Fire Within - By Ally Shields Page 0,107
I can help you. Is your family well?”
“Yes, they are fine. This is about what I can do for you.” He smiled, his wrinkled face crinkling even more and reminding her of Yana. He stepped inside, carrying a brown paper parcel.
Ari offered him coffee, which he declined. Containing her curiosity, Ari waited while he took a seat on the couch, proper and upright, the brown package resting on his knees. She settled opposite him in her favorite red chair and waited.
He regarded her with the serenity of age. “Yana kept a large trunk in her bedroom. We brought it home shortly after the burial and put it away in the attic. It was too soon to look at her belongings. Last night my granddaughter, Kyra, opened it and found something unusual inside. When she brought it to me, I knew it belonged to you.”
“To me? What made you think it belonged to me?”
“I cannot tell you, for I do not know the answer. There was no writing, no instruction. At the risk of sounding a bit fey, I would say it led me to you.” He held out the package. “Open it. See for yourself.”
On closer inspection, the package seemed pretty ordinary, a brown paper bag wrapped around a rectangular object. A box, maybe. She reached out to take it, but as soon as her fingers touched the paper, she felt a warmth enter her hands. Her witch magic started a pleasurable hum, and she trembled as she reached into the bag.
Ari’s heart stopped or at least skipped a beat. The world receded around her, and all she saw was the ancient red leather book. As she stared at the worn surface, the title slowly began to write across the cover in black script, but she already knew what it was. The Calin family Book of Shadows had come home.
Unable to speak, Ari cradled the ancient tome against her chest, Great-Gran’s voice echoed in her head. “Do not worry about the Book, Arianna. Your mother will have kept it safe. And, when you are ready, it will find its way home.”
Ari hadn’t dared to trust her words, but they had come true. Mr. Montrey wasn’t so far off when he said it led him here. The Book of Shadows had a power all its own, the power of the Calin witches. Ari’s mother must have had a premonition of her death. She’d left the Book in Yana’s safekeeping, until Ari earned the right to have it. Ari now realized that she’d had to trust her own powers before she was worthy of the Book.
She looked at the patiently waiting elder wood nymph with unashamed tears. “You cannot know what this means to me. You’ve given me back my family.”
“I am pleased to have been of assistance,” the old man said. “As I am gratified to see you once again.” He rose from the couch and bent his head in a mark of respect, which she returned. “I must go. At my age I do not like to be away from the forest for long. Good morrow, my daughter’s friend.”
After he had gone, Ari curled on the sofa, feet tucked under her, still clutching the Book. Bella snuggled close to her side, as if she understood and wanted to share in the importance of the moment. Tears streamed unchecked down Ari’s face.
The ancient journal rested, heavy on her lap, as she opened to the first ivory page, releasing a blue shimmer of magic. Ari took a deep breath, savoring the anticipation another moment.
She dropped her eyes and began to read the handwritten script.
~ About the Author ~
Ally Shields is the pseudonym of Janet L Buck, a former attorney and juvenile officer, residing in the Midwest.
Find out more about Ally Shields here:
http://twitter.com/ShieldsAlly
http://facebook.com/AllyShieldsAuthor
http://pinterest.com/janetlbuck
http://facebook.com/janet.buck1
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/janet-buck/52/187/9ab
~ Coming Soon ~
Burning Both Ends (Guardian Witch Book 3)
Blood and Fire (Guardian Witch Book 4)
~ Also by Ally Shields ~
Awakening the Fire
Arianna Calin has sworn to keep the peace in Riverdale. Most of the Otherworlders prefer to haunt the Olde Town district--partying at vampire strip clubs, dining in elegant supper clubs, and inhabiting the cliffside caverns along the Mississippi. Being a cop is a tough job, but someone's gotta do it, and Ari's got her derringer, a sharp stiletto, and a few handy charms against things that hunt in the night. She's also a fire witch--a pedigree that comes in handy, since her partner's only human.
When a virtual reality drug hits the streets, people start to die, and an elusive pack of werewolves threatens the status quo. Ari and Ryan are drawn into a web of murder and evil that will lead sworn enemies to a confrontation. While the city simmers around them, Ari struggles to prevent an all-out supernatural war...
Buy Awakening the Fire here
http://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Fire-Guardian-Witch-ebook/dp/B0099ZDHO8/
~ More Fantasy from Etopia Press ~
When the Moon is Gibbous and Waxing
by Angela Parson Myers
Unspeakable evil rises with the moon…
Graduate student Natalie Beres can’t remember who attacked her that autumn night under the full moon. She can’t remember anything between leaving her lab in a secluded building at the south end of campus and arriving at her apartment in the wee hours of the morning. Covered in blood. Not her own. Other than the loss of memory, she’s completely unharmed.
She can’t say the same for the men who attacked her. The grisly campus murders force Natalie to dig deeper into what happened that night, to force herself to remember. But what she learns about herself is horrifying. When the police officer investigating the murders tries to get close, Natalie is caught between her attraction to him and her fear of discovery. But worse, can she avoid being found by the young man with a similar problem who’s on his way from the West coast to find her…leaving a trail of shredded corpses along the way…?
Buy When the Moon is Gibbous and Waxing here
http://www.amazon.com/When-Moon-Gibbous-Waxing-ebook/dp/B0083WCO7Y/
The Taste of Magic
by K.C. Shaw
Magic’s in her blood. Unfortunately, that just makes it taste better...
Analefa Miradwen has spent the last ten years avoiding vampires. She knows her blood is a delicacy, but she doesn’t want to share. Not after the last time, which nearly left her dead.
When the vampire mage Magnus begins stalking her, Ana turns to the King’s Enforcer for help. Vincent Ondarr has the manpower and the magic-power to keep her safe. According to him, Ana’s blood doesn’t just taste good, it enhances a mage’s magic.
The trouble is, Vincent’s a vampire mage too. If Ana wants to keep her blood to herself, she’ll have to figure out which one of them she can trust. And what exactly Magnus wants from her...
Buy The Taste of Magic here
http://www.amazon.com/The-Taste-of-Magic-ebook/dp/B005D847XU/
Blood and Ashes
by K.C. Shaw
The Gryphons have a secret. And someone thinks Ana knows it.
Back in May, things were heating up between healer Ana Miradwen and the King's Enforcer, Vincent Ondarr. Then Vincent stopped seeing Ana abruptly, only to resurface in July--with a fiancée. Ana's hurt, but she's angry too. When Vincent summons her to his office, she plans to tell him off.
But Vincent has a proposition for her, and not one she expects. A half-breed rights group called the Gryphons is fighting for change--but it may be a front for something darker. Vincent needs Ana to join the Gryphons and investigate.
Ana's happy to help, especially since it means spending time with a couple of gorgeous elf men. Never mind that Vincent thinks they're smugglers. But when someone tries to kill Ana, she realizes that she's in way over her head. Only it's too late to back out.
Buy Blood and Ashes here
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-and-Ashes-ebook/dp/B0068T43GY/
Dirge for a Necromancer
by Ash Stinson
There is always a cost to raising the dead...
The Magician Raettonus has been agonizing over the death of his master, Sir Slade, for centuries, studying necromancy in the hopes of bringing him to life once more. Soon after Raettonus arrives at a key defensive citadel to tutor the general's sons, the trickster god Kimohr Raulinn comes to him, promising to bring Slade back to life. Raettonus is all too eager to make the deal. But where Kimohr Raulinn goes, suffering follows. The citadel falls under siege by foreign forces, and matters look increasingly grim for the small force of defenders. The god of death is rallying his army of steel-toothed warriors to come reclaim the resurrected knight, and deals made with devils are always poisonous...
Buy Dirge for a Necromancer here
http://www.amazon.com/Dirge-for-a-Necromancer-ebook/dp/B0079M0UDO/
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen