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  Rising Ashes

  Ashes to Ashes - Book Three

  Annie Anderson

  Rising Ashes (Ashes to Ashes Series)

  © Copyright 2016 Annie Anderson

  Published by Annie Anderson

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Rising Ashes is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It 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 you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Cover Art design Design by Definition

  Edited by Barbara Shuler & Emily Maynard

  Formatted by Tattered Quill Designs

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to all those who live with regret. It is not too late to change it, my dear. Your time is not up. The last of your breath has not passed your lips.

  You are still alive.

  Contents

  Glossary of Terms

  Warning

  Olivia & John - See where they began

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Epilogue

  SMOLDERING ASHES

  Are You Part of the Legion Yet?

  Never Miss A Thing!

  About the Author

  Also by Annie Anderson

  Glossary of Terms

  Aegis – A special type of Phoenix outside the Primary’s control. An Aegis can shield themselves against offensive attacks with an electrified shield. Most Aegis have trouble controlling their abilities and are nearly extinct. Because of their shield, Oracles and Seers have trouble locating the Aegis, and, therefore, have trouble seeing their future, penetrating their mind, or predicting their deaths.

  Binding/Bond – The bond between an Oracle and Soldier is similar to an arranged marriage. An Oracle does not choose her Soldier and in most cases is not allowed to see them prior to the blinding ceremony. The Primary decides for her and assigns the Soldier whom she believes is a perfect match.

  Covenant – The rules and laws of the Phoenix as set forth by the original families.

  Fireskin – When phased, a Phoenix can blaze an aura of fire around their body known as Fireskin. It does not damage clothing, but can be used to burn surroundings and enemies when enough concentration is used.

  Gentry – Regular Phoenixes with no additional powers. The main function of the Gentry is to support the Oracles, Soldiers, and Scholars and to receive word from Oracles so they may send souls on to be reborn.

  Guardian – A protector in the Wraith culture.

  Healer – A Phoenix outside the Primary’s control. Healers have extensive medical knowledge and possess abilities that can speed the curative process of wounds inflicted with Morganite.

  Morganite – a rare gemstone of the Beryl family known for its rich orange to pink color. Lethal to Phoenixes.

  Oracle – A Phoenix originally born as a Seer. At maturity, a Seer is transformed into an Oracle by having their eyes permanently removed so their precognitive powers may grow and in turn, have enough advanced warning to change the future.

  Otherside – Be it Heaven or Hell, the place the souls go when they pass on.

  Phasing – A process of transformation from one’s resting form to the ethereal. Phoenixes and Wraiths can only ferry souls in their phased form. One’s phased form is dependent on their species, and partial phases are possible depending on the control of the individual. A Phoenix may partially phase in that their Fireskin may emerge alone. A Wraith’s partial could singularly involve the changes to the teeth, talons, or eyes.

  Phoenix – A perpetually regenerating creature with an indeterminate life span. Appears human when resting, but when fully phased, displays Fireskin and Wings. They can heal from any and all wounds unless the wound comes into contact with Morganite. They congregate in groups known as Legions, led by a Primary Oracle as their leader. There are different types of Phoenixes with added abilities.

  Primary – Among the Phoenix, this is the oldest or most powerful Oracle. The Primary is the leader of the Legion. Presides directly over Oracles and Scholars, cultivating their knowledge for generations to come. A Primary controls what the Oracles under her see. Due to their age, it is possible for the Primary to consult with other ethereal creatures including Witches, sorcerers, mages and the like. After a certain age, a Primary’s power can include the casting of spells, controlling of the minds of her retinue, etc. These actions are against the laws of the Covenant.

  Revenant – If a Wraith becomes ill or insane, they can become a Revenant. A Revenant eats the heart of the evil after they have died. As the madness consumes them, they will begin to eat the hearts of any dead soul they come across. Typically, they do not kill for their meals but eat the flesh of the already dead.

  Scholar – A type of Phoenix with supreme intellect. They record the Oracle’s visions and analyze patterns to avoid threats to the Legion.

  Secondary – The heir to the Primary. Presides directly over Soldiers and performs bonding ceremonies.

  Seer – A type of Phoenix who sees visions of death so that they may direct the Gentry Phoenixes to the dead or dying to send the souls on to be reborn. Seers cannot change the outcome of their visions. They are recognized by the milky consistency to their iris and pupil.

  Selection – The process of assigning a job to young Phoenixes.

  Soldier – A guardian and protector of an Oracle. A Soldier’s role can evolve from protector to lover to husband. During an Oracle’s blinding ceremony, they are bound to a Guardian, thereby nullifying any marriage, and linking the physical and mental from one body to another. If an Oracle is bound and injured, the Guardian is also wounded.

  Wings – Phoenixes can fly and display wings when they have phased. Phasing and displaying of wings is initially an agonizing very painful process but loses its agony after full maturity. The wings can damage clothing and nearby objects. Every Phoenix’s wings differ, and bonded mates’ wings usually match. When a Phoenix is sick, near death or if their soul has turned evil, the wings will begin to molt, shedding their feathers rapidly.

  Wraith – A perpetually regenerating creature with indeterminate lifespan. A Wraith appears human when resting, but when fully phased the iris and sclera of their eyes bleed to black, they grow talons and fangs and can hiss like snakes. Most Wraiths can move from one place to another on a wisp of smoke after they reach maturity. As they age the distances, they can travel increase. A Wraith’s main function is to ferry the souls of the evil to hell.

  Warning

  This book is intende
d for readers aged 18 and older. Within these pages are situations containing effluent cursing, torture, blood, guts, gore, sex, love, despair, war, heartbreak, corruption and death.

  If you are unable to handle these situations, I would advise putting this book down immediately.

  Because shit’s about to get real.

  Olivia & John - See where they began

  John Black’s throne has been stolen from beneath him. Olivia Theroux was never meant to meet him. In the midst of a coming war, these two wandering souls find love in the least likely of places - in the heart of an enemy.

  * * *

  Grab the thrilling prequel to the Ashes to Ashes series by Annie Anderson for FREE. Are you ready to burn?

  Prologue

  EVAN – 1906 – SAN FRANCISCO, CA

  I wish I could remember why I was so angry, but in this sea of rubble and flames, I seem to have forgotten. I remember there was danger and rage, but at this very moment, I cannot fathom what could make me do this. What I do know is that I caused this mess, and the longer I look around, the longer I hear the screams of the trapped and dying over the ringing in my ears; the more I know I should let the flames consume me. I feel the souls, so many souls out there, and most of them were good people.

  And I killed them all.

  My gaze pinpoints on a broken baby doll, the pale china face half gone, crumbled to dust in the melee of toppling buildings and shaking earth. A lone child’s slipper rests in the middle of the cracked street, teetering on the edge of the broken brick, waffling between the coming fire and oblivion.

  The flames creep lazily toward me, tip-toeing their way across the buildings as if they have all the time in the world to put me out of my misery. To dole out my punishment.

  I deserve this.

  I deserve to burn.

  I have failed my parents, my race, and for the life of me, I cannot remember why. How could I do this?

  Suddenly, it all comes rushing through the fog of shock and the thick ringing in my ears.

  Men came in the night.

  They came for me - for my head - and the poor souls who called themselves my Guardians lost theirs instead. I can still see the shocked look on Devereux’s face when the blade pierced his neck, his wide eyes are burned into my brain as if with a hot iron.

  I don’t think he ever expected them to get this far. To follow us all the way across the country to the bustling port of San Francisco. He thought we were safe in the throng of people coming and going.

  He was wrong.

  Now, Devereux and Sam are both gone, cut down like wheat against the scythe, and I have no idea what to do. Guilt claws at me. It’s all my fault.

  I didn’t mean to lose my mind. I didn’t mean to reap this much death. But I had no idea I was this powerful. I had no idea I could cause so much destruction. The city is in ruins, like a dollhouse thrown by a toddler in a fit of rage. And what is worse is I am so hungry, starving for the stained souls calling for me to send them to hell. My fangs descend, cutting into my lips and bringing the coppery taste of blood to my tongue. It only makes me hungrier, and I fight my body’s urge to travel to them, to glut myself on the souls of the evil.

  I can’t do it. I can’t send them to hell when I deserve to go myself. I close my eyes to the mayhem, waiting for the flames to do their duty.

  “Are you going to get out of the way or are you planning on burning to death?” a husky female’s voice calls to me. I blink through my haze of shock to see a woman not much bigger than my own meager height eyeing me like I was a bug on her boot. And her eyes… No pupil and such a pale milky green, she shouldn’t be able to see me, but by the expression on her face, she most certainly does. Dressed as a man in trousers and a waistcoat, she has to be the oddest person I’ve ever encountered. And for a Wraith in the middle of a ruined city, that’s saying something.

  “No offense, girlie, but Wraiths like you tend to fry when exposed to open flame. You might want to move,” she says matter-of-factly, and that’s when I lose it.

  “I-I…did this. C-caused all this,” I stutter as my breaths come in great gasping heaves, and I break right there in the middle of the cracked street.

  Then, the bricks start abrading away underneath my feet, and I feel the pull of the silence, the deadness in my own head calling for me to put it all away. The guilt, the fear, the pain of losing my closest friends – all of it.

  I don’t see the fist coming for my face until it’s too late, and before I know what hits me, blackness clouds my mind.

  I wanted oblivion, I think as the lights fade out. It might not be the death I asked for, but a nice sleep will do.

  Yes, it will do just fine.

  1

  Into the Snake Pit

  WEST

  You would think people would know by now.

  But they don’t.

  People as a whole are dumb, lazy bastards only out for themselves. Maybe it’s just Wraiths that are like this. Maybe outside factions see us as the cockroaches of the ethereal because of the way we act. I think it is probably a few ruining it for the rest of us.

  Welcome to the ethereal! Where we don’t give a shit what color you are, but if you have powers we don’t like, well, then fuck you.

  I silently chuckle a little to myself. Yep, the game show host in my head has lost his nut. Good times.

  I stay in the shadows, not too hard up here on the cliff top, crouched in the darkness of a yawning crevasse and watch as Wraiths in fancy funeral dresses and tuxes prepare to fight a battle they can’t win. A few haul long-range precision rifles from narrow, padded gun cases.

  I guess they aren’t fucking around anymore.

  They are dressed very differently from me. While they look refined and out of place as they spoil for a fight, I look right at home with the prospect of a good, old fashioned blood bath in my black fighting leathers and body armor.

  Luck favors the prepared, so the saying goes, and I am very, very lucky.

  I travel from the cliff top to a nook on the roof of the house overlooking the gorge where I think Ian might be hiding. It still pisses me off that I’ve never been able to find him. Ian possesses an innate ability, making him almost impossible to find if he decides to cloak himself.

  “You looking for me?” Ian asks as he appears in front of me as if from thin air. One second there was nothing, and the next he’s lying supine on the rooftop looking through the scope of a fifty-caliber sniper rifle, his dark skin midnight in the moonlight. I’ve been looking all over this roof for the last ten minutes, and he’s been there the whole damn time.

  Dick.

  “Are sure you’re not half-witch instead of half-human?” I ask, my voice gruff from disuse. I haven’t spoken in the last day – not that I speak much to anyone but Evan... Or, at least, I did. My girl could talk your ear off, and I’d never tell her, but I love her chatter, her life. She has kept me from sliding into the darkness.

  She is air and light…

  I miss my light. I miss my Angel.

  “Who knows? Dad did get around,” he quips as he adjusts the elevation dial on his scope, and it pulls me back into the moment. His tone is laced with a hint of derision, and it dawns on me that it might be a sore subject.

  Oops.

  Well, that’s what he gets for hiding from me like an asshole.

  I study his rifle with dubious interest. I have an issue with long-range weapons as a whole. It is too hard to do a dead check from a thousand yards away.

  If I’m doing the job, I’m doing it right. None of this ‘from afar’ bullshit, but it’s harder to kill me than it is Ian. I suppose we must go with our strengths, and the up-close kill is mine.

  “Are you going to be able to stay cloaked and fire at the same time?” I ask because he’s no good here if he can’t.

  “Yep. The only thing I can’t hide is the sound, but the mountains will cloak it for me. No one will know where I am unless they are right next to me, and even then, they won’t live lon
g enough to do anything about it,” he murmurs as he adjusts the elevation dial again.

  “Good. I’ll handle the shitheads on the cliff. You handle any that get too close to the family,” I order, and I want to kick myself.

  Again.

  I don’t lead him anymore. I’m not in charge of anyone’s security, let alone Evangeline’s, and my chest aches from her loss. Well, and the fact that my skin is still growing back from her blistering shove. I rub my hand over my sternum, only hurting myself more when I hit body armor.

  Fuck.

  Pissing her off wasn’t part of the plan. Hurting her is the absolute last thing I ever wanted to do.

  Guess I should have told her why. Why I was waiting. Not because of her – never because of her.

  But who really accepts the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ shit? That’s right. No one.

  I should have told her all of it. I should have made her understand. I hope I’ll live long enough to do just that.

  “Will do,” he says as he pulls his eye from the scope and grins at my gaff. Ian has hope. Hope I’ll come back and everything will be as it was.

  I guess I still have hope, too.

  “You think they’ll actually do it? Start this war?” he asks, showing his youth. He has been on the right side for so long, he has forgotten how the other side thinks.