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    Ashes To Ashes
    Ashes To Ashes
    Ashes To Ashes
    Ebook205 pages2 hours

    Ashes To Ashes

    By Patti Larsen

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    The Sorceress

    He smelled like oranges and peppermint and if those pale, gray eyes didn’t stop looking into my soul I was going to blush so hard he’d know I was having inappropriately hormonal thoughts for a sixteen-year-old faced with the model-handsome visage of a guy her mother’s age.

    Sigh. It had to be Piers Southway himself who took my case in hand, right? Not that I’d want anyone but looking into the particular conundrum I’d found myself in, all transmuted into an old gold locket with an increasingly bitter and cranky girl who might or might not be losing her mind.

    No comments on who was which. Or witch? Sigh.

    Ethie’s growing concern over the young woman who shares her confines in the gold locket have to take a back seat when full-power paranormals start disappearing, while she struggles to reconcile her connection to the latent children who are as trapped as she is. When she realizes how vulnerable their kind are, and that someone is targeting their specific abilities for their own use, Ethie knows only she has the knowledge to save the marginalized souls who may, ultimately, be the biggest threat to the Universe yet.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPatti Larsen
    Release dateOct 16, 2019
    ISBN9781988700786
    Ashes To Ashes
    Author

    Patti Larsen

    About me, huh? Well, my official bio reads like this: Patti Larsen is a multiple award-winning author with a passion for the voices in her head. But that sounds so freaking formal, doesn’t it? I’m a storyteller who hears character's demands so loudly I have to write them down. I love the idea of sports even though sports hate me. I’ve dabbled in everything from improv theater to film making and writing TV shows, singing in an all girl band to running my own hair salon.But always, always, writing books calls me home.I’ve had my sights set on world literary domination for a while now. Which means getting my books out there, to you, my darling readers. It’s the coolest thing ever, this job of mine, being able to tell stories I love, only to see them all shiny and happy in your hands... thank you for reading.As for the rest of it, I’m short (permanent), slightly round (changeable) and blonde (for ever and ever). I love to talk one on one about the deepest topics and can’t seem to stop seeing the big picture. I happily live on Prince Edward Island, Canada, home to Anne of Green Gables and the most beautiful red beaches in the world, with my pug overlord and overlady, six lazy cats and Gypsy Vanner gelding, Fynn.

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      Book preview

      Ashes To Ashes - Patti Larsen

      Ashes To Ashes

      Book Three: The Hayle Coven Inheritance

      Patti Larsen

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright 2019 by Patti Larsen

      Find out more about me at

      www.pattilarsen.com

      ***

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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 person. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to the vendor and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      ***

      Chapter One

      He smelled like oranges and peppermint and if those pale, gray eyes didn’t stop looking into my soul I was going to blush so hard he’d know I was having inappropriately hormonal thoughts for a sixteen-year-old faced with the model-handsome visage of a guy her mother’s age.

      Sigh. It had to be Piers Southway himself who took my case in hand, right? Not that I’d want anyone but looking into the particular conundrum I’d found myself in, all transmuted into an old gold locket with an increasingly bitter and cranky girl who might or might not be losing her mind.

      No comments on who was which. Or witch? Sigh.

      Yup, of course I wanted the leader of the Sorcerers League to handle this personally. And me. Argh. Okay, if he ever did make a move on me I’d be grossed out completely and I knew he never would, that this was just a crush because I’d known him my whole life, right? While having this lingering suspicion he harbored his own private feelings about none other than my overly powered mother he’d been keeping to himself. I wasn’t beyond noticing how Piers looked at her when she wasn’t paying attention.

      Just made my own ridiculous attraction worse. Mom leftovers.

      Please, just kill me now.

      The problem was, he was so freaking nice, so kind, so… Piers. That tall, lean hunk of hot and deliciousness who was not only way too old for me, but the kind of ethereal yumtastic even the Seelie Sidhe drooled over. With a smartassy sarcastic mouth to boot, the kind that always made me giggle and wish I was just a decade older…

      Outta your league on all fronts, Ethie, my girl.

      You’re all right, Eths? That gorgeous face. That delicious stance of super casual confidence. The awesome nickname only he used for me.

      And the voice.

      Oh, the British accent that was, the elements help my poor, raging hormones, to die for.

      Mom would have apoplexy if she knew what thoughts were bouncing around in hyperactive teen girl ohmygodheisgorgeous head.

      Just. Drool.

      Still, even his super om nom self wasn’t enough to completely pull me out of my growing funk. I shivered a little in the damp of the castle’s perpetual cool mustiness, the oppressive walls of the Sorcerers League headquarters encasing me in so much stone sometimes I felt like I was being swallowed whole, never to reappear again. Though, perhaps it was just the continuing link to said hateful locket and the young woman inside it that constantly reminded me of darkness and being devoured.

      Yeah, probably. Shudder.

      This is ridiculous. Speak of the devil herself, Leah’s increasing unhappiness at our current state of affairs wasn’t lost on me, oh no. Not when she continually and with the kind of whining sharpness that I knew I despised in myself—the reason it cut through me so much and made my jaw ache from clenching—that only served to rub raw the last freaking nerve I had between the two of us.

      Trust me, I snapped back, positive from the way Piers reacted the frown that seized control of my face registered on him, this is about as awesome on my end as it is on yours.

      At least you get to be out there, she snapped back. Walking around. Interacting with people. Oh for the element’s sake, this again? I really was over her already. In case you forgot, Ethie—how could I when she reminded me about six million times a day?—I’m trapped in here. Alone.

      Inhale. Exhale. Temper, temper.

      Piers entered the protective circle he’d created around me, shattering the dark line with the toe of one shoe, coming to hug me. Now, I’m not normally opposed to hugging him, as I was sure I’d made sufficiently obvious. But his timing wasn’t the best and instead of making me feel better, his attempt at comfort only made me shrug my shoulders to free me from his touch and force my feet to back up a step, putting distance between us. The faint unhappiness that crossed his face told me I’d hurt his feelings. I wished I could say it was Leah who’d influenced my retreat, could blame it on her.

      You blame everything else on me, she grumped.

      Stop reading my mind, I shot back.

      Gladly, she snapped. Oh wait. I can’t. Because I’m in your head with you thanks to Viviana and the locket. A sharp jab of anger made me flinch.

      I didn’t respond, instead walling myself off somewhat from her. While privacy had been at a premium lately, I had at least figured out how to keep a bit of distance. Funny thing was, while she could pick up on what I was thinking and feeling, the reverse never seemed to be true. Which made me wonder what Leah was hiding from me and only made things worse.

      I’m sorry, Eths. Piers shrugged, white button-up tight across his narrow chest, the sleeves rolled up to expose his pale forearms, hands shoved deep into the pockets of his dress pants. He always wore rather professional attire. In fact, I’d never seen him in jeans. Weird and distracting thoughts getting in the way? Check. I know this has to be frustrating for you.

      Always about you, Leah sniped.

      My nostrils flared. I couldn’t help it. And Leah, I said, just to shut her up.

      He nodded quickly, lips in a thin line. I’m wondering something, actually. He ran one hand over the surface of his shining hair, the ripples that action created sending his long, silky locks into a wave down his back. I keep getting the sense that your difficulties stem from her. He winced, grinned. Sorry, Leah. I didn’t mean that way.

      She grunted but didn’t comment so I shrugged and waited for him to go on. At least he talked to her like a person.

      The only one who does, she whispered.

      I fought for empathy and waited for him to go on.

      Piers paced a little as he talked. Every time I try to break the transmutation, I hit a wall that attempts to then draw out my power. I nodded. The nature of transmutation, it seemed, was to siphon magic. I’d lived that when Viviana Tepes first trapped me inside the locket. Every battle I fought to free myself, using all the magicks at my disposal, ended in a passing out session brought on by the total drainage of my powers. Even when I’d won free, my elemental magicks remained trapped, only my black sorcery accessible. And while I’d learned through experimentation and some challenges that didn’t give me an option to quit how to maximize what I had access to—including drawing power from those who attacked me to use against them, go me—I still felt the steady pull against my other magicks through the connection to the locket.

      Well, I’m not taking it. Leah sounded offended enough I believed her, despite the fact there were a few times I’d wondered in the not-so-private corners of my mind.

      Leah says it’s not her, I said. So it has to be Viviana.

      Piers shook his head, frowning. I waited for him to go on, attention caught when the door to the shielded room opened, three visitors joining us. Mom looked unhappy, though she smiled when she met my eyes. But it was Damon and Stella I focused on, the great-great-great uncle of mine’s grin finally alleviating the stress I was feeling while Stella’s normally stoic and unreadable expression, even more blank and empty than Charlotte at her best, reassured me too, despite her lack of anything to do with humanity.

      Odd how the slim, beautiful blonde’s cool composure felt better than any emotional offering.

      Can we be done already? Leah’s mind turned her back on me, her lack of physicality in this reality doing nothing to prevent me from feeling her cross her arms over her chest. I’d gotten used to translating physical actions from sensing her motion inside my head and could only guess Mom had the same experience, but threefold with her demon, vampire and the Sidhe princess, Shaylee, all bouncing around in her very powerful noggin.

      Personally? I was looking forward to the quiet.

      This poking and prodding is getting us nowhere. Leah wasn’t done. We need to go hunt. If we can find Viviana maybe we can force her to free us.

      Same old argument, one I had to ignore in favor of the four adults staring at me like they knew my attention was elsewhere. Only Stella seemed not to care, though Damon’s wink wasn’t unwelcome.

      Ethie. Mom tried to hug me this time and I allowed it, but just for a second, backing away from her as I had Piers. For the first time, I actually agreed with Leah, knowing I was only here because of fear and wanting to satisfy my mother. We’d come through so much together and I just needed to maintain that hard-won connection I’d finally made. But standing there in the chill gloom of the stone room deep under the looming Scottish castle suddenly felt like a waste of time.

      It must have shown on my face, because Mom sighed, crease forming between her brows, blue eyes matching mine narrowed. I felt the fight brewing before I could even draw a breath and rose to the occasion without meaning to.

      This is necessary, she said.

      Says you, I said.

      Mom’s jaw jumped while Piers sighed softly. Yup, we’d been fighting a lot the last week, especially the last few days.

      You need to trust Piers, she said. Or let me try.

      I do trust him, I said, teeth clenched, hands fisted at my sides. No way are you welcome in my head right now.

      Please, Mom. Don’t.

      Oh, but the freight train of inevitability that was the Hayle family temper? We were both passengers and neither of us had the self-control to pull the emergency brake before we crashed and burned.

      I’d recount the fight, but I honestly don’t remember what I said. It started with, You’re treating me like a child! on my part and, If you would just— on Mom’s, devolving quickly into screaming at each other and waving index fingers in each other’s faces while Piers and Damon did their best to separate us, Mom’s alter egos either urging her on (yeah, I’m looking at you, demon) or doing their best to soothe her (thanks, vampire).

      It was the faint grin that appeared on Stella’s face that did me in, though. Mocking, judging, not what I was expecting from her. It shocked me, that expression of emotion, from a woman I’d come to know as about as warm and comforting as the stone walls around me that triggered my own cold collection.

      Snapping into frigid rage, I chopped one hand through the air between Mom and myself, cutting her off with a push of power that shocked her so much she gaped at me, silent, eyes wide and staring.

      I’m done, I said, knowing my voice vibrated with the intensity of how much energy it took to keep from losing it completely. We’ve tried it your way. Now, I’m going to do it mine.

      With that, not one of them trying to stop me, I stalked out of the room, mind already reaching for the two people I knew I could count on even as Leah, her self-satisfaction only feeding my icy rage, huffed.

      About time, she sent.

      Shut the hell up, I snapped back, or I’m burying you so deep you’ll never get out of there.

      To my amazement, it worked. For now. I had no illusions and was out of craps to give. The moment my feet hit the corridor outside the shielded room, I shifted focus and hit the two familiar minds with my request.

      Tell me where you are, I sent, Reena and Mathias instantly responding. I’m coming to you.

      ***

      Chapter Two

      Now, I was completely aware of the fact I’d just been commanding and demanding with two of the only people on the plane who actually had my back these days. Okay, not so fair, but I wasn’t about fair at the moment.

      Whatever you want, Your Freaking Hayle Majesty. That from the snarkily awesome half-Daeva, Reena. I caught a glimpse of her long dreadlocks, silver links woven into them, tossing as she shot her sarcasm my way. We’re at your beck and oh-so-special call, you betcha. She snorted in my head.

      Reena. Mathias’s gentler touch made me regret my angry contact. Her half-drach partner—in hunting and in life? I never found out—soothed the both of us with the touch of his rainbow magic, making me feel like a sullen kid who’d just stomped off after a temper tantrum aimed at her mother who was just trying to help.

      Guilty. Groan.

      Sorry, guys. I hurried up the stairs to the next floor, avoiding people as much as possible, though the sorcerers who lived here didn’t seem to feel it necessary to stop for a chat and a catch-up, did they? Whether it was my lineage and Mom’s presence or the fact I wasn’t welcome I never did uncover, nor did I care to. Either way, I wasn’t making friends here and I couldn’t care less.

      Right, Ethie. Because you’re doing so great on your own.

      Again with the all about you, Leah snarled.

      Grunting in frustration I couldn’t expel in the open, I practically threw myself against the heavy wooden door leading to my rooms. I’d been silent for a while, long enough I could feel Reena and Mathias moving around wherever they were, caught whispers of their conversation, but neither severed the connection and, when I finally sank to the deep cushions of the sofa in the front room of my quarters, I was more capable of civil communication than I had been just a few moments earlier.

      Both sneakers on the expensive marble coffee table, I glared into the empty fireplace, tugging a fluffy blanket over my legs against the chill I was now as immensely tired of as I was the rest of my life.

      Better? Reena reached out this time, her sarcasm still in full evidence but enough humor in her touch I knew she wasn’t angry. Poking fun at me was one of her favorites. In fact, she did it to everyone. Except Mom. Because Mom, I guess.

      Yeah, I didn’t want to think about my mother just then.

      I can’t do this anymore. I knew I sounded petulant, but they could just suck it up.

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