Wild is the Blue Read online

  Also by Cecilia Randell

  The Adventures of Blue Faust

  A Girl Named Blue

  Behind These Blue Eyes - A Between the Adventures Novella

  Beyond Blue Frontiers

  For a Pixie in Blue

  A Blue Star Rising

  Wild is the Blue

  Blue’s Dawn (coming summer 2019)

  The Forgotten Trilogy

  A Forgotten Goddess

  The Legends That Remain

  The Final Melody

  Stand Alone Novels and Novellas

  Blinded Beauty

  Wild is the Blue

  Cecilia Randell

  The Adventures of Blue Faust:

  A Different Kind of Adventure…

  Copyright © 2019 by Cecilia Randell

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotes in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  eBook Published 2019

  Front cover image by Katrina Curry, Crimson Phoenix Creations

  Published by Blue Wren Publishing

  [email protected]

  Created with Vellum

  This is for everyone. Because we all fight the little battles every day. We all struggle for our own version of a happy ending.

  And this one is for Felix. A character that appeared out of nowhere, started patting people on the head willy-nilly, and wouldn’t leave me alone until his tale was told.

  Contents

  Map of the Worlds

  Map of Karran

  Map of Cularna

  Preface

  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

  Epilogue

  Glossary

  A Note From The Author

  About the Author

  MAP OF THE WORLDS

  MAP OF KARRAN

  MAP OF CULARNA

  Preface

  Many believe that Earth is the only world with life. Others believe that there is life out there, but it is so far away and so alien to us that we will never understand it. Both are wrong.

  Somewhere amidst the universes is a world called Karran. This world has a unique trait. It has what the natives call “thin spaces,” where time and space between it and other worlds become disrupted, allowing travel. One such world is Earth.

  Whether human life began on Karran—traveling to Earth through the portals—or on Earth, traveling to Karran, is not known, though many suspect Karran to be the origin point.

  There are other worlds as well. These worlds all contain areas where the energy corresponds to those “thin spaces.” They also contain humanoid life, supporting the “Karran first” theory. Some have advanced civilizations—have even developed space travel and open trade with other worlds. They formed an alliance to advance and support the welfare of these worlds. Others are still relatively primitive and thought to be too dangerous to deal with openly. Earth falls among the latter.

  While those on Karran have developed methods to control the thin spaces and portals between the worlds, these can still sometimes activate on their own, transporting accidental travelers. One such “thin space” is near Austin, Texas, and one such traveler is Blue Faust. These are her adventures through the universes.

  Prologue

  MIKA

  The dark-haired girl eased the door shut behind her and slipped into the darkened room. A lone lamp in the corner let off a soft yellow light, just enough that she could make out the shape of a man seated behind a massive desk.

  “Is it done?” he asked.

  “Yes sir.” Mika shivered at the emotionless tones. Her sponsor was not a forgiving man. After the debacle with Miyari, he’d given her one more chance.

  “And the Order has taken the bait?” His chair creaked as the man pushed it back. He stood.

  “Yes, sir.” Mika kept her head bowed, but tracked his movements as best she could.

  He came to stand before her, stopping a few feet away. “Did you have any direct contact?”

  “Sir?”

  “With Ekarill.” He stroked the top of her head, the touch light, almost tender.

  “No, sir.”

  “No?”

  She swallowed. “I was careful.” She had been. No direct contact with Ekarill, and she’d only needed to enter the Mercenary Guild headquarters once. There should be no reason…

  “Not careful enough, my dear.” His hand slid down until it cupped the back of her neck.

  Mika stiffened.

  “They’ve found your real name.”

  Her blood froze and her stomach tightened, threatening to send her breakfast back up.

  His other hand rose and joined the first. His fingers tightened on the tender flesh, cutting off the flow of blood to her brain. She struggled, but it was too late. She’d grown complacent, relying on the scarce affection her sponsor had once held for her to keep her safe.

  But it seemed she’d used up all her chances…

  “I am sorry it has come to this, Jayne.” Soft lips brushed over her forehead even as his fingers tightened further and her vision closed in on her.

  Me too. Her lips moved, trying to form the words.

  “I did love you, my child.” His voice faded away. “I had so hoped you’d be one of my best creations…”

  Darkness overwhelmed her, sucking her into its depths.

  “Good bye.”

  Part of her still fought to live, but it was a very small part. The rest of her only felt relief that soon all this would be over. For her.

  Then she was gone.

  Chapter 1

  BLUE

  Standing in Level Two Loading's practice area, Blue stared at the stack of boxes set in a red circle. She opened her senses and concentrated on that particular area of the room.

  After a few minutes, the idea of that space as opposed to all the other spaces in the room, in the city, in the world even. If someone were to ask her, she couldn’t describe the sensation. The closest she could come was to liken it to a particular frequency of vibrations, though the sensation was both more than that, and less.

  You just have to figure out how you do it. That was Elaina's first piece of advice to her regarding the portals. It had begun making sense after Garfield helped her open a portal to Falass.

  In the three months that had passed, Blue had worked to do that exact thing. After a month, she had been able to actually get the boxes to go somewhere. After two months, they had begun to land close to the target.

  Now, nine times out of ten, those damned box
es appeared exactly where she intended them to.

  Blue’s mind locked onto the space-length, as she’d begun to think of it, for the boxes. Tucking that sense into a corner of her mind, she next focused on the yellow circle—the boxes' target area—until she had its space-length. Elaina had laughed the first time Blue used the term, but hadn’t had a suggestion for a better one to use, and it had stuck.

  Whispers grew behind her, but she ignored them. Yes, she wasn’t as fast as most of the rest of the class, but she’d only practiced this for a few months, not years like the majority of her classmates. She deserved an extra few seconds.

  When she had the sense of the second space, she brought the first up to the front of her mind and held the two side-by-side. She imagined the second space matched the first, then morphed them both to match the original space-length of the second, until…

  The boxes blinked out of the red circle and appeared in the yellow. Excited claps came from the rear of the class and Blue grinned. She bounced a few times on the balls of her feet and barely resisted pumping her fist in the air in triumph.

  Ah, fuck it.

  She thrust her fist in the air and gave it a few pumps. Snickers rippled through the class, but Blue ignored them. There were exactly three people in this class whose opinions might matter to her: Instructor Peel, Elaina, and… Sarah. These snickers weren’t coming from any of them.

  Sarah had changed over the last three months. Blue doubted they would ever be friends, but where the girl’s expression once showed contempt and bitterness, it now held a grudging respect. She was also a remarkable friend to those she chose to be loyal to, as evidenced by the way she’d stuck to Annaliese’s side and helped in her recovery.

  No, Sarah wasn’t the same girl Blue had first met. Although she still has no problem telling me exactly what she thinks. What was the phrase Sarah had used when informing Blue that she was welcome to Jason? The sparkling princess that everyone loves, deserves a deluded want-to-be-knight-in-shining-armor. Blue had managed to hold onto her laughter until she got home and relayed the confrontation to Forrest.

  “Very good, Blue,” Instructor Peel said now, a hint of laughter in his tone. The man had loosened up quite a bit once Blue began to make some progress. Hell, she'd be the same if her student no longer threatened to send random people and boxes into inappropriate places.

  Once. It had only happened once. Admittedly, sending a fellow female classmate into the middle of the men’s changing room by accident wasn’t the best mark on her track record. But no one had died. Blue counted that as a good day.

  It was strange to think how her expectations had changed since that first fateful portal travel from Austin to Karran. No one dies or is kidnapped, and it’s a good day.

  Blue grinned at her instructor.

  “Blaine, you’re next.” Instructor Peel pointed at the large dark-haired boy hovering at the side of the class.

  Blue’s pleased smile stiffened at the boy’s name.

  Sarah wasn’t the only one who changed over the last few months. Blaine, the boy she had sparred with on her first day and who’d blamed her for the very mild reprimand the instructor had given him. Blaine, the boy she’d dubbed Phillip-Two and warned Jason about. Blaine, whose family came from the southern reaches of the Tremmir region. Blaine, who took personal offense to the fact that Blue had formed a family bond with more than one man. Blaine, the ass who had taken to following behind her in empty corridors and whispering insults in her ear when no one was around to hear them.

  Blue turned and headed back to her spot beside Elaina at the rear of the gathered students. Unfortunately, that brought her into Blaine’s path. At the last minute he swerved. It would have sent his shoulder crashing into her, except Blue also adjusted, twisting her torso and stepping a few inches to the right.

  Blaine stumbled, and a few of her classmates tittered. Mostly Blaine’s friends, as they were the only ones not afraid of drawing his ire. Blue’s gaze caught on Sarah’s grey one for a brief moment and the other girl rolled her eyes.

  Blue wasn’t sure if it was at her, Blaine, or the ridiculousness of such an immature rivalry. Probably the latter. Blue shrugged, smirked, and took her place at Elaina’s side.

  “That was really good,” Elaina whispered. “You are getting much faster. You may be able to take the assessments with the rest of us at the end of the term.”

  Blue sighed. She didn’t even bother to verbalize her protests anymore. Elaina was well aware that Blue had no plans to join the Ministry. She was here to gain control of her ability and catch up on learning everything she’d need to know about living on Karran and in the Alliance. Dean Gravin had once estimated it would take her a couple years.

  Blue was determined to do it in a year at the most. The matter with Miyari and Falass had shown her that adventures and danger could find her, and her guys, at any time. It would take a lot longer than a year for her to be able to match any of her guys in a fight, but she refused to be the girl who relied on sheer luck to help her. The first step of reaching her goals was to know exactly how these worlds worked and who all the players were, to her and to each other.

  “Do you want to have a girl’s day tomorrow?” Elaina asked, her voice still a low whisper.

  “Sure,” Blue answered, keeping her own voice low. “Dakash and a visit to the upper shops?” She should be able to fit that between training and her extra studies. It had been all too long since she and Elaina hung out without another agenda. Something niggled at her, something she should remember, but her mind swam with lists and to-do’s. Whatever it was, it slipped away.

  “Yes.” Elaina bounced on her toes.

  “After I take out Beast,” Blue warned her. Maybe that was what she’d forgotten…

  Elaina grimaced. “Forgot. Yes, take that Beast out for some exercise first. I really do not know how you deal with him. I did not think the quorin were so… savage.” Elaina’s face had drawn into the prim cast it took on when she thought through things that didn’t make any sense to her.

  “Elaina, you are next,” Instructor Peel called out.

  Elaina didn’t move, her gaze distant.

  Blue nudged her.

  “Huh?” Elaina blinked a couple of times.

  “Stop thinking about my Beast. You’re up.” Blue tilted her head toward the instructor.

  “Oh!” Elaina straightened her uniform jacket and headed to the front of the class.

  Class was over. Blue had stationed herself next to the door to wait for Elaina, who’d wanted to ask Instructor Peel something about wavelengths versus particles.

  A large figure stepped in front of her, his dark hair styled in careful waves. Chocolate eyes glaring down at her.

  Blaine. Wonderful. She looked past him and refused to acknowledge his presence. It was her usual method for dealing with him.

  “Hello, shluyka.” His lips curled into a sly smile. “I've been wondering. You don’t look like much, but if you’re fucking four men, would you like to take on another?” He reached up and curled a tendril of her hair around his finger. “I assure you I can provide for you much better than that clansman.”

  Blue’s gaze snapped back to him. She slapped his hand aside. “Back off.”

  This wasn’t the first time he had called her that name, nor was it the first time he’d hinted at her being some sort of whore. It was the first time he’d talked so bluntly about buying her, and it was the first time he’d done it in front of witnesses. It was also the first time he’d touched her.

  She’d ignored his earlier harassments, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of a reaction. Then she'd filed a report with the Academy’s disciplinary committee.

  This she could not ignore.

  Blaine’s hands curled into fists and he took a half-step forward, crowding into her personal space. Just as she gathered her weight and prepared to send a knee into his groin, someone’s foot shot out and caught the over-grown boy in the knee.

  He stumbled
and collapsed to the ground, letting out an undignified squeak. Clutching the injured joint, he groaned.

  Sarah stood over him, her face flushed but her stance calm. “I’ve told you Blaine, learn some respect for women or one day you’ll find yourself choking on ground glass as you sip your foka.”

  “You don’t even like this woman,” he spat out, the color in his own face deepening. “And she is a shluyka.”

  Sarah’s gaze cut to Blue and she shrugged. “Maybe so. Still doesn’t give you the right to treat her like a whore. Unless she asked you to?” Sarah raised a brow.

  Damn, that is such an effective expression. I really need to figure it out. Blue had practiced the expression, but she didn’t have the right muscles in her forehead or something, because all she’d been able to achieve was a mildly constipated look. “Definitely didn’t ask him to,” Blue said.

  Sarah nodded then sent a sneer at Blaine, the same one she used to give Blue. “There you have it. If I see you treat her or any girl like that again, I won’t stop at giving you a limp for a few weeks.” She bent down until their faces were inches apart. “I will cripple you,” she hissed out.