Stopping Time: Paranormal Fantasy Young Adult/New Adult Romance (Kerrigan Chronicles Book 1) Read online

  Stopping Time

  Kerrigan Chronicles, Volume 1

  W.J. May

  Published by Dark Shadow Publishing, 2018.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  STOPPING TIME

  First edition. August 20, 2018.

  Copyright © 2018 W.J. May.

  Written by W.J. May.

  Also by W.J. May

  Bit-Lit Series

  Lost Vampire

  Cost of Blood

  Price of Death

  Blood Red Series

  Courage Runs Red

  The Night Watch

  Marked by Courage

  Forever Night

  Daughters of Darkness: Victoria's Journey

  Victoria

  Huntress

  Coveted (A Vampire & Paranormal Romance)

  Twisted

  Daughter of Darkness - Victoria - Box Set

  Hidden Secrets Saga

  Seventh Mark - Part 1

  Seventh Mark - Part 2

  Marked By Destiny

  Compelled

  Fate's Intervention

  Chosen Three

  The Hidden Secrets Saga:The Complete Series

  Kerrigan Chronicles

  Stopping Time

  A Passage of Time

  Paranormal Huntress Series

  Never Look Back

  Coven Master

  Alpha's Permission

  Blood Bonding

  Oracle of Nightmares

  Prophecy Series

  Only the Beginning

  White Winter

  Secrets of Destiny

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  Rae of Hope

  Dark Nebula

  House of Cards

  Royal Tea

  Under Fire

  End in Sight

  Hidden Darkness

  Twisted Together

  Mark of Fate

  Strength & Power

  Last One Standing

  Rae of Light

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Box Set Books # 1 - 6

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan: Gabriel

  Living in the Past

  Present For Today

  Staring at the Future

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel

  Christmas Before the Magic

  Question the Darkness

  Into the Darkness

  Fight the Darkness

  Alone in the Darkness

  Lost in Darkness

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Prequel Series Books #1-3

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan Sequel

  A Matter of Time

  Time Piece

  Second Chance

  Glitch in Time

  Our Time

  Precious Time

  The Hidden Secrets Saga

  Seventh Mark (part 1 & 2)

  The Queen's Alpha Series

  Eternal

  Everlasting

  Unceasing

  Evermore

  Forever

  Boundless

  Prophecy

  The Senseless Series

  Radium Halos

  Radium Halos - Part 2

  Nonsense

  Standalone

  Shadow of Doubt (Part 1 & 2)

  Five Shades of Fantasy

  Shadow of Doubt - Part 1

  Shadow of Doubt - Part 2

  Four and a Half Shades of Fantasy

  Dream Fighter

  What Creeps in the Night

  Forest of the Forbidden

  Arcane Forest: A Fantasy Anthology

  The First Fantasy Box Set

  Watch for more at W.J. May’s site.

  Copyright 2018 by W.J. May

  THIS E-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.

  Copyright 2018 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.

  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!!

  Download for FREE:

  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

  Find W.J. May

  Website:

  http://www.wanitamay.yolasite.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!
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  Stopping Time Blurb:

  HOW CAN YOU SAVE THE future, when someone is slowly unraveling your past?

  Rae Kerrigan and her friends finally have the lives they’ve always wanted. Jobs, children, security, no super villains trying to destroy the world—things are about as normal as they can get for a band of superspies. But when someone jumps back into the past and starts messing with their future, everything they’ve worked so hard to build goes up in smoke.

  To save their future, the Kerrigan gang must travel back into the past. Using her father’s tatù, Rae and the others embark upon a wild, time-hopping goose chase as they try to track down this latest threat before things are broken beyond repair.

  Will they stop the time traveler before it’s too late? Can they manage not to lose themselves in the process? More importantly...

  ...how far down the rabbit hole are they willing to go?

  Contents

  Have You Read the C.o.K Series?

  Kerrigan Chronicles

  Find W.J. May

  Stopping Time Blurb:

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  A Passage of Time

  Find W.J. May

  The Chronicles of Kerrigan

  EXCERPT from W.J. May’s New Series!

  Chapter 1 – Eternal Excerpt

  More books by W.J. May

  TUDOR COMPARISON:

  Chapter 1

  “Put that down—hands where I can see them.”

  Rae Kerrigan froze where she stood, breath catching in her chest. It wasn’t often that people were able to surprise her, especially within the walls of her own home, but you could never be too careful. There was a metallic click, the unmistakable sound of a safety coming off a gun.

  “Hands,” the voice said again, louder this time. “Show me your hands.”

  It was somewhere between a tenor and a baritone. Silky-smooth, but with a rough edge that told her it was no empty threat. He was standing at a strategic angle behind her, precisely beyond the reach of the mirror. Her eyes scanned the glassy reflection but came up blank.

  The gun flashed in the light, and she realized abruptly that she was out of time.

  In an act of survival, she lifted her hands automatically into the air. But just as quickly a part of her rebelled, slowly reaching one towards her vanity. “Listen, I’m just going to—”

  “Don’t test me.”

  Her fingers froze, then continued their glacial journey. Out of the corner of her eye she spied what she was looking for. A tiny silver tube.

  “Please, just think about this.” She spoke in what she hoped was her most rational-sounding voice. “You don’t want to do something you’ll regret...”

  The gun clicked again and the voice lowered to a deadly, simmering calm. “You have until the count of three.”

  Rae’s hand froze in the air, hovering just a few inches above the polished surface of the wood. “Just let me—”

  “One...”

  “I promise you, if I could just—”

  “Two...”

  The hair rose on the back of her neck. It was now or never.

  In an act of reckless desperation, she snatched up the tiny metal cylinder and whirled around, holding on for dear life, prepared to face whatever might come.

  “I just need some gloss!”

  The room froze dead still as she lifted her eyes, clutching the lipstick and staring at the man in front of her with wide, entreating eyes. For a minute, they just stood there. Then he fired a bullet into the wall behind her, shattering a ceramic mug that stood in the way.

  “GABRIEL!” she cried in dismay, rushing forward to survey the damage. “What the hell are you doing, firing a gun in my house? Are you crazy?!”

  “Probably.” He alone hadn’t flinched at the explosive shards of plaster. He simply shrugged an unapologetic shoulder, speaking in a flat deadpan. “I warned you.”

  Rae’s eyes narrowed as she held up what was left of the broken mug—a dilapidated handle and the splintered remains of what had read, World’s best...with a bullet hole cancelling out the rest.

  “This was Devon’s,” she said wryly, though she suspected he already knew that.

  “Funny you should mention Devon.” The gun went back into the holster and her favorite assassin strode forward, into the failing light. It caught the gold in his hair and illuminated his vibrant green eyes, making him look like an angry Renaissance portrait come to life. “Because I sent him in here five minutes ago to get you into the bloody car. Where is he? Tied up in the closet?”

  Rae bit her lip guiltily. In truth, she didn’t know where Devon was. He’d tried to rush her out the door for about thirty seconds, before realizing it was a lost cause. Then his phone had beeped with an incoming text and he’d vanished into thin air. Where he was now, who could say?

  “You know,” she edged discreetly towards the mirror, “it isn’t at all unlikely about the closet. Why don’t you check in there, and I’ll just finish—”

  “Rae Alexis Kerrigan!”

  There was a pause.

  “...that’s not my middle name.”

  The gun was back. This time, Gabriel was aiming a little higher.

  “Pick up your purse, step away from the mirror, and get into the car. Do it now, or so help me I’ll make a bloody Jackson Pollock all over these walls.”

  She considered her options for a moment, eyes drifting wistfully towards the mirror, then decided not to test him. Gabriel’s nerves had been strung a bit thin as of late, and he was an artist with that handgun. Not to mention she and Devon had just repainted the walls.

  “Geez, what’s the hurry?” She smoothed down her dress and picked up a sparkling clutch as if she’d been intending to do it all along. “It’s like you’re dating one of the ballerinas...”

  When Gabriel had returned two years ago from his blood-spattered vision quest on the other side of the world, he had not been alone. In a move that had stunned the gang to the core, he had brought a young woman back with him to London. A neurotic, tech-savvy ballerina who’d unlocked his memories and stolen his heart. Probably at the same time. Or, knowing Gabriel, he’d stolen her, had his memories unlocked, then given the poor girl her heart back and his along with it.

  Together, they’d turned the streets of New York City upside down before returning to a life of relative domesticity in England. ‘Relative’ domesticity, what with Gabriel’s long-awaited return to the Privy Council and Natasha accepting a position with the Royal School of Ballet.

  It was a Brooklyn fairytale—that’s what Molly called it. Devon argued a true fairytale might not have left such a body count in the heart of the industrial district, but Rae thought it was rather fitting. That if the notorious Gabriel Alden was ever to fall in love it would almost kill him to do it.

  “Do you get it?” she prompted with a suggestive grin, trying hard to mimic that infuriating charm Gabriel was so famous for. “One of the ballerinas?”

  He didn’t blink. “That’s hilarious. Who knew you were so funny?” He kicked open the bedroom door and shoved her towards it. Hard. “Certainly not me. And I’ve known you for a long time now.”

  Needless to say, those were the last words either of them said inside the house.

  The sun was just starting to dip beneath the London skyline as Gabriel and Rae hurried down the front path to the expensive car idling alongside the curb. He looked almost painfully unattainable in a fitted tuxedo, and no fewer than three different cars drifted into the wrong lane when Rae Kerrigan stepped out onto the street.

  The dress she had selected was simple, but exquisite. An elegant cascade of crystal-dusted amethyst silk that hugged her curves before spilling to the ground. Her gent
le curls were swept half-up, tumbling down the center of her back while leaving her shoulders bare, and a single diamond glittered in the hollow of her throat. An anniversary gift from her devoted husband.

  The old Gabriel would have stared. The old Gabriel would have made some toe-curling joke that left her so flustered she’d spend the better part of the night just trying to calm down.

  The new Gabriel shoved her unceremoniously into the backseat, keeping a worried eye on traffic at the same time.

  “Seriously, hon—you’ve got to relax.” She offered a comforting smile that he was too distracted to see. “We’re going to make it there in plenty of time.”

  He nodded quickly, slipping into the front passenger seat, having no idea what it was she actually said. One hand drummed nervously against the side of his leg while the other drifted up to loosen the collar of his shirt, fingers tugging distractedly at the starched fabric.

  “Right,” he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else. “Plenty of time.”

  For a second, it looked like it had worked. At the very least, he was no longer wielding firearms purchased on the black market. Then he glanced at his watch and leaned his whole body on the horn, not seeing the tall man already pulling open the driver’s door.

  “Gabriel—relax.” Devon climbed inside, sliding the key into the ignition in the same fluid motion. He, too, was wearing a tuxedo that fit him like a glove, and he gave his wife a little wink in the rearview mirror, dark hair spilling into his bright, twinkling eyes. “You’re acting as if you’re dating one of the ballerinas...”

  Gabriel’s eyes closed ever so briefly, as if he was in pain. “It’s like you all went to the same dumb spy school, and came back just to torture me...”

  “Not all of us could be so lucky to have been raised in a cave,” Devon replied cheerfully. He was in a surprisingly good mood, considering he was being forced to spend the evening watching a recreation of Swan Lake. “Everyone buckled in?”