A Witch's Fate: Witches of Lane County

by Jody A. Kessler

  Jody A. Kessler invites you to stop by her website and see what’s new at www.JodyAKessler.com.

  You can also connect with her on Facebook at Jody A. Kessler, or on Twitter @JodyAKessler.

  Acknowledgements

  To John and Nancy. My books would not exist without the two of you. I want to thank my family and friends for their continued support. Thank you to my beta readers, editor, and proofreaders—you know who you are. Lastly, I want to thank my readers. I appreciate every one of you.

  Read a Free Preview of

  Haunting Me

  An Angel Falls ~ Book 3

  Chapter One:

  Juliana

  “The five elements are Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Ether (spirit or self). When you immerse yourself in nature the balance of the elements unite, bringing harmony to you and all that surrounds you…”

  Urgghh, I groan. This isn’t it either! I replace the book on the shelf and look at the measly few I haven’t already browsed for their content. It had been a crapshoot to even look at the Wiccan books, but I wasn’t having any luck finding what I wanted anywhere else. I should have listened to myself and stayed away from this section. Accusations of being a witch have brought me nothing but misery. Ashley Johnson died after accusing me and Corrine…well, Corrine turned out all right in the end, but the journey was torture. All it would take is one person who knows me seeing me perusing the Wiccan or Pagan books — the rumors would be set ablaze like a witch at the stake. Bad joke, I know.

  I back away from the bookshelf and my shoulders droop with resignation. From the corner of my eye, I see movement and turn to look. There isn’t anyone. I would have sworn someone was there. My gaze shifts to the window, wondering if I caught the passing shadow of a bird or a tree branch blowing in the breeze. There’s a stuffed purple chair below the window for reading. I trudge over to it and plop down, trying to unravel the knots I’ve created inside my brain. Closing my eyes, I rub my temples, making small circles with the pads of my fingers. Wiccan, metaphysical, new age, Pagan, Druid, self-help, aliens, sacred geometry. My head is reeling. Why did I even come here in the first place? A little research on angels and the afterlife has wasted my entire afternoon and all I have to show for my efforts is a new fixation on the possibility of having an out-of-body experience that can only be remedied by seven witches wielding amethyst crystals while chanting an incantation backwards during the Blood Moon. This is not what I needed today.

  My brother, Jared, is at home with the Angel of Death, Marcus, hovering around him. I should be with him, not here searching for answers I’m not going to find. And, my first real date with my incredibly cute, perplexing, and unearthly angel boyfriend is tonight. Nathaniel’s responsibilities and duties as an angel don’t exactly allow him to take off whenever he wants, but he said he’ll pick me up later at my house. A shiver of anticipation runs down the back of my neck and tickles my spine. He wants to date me. Me! Like we’re just a couple of ordinary college students hanging out. I know it’s not a perfect situation. He’s a celestial being, but he gets me. He makes me feel alive, even if he isn’t. I like trying to figure out the puzzle of this connection between us. Besides, no girl in their right mind could possibly walk away from those smoky gray eyes of his. Least of all, me.

  I hear movement nearby and open my eyes. A store employee is shelving a book.

  “Not finding what you’re looking for?” she asks as if she already knows I’ve struck out.

  She’s tall and willowy and her clothes appear to flow around her in a sea of blues and greens.

  “Unfortunately, I’m not,” I say, rising from the chair, ready to leave the Midnight Sage New Age Boutique.

  “Can I help you find something? A particular book or author?” she offers.

  “I think I’ve looked at everything.”

  “Well, in that case, don’t forget to check the Beg, Borrow, and Steal cupboard by the front door. There are usually some books in there. You can take what you want, leave a donation, or borrow and return. It’s remarkable the treasures people leave behind,” she says, turning back to the shelf in front of her.

  “Umm, okay, thanks,” I say, and squeeze past her, heading for the stairs.

  Trotting up the squeaky old staircase to the main level of the converted old house, I decide I’ve had enough of this woo-woo metaphysical-ness for one day and intend on walking straight to my car, leaving my unanswered questions on the back burner. As I’m about to open the front door I catch a glimpse of a shimmering beaded curtain with a colorful painted sign above it that reads, “Beg, Borrow, & Steal Cupboard.” Below that in smaller print, “Honoring the Karma system since 1991.”

  I pull my hand away from the doorknob and walk over to the cupboard, intrigued. Maybe my last name, Crowson, affects my personality more than I’ve ever given it credit for. Crows love glistening trinkets and shiny baubles, and I can’t walk away from this beaded curtain. I raise my hand and let the smooth iridescent glass beads play in the halogen lights of the shop. I duck my head through the tinkling curtain and enter. Beyond the beads and through a dark painted entryway, I pull open a door and step into what might have once been a storage room beneath a winding staircase.

  It’s cozy and dark and totally surprising. Someone had a grand time painting this space with lots of deep purple, teal, and black. A shadowy forest looms on one wall and a dragon flies past the moon on another. A Victorian shaded floor lamp casts a dim light into the little room and another purple armchair offers a seat as you search through the miscellaneous boxes and shelves. There’s an eclectic mix of books on the first bookcase. I find everything from gardening and candle making to identifying constellations and werewolves, but nothing on angels or the afterlife. I keep searching. On the top shelf is a gently used scarf and hat collection and in the corner to the left is a bunch of rolled up and tattered posters. The other shelves are covered with tchotchkes and what looks like an entire print run of a magazine called They Do Exist. I raise my eyebrows with skepticism at the cheesy drawing of an alien with a bulbous head and enormous eyes on the cover.

  One final look around before I leave this curious little nook and I see it. Half hidden in the shadow of the chair is a cardboard box full of books. I settle onto the cushioned seat and slide the box over to my feet. Immediately, I feel like I’ve found something interesting at last. Or at least closer to what I’ve been looking for. The book on top is titled, Reincarnation in the New Age. There are a few works about near death experiences. I get a chill that raises the hair on my arms as I see the last couple of books on the bottom. Feast of Fire and Flame — I don’t even want to touch that one — and lastly, Navigating Life, Death, and the Afterlife. I grab the one about the afterlife, and have a fleeting moment of doubt about my search. Is it wrong to want to know more about what happens after we die? Or is it only wrong because I want to know how to manipulate life after death?

  I’m mulling over my secret motivations when I slap my palm to my forehead. I’ve lost all track of time! I’m frustrated that I don’t know exactly how late it is, anxious to check on my brother, and beyond pee-in-your-pants excited to see Nathaniel tonight. I hurry to dig a bill out of my pocket and stuff it into the antique bubble gum machine, which is now a donation jar. I tuck the book under my arm and head out of the shop.

  ~ End preview ~

  Available on Amazon

  More from Jody A. Kessler

  Heart of the Secret

  A Witches of Lane County Novella

  Aspen Morgan is an extraordinary, beautiful, and talented witch with the power to control animals and earth magic. She also deeply desires to marry Rook Avesbury. Unfortunately, Aspen knows that being a Morgan means she is destined to a life of solitude. The Morgans of Lane County don’t get married, they don’t explain why, and their secret always dies with them.

  While studying the stars along the northwest coast, Rook, a handsome and charming wizard from the British Isles, falls in love with the captivating Asp
en Morgan. After seven blissful months together, Rook is ready to spend forever with her.

  Will the Morgan family curse be the end of Rook and Aspen, or will she find a way to reveal the deadly secrets of an enchanted journal and break the five hundred-year-old spell that is preventing their happily ever after?

  The Misplaced

  A Chris Abeyta Ghost Hunting Novella

  Part of the An Angel Falls Series

  Antisocial ghost hunter and shaman, Chris Abeyta, begins his day with an obnoxious, perky, and mysterious new client. Chris does not do “perky,” especially at four a.m. But the empathic and beguiling, Naomi, taunts him out of bed to discover an energy vortex and a horde of wicked ghosts overrunning his small mountain town.

  Sleep deprived and unenthusiastic, Chris joins Naomi in solving the mystery of the vortex, but a run-in with a couple of misguided thugs while being taunted by an insufferable spirit guide does not improve his morning or his outlook.

  Will Chris’s curmudgeonly ways ruin any romantic prospects with the vivacious and magical, Naomi, or has he finally met his match?

  The Night Medicine

  A historical time travel romance

  In 2012, Blackfoot tribal member, Dean Wolfsblood, is the reluctant guardian of a centuries old medicine pipe that makes time travel possible. When Dean’s former Marine buddy, Badger Lowell, bribes him to take the arduous trip into the past, the last thing either of them expects during the “Night Medicine” ceremony is for an intruding grizzly bear to chase Kai, a beautiful and complicated Cree woman, into the past with them.

  Upon arrival in 1868, the three unlikely companions discover deceit, murder, buffalo hunters, and a kidnapping waiting for them as they travel across mountains and plains to the gold mining town of Helena, Montana. As hidden motivations are exposed, secrets are revealed, and all well-meaning plans for their journey are cast away into the winds of time. Can they survive history and each other long enough to make it back, or will the past change their futures forever?

  Unwrapping Treasure

  A Granite Lake Romance novella

  Paramedics, Treasure and Bodie, never imagined a routine emergency call would lead to a death-defying rescue and a sexy holiday vacation that changes their lives forever.

  After escaping the chaos of work, they decide to spend their Christmas break at a secluded lakeside cabin deep in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. With soft snow falling, a warm fire in the hearth, and fresh cookies baking in the oven, an innocent weekend getaway quickly turns into a night of spontaneous passion with no strings attached.

  Will Treasure and Bodie’s hasty decision to spend the night together prove disastrous, or will their relationship develop into something neither of them saw coming?

  When We’re Entwined

  A new adult coming of age novel

  Former circus performer and aerial gymnast, Tara knows it’s time to move on. Tired of the constant abuse and the emotional rollercoaster ride at home, she takes to the road to perform on stage with her boyfriend and his band, Paradox 21.

  Tara never imagined late night after-parties would lead to a devastating betrayal by her boyfriend and cause her summer tour to come to an abrupt end. Jobless, homeless, and broke in a city far from home, an eccentric homeless knight gives Tara fresh perspective and a serendipitous run-in with an old acquaintance—a punk named Corban—takes her on a spontaneous road trip that lands her a job with a traveling sideshow.

  As Tara searches for a freedom she has never known, she documents her journey by writing her most embarrassing, profound, excruciating, and soul-searching moments in letters to her sister. Despite heartache, love and loss, Tara finds immeasurable strength and wisdom during her travels in this unforgettable adventure of self-discovery.

  “When We’re Entwined is a gripping, emotional modern day adventure with a glimpse of alternative lifestyles in America as one vibrant, young aerial gymnast realizes cruelty and injustice can be outweighed by kindness, humor, and compassion with the help of a most unlikely and wildly colorful cast of characters.”

  More information can be found at JodyAKessler.com

  Available on Amazon

  Select titles can be found at major eBook distributors.

  ~ Thank you ~

  On the Back Cover

  A Witch’s Fate

  USA Today Bestselling author Jody A. Kessler introduces her next captivating series...

  Witches of Lane County

  Tori Morgan is a modern-day witch from Lane County—and she’s cursed. Falling in love is not in Tori’s astrological chart, her cards, or anywhere else in her plans for the future. Falling for a skeptic who debunks the paranormal for a living is even less likely.

  Leif Andersen doesn’t believe in magic or the paranormal. When he’s hired to investigate the mysterious death of former Hollywood actress and humanitarian, Delana Smootz, Leif is led straight to Tori Morgan’s door. There's no way he's going to fall for Tori or her woo-woo mysticism, no matter how magical she feels in his arms.

  Sparks fly and an undeniable attraction sizzles as Tori and Leif travel the globe in search of a suspect and the answers to Delana’s supernatural downfall.

  WWW.JODYAKESSLER.COM