Read Online Madly and Wolfhardt by M. Leighton - Free Book Online

jumped in head first.
    “Jersey, Aidan and I are Merfolk.  Our home is called Atlas and it lies several miles off the coast beneath the sea.  We are the offspring of the angel Neptune.  God chose our race to be the keepers of the evil spirits of supernatural creatures.  They are called Lore.
    “Thousands of years ago, two fallen angels, Lucifer and Proserpine, created demonic minions that have black hearts, unnatural powers and many shapes.  When Lucifer took over the Underworld and cast Proserpine out, she came to Neptune for his help.  Neptune agreed to help her on the condition that she tell him all she knew of the creatures.  Eventually she did, and Neptune devised a system for imprisonment that the Mer have used to this very day to contain the Lore.
    “Proserpine used pearls to travel to and from the Underworld because they were hearty enough to withstand the fires of Hell, yet weak enough that she could break free from inside them.  Her special pearls, however, were too strong for lesser creatures to escape, so they are the basis for capturing and containing the Lore in Atlas.  I am wearing one of only four in existence.”
    I showed her my bracelet, with its ebony pearl in the center.
    “Normally the pearl is silvery white, but it turns black when there is a breach in the containment system.  All four bracelets are linked to one another and to Atlas.  My parents, Warden Major and Warden Queen of Atlas, each have one and there is one stored within Atlas, reserved for my betrothed, the Prince of Atlas.”
    “Betrothed?  You’re engaged?”
    Of all the questions I might have expected Kellina to ask, that one was quite possibly the lowest on the list. 
    “Not yet,” I said, glancing quickly at Aidan.  “But I will be on the eighth day of the eighth month of my eighteenth year.”
    “To whom?  Have you met him yet?”
    I glanced once more at Aidan.  He had panic in his eyes.  It was for that reason that I didn’t answer Kellina entirely truthfully.
    “My betrothed has yet to be determined,” I said casually.  “That’s the least of our worries, though.  The problem is that, recently, as you can see by the color of the pearl, there has been a breach in the containment system and several Lore have escaped.  In the event of such an occurrence, Atlas is shutdown and no travel or communication is permitted between Atlas and the outside world.”
    “How did that happen?” she asked. 
    Both her question and her demeanor were casual, surprisingly so considering the subject matter.  It seemed that Kellina was having no difficulty believing what I was telling her.
    “We believe that a member of royalty has betrayed us.  They’ve kidnapped my sister and may be using her as leverage to control my parents.”
    Kellina frowned.
    I took a shaky breath.
    “Needless to say, it is of utmost importance that we recapture the Lore and find a way to free Atlas.”
    “And how do you do that?”
    “Well, that’s the tricky part.  Locating the Lore can be a bit of a problem, as they are spirits and the only record of the identities of their descendants is locked away in Atlas.”
    “Descendants?”
    “Yes, the human descendants of the bodies originally capable of housing the Lore.  When a Lore escapes, it will make its way to the descendant of its body and awaken that human to its heritage, to its power and memory.”
    “Memory?”
    “Yes.  The Lore were created to destroy certain blood lines in order that Lucifer might have greater dominion over the earth.  Basically, they were sent to destroy some really important people, if you will.”
    “What about those people, the important people?  Don’t they remember what happened?  Isn’t there, like, a record or something somewhere?  Like a family history or something?”
    “Well, with the Lore in captivity, for hundreds of years, Atlas has provided a shield that encompasses Slumber.  It confines the residents to a life free from their