by Ainsley Shay
THE END
Afterword
Thank you to all of my readers for spending your precious time to read my books. I truly hope you enjoyed this series. If you did, please consider leaving a review, it means the world to us Indies.
~ Ainsley
Available now on Amazon
Iridescent Moon is the first installment in the Echo Rituals Series.
Ancient gypsy magic is more than powerful; it’s deadly.
Read the first chapter now…
Iridescent Moon
Chapter One
The death bird screeched overhead. Its long, drawn-out cry pierced the quiet darkness in the cemetery. Staying close to the dead had kept us safe... until now. The first night the cries echoed off the statues and tombstones, we ignored them. Surrounding the blazing fire in the pit, we instead concentrated on the silent space between its shrieks. The splintering and crackling wood was a thin distraction to what was coming. The horrifying sounds had turned the sweet night air into a putrid scent. My blood sped through my veins as the death bird shrilled once more. The knife on my garter had, before, always made me feel safe; it hadn’t that night, or the two nights that followed.
When the calls rained down on us on the second night, Plamen’s concerned eyes met mine. I looked away from his crystalized stare to hide the fear shown in mine. I let denial continue to play its role. When the shriek echoed through the shadows on the third night, we couldn’t disregard what was coming. Disbelief and hopeful doubt was etched on the face of the other Protector, Kem. He tilted his head toward the star-speckled sky. Reluctantly, I glanced up as well. Silhouetted wings glided against the backdrop of a full silver moon. Icy and foreboding chills raced along my skin. Two sets of eyes fell heavily on my back. I refused to look at either of them, as their dread sank to the bottom of my gut like a heavy stone. In the very near future, one of us would meet death.
An eerie and haunting feeling settled over us, like creeping fog. I wished I could freeze time to keep us, the Protectors, in just this moment...safe. Fearing the looks of the men surrounding me, I didn’t lift my gaze to meet theirs. Instead, I closed my eyes. My skin shivered as the smoldering embers dwindled when a warm, damp breeze drifted by.
I opened my eyes. A cloud floated over the moon, laying shadows at our feet. My men depended on me; having their confidence in me wane would be suicide for us all. Finally, I lifted my head and looked at them. I kept my voice steady and void of emotion. “Kem, at first light tomorrow, shift, stake out the grounds and the nearby forest to see if anything’s off, or if we’ve had any unknown visitors.” As expected, he nodded.
Plamen arced his blade over the diminishing fire. Resilient flames rose high into the air. “Jeta, you know what this means?” He wasn’t asking a question, he was confirming my thoughts mirrored his. I picked up my satchel, and walked away from the men I governed. I knew exactly what it meant. It wasn’t time to leave for another month. But, we had no choice, the death bird not only brought the news one of us would die soon, it also warned us danger was coming, or already here. “Jeta,” Plamen called after me.
My hand was on the door of our small cottage when I turned around. “We leave tomorrow.” I heard their grunts over the crackling fire, and the shrieks of the death bird circling above. The doorknob squeaked as I turned it. Shutting the door behind me, I leaned against the frame and let out a long breath. If we were being tracked, it had taken a full force of vigorous determination for someone, or something, to find us. I started down the hall to my bedroom. I pushed the door open and closed it behind me.
Kneeling, I pried up a loose plank from the floorboard. Reaching inside, I stroked the silk scarf sewn with tiny beads and sequins. My fingers grazed the fabric and I felt comfort knowing what we vowed with our lives to protect was still safe. If we were being hunted, what was wrapped in the silk had to be what they wanted. I slid the board back into place, sat back on my heels, and pulled out the band that held my hair. An unorthodox amount of long, thin, blonde dreadlocks fell around my shoulders, and down my back. I gathered myself, and craned and stretched my neck to release some of the tension building in my muscles.
The front door opened and slammed shut. “Jeta,” Plamen shouted. I went out into the hall. Plamen took only four long strides to reach me. “Where do we go from here?”
I hadn’t a clue. The sad part was it was my job to know, in order to keep the Protectors and the relic safe. This was the first time I didn’t know what our next move was. Plamen’s hard stare wanted an answer. His dark eyes were hooded under a mass of black hair. I crossed my arms and held his tight glare. “North. We head toward Rapture.” It wasn’t a complete answer or even close to what he was expecting, but it was all I could offer. Tomorrow would come, and by the light of day, we would once again be on the move.
Plamen would be the one to argue with me, and I was surprised when he didn’t. “I’ll let Kem know.” His gaze held mine for a beat longer before he turned away.
I went back into my room and shut the door. Tonight would prove impossible, like many before it, to grasp hold of uninterrupted sleep that wasn’t filled with horror and waking in cold sweats. This small town and cottage had given us security, I felt safe here, which was a rare feeling to possess in my profession. I pulled aside the thin curtain. The crumbling stone of tombstones and statues were our reminder death was never far away. It was impossible to run from death, and we knew not to pretend we could. Danger was coming, the death bird’s outcry had told us as much. But tonight, it had never felt so close. I glanced up at the moon. Studying it had spawned a new fear to spread into every cell of my body. The black moon was still forty-five days away. That was a long time to be on the run.
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Also by Ainsley Shay
THE STATUES TRILOGY
Prison of Statues
Adelina’s Curse
The Carving Witch
ECHO RITUALS
Iridescent Moon
Moon Gift
THE FORBIDDEN
Delicate Thorns
Jagged Feather
Iron Petals
UNDERWATER ISLAND
Shore of Graves
Nether Tears
RUNES UNIVERSE
Timeless Souls
After the Curtain Falls
Acknowledgments
This series has spent most of its life in an incubator. My family and friends have had to endure countless discussions about the Prisons Trilogy, and I love them all for it.
I could have never completed this series without the support from Kevin and my girls. Thanks guys for holding up my world!
Miranda Hardy, my dear friend, you’re a true prize! Thank you for taking this journey with me. We make a great team!
Rosemary Hughes, thank you so much for dedicating your proofreading skills. You made this book shine.
Thank you, Janet at Dragonfly Editing.
I’ll always be grateful for Harrison Demchick, with Ambitious Enterprises, his amazing (and sometimes painful) feedback has helped me to improve all aspects of my writing process.
As for my gorgeous covers for this trilogy, Christian Bentulan gets the trophy for those. Thank you!
About the Author
Ainsley Shay’s passion for writing sparks from her love for the fantastical world of fiction. It’s in those enchanted and mystical places she dwells and conjures cursed and magical beings, spells, hope, madness, desperation, and love; all the ingredients for an unputdownable book.
She surrounds herself with positive people and strives for balance in everything (rarely finds it, but she’ll never give up looking for it!). She sleeps with dreams and stones in her pillowcase, loves audiobooks, and has more jeans with holes than without. Ainsley lives in South Flo
rida with her incredible husband and three amazing daughters.
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www.ainsleyshay.com