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Amira Press
www.amirapress.com
Copyright ©
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NOTICE: This work is copyrighted. It is licensed only for use by the original purchaser. Making copies of this work or distributing it to any unauthorized person by any means, including without limit email, floppy disk, file transfer, paper print out, or any other method constitutes a violation of International copyright law and subjects the violator to severe fines or imprisonment.
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CONTENTS
Prologue
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
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Epilogue
About the Author
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Whispers in the Dark:
A Raven Saga Book 3
Copyright © August 2008, Crymsyn R. Hart
Cover art by Anastasia Rabiyah © August 2008
This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
ISBN: 978-1-934475-93-5
Amira Press, LLC
Baltimore, MD 21216
www.amirapress.com
Prologue
When the door opened, the chimes rang once again, announcing there was someone else in the shop with her. Jayd popped her head out of the back room where she'd been sorting through the latest shipment of herbs. There was a teenage boy, who looked to be eighteen, with dyed black hair, pale skin, black lipstick, and a long trench coat picking through her assortment of books on witchcraft and Satanic rituals. She didn't recognize him from the other Goth teens in the small town. She could pick out every one of the wayward and curious locals who browsed or those who begged her not to tell his or her parents if they ever came in by how their multicolored hair fell on their pimpled faces. Because Jayd was young, some of the teenagers thought she was an older version of themselves, even though she didn't do the Goth thing. Jayd liked to think she had earned the “cool” moniker in their eyes. She didn't know who the teen was. Sighing, Jayd got up and dusted herself off. Lavender and dragon's blood incense particles had attached themselves to her like burrs. Sometimes, she'd spend slow days doing inventory. By the time she'd go home, she'd be steeped in a multitude of herbs and incense. Jayd wondered why she wasn't allergic to any of the scents.
Pushing aside the beads separating the stockroom from the rest of the shop, Jayd glanced at the clock on the counter. It was near nine. Closing time. I didn't realize I'd been in there so long. Where did the hours go? A chill slid over her skin when she studied the boy again. His back was turned to her now. His ebony hair was long and braided down his back. The longer she stared at him, the more of an impression of offness, of him not belonging, came over her. Jayd might run a New Age supply shop, employed psychics, and had a license to have massages in the back part of the shop, but she was not psychic herself. She loved being immersed in the whole New Age atmosphere, but her new customer gave her a creepy feeling that made her shiver.
"Can I help you with something?” Jayd asked.
The boy turned around. In his hand, he held a quartz gargoyle. It was one of her favorite pieces. She had even bought one for herself. He smiled, a perfunctory gesture. The expression didn't bring her any reassurance. Something in his eyes when he came closer to the counter twisted her stomach into large lumps. His eyes seemed dead. They had no light or life in them at all. The Goth teen's smile widened. Today, she wished Seth were scheduled to work. Seth always made her feel safe, even in this small town, but he wasn't going to be in for another two weeks.
The customer placed the crystal gargoyle on the counter. “I'd like to buy this, please."
Jayd returned the smile the best she could. “Twenty even."
Her patron reached into his deep trench coat pockets and pulled out a bill. When he did, she realized he wasn't wearing a shirt. He was skinny yet had defined muscles. His features were feminine. His eyes were such a bright shade of green they reminded her of neon signs. Jayd took the bill. It was a fifty. She didn't have much in the register.
"Do you have anything smaller? I can't break it unless you buy something else."
His gaze never left hers. It reached into Jayd, touching her heart and making it stutter. Absently, she clutched the counter. A sudden jolt of pain from a sliver she picked up from underneath the counter stabbed her palm. Her customer's stare tried to capture her.
"No, Jayd. I don't want anything else just yet. Keep the change."
Surprise widened her eyes. I don't have a name tag, and I'm out of business cards. “How do you know my name?"
He laughed, this time showing a mouthful of perfect teeth white enough to match his skin. “I know a lot about you, Jayd. More than you know about yourself.” He leaned over the counter. She tried to back away, but her feet were not obeying her mind. Terror had her planted to the spot. This teen shouldn't scare her the way he did, but something told her he was not an ordinary teenager. He reached out his hand and encircled the wrist of her hand that held the bill. His movement was only a blur to her eyes and his grip strong enough to challenge a vice, and yet he held Jayd's wrist delicately. “One day soon, I'll come back and show you a world you've never dreamed about. Until then, I'll be seeing you."
Instantly, his lips were on Jayd's. He had taken her by such surprise that she didn't have time to react to the kiss. All she knew was that his satin lips were on her mouth. His tongue danced across her teeth. She found herself succumbing to the gesture. Tremors of lust invaded Jayd's mind and body, possessing her. Part of her began to fantasize what would happen if they got together. Another part made her wonder what the hell she was thinking. She was twenty-eight. This kid was ten years younger than she, and if anyone walked in, they'd question what was going on. However, the rational part of her brain had shut down. Somehow his kiss had reached in and smothered it with some kind of overwhelming power. It didn't matter if anyone waltzed in. Jayd craved more of his touch. She desired to feel his fingers sliding over her breasts and down to lower, wetter regions. Jayd hadn't been ignited for a long time. A moan escaped from her lips and her seducer swallowed it up. Before she could even comprehend what had happened, she was suddenly left wanting. The bells chimed on the door, and the breeze from the outside cooled her down enough to think again. The place where his lips had touched hers still burned. But they weren't seared from the heat of the gesture. Rather, her lips were frigid.
Looking around, Jayd realized the Goth was gone, she still had the fifty, and the crystal gargoyle had disappeared along with her mysterious guest. Her fingers traced over her lips holding onto the kiss for a moment longer before snapping back into action. She ran her tongue over her mouth trying to get some feeling back into it. Jayd, wondering why the stranger had come in at all, shook her head. He said he knew more about me than I did. What did he mean by that?
Jayd thought about it the rest of the night while she closed up. She climbed the five steps from her shop to street leve
l and glanced around Main Street. Main Street was silent and deserted save for the whine of the streetlights. The lights were heated gas lamps, a throwback to older times. The hum of traffic came from a couple of streets over. The old-fashioned clock on the bank next door read twenty till ten. The rest of the stores were closed for the night except the pizza shop on the next block, and they closed at ten. This was what she loved about the town. It was quiet and not hassled with the hustle and bustle of the city. People lived in peace here. But tonight, when she locked up, Jayd had the eerie feeling that she was being watched. There was no one on the road. The shadows seemed darker for some reason. It's just my mind playing tricks on me. When she took in the lonely stretch of road, hers was the only car next to the sidewalk. Across the street from the shop, perched on the globe of the streetlight, were the blackest eyes of a crow she had ever seen. It was large enough to have been an eagle blending with the inkiness of the night around her. It had its eyes trained on her. Maybe I'm its next meal. Jayd chuckled and shook her head placing her key in the lock of her car door.
"You'd better stop spying on me,” she laughed nervously at the crow. It turned its head acknowledging she was talking to it. It clapped its beak at her and then spread its wings, displaying a wingspan close to six feet. After settling its wings back into place, it didn't move, but neither did it take its eyes off of her. Maybe it's waiting for the pizza place to bring out the trash. Free meal. Maybe it has a thing for pepperoni. Jayd giggled a little and wiped the strange encounter with the Goth from her mind. There are plenty of ways that boy could have gotten my name. I don't have an unpublished number so all he had to do was call information or something. That had to be it. Jayd climbed into her car, and the only thought dominating her mind was that of sleep. It had been a long, slow day, and she still had half a shipment of herbs and incense to put away. Tomorrow was another lengthy day, and she doubted that she'd have much more to show for it. Tonight was for sleeping, once her head hit her feather pillow. Hopefully, there'd be no dreams of the strange visitor she had.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter One
Three months later...
Jayd stared at the discombobulated shelves. A frustrated groan escaped her lips. How does it get so bad in only a few days? I swear I just organized this mess! Argh! The alphabetized rows of jarred herbs were so out of place that ginger root was in the powered mandrake root's spot. If she wanted to find the catnip to make tea, she would have found it buried behind the bagged chili peppers. She pushed her unruly curly hair out of her eyes. Then put her hands on her hips and thought of a game plan. Shipments of books had arrived yesterday. Aromatherapy oils were overpowering her nose. The oils had been delivered last week, and she hadn't gotten an opportunity to restock them. Jayd rolled up her sleeves and wished she hadn't worn a skirt today. This work was better suited for jeans. Then again, her plans for coming in early weren't for rearranging and moving inventory. This morning, she had listed her goals over a cup of coffee. Now her notepad still happened to be resting on her kitchen table, the list forgotten after she got a phone call and realized she was running late. Now, Jayd couldn't remember what she was going to do except pay the bills and try again to get a hold of a few clients whose orders had come in. Once she thought she remembered one thing, it flew out of her head like escaping fireflies from a glass mason jar.
Jayd pulled over a step stool, kicked off her heels, and began to tackle the disorder. It always made her feel better when she knew everything was in its place. She wasn't a crazy neat freak, but to her, having order meant knowing her life was going well. Jayd was great about setting up schedules a couple of months in advance with her shop's massage therapists, since they all had insane schedules. There were times she felt they only fit her into their lives when it was convenient for them. She had three regulars and one who was only there on certain days of the month. When she thought about it, she wondered when the next time Seth would be in. Jayd always looked forward to when he was scheduled. Seth helped her in the shop, was courteous, and always gave her his winning smile that twisted her insides and gave her a nice floaty feeling.
Knocking together a few of the glass jars, she tried not to let her mind wander to Seth. His tall, dark, handsome frame intrigued her. Those velvet black eyes entranced her, and the deep timbre to his voice reminded her of purring. He had a faint trace of an accent, but his English was perfect. Seth's hair hung down his back in long dreadlocks. When he pushed them back, Jayd always heard the faint jingling of chimes and other trinkets that were woven into his hair. God, I can't think about him now. I have to get this done before the shop opens.
Jayd stopped her mind from thinking about Seth, even though it was difficult. But after a while, concentrating on her task, Jayd fell into a rhythm of her own. The clinking of the glass jars together made for a crystalline symphony making the passage of time move quicker until she barely realized what her watch said. When Jayd stared at the shelves, a pleasant feeling washed over her. She felt satisfied when she finished a project. Her aunt had instilled that feeling after completing chores when she was little. Her Aunt Gabrielle was the one who raised Jayd until her death only a few years ago. Because of her aunt, Jayd had taken up the mantle of opening a New Age store. It had been her aunt's dream. Jayd had fine-tuned the dream and turned it more into a bookstore instead of just a straight New Age shop. When customers walked in, they had comfy chairs to sit in and could read a book while they waited for their massage. They could order herb tea or coffee and hang out in the store. There were more books than there was anything else in the shop, which was what Jayd wanted because she had always loved to read. In school, she had never left home without a book. Aunt Gabrielle had encouraged her to read, especially when it came to understanding where Jayd fit into the world because she didn't have any parents to watch plays or soccer games.
"Wow, looks like you've been here all morning! Do you need any help?"
Jayd jumped at the sudden intrusion into her solitude. Her heart rocketed into her throat. Her hand settled over her chest from the sudden disturbance. She closed her eyes to gather her wits. When the shock passed, she opened her eyes and stared at Aubrey, one of her employees and massage therapists. Rainbow-colored dreads of real hair and multicolored yarn surrounded a pale, round face. Two distinct colored eyes, one deep blue and the other dark brown, stared intently at Jayd. Aubrey was the hippie type who thought everyone had to eat granola, was vegan, and dressed only in natural clothing. She wore loose-fitting skirts and shirts that always jingled whenever she moved, and she had an infectious laugh. Today, her skirt was dark purple and hung straight on her form since she had no butt. No matter, she made up for it with her top half. Jayd had always envied Aubrey for her cleavage. Jayd was average, but she'd learned to live with that. She'd stopped trying to increase her chest when she had a water bra pop on her. But Aubrey was top-heavy. Every shirt the massage therapist wore, even today's black one, stretched to the max trying to keep her breasts inside her shirt. It was hard not to look down into the crevice between her ample bosom while up on the stepstool. Aubrey's chest, and her eyes, made her demand attention when she walked into a room.
Jayd chuckled when her heart fell back into place and she stopped quaking from the spook. “No. I'm good. I didn't realize what time it was. Is it after eleven already?"
Aubrey looked down and shuffled her feet before her gaze returned to Jayd's. “Actually, it's past noon. I was hoping you wouldn't notice I was late."
"Why were you late?"
"I had to stop and get a quick snack. I was starving when I got up this morning. I hope you don't mind."
Jayd shook her head. She didn't mind. It was probably a good thing that Aubrey had come into the back room or she'd have been there all day rearranging everything. Thank God she has a key. “No, Aubrey, it's cool. Your first appointment is at twelve-thirty so you had better hurry and set up.” I had better hurry up and get my ass in gear. I can't believe I lost track of
time. Goes to show how I have a one-track mind sometimes.
Aubrey smiled, flashing Jayd one of those perfect white ones she always did. Jayd climbed down off the stool when the massage therapist moved through the beads and went into the back of the store where there were two private massage rooms. Jayd flipped the on switch to the radio, and almost immediately, Celtic harp music strummed out of the speakers in the shop. When she stepped out in the store, the smell of books hit her hard. A small wave of pleasure washed over Jayd when she inhaled the perfume of all the different volumes. She had always loved bookstores. Aunt Gabrielle would take her into antique bookstores to look for a rare book on magic or astrology. The scents of leather mixed with the hint of decay from the brittle pages always made Jayd happy. Her store reminded her of those days when she was with her aunt. Even though Aunt Gabrielle was dead, Jayd knew she would be happy with what she was doing with her life.
Content with how the shop looked, Jayd went to the door and flipped the cardboard sign from closed to open. When she did, the bells above the door jingled a little. Aunt Gabrielle always said bells drove away evil spirits, invited fairies into a room, and always sounded pure like heavenly flutes. Her aunt had been dead now for five years. With her savings, Jayd had bought a small house twenty minutes away and three towns over from the shop and took the rest of the money to invest in a store. She had stowed some away in case she needed it for emergencies, but so far, so good. Jayd hadn't had to touch it, save once. The shop had been open for three and half years. There were two other New Age-pagan outlets in the vicinity, but Jayd hadn't seen them cutting into her profits.
Jayd stared at the calendar on the counter next to the register. She glanced over the schedule for the next couple of weeks. Catrina was off, in Vegas getting married and on her honeymoon for the next two weeks. Malcolm, the other regular massage therapist and Reiki master, was picking up Catrina's shifts, along with Aubrey. The only one left was Seth. And he was listed to be in tomorrow. Jayd's insides tingled again when she thought about him. Seth was handsome, and she had to admit she had a crush on him big time. She'd never confess it though. She had a cardinal rule of never dating her employees. It would be bad for business. Jayd blushed when her thoughts turned to Seth and her being alone late one night. They would be stuck in the shop for some reason, and he would tell her quietly that he had been craving her for months. She had to get her mind out of the gutter, but even when she glanced over the schedule, the little full moon symbol on the calendar drew her attention. She'd never noticed it before, but when she flipped through the calendar for the upcoming months, and even those in the past, she noticed that Seth was always listed on the days of the full moon. That's odd. I wonder if he's a werewolf. A half smile curled her lips. I guess I'll have to ask him next time I see him.
Whispers in the Dark [A Raven Saga Book 3] Page 1