Julie Evans:
Twenty-six years old. Fitness trainer and powerful witch; the main female character of Blue Diamond,Dark Flame, and Dragon Fire. We first meet Julie briefly in Forbidden Road as Kim’s mother, though Kim doesn’t know the entire story of her parents’ past. Julie escapes several attempts on her life, by mages who want to kill her and take her magic. She suffers from PTSD due to one of those attempts, early in her life, when someone tried to drown her and she had to bind her powers, resulting in traumatic memories when near a pool. She regains these powers at the beginning of Blue Diamond, when she meets Mark, her Charge.
As the series progresses, Julie’s ability to protect Mark Ralston puts both their lives and their children’s lives at risk. The books see her regain her confidence and stand up to her oppressors, as she protects both herself and her family.
Blue Diamond, Chapter 1:
And then I felt it. Magic. It was as if a dam had suddenly lifted and the water rushed through me, spreading instantly from my heart all the way to my fingertips, like a gush of light, charging every part of me. It shook all my cells like an inner earthquake and I felt awakened, my body iron-strong and my feet vibrating as I felt the ground under me all the way to the hot lava core of the Earth. It was a force larger than life, forever bubbling, ready to shoot through my hands and radiate out of me with the power of seven thousand suns. Intoxicating, and swirling with unstoppable motion, clearing everything out of its way in its awful greatness. And most of all, it was mine.
Mark Ralston:
Twenty-nine years old. CEO of a multinational software company worth billions. Mark is Julie’s Charge and he’s a good guy. A really good guy. The kind who gets corrupted…in Dragon Fire, after a spell goes very wrong. Julie and Mark meet as sweethearts in Blue Diamond, but the series progresses in Dark Flame and Dragon Fire to see Mark’s struggle against a darkness that takes over. We meet him briefly as Kim’s father in Forbidden Road and more in Merlin’s Creed, when we see a different, mature Mark who is the guiding father for Kim, and has succeeded with handling the struggles of his earlier life.
Blue Diamond, Chapter 1:
Two large blue eyes looked at me intently, the same eyes of the man who had just stood next to Kendra. Now that his face was close enough to recognize, I knew I had seen him before somewhere. He looked at me, worried.
Kendra was right beside him. “Thanks for the help, Mark.”
Mark smiled, but kept looking at me. He had a great smile. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” I tried to sit up straight, and he helped me. “Thanks.”
There was something special about his face. The short golden hair was a shade I hadn’t seen before. Or had I?
He still looked at me, concerned.
“It’s probably just the wine,” I reassured him. “I hardly ever drink.”
“That’s a very healthy habit.” He smiled again, as if he was almost happy to have been there to help. He also had dimples.
I’d always loved dimples.
Merlin’s Creed, Chapter 2:
And then there was my dad. I was closest to him. He was always there for me. He made time. He taught me and Harley everything he could, and we knew to come to him whenever there was trouble.
There were few people I could trust that way and there were instances in my life when I felt that he was the only person I could talk to.
Julie and Mark make a magical run for it
“Are you all right?” Mark asked.
“Fine,” I lied. I looked around, my mind racing. How were we going to get out of here? The only way to gain even a few seconds over Eduard and his men was to drive. “I have to conjure a car.”
“You can do that… Yes, of course you can.”
“But I wouldn’t know which one would be suitable.”
“Give me your phone,” Mark said.
Behind him, Eduard was coming closer.
I handed Mark my phone. He rapidly typed in something, then handed it back. On the screen was a picture of a large black Jeep.
Our tent was just large enough. I motioned Mark to move to the side with me and then I closed my eyes in concentration. Give me the Jeep from the photo, I thought. The spell was instant. The picture on the phone made the image in my mind so clear and exact that I felt the magic radiate out of me, the ground absorbing the traces, and the weight of the Jeep appearing on our blanket, as if it all happened at the same time.
“You drive, I do magic?”
“Works for me,” he replied.
We got in and closed the doors. Mark engaged the engine and slammed his foot on the gas.
The Jeep sprang out of our tent. Behind us, Eduard and his men started running in our direction. Eduard held his hand out, and I knew we were about to get a taste of his magic.
Suddenly, right in front of us, a tree appeared. I had just enough time to think the words, Clear the road in front of us, and we escaped a head-on collision by a hair.
Create fog behind us, I thought and fog appeared behind the Jeep. Mark pushed on the gas and the vehicle sped up, shaking on the rugged terrain.
We were just about to get out of the castle grounds, when lightning hit the ground on our left, jumping up and giving us a flat tire. The Jeep shook, almost tilting to the side.
Jeep, go straight! Tire, be fixed! I thought. Our wheels straightened and the tire was as good as new.
We made it to the main road, and Mark started speeding. Behind us, another Jeep appeared.
“Don’t look back,” Mark said.
I put my hands on the seat, and through it I felt our vehicle all the way to the tires. The road under them was warming up from the friction. Freeze the road behind us, I thought. Ice appeared on the road behind, and I heard Eduard’s Jeep swerve and then move back to the lane.
We kept driving, heading southwest at insane speeds.
Next, ice appeared on our lane. Our Jeep slid to the other side of the road and Mark steered it back just in time to avoid a truck. I turned to see it go by us, beeping loudly. Its cargo was large wooden logs. Just as it passed us, one of the logs jumped up through the air, landing right in front of us.
Log roll sideways, pass between our wheels, I thought. The log rolled and our Jeep went past it without us feeling it at all.
“Nicely done!” Mark gave me a quick, impressed glance.
“How did you know it was me?”
He chuckled.
Behind us, I could see Eduard laughing in the Jeep. It was almost as if he were saying, “You won’t win, Julie. Not against me.”
Not magically, perhaps. I remembered Kendra’s words: “You will outsmart them.” I looked out of the window and saw a small jetty and a mini yacht.
I turned to Mark. “There’s a boat on our side of the road with a man on it. I think it’s ready to go. We can board it and find protection on the other side of the loch,” I said, recalling last night’s dream.
“Protection? Never mind—how far’s the boat?”
“Two minutes away,” I said.
I wondered how we’d have enough time to get on the boat with Eduard that close behind us.
A loud noise caused me to turn and see the roof of Eduard’s Jeep had collapsed downward, as if a large weight had landed on it. The Jeep swerved and hit a rock on the other side of the road.
“Impressive!” said Mark.
“Actually…that wasn’t me,” I said.
“What?” He gave me a surprised glance.
“I’m…not sure how this happened.”
We reached an empty field, and Mark saw the boat. He steered the vehicle off the road and drove toward the water. We reached the shore, stopped near the jetty, got out and ran to it, just as it was setting off.
“A thousand dollars for a pass to the other side,” Mark shouted.
“And a diamond ring,” I said. “A rare blue stone!”
Mark looked at me, surprised, but we both knew we had no choice. We needed something tangible to convince the boat owner. He fished inside his bag and produced the Blue Diamond.
The owner glanced at us. “Hand it over,” he said.
We rushed to the water and got onto the boat. The man started moving us away from the shore.
We began to gain speed, and I turned to see a black sedan stop by the jetty and Eduard and Daniel step out of it. I had guessed the third mage was back in the car, resting from having cured them after the collision.
The owner saw them too and looked at us. “I don’t like the look of this! You steer. I don’t fancy getting shot today.” He turned and went under the deck.
“But we don’t know how…” I started saying, thinking of what spells I’d use to move the boat.
“Yes, we do, sweetheart.” Mark got behind the wheel.
It wasn’t long before we felt the taste of Eduard’s magic again. He stood near the loch, with his right hand held out. I was barely rested enough from the intense concentration I had needed for the consecutive spells on the road, when I felt the trace of Eduard’s magic gliding over the waves. On the water, it was no longer masked by the crystal ground.
It was a pull. Eduard was drawing the boat back toward the shore. It slowed down and started to come to a halt.
I held out my hand. Telekinesis was my sister Angela’s favorite magic, and we had practiced on a boat once. This one was far larger, but then, so was my amount of magic. I focused on the shore where Eduard stood and pushed away from it. The distance between us and Eduard started growing again.
“Nice try,” I heard Eduard’s voice, “but not powerful enough. Daniel!” he called. And then both he and Daniel held out their hands.
I felt a second wave of magic move toward us. This time, it was targeted at the boat itself. The vessel shook wildly. The front window cracked and the wheel creaked in Mark’s hands. The engine made a grinding noise and then stopped dead.
I closed my eyes. Boat, be fixed, I thought. An image of the boat as it was when we had boarded it flashed in my head, and I felt my magic surround me. I heard the engine start again, and I opened my eyes. The boat was as good as new.
“I can do this all day,” I heard Eduard’s whisper in the air. He waved his hand, and mist started forming.
Another excerpt:
Want to see the first time Eduard attacked them and shot Mark? read here
More Blue Diamond