy now and then.

Like the time that Dr. Destructo was trying to rob one of our big banks, bringing along a bunch of minor villains in pretty shoddy clothing and gear, then had those idiots start firing submachine guns at us right out in the darn street, with people wandering here, there and everywhere!

Chapter 35

The whispering around me was very different today. Other girls in particular, were smiling at me and saying hello. I stayed friendly but didn't encourage any further conversation. They asked me if I knew Laura Kind, to which I answered yes. No elaboration, just yes. I knew that Laura did not want my adoption to be public before she announced it on television during an interview on the red carpet. I thought lunch was going to be interesting and I was right.

“Here she comes!” Hayley squeaked excitedly as the black London taxi pulled onto the street. Sophie fidgeted nervously in her loose dress, forcing a smile on her face as she prepared to hold up the banner that she and many of her friends had spent the previous evening making.

“Everybody ready?” One of the two identical ginger-haired Scottish women asked, smiling as everyone nodded affirmatively.

“On three,” the other ginger-haired Scotswoman said. “Ready? One, two, three…”

CHAPTER 25
Waterstone’s may be a huge and faceless chain of book shops, but I have always found the staff quirky, especially in a University town like Cardiff. I suppose a lot of jobs in what is referred to as ‘retail’ are like that, more so when the items sold are niche stuff. There is a cliché image of record shop employees, or employees in goth or hippy clothing shops, merging with the merchandise, and while I will leave the comparison there (and avoid all mention of employees in, er, ‘Adult’ shops), Cardiff Waterstone’s is absolutely in that league.