Sealed by Fate

> **⚠️** *This article contains major spoilers for the entire book. Please proceed with caution.* **⚠️**
>
>

Book 5 - Sealed by Fate

### Length

222 pages

**Sealed by Fate** is the fifth book in the Treasure Huntress Saga.

## Synopsis

*A startling revelation has turned treasure huntress Simone Cassidy's world upside-down, leaving her with a critical new step to take on the journey of uncovering the mystery surrounding the string of secrets and lies that is her family history. Still reeling from a stunning betrayal and unsure who to trust, Simone gathers what few allies she has left and sets off on her most personal journey yet. But with her enemies regrouped and stronger than ever, Simone faces a threat from her past that she could have never seen coming.*

## Story

Immediately follows the events of Buried in the Sky.

Simone is shaken to her core at a revelation about her sister, Sonja. She brings James Smith to the hospital, but the man who drove them there, Mike, has taken off, and the hospital staff wants to look at Simone. Instead, she leaves, walking back to her motel room until visiting hours the next day when she can (hopefully) talk to James Smith. The next morning, he tells her that Sonja left the reservation in Wyoming to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.

Simone travels to New York City to meet up with her best friend, Georgia Gates. At Georgia's youngest son's birthday party, Simone gifts him a moon rock. Later that night at Georgia's apartment, Simone tells the story about discovering that she had a sister, and of her suspicion that she is cursed. Georgia agrees to help Simone track down her sister, and Simone receives a message from Clark that night.

April is being held in a location unknown to her somewhere on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. There, she is interrogated by Solomon about her switching sides to join SWANN. At JFK airport in New York, Simone is stopped by Briony Black. The two have a not-so-friendly conversation where Briony attempts to persuade Simone to join forces, but Simone refuses. Briony gives Simone her parents' journal, hoping to get her to change her mind.

Simone meets with Clark in a holding cell where he told his superiors that he was going to interrogate Simone, which his superiors demanded following April's departure for SWANN, but he debriefs Simone instead, knowing that she requires no interrogation. Clark tells her about the skull of an ancient medium from 300 AD that is rumored to be able to allow communication with the deceased. Simone questions if she is on the right side, and Clark shows her a news article about a bombing carried out by those who got their arms from Murad Abdullah, sold to him by Solomon Loy. Clark encourages Simone to keep doing what they are doing so that he can render these dangerous artifacts inert, which was her parents' goal.

Vincent joins the team as they discuss where to begin the search for this ancient medium's skull. Their best guess is St. Petersburg, Russia, but it is only a guess. Simone receives a name from Georgia - Sonja Martin. Simone is torn between joining the quest for the relic, or tracking down her sister. She makes the difficult decision to join Lincoln and Vincent; her sister will have to wait just a bit longer.

Briony tracks down Lestrade, who is living in seclusion in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. She tries to convince him to murder Simone, being that Simone refuses to join SWANN and Briony doesn't want her getting in the way, but Lestrade insists he is retired. He gives her a vial of snake venom and tells her to inject Simone with it, and she will dis almost instantly, but painfully. Briony keeps pushing and Lestrade reveals to her that Simone has a sister. Briony hires him to kill Sonja instead of Simone, knowing that he will be unlikely to take out Sonja without first going through Simone.

As Simone reads her parents' journal on the flight to Russia, Vincent surreptitiously informs her that he is Clark's insurance policy in case Lincoln also defects. Shortly after, Lincoln tells them that he received word from Clark's contact in St. Petersburg that the medium's bones had been moved to Bear Island, near Svalbard, Norway. Simone doesn't know if she should trust him, but she listens to her gut instinct and does. They land on Svalbard, but unbeknownst to them, Solomon and April have already made it to Bear Island. SWANN is one step ahead.

Helicopter pilot Andrei Yusov flies Vincent and Simone to Bear Island. Lincoln must wait behind due to the chopper's weight limit. Simone and Vincent set off across the frigid island in the snow in search of where a body might be buried. They come to a rock cave near a sheet of ice, but before they can get inside, SWANN mercenaries engage with gunfire and pin them down. April nearly gets a shot off on Simone, but Simone is able to slide across the ice and into the cave to momentary safety.

Simone journeys deep into the expansive cave, hearing a voice that keeps telling her to go back.

## Characters

* Simone Cassidy -
* Lincoln Lewis -
* April Farren -
* Clark Bannicheck -
* Solomon Loy -
* Lestrade -
* Sonja Martin -
* Georgia Gates -
* James Smith -
* Andrei Yusov -

## Notes and Trivia

* Debut of Sonja Martin and Lestrade.