Rise: One Curse After Another (Magic and Mayhem Universe: The Cursed Heartbreakers #1)

Chapter 1

One of the first rules one learns about portal walking was to be ready for shit to go wrong the moment you stepped onto the other side.

Of course, Liverity Strongwill might have been excused for her lapse in judgment this one time, considering she was leaving behind the younger brother she barely knew without a plan B or C or XYZ.

They were all well and royally screwed, but that did not change the fact that she should have anticipated an attack.

Liv stepped through first, breathing in the slightly sulfur-ish, smoke-laden air of her homeland, and Valentina, her sister, followed closely behind.

One of the witches who raised them had created the hidden portal days ago, explaining what they had to do, and now, the limited amount of time for it to remain open had created an urgency, considering, at that very moment, the portal’s closure was imminent.

So, perhaps, that was the reason she hadn’t stepped through with her arrow notched and bowstring lightly resting between her fingers.

It wasn’t until both she and Val were back on the rough, rocky ground of Umbraland and the portal was just fading to a shimmering, barely visible spiral that she sensed the tension of another’s presence.

Her gaze swept the reddish-brown landscape, but despite her intuition, not a single being was visible.

In an instant, Liv pulled an arrow from her quiver and readied for an attack. Val did the same beside her.

“What is it, Liv?”

“Nothing for certain. I feel someone near, but I don’t see anyone.”

Val relaxed her weapon slightly. “Is it possible that the portal crossing has messed with your perception?”

Liv trusted her instinct more than her own tangible senses, but maybe Val was right. Perhaps, the crossing had thrown her off a little. She softened her grip on her weapon also.

“I suppose you might be on to something. I’m sure I’m probably just a little jangled from the changeover. The atmosphere of Umbraland does take some getting used to.”

With only a slight hesitancy, Liv placed her arrow back into the quiver and settled her bow in her back holster once more as Val did the same.

She still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were being watched, but if she couldn’t see the threat, then she would just have to wait until one appeared. Wait vigilantly.

“Let’s make camp here. We can’t leave until the portal is completely shut, so I’ll start a fire behind those rocks.” Val pointed to a small rocky outcropping just a few feet away from them.

Liv nodded but sitting around and waiting for things to happen wasn’t one of her strengths.

They were in serious trouble without any way out, and their only option just told them he had to stay behind.

She couldn’t help but speak her thoughts aloud, “We’re well and truly fucked!

I can’t believe Tavorius said no. What are we going to do now, Val? ”

Val paused in her task of collecting the few twigs that littered the ground. Umbraland wasn’t a fruitful kind of place. Vegetation and trees were few and far between, but as always, they would make a bad situation work to their advantage the best they possibly could.

“You know, Liv, I don’t have the energy to think right now.

Tay had his reasons for staying.” One reason, in particular.

A female named Niya Dartan, who had won his heart and needed him to save the people they were sworn to protect.

She couldn’t fault him for choosing the option that felt right to him.

“Yes. I get that. But, without him, we’re as good as dead. We might as well just go lay our necks on the chopping blocks ourselves. It’s inevitable now.”

Liv could feel Val rolling her eyes even as her sister turned and continued to gather small pieces of wood scattered here and there. “Dramatic, much?”

“No, Val. I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough. We don’t have the third sibling of our three. Without Tay, there’s no reason to even go on. What chance do we have?”

Val stopped once more, turning to face Liv fully.

“What do you want me to say, Liv? It’s time to give up?

Really? That doesn’t sound like you. Where’s my hard-headed sister who pushed us to this point?

” She shook her head. “You were the one who came up with the idea of finding him. I didn’t even think we would make it that far.

Yet, we did find him. That was thanks to you. ”

“So what? We found him, but he refused to help us.”

“Can you blame him? He was abandoned, and even when we could have gone to him, we chose not to. He grew up believing he was unwanted. Would you want to follow two strangers claiming to be your sisters who left you for so long without answers?” Val shook her head one last time and continued toward the other side of the rocks.

“Then, we’ll just have to find the curse breaker on our own and hope we have enough power between the two of us to destroy the truly evil being that is our father.”

Val called over her shoulder, “Like I said, I don’t have the energy to think about the next step, Liv. Let’s get a fire started. Then, we can try to save our asses.”

Liv looked down and dug the toe of her right foot into the ground.

She blew out a frustrated breath. Of course, Val was right.

Their brother, Tavorius, hadn’t even been a few hours old before he’d been spirited to another dimension.

It had been for his safety—for all their safety.

That day had changed the sisters’ lives as well.

Up until the birth of their brother, they had been their father’s constant focus, rarely out of his sight.

On that day, though, they had also been hidden away.

At the age of six, everything had changed for the twin girls. With the help of a coven of witches, they had to learn to fight and fend for themselves. And, as they had grown older, they learned the truth about their father, and why the birth of a son had put all their lives in jeopardy.

Liv swiveled around to check on the progress of the closing of the portal. It was still there, just a small swirl in the air. If only they had convinced Tay to come to Umbraland with them. The prophecy called for three siblings. Together, they had a chance to defeat their father.

There! Liv stepped toward the portal. She had seen a flash of movement on the other side. What if Tay had decided to help them after all?

“Val! Come here!”

She glanced back at her sister and watched as Val stomped around the edge of a large boulder and threw her hands up in frustration.

“The portal! Someone is coming through the portal!”

Liv pointed weakly toward the swirling mist hanging in the air just as all hell broke loose.

She caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye of a horse and rider coming straight at her.

He appeared seemingly out of nowhere on the same side of the portal as she, grabbed the back of her leather weapon’s vest, and hoisted her onto the horse in front of him.

In complete shock, Liv didn’t move at first, but at the sound of Val’s panicked voice shouting her name, she began to fight. As she managed to struggle in earnest, she felt a strong blow to the back of her head and the world went black.