King Tomb (Forever Evermore, #3)
Scarlett Dawn
About the Author
Scarlett Dawn is drawn to all things quirky and off-beat. She believes there are no boundaries for an imaginative soul. Her love of the written word started at an early age, when her grandmother would take her to bookstores every weekend. Dreams came alive within the books she found there, and now, she is thrilled to share her stories with others who fall deeply into fantastical journeys. Scarlett resides in the Midwest of the United States with her husband, three children, and two dogs.
You can interact with Scarlett Dawn on her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorScarlettDawn
Acknowledgements
First and foremost, I want to say thank you to my family. You put up with craziness, and I feel blessed that you haven’t booted me out of the house yet. snickers In a world full of hair-pulling moments, you are my laughter.
I want to give an enormous shout-out to Escape’s managing editor, Kate Cuthbert. The woman is amazing. She constantly reminds me of what it is to be truly patient in a world of chaos — even if she doesn’t like it. She is a woman made of the right stuff.
Big hugs to Laura Bradford, my agent and beta reader. Thank you so much! Happy dance with M.A. Grant, my beta reader. Mwah!
Thank you so much to Nicolene Hale, my line-editor. She put up with a lot of crap from me during this round of edits. For the simple fact that she loves the color red, she is utterly fantastic. She is everything that I could ever want in a line-editor. I cannot wait to work with her again!
Amendment to King Cave’s acknowledgments: Apparently, I had a certain Mage physician on my mind when I wrote my previous acknowledgements. My cherished beta reader of King Cave is not named Bindi. hangs head in shame Her name is Brandi. Sorry about that, hun. Much love!
To Pooter,
Fear hovers,
Courage contains it.
Shadows cast,
Light creates it.
Happiness lives,
Grace nourishes it.
Dawns beam,
Each new day praises it.
‘Sparkles’ forever,
—S.D.
Chapter One
June 12, 2014
Felix — one of my two elite guards — bent behind me, whispering against my ear, “Queen Ruckler, are you feeling all right?”
Teeth clenching, I glanced across the room where Bindi, a Mage physician, sat, watching me like a hawk while wearing an expression of aggravated frustration she wasn’t even trying to hide. Already having to deal with her, I did not need — nor want — Felix’s added worried attention.
Because no, I wasn’t all right.
I had been in labor for the last five hours.
My abdomen was contracting, squeezing painfully as if sadistic blades were stabbing my nine-months-pregnant belly — on a repeating loop — as if the muscles were gratified to cause me even more agony than I was normally in. I was sweating worse than a Thanksgiving turkey roasting in an oven, and feeling much like that too. I knew I was going to have this baby soon.
But I was needed here, in the headquarters.
Since Bindi had ordered me to do only extremely light physical activity. I had originally told her to go to hell when she had first attempted to put me on bed rest when I was only four months pregnant. But I had given in and met her halfway; I stopped blasting into actual combat when I became six months pregnant — that was three months ago.
Although, even now, I wasn’t surrendering completely.
Not just yet anyway.
I breathed in through my nose and slowly out through my mouth as another contraction attacked, making me light-headed and want to double over in brutal agony. Struggling to push past the heinous ache, I managed to remain focused on Commander Lyons speaking into my ear through a headset while I stayed standing straight and stared at the infra-red images on four different screens. All monitors showed different angles of the Com Royal Australian Air Force base in Brisbane, Australia that we were currently infiltrating. Under my direct lead, my camp had worked its way up from the coast of Sydney, Australia seven months ago when Mystical/Commoner World War II — MCWWII — had begun.
This mission against the Com RAAF was imperative to our next push northward.
Too bad my elite guard started to hover even more when I didn’t answer.
Perfect.
“I’m working, Felix,” I whispered so I wouldn’t disturb the techies, the other operatives, or the Elders hustling around us, everyone wearing headsets and talking to our group of Mysticals currently in the heat of battle. “Leave.” I put a bit of my Shifter power into the command. I needed him to go away so I could focus on not collapsing on the floor of the tent we were in.
He stiffened. I could tell he didn’t want to go. Felix was wanting an affirmation I was all right, which I could not give him because with his Shifter nose he would scent the lie. I ignored him, grabbing a set of papers one of the techies gave me on the current coordinates of our people versus the Coms inside the air force base as the battle raged on. Felix eventually backed away.
Flicking through the sheets, I swiped my forehead, amazed at what I was feeling, the block of ice I had become having been chipped away these past five hours as the pain of the labor had intensified. Right now, I wasn’t the arctic Queen I had become. I wasn’t the way I needed to be. The way I had to be to keep me sane.