Geneva Sommers and the Secret Legend Read online

  Geneva Sommers and the Secret Legend

  C.J. Benjamin

  Contents

  Title Graphic

  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

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  Chapter 71

  Chapter 72

  Chapter 73

  Chapter 74

  Chapter 75

  Note from the Author

  Don’t Worry It’s Not Over

  Book 3

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Acknowledgments

  Also by C.J. Benjamin

  About the Author

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

  Version 1.1

  Copyright © 2019 by Christina Benjamin

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Crown Atlantic Publishing

  To Dalton,

  for being a continued source of light and inspiration in my life.

  Thank you for reminding me that the sun will shine,

  even in darkness.

  To Philip,

  whose unconditional love and support continues to astound me.

  You are my anchor, without you I would be lost at sea.

  And to my Fairchildren,

  who remind me that the future is bright.

  Prologue

  Some people come into your life by choice, some by chance, but others come in like a freight train, with certain uncontrollable force. Sometimes you can feel them coming, sometimes you are completely blindsided. Under either circumstance, you know your life will never be the same again. But don’t waste time fretting in despair. You were on this collision course long before you knew it, before you had a choice or a chance to change it. Your only choice now, is what to do when that time comes. What will you do when these two worlds collide?

  1

  I squeezed my eyes shut and counted silently to ten. Maybe this was all a dream, a vivid and horrible dream. I mean honestly, when I thought about it, that almost seemed more plausible than the events of today being real. Isn’t it possible I dreamt the whole thing up? I’ve always had an active imagination. Or maybe this was some new kind of magic power I’d just developed and it had me trapped in one of my daydreams. Perhaps when I opened my eyes I would wake up behind my favorite palm, in my secret hiding place in the Troian Center courtyard. Our headmistress Greeley would still be alive, the rainforest wouldn’t be smoldering around me, my friends and I wouldn’t be homeless and most importantly, Jemma would NOT be my sister.

  I took a few more deep breaths and slowly opened my eyes. Then panic set in. It was all still there, all still in front of me, just as it had been before I closed my eyes. Jemma was staring at me and she seemed closer than before. Her face was twisted in some sort of quivering frown while tears created tiny winding rivers down her sooty cheeks.

  Not possible, I thought to myself. Jemma doesn’t cry.

  I could feel my mind getting fuzzy and there was a dull buzzing in my ears that seemed to be making it really hard for me to connect my thoughts. I looked around to see where it was coming from and my eyes took in the devastating scenery surrounding me once more.

  “This can’t be real,” I whispered, more to myself than anyone in particular. But it seemed Jemma thought I was talking to her because she launched herself toward me and crushed me in a desperate hug.

  “It is! It is real!” She squeezed tighter and sobbed harder. “It’s you! I can’t believe this either, but it’s you! You’re my sister! I thought you were dead. They told me you died in the Flood.”

  It was all too much for me to take. I pushed her off of me, quickly wiping my eyes to hide my emotions, which were dangerously close to brimming over.

  “I can’t do this,” was all I managed to squeak out before my voice betrayed me with a sob, so I turned on my heels and ran away.

  “Wait! Eva!” Jemma called after me, but I didn’t stop. I kept going, quickening my stride. I willed my legs to carry me far enough away, so I could have some privacy when I broke down.

  “Let me talk to her,” I heard Remi say. “You’re overwhelming her, Jemma.”

  I tried to tune them out but my telepathy fed me a steady stream of their voices. I hurried my pace, sprinting away from their voices.

  “I think she’s probably in shock. She just needs some space to come to terms with all of this new information the Book of Secrets has just dumped on her,” Nova said, putting his arm up to stop Remi.

  “Are you some sort of Geneva expert all of a sudden? You’ve known her for a second compared to me, so stop acting like you’re the only one that knows what’s best for her. I know her too and I think she needs someone to talk her through all of this,” Remi challenged as he tried to push past Nova.

  “She wants to be left alone,” Nova said, stepping into Remi’s path.

  This time his tone was final and I didn’t hear any more arguments from Remi. Maybe they’d stopped fighting or I was too far away to connect to them anymore. Either way, Nova was right. I know he only knew I wanted to be left alone because he was reading my thoughts again even though I’d asked him not to a million times. He probably couldn’t help himself right now because my mind was practically screaming ‘back off!’ And honestly I was glad for Nova’s mind reading abilities at the moment, because I trul
y did just want to be alone. I’m sure this probably hurt my best friend’s feelings a bit, but right now, Remi’s feelings weren’t my focus. I was trying desperately not to freak out. I needed to keep breathing and calm myself down so I didn’t lose control of my powers and so I could think of a solution.

  2

  “It’s happening, Master. I can feel it. The Eva has taken possession of the book!”

  “The Book of Secrets? You’re sure?”

  “Yes, very sure Master. No one other than the Eva would be able to open it.”

  “How do you know it’s been opened?”

  “Look here, Master,” the old man said, pointing to an open book in his lap. “The legend continues.”

  The tall man watched in wonder, as scrawling script inked its way across the brittle parchment of the open manuscript. The words formed slowly, darkly, like blood seeping through the ancient pages.

  The two men stood, watching the words spread. One man short, crippled by age and the other, tall and menacing. A slow, wicked smile spread across the face of the tall man. It was obvious that he was the one in charge. He wore a black robe that billowed as he moved, gracefully skimming across the spotless, stone floor. Even beneath his robes, it was easy to see he was muscularly built. His hair was glossy black, and shimmered iridescently like obsidian feathers. It was pulled back so tightly, that it gave his angular features an even more severe shape. His eyes were dark and keen. He narrowed them in a sinister way, as he threw his head back, releasing his intimidating laughter.

  “Excellent work, Kobel. I think it’s time I meet our Eva, don’t you? Get me her location.”

  “Each time she uses the Book of Secrets, I can try to zero in on her location, Master.”

  “Good. In the meantime, send a search party out. Scour the island. I want that book and I want the Eva!” he bellowed.

  3

  My lungs burned as I sucked in ragged breaths of smoky air. I was far enough away from my friends now that I could let my composure slip even more than it already had, and I launched into a full blown conversation with myself.

  “How can Jemma be my sister? She’s the most awful person I’ve ever met!” I wailed.

  Well that’s not true, I argued with myself.

  My mind snapped back to our Headmistress Greeley. She was much more awful than Jemma. She killed Niv, or at least she thought she had. She tried to kill all of us and she would have if I hadn’t stopped her. I shuddered at the thought of it and suddenly the reality of what I’d done unexpectedly gripped my stomach! I found myself lurching over a bush nearby, heaving up guilt and bile.

  Finally unable to fight my exhaustion, I collapsed to the ground and gave in to the river of tears that were battering the dam of my eyelids. I shook and gasped for air as I let the events of the past few days wash over me. It was almost too awful to bear.

  There were so many highs and lows. We had found the Book of Secrets, but what had it cost us? Greeley caught and cornered us. She tortured my beloved marmouse, while I stood helplessly by, frozen by one of her spells. Then she let her tarcats tear him to pieces before my very eyes. I had foolishly tethered my soul to his and instantly expected to extinguish with him. But, when I didn’t, I used every ounce of my love for Niv to fight back against Greeley and save my friends. We escaped to the forest, and Remi, my incredible best friend, shocked us all by leading us to a perfectly happy and healthy Niv! He had foreseen the dangers of my soul being tethered to Niv’s and used shadow magic to create an imposter Niv, while protecting me and the real Niv all the while. I didn’t think I could ever be as happy as when I was reunited with Niv. I owed Remi my life and so much more.

  But my happiness was short lived, because Greeley and the Grifts from the Troian Center followed us to the forest and set it ablaze in their search for us. I knew I had to face Greeley, but I had to protect my friends as well. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing any of them after coming so close to losing Niv. I trapped them with a fissure and confronted Greeley myself. All my training in the forest paid off. I was able to stay calm enough to realize that I could beat Greeley with her own tools by turning her vicious tarcats against her. But now, I was left with that final image of her, writhing under their blood stained fur, and I knew it would haunt me forever.

  I started heaving again, even though there was nothing left in my stomach. I didn’t know how to move on from this.

  “I killed someone.” I whispered the words out loud to help them sink in.

  Yes, she was evil and trying to kill me and my friends, but I still took a life. It seemed like my only option and the right thing to do. “But if it was right, why do I feel so horrible?” I asked myself. “I wish I could take it back,” I sobbed.

  I didn’t regret that we were all safe now, but I just didn’t know how to live with this awful feeling. I let myself cry shamefully on the damp forest floor. It was covered in soft moss that comforted me more than I deserved. I felt something touch my leg. I immediately stopped crying and held my breath. Then it climbed upon me—I stiffened until I saw Niv’s twitchy little nose creep into view.

  “Niv,” I sighed as I sat up and scooped him into my lap. “You scared me half-to-death!”

  He twitched his nose at me and I smiled as he rapidly combed at his whiskers with his agile, black paws.

  “Well, I guess if you found me I’m not as far from the others as I hoped,” I said to him.

  I stood, dusting off my badly torn and tattered Troian Center uniform. The tan, threadbare material was scorched where I had come too close to the fire and one sleeve was torn, flapping sadly each time I moved. Looking at the dark stains on the rest of my uniform, I shrugged and gave up trying to brush away the moss that was still clinging to me. I lifted Niv up to let him perch on my shoulder as I continued my trek deeper into the forest. I still wasn’t ready to face my friends. I needed to sort out my thoughts and I preferred to do that without Nova listening in on them.

  My legs felt sore, but steadier and my chest felt lighter.

  “A good cry always leaves my head clearer,” I said to Niv as he watched the forest scenery float by from my shoulders. His ears pricked up and down, tickling my neck as he took in the forest sounds.

  I was wandering aimlessly, trying to organize my thoughts. Somehow walking was helping. I felt that each footstep was taking me a step closer to coming to terms with this new role that had been thrust upon me.

  “You wanted to know the truth, Tippy,” I said to myself.

  When I heard the name Tippy come out of my mouth I smiled. It was the nickname Nova had given me and I’d grown fond of it. It seemed my real name was Geneva, though.

  “Geneva,” I whispered trying it out. “Geneva,” I said again, this time with more confidence.

  It felt so foreign rolling off my tongue, but it’s what I had wanted more than anything; to know my real name. It’s what started this whole crazy quest. I met a boy who knew his name and I couldn’t stop thinking about him and about what my name might be. I wanted to know my name and now I did, so I guess I had better start going by it.

  I was sad to let go of Tippy. It was so endearing to me now because I felt like it connected me to Nova. My cheeks flushed at the thought of him. The events of the past year brought me closer than I ever could have dreamed to Nova. Yet somehow I still didn’t know where we stood. He opened my eyes to a whole new world of magic and secrets and we solved them together to find out my true identity. It was a rough road, but I knew I would do it all again because I was addicted to him. When he kissed me, it unlocked a part of my heart that I didn’t know I had. I sighed as I remembered our perfect kiss in the locker. I shook myself quickly from the reverie of that blissful memory because it was too easy for me to get caught up dreaming about Nova. I really needed to have a talk with him to find out where we stood, but now wasn’t the time.

  I reminded myself I was out here, wandering around the forest, because I needed to figure out what to do next. Now that I knew who I wa
s, I had to figure out what it all meant.

  My name is Geneva Sommers. I’m the Eva, the chosen one who will lead Hullabee Island back to peace and equality. It sounded like a tall order for a teenage orphan. I was being swallowed whole by the idea. I wished there was some kind of guide as to how I was supposed to accomplish this task, because I had no idea.

  “What do you think, Niv?” I asked as I scratched him between his ears. He cooed and chattered in response and I laughed. “Well I was actually looking for a more specific answer, but thank you,” I said to him.