Incarnations (12 page)

"Some big brother you are!" Jasmine said.

"What? She's a cop when she's not pestering me!"
Seth's smile was infectious and Jasmine soon found herself
entranced with him as they walked back to the art gallery she
worked for. “By the way, I’m Seth.”

“Jasmine,” she stated softly as they continued to
walk, occasionally bumping into one another as they went.

~Ash~

"Ash, don't try to wake just yet. I have some things
to tell you." The soft, lilting voice of his mother sang through
his head like tinkling bells.

"I feel the pull of my body though, I'm not sure how
much longer I can stay this way." Ash looked around nervously. He
had never felt his own body trying to pull him from the dream realm
or Faerie before. "What happened? I don't understand, I was looking
for Caislyn, and then... I don't know, it was dizzying,
really."

"Son, your friends Caislyn and Jaxon have really
screwed things up for us." At Ash's incredulous look, she
continued, "the Fey are no longer able to walk both worlds. Those
of us who were here in Faerie when they performed their little
ritual are stuck in this realm forever now. Those who were in the
human world, well, they have been transformed, and are lost to us.
It was a great loss my son, there were far too many of our kind on
the other side during that transition. They are no longer of the
Fey. You are one of the few, possibly the only who was trapped
between the two worlds at the time of transition. You were walking
the Fey realm in your sleep when they purged their world.
Therefore, I believe when you wake, you will seem fully human over
there, but when you sleep, you will still be able to tap into our
world here." She reached out to stroke her son’s hair. “At least,
that is what I am hoping, because it would be too heartbreaking to
think I lost all my sons in one night.”

"What do you mean they purged their world?"

"They fulfilled the prophecy we fought so hard
against. They've purged magic from their world, in order to lead
happy fulfilling lives as humans."

"What does that mean for the baby, for Caislyn, for
me?"

"That baby was conceived under magical circumstances,
I'm pretty sure it no longer exists."

"How could she? Why?"

"I'm not sure she fully understood the ramifications
of their actions, son, do not blame her for that. In all honesty,
she probably won't even remember anything of her past. She will
only remember the one that magic created for everyone as it left
their world.

"Can it be undone?" Ash asked, heart broken as he
tried desperately to cling to his dream a little longer. The pull
of his body becoming stronger still with each passing minute.

"I'm not sure, son. We captured one of their
Brotherhood just before the veil between the worlds closed. He
spoke of the prophet, and of one who can sway the balance and
change things back to the way they were."

"Who?"

"One who can walk two worlds."

"But I can..." Realization dawned on him just as his
mind lost the fight to his human body. He thought he heard his
mother's voice vaguely as he was waking up.

"Exactly, my son."

**** BEYOND THE AWAKENING ***

For every ending, there is always another beginning.
While
The Awakening Trilogy
is coming to an end,
Ash's story is just getting started in
Beyond the
Awakening
. Look for the spin off series to start in Fall
2012.

For information and updates, check out the
website:

http://awakeningtrilogy.moonlitdreams.org/

***

PLAY LIST

I have never included a play list with my books
before, but music is a huge inspiration for certain scenes. So,
before I start listing, let me introduce you to one very important
track for this book:

Call Me
by Shinedown - was pivotal
to Gregore's plight in this book. I think it summed up how he was
feeling. He loves Caislyn, and will always love her, but at some
point he realizes that it's all too much. That realization that it
would be best for Caislyn if he just took the choice away and left
kind of guides what happens between the two of them.

I wrestled with the idea of Gregore staying and
fighting for her, but that age old adage, "if you love something,
set it free" kept creeping into the back of my mind. Sometimes, I
think it truly is better to just walk away, before even the good
memories are tarnished by the fight. And, for Gregore, it all
turned out okay in the end anyway!

Also,
Get Out Alive
by Three Days
Grace was an amazing mood enhancer for the fight scene with the
Brotherhood.

Pandora Internet Radio
stations:

Daughtry Station
- which includes the
following artists:

Daughtry, Shinedown, Seether, Saving Abel, Three Days
Grace, 3 Doors Down, Puddle of Mudd, Disturbed, Hinder,
Apocalyptica, and too many more to name...

Amos Lee Station
- which includes the
following artists:

Amos Lee, Nina Simone, Ray LaMontagne, Colbie
Caillat, Ben Harper, Adele, Matt Nathanson, Yael Naim, and quite a
few more... for the more mellow moments in the book!

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

While Christine M. Butler is a gypsy at heart, and
loves to travel, she currently resides in the middle of South
Carolina with her four children. She's also slightly addicted to
social networking, so feel free to find her at any of these places
online:

Moonlit Dreams Website:

www.moonlitdreams.org

The Awakening Trilogy Website:

awakeningtrilogy.moonlitdreams.org

The VooDoo Follies Website:

voodoofollies.moonlitdreams.org

On Facebook at:

www.facebook.com/M00nlitDreams

Facebook Fan Page for The Awakening Trilogy:

www.facebook.com/TheAwakeningTrilogy

Twitter:

twitter.com/#!/M00nlitdreams

Google+

Christine M. Butler

***

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank yous go out to the following people who put up
with my craziness when I am in the "writing zone"

my children: Bella, Devlin, Alex, and Lexy

my parents: Linda and Frank Hickman

I would also like to thank the following people,
because if it weren't for them this series would have never been
seen by anyone:

Jennifer - for helping in the beginning - when I had
not much more than a dream and an idea of where to go with it. You
helped with the first book, giving me the confidence to know I
could finally see a book to its end.

Carolyn - for printing that first copy - and for
listening to my ideas, and putting up with me jotting down notes on
napkins when I should have been listening to you!

Stacey - For being one of my biggest cheerleaders and
for doing it for so very long.

Patria - for all your encouragement. You kept me
excited about this trilogy, even when I thought I wanted to scrap
it all. And you inspired me to think of things that I hadn't
before. They've given the story another dimension that it was
missing. You are my rock in this crazy publishing world. I don't
know what I would do without you.

Don - who I met while writing this book - it’s not
always easy being the new guy in a woman’s life, especially when
she’s a crazy writer chick! Thanks for being there to make me smile
during the frustrating parts of this process, and for inspiring
Caislyn’s ending!

Also, a huge thank you to fans of the series who have
taken the time to let me know what they think of the books! That is
the number one reason why writers write. We want to tell stories,
and have people enjoy them! :) Thanks for letting me know you what
you thought! Also, thanks for being patient with this book in
particular. It was written during a period of time that was just
plagued with bad luck. Between my son’s health, mine, my divorce,
and the loss of some of this book’s original material to a computer
crash... it has been a difficult process. Writing is a lot of fun -
but definitely not always easy!

***