Cosmic Lock, Book 6 of Grand
Masters’ Galaxy
Grand
Masters Violet and Athanor Griffin return from beyond the Cosmic Rift with two
shiploads of rescued children and escaped slaves, but their enemies have not
been idle in their absence. Avalon is in flames and their little son is
missing. Finding him may be the easiest problem for the powerful couple. They
must unite the fractious Grand Masters, stop the bloodsucking Ixioths from
enslaving sentients, and seal the Rift to prevent new incursions of the vindictive
Nulls. Can they overcome the challenges and secure peace for the galaxy?
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Excerpt
from Chapter 1: Dramatic Beginning
Flames.
A
rippling sheet of vivid orange flames filled her vision.
Violet
had inspected her son’s surroundings via their resonating amethysts as soon as
she had advised the captain of the watch to expect two friendly ships of
escapees from behind the Rift. Instead of Mother Tingu’s pristine kitchen on
Avalon, a wall of fire filled her senses.
Stunned
and bewildered, her mind whirled with questions. They had left their precocious
thirteen-month old son with their old tutor who could control his erratic
psychic impulses. What in the voids was she seeing? Were the flames an
afterimage of her violent passage across the Cosmic Rift?
Acting
by instinct, she contacted her psychic partner.
Their
link vibrated with Athanor’s cry, “Avalon’s
under attack. The portal is blocked.”
Trembling
in foreboding, Violet cried, “Varan’s
with Tingu.”
“If you’ll
teleport to Tingu’s cottage and secure our son, I’ll reopen the portal.”
“Instantly.” She focused on the familiar white-walled cottage,
tapped her enhancer and spun into the eerie whirlwinds of the quantum vortices.
She popped into normal
space by the white picket fence. The gate swung on its hinges, squeaking in a
blustery gale. Dense gray smoke and orange flames exploded from the thatched
roof of the cottage. The roses climbing over the porch had shriveled into
ashes, and as she watched in horror, fragments of window glass shattered onto
the flagstone path.
“Varan,” she yelled. “Mother
Tingu, where are you?”
No reply. Only the
crackle of fire and hot gusts of wind battering against her body. Had she
fulfilled her promise to rescue the children of Cinerea at the expense of her
son’s life?
Despair darkened her
mind. Her baby son was dead, burned by the fire. She teetered on the edge of a
black precipice. The abyss beckoned.
She
fell.
