Chronicles of julian, p.1
Chronicles of Julian, page 1
Chronicles of Julian
Kerrigan Memoirs, Volume 3
W.J. May
Published by Dark Shadow Publishing, 2022.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
CHRONICLES OF JULIAN
First edition. May 1, 2022.
Copyright © 2022 W.J. May.
ISBN: 979-8201963217
Written by W.J. May.
Copyright 2022 by W.J. May
THIS BOOK IS LICENSED for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
All rights reserved.
Chronicles of Julian
Book 3 of the Kerrigan Memoirs
Copyright 2022 by W.J. May
Cover design by: Book Cover by Design
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.
This book is dedicated to Micah,
Who sacrificed his life to save those who were unable to save themselves.
He saw the bigger picture.
Author Content Warning:
The Chronicles of Kerrigan and all its stories are generally based on YA and some NA subject area. Julian, as a character, has a difficult tatu in that he is able to see the future and so many different scenarios of what could happen so his story is darker than most of the stories you’ve read. The undercover mission he is on is a sensitive subject. This story includes references to violence, kidnapping, human trafficking and abuse. There are no specific scenes described, but the assumption is there, and as the author of this story, I’d like readers to be aware.
Kerrigan Memoirs Series
The Chronicles of:
Devon
Angel
Julian
Molly
Gabriel
Rae
Have You Read the C.o.K Series?
The Prequel series is a Sub-Series of the Chronicles of Kerrigan.
The prequel on how Simon Kerrigan met Beth!!
THE CHRONICLES OF KERRIGAN: PREQUEL –
Christmas Before the Magic
Question the Darkness
Into the Darkness
Fight the Darkness
Alone in the Darkness
Lost the Darkness
THE CHRONICLES OF KERRIGAN
Book I - Rae of Hope is FREE!
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gILAwXxx8MU
Book II - Dark Nebula
Book Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca24STi_bFM
Book III - House of Cards
Book IV - Royal Tea
Book V - Under Fire
Book VI - End in Sight
Book VII – Hidden Darkness
Book VIII – Twisted Together
Book IX – Mark of Fate
Book X – Strength & Power
Book XI – Last One Standing
Book XII – Rae of Light
THE CHRONICLES OF KERRIGAN SEQUEL
Matter of Time
Time Piece
Second Chance
Glitch in Time
Our Time
Precious Time
The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel
Living in the Past
Present for Today
Staring at the Future
Kerrigan Chronicles
Book 1 – Stopping Time
Book 2 – A Passage of Time
Book 3 – Ticking Clock
Book 4 – Just in Time
Book 5 – Time in the City
Book 6 – Ultimate Future
The Kerrigan Kids Series
Book 1 - School of Potential
Book 2 - Myths & Magic
Book 3 - Kith & Kin
Book 4 - Playing With Power
Book 5 - Line of Ancestry
Book 6 - Descent of Hope
Book 7 – Illusion of Shadows
Book 8 – Frozen by the Future
Book 9 – Guilt of My Past
Book 10 – Demise of Magic
Book 11- Rise of the Prophecy
Book 12 – Deafened by the Past
Find W.J. May
Website:
https://www.wjmaybooks.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-WJ-May-FAN-PAGE/141170442608149
Newsletter:
SIGN UP FOR W.J. May's Newsletter to find out about new releases, updates, cover reveals and even freebies!
http://www.wjmaybooks.com/subscribe
Chronicles of Julian Blurb
HOW DOES ONE CARRY the weight of two worlds?
Since the day he turned sixteen, Julian Decker had been the supernatural world’s security blanket—safeguarding the future of magic with the gift of prophecy again, and again, and again.
It was a delicate balance and a crushing responsibility, but the good had always outweighed the bad.
Or so he believed.
When Julian is sent on a dangerous deep-cover mission, all those certainties are thrown into question as he finds himself facing the worst of life’s evils once again. The darkness they battle seems doomed to overtake the light, and the death of a friend makes him wonder if he wants to keep fighting anymore.
Why keep waging the war when history seems fated to repeat itself? Why spend all your time in the future if you never get to live in the here and now? At what point is that burden meant to rest on someone else’s shoulders?
At what point do you say enough is enough?
** AT THE END OF THE story, check out what the original cover was going to be...
Contents
Author Content Warning:
Kerrigan Memoirs Series
Have You Read the C.o.K Series?
The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel
Kerrigan Chronicles
The Kerrigan Kids Series
Find W.J. May
Chronicles of Julian Blurb
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
Chronicles of Molly
The Original Cover
Kerrigan Memoirs Series
The Kerrigan Kids Series
TUDOR COMPARISON:
Find W.J. May
The Chronicles of Kerrigan
PREQUEL –
SEQUEL –
The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel
More books by W.J. May
Chapter 1
“G-e-r-a-n-i-u-m.”
Julian’s eyes drifted open as his daughter’s voice floated up the hall. It had been chiming like a malfunctioning bell for the better part of the morning, looping the same words over and over. Not just the words, but the letters. Breaking them down to remember, then stringing them together again.
The rest of the house was already in revolt.
The child’s mother had banished her to the backyard before returning to the kitchen to sharpen knives. Even the endlessly patient wolf had sought refuge in an upstairs bathroom, unable to withstand another second of that ceaseless chirp. The psychic might have been the easiest target, but he’d been caught in heavy dreams. The ones that vanish like smoke the second you wake up.
Even now, they gripped him—holding the length of his body in suspension as the sharper parts of his mind struggled to shake themselves loose.
It was like this sometimes, even without the dreams. There was a weight to the mornings that he hadn’t known before his sixteenth birthday. A kind of added consciousness as all of those half-formed hypotheticals and splintering futures took a moment to untangle themselves before settling into place. The night made it easy for them to wander—he stood a better chance in the day.
“...Angie?”
The sight of his lovely wife usually helped things take focus. But that morning, the bed was empty save for the small indent where she’d lain. He reached over on instinct anyway, trailing his fingers over the cool sheets before pushing slowly up onto his arms and blinking himself awake.
“H-y-p-n-o-t-i-c.”
Others might scarcely notice, but to him it was like catnip—demanding his every focus as he contemplated its recreation with a pensive tilt of his head. It wasn’t the light itself, but the subtle contrast—that part was almost impossible to get right. Most people used oils that were too heavy, or got lost in the texture. Others gave up almost immediately and simply curtained where there should have been glass. He’d struggled with such things himself, ever since the first day he sat down in front of a canvas. But over the last few weeks, Lorenzo had been teaching him a new technique—
Where’s Angel?
He was out of bed in a second, calling his wife’s name at the same time. His eyes flashed white just as she answered, effectively muting the response, but he’d already seen her in the kitchen.
...wielding a knife?
“R-e-t-r-i-b-u-t-i-o-n.”
His daughter’s voice again echoed up the hallway, and he paused in the middle of the floor, sensing that perhaps something wasn’t right.
With a bit more haste than usual he shed what remained of his clothes and jumped into the shower, taking careful steps to avoid the bath toys littered underfoot. Lily had her own bathroom, of course, and was usually forbidden from bringing those things into her parents’ walk-in shower. But there was apparently some kind of battle going on between the mermaids and the crustaceans, and the sniper section had taken cover behind her father’s shampoo.
Julian picked up a dented shellfish, examining it as he lathered his hair.
It never ceased to bewilder him, how many toys his daughter had managed to accumulate in just her five short years—a far cry from his own spartan childhood. He could blame most of them on overly-indulgent aunts and uncles, but it had gotten to the point where he wondered if she had started to manifest them herself. It would certainly explain the sudden influx of mollusks.
“B-a-r-b-a-r-i-a-n.”
The word chimed in just as he turned off the water, and he cast another frown in the direction of the stairs. Only then did he notice the massive wolf hiding beneath the sink. She gave him a doleful expression, lowering her chin to the floorboards and covering her eyes with a paw.
“That’s okay, baby. You can hide in here.” He gave her a scratch behind the ears, popping a toothbrush into his mouth as he started to get dressed. “I hide in here sometimes myself.”
Just five minutes later, he jogged down the stairs—slipping into a coat at the same time.
It was a big day in the Oratory, it was assignment day. The day when all those far-flung agents hurried back to the correct continent and crammed themselves into Carter’s undersized conference room, waiting like buyers at a semi-violent auction, vying and jostling each other for the best jobs.
Under no circumstance could he be late. Under no circumstance would Devon let him be late. But the second he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he slid to a comical stop.
“...what’s this?”
It looked as though the contents of seven Swedish bakeries had been shaken violently, then dumped without ceremony into his house. There were baskets of muffins, towering stacks of pound cake, heaps of biscuits, and enough cinnamon rolls that he could effectively cover the entire floor.
Most days, he would suspect a well-intentioned robbery. Or a sweet-scented cover for a rather obvious drug-smuggling operation. His eyes actually flashed into the future to check for exactly that. But unlikely as the scene was, every bite appeared to be homemade.
His lovely wife was standing in the very center.
Her cheeks were flushed from the heat, her hair twisted back into a flour-dusted braid, and a pair of flannel cooking mitts he’d never seen before were checkered up her slender arms.
She looked up from the oven, flashing a domesticated smile.
“I’m going to murder our daughter.”
“F-e-l-o-n-y.”
On second thought, that smile was mostly teeth.
He eased slowly into the kitchen, picking his way across puddles of batter and sudden bursts of steam. When at last he was close enough to touch her he decided at the last second to cautiously abstain, eyeing the whisk still clenched in her hand before offering a tentative smile.
“...but then you decided to make custard?”
She hurled the whisk at the counter, impaling a small Danish.
“This is something different! This is for the school fundraiser!” she cried. “It’s not enough that we simply donate money for a new library, they insist we must offer a blood sacrifice as well!”
She held up two burnt fingers, glaring with a rather savage expression.
“I’m bunking with the rebels in Sarajevo next week. How will I grip the grenades?”
He regarded her seriously, something that was increasingly difficult to do. “You could always offer them breakfast.”
ALL of them. ALL of Sarajevo.
“Don’t make jokes,” she snapped, seizing a bowl on the counter and attacking it with a wooden spoon. “And don’t act like I’m not happy to do it! I’m happy to contribute to my daughter’s education! I’m happy to do whatever I need to get her through this wretchedly over-priced school!” She came to a sudden and dangerous pause. “Don’t I look happy, Julian?”
“P-e-r-i-l-o-u-s.”
He stared a split second, then backed away. “...you look beautiful.”
Her eyes narrowed as the croissants behind her caught fire. “Remember those vows I made concerning motherhood?” she quipped, freezing the flames with a wave of her hand. “When the sky went black at midday? Do you remember?”
He bit down on his lip. “They didn’t include this?”
“D-i-r-i-g-i-b-l-e.”
The oven door slammed as she threw another tray of cupcakes onto the counter.
“No,” she hissed. “They didn’t include this.” Light footsteps scampered in from the garden, and she reached for the fire extinguisher. “I’ve had better days in a Taiwanese prison—”
“Good morning, sweetheart!” Julian scooped up his daughter the second she skipped inside, angling her casually away from the oven while his wife doused the flames. “Did you have good dreams?”
Lily shook her head solemnly, oblivious to the subtle torture she was inflicting upon the rest of the house. As usual, she looked like a cartoon of a child. That morning, a rather melancholy one. A touch of sadness wilted her shoulders as waves of ivory hair spilled down the sides her face.
“I couldn’t sleep. I was up all night practicing for the spelling bee.”
You don’t say...
Angel cursed in Basque, prying open another carton of flour.
“The spelling bee, huh?” Julian turned them to face in the opposite direction, plucking an errant twig from the girl’s hair. “Is that coming up?”
“It’s not until next month. But it never hurts to be prepared.”
Tell that to the croissants.
He tilted his head, catching his daughter’s eyes. “So why the face? You’ve gotten them right so far.”
Lily dropped her gaze to the floor. “I’m not supposed to be participating,” she admitted, furrowing her brow with an expression that looked utterly ridiculous on a five-year-old. “Aria’s staging a boycott, and I was assigned to ‘opposition research’ with Jason.” She gave her father a weary look. “That’s code for sabotage.”
He nodded thoughtfully, doing everything he could to restrain a smile. “And why are we sabotaging the spelling bee?”
The little girl let out a sigh. “She’s turned it into an argument about progressivism, claims that the school is actively suppressing basic technology and pushing a Luddite perspective onto the student population.”
