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  Mystics & Mayhem

  Mystics & Mayhem: Something Witchy — AJ Myers

  Mystics & Mayhem: Something Wicked — AJ Myers

  (Coming Soon) Mystics & Mayhem: Something Wanton — AJ Myers

  (Coming Soon) Mystics and Mayhem: Something Wild — AJ Myers

  Guardians of the First Realm

  Guardians of the First Realm: Alaskan Fang — Sara King

  Guardians of the First Realm: Alaskan Fury — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) Guardians of the First Realm: Fury of the Fourth Realm — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) Guardians of the First Realm: Alaskan Fiend — Sara King

  Outer Bounds

  Outer Bounds I: Fortune's Rising — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) Outer Bounds II: Fortune's Folly — Sara King

  The Legend of Zero

  (Coming Soon) The Legend of Zero: Forging Zero — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) The Legend of Zero: Killing Zero — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) The Legend of Zero: Zero's Legacy — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) The Legend of Zero: Forgotten — Sara King

  Millennium Potion

  Millennium Potion: Wings of Retribution — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) Millennium Potion: Flight of Retribution — Sara King

  Terms of Mercy

  Terms of Mercy: To the Princess Bound — Sara King

  (Coming Soon) Terms of Mercy: Slave of the Dragon Lord — Sara King

  Just in case you misunderstood the description of this interesting tale, you are about to read a book about vampires, demons, and ghosts. As most of you know, none of the creatures listed above are real. While there are witches out there, the witches found herein are a different breed of witches that live only in my head. This is a work of fiction, people! There is no Moonlight, Missouri—but there should be because it just sounds cool. Also, if one of my imaginary friends reminds you of your boyfriend, or your Great Aunt Gertrude, or your Chemistry teacher, just say “Awesome!” and keep reading, because I can assure you it wasn’t intentional.

  For Audrey—my sister, best friend, and biggest cheerleader. Thank you for always being there when I need you.

  For Terrica and Sam, who keep me laughing. I love you guys!

  And, as always, for my Ronnie Paul, my rock in the storm.

  Welcome to the World of Weird

  Chapter 1: Secrets & Serial Killers

  Chapter 2: My (ex) Boyfriend’s Back

  Chapter 3: Snake Logic

  Chapter 4: Cuffs Or Coffins

  Chapter 5: Poisonous Charms

  Chapter 6: Curses & Crones

  Chapter 7: Terror Tactics

  Chapter 8: The Many Faces of Jack O’Connell

  Chapter 9: Love, Lies, & Lightning

  Chapter 10: Angels & Demons

  Chapter 11: Sweet Dreams Are Not Made of This

  Chapter 12: Suckin’ It up

  Chapter 13: A Deal With the Dead

  Chapter 14: Best Friends Forever

  Chapter 15: The Amazing Cat Girl

  Chapter 16: Welcome to Nightmare Lane

  Chapter 17: Busted!

  Chapter 18: Friendship & Fairy Wings

  Chapter 19: The Prodigal Son Returns

  Chapter 20: The Bonds of Love

  Chapter 21: Complications of the Heart

  Chapter 22: Sorry Doesn’t Even Begin To Cover It

  Chapter 23: Power of the Witches Rise

  Chapter 24: Justice Is Served

  Chapter 25: Tainted

  A Note from the Author

  About the Author

  Meet Stuey

  Hi, there! My name is Ember Blaylock, and I will be your guide through this treacherous—and sometimes downright deadly—world I have come to think of as my own. The rules are simple, but you might want to take notes just in case.

  1. If you can see ghosts and weird crap always happens to you, you’re probably a bandraoi—otherwise known as a blood witch. Don’t bother asking your parents; they’re clueless. Even if they’re not, they won’t help you. My advice, look up your dear old Grams. She’s the one who can give you the 411 on all things witchy.

  2. Don’t attract the attention of a demon. They’re scary, annoying, stalkerish assholes who are determined to get their own way. If you do have the bad luck to attract one, you’re going to need a vampire, a batty old witch, a magic amulet, and balls the size of a Mack truck to get rid of him.

  3. You know the really hot guy you just hit with your car? The one who makes you feel all woozy and tempts you to forget how embarrassing drooling really is? Yeah, that one. He’s your vampire. Your very own obnoxious, arrogant, too hot to be real member of the bloodsucking undead. And you know vampires. He’s going to bite you. And, when he does, he owns you. Like, literally. He’ll even leave you his vampy version of a cattle brand right there on your neck to prove it. Sounds fun, right?

  Demons don’t like vampires very much, so he can be a real asset while you’re trying to keep from becoming a soulless demon doll. But, if you choose to take that path, proceed with caution. Falling for a vampire is so easy, it’s almost as scary as the idea of becoming a demon’s one true love.

  4. The ability to lie? Yeah, that’s about to become your best defense. Because you can’t tell anyone—not even your best friends—what you are. You can’t tell them you just sent a demon dressed in the skin of one of your oldest friends through a portal leading straight to Hell. You can’t tell them your boyfriend is a vampire. You can’t really tell them anything. There are rules against that kind of disclosure. So if you don’t know how to lie, now is a good time to start learning.

  I bet you’re thinking, “Okay, that sucks, but it’s doable.”

  You couldn’t be more wrong.

  Sure, you’ll banish the bad guy to some other realm for the rest of eternity with your mad witchy skills. When you turn your leg into something that would look perfect on a purple elephant, your Grams will turn it back for you. You’ll even learn to fight demons and do some really cool witchy stuff. But you will lose part of yourself in the bargain. A part you will never get back. I’m speaking from personal experience here, so you’ll just have to trust me on this one.

  And that concludes our lesson for today. If you choose to run away, screaming in terror, I have to admit, you’re making a smart move. If you don’t…

  Good luck making it out alive.

  “Three murders in three weeks!”

  My best friend’s disgusted shriek made every head in the Oakhurst Academy Library turn toward our table. I looked up from my Trig homework just in time to see Kim hurl a newspaper at me, and I barely managed to duck out of the way. Picking it up and rolling my eyes, I settled back in my chair and unfolded the paper Kim had been reading. It wasn’t hard to find the story—it was taking up the whole front page in gory detail.

  “What the hell is The Donut doing?” I muttered as I read the article, which prominently featured the picture of yet another teenage girl who’d been found mutilated and murdered. "Seriously, Sheriff Martin needs to start looking into other career options. There’s no way he’s getting re-elected after this. Three murders and still no suspects?”

  Sheriff Martin—better known as Deputy Donut to the youth of Moonlight, Missouri—had never been my favorite person, but I had at least thought he was semi-competent. After reading about the deaths of three girls my age, I was starting to lose that faith. How could there be no suspects when the guy kept dumping the girls in the same place? Hell, even I could see a pattern there!

  I finally let my eye
s drift over to the picture of the latest victim of Moonlight’s very own serial killer and felt a chill slip down my spine as I pictured the girls who had died before her. The three girls looked so much alike they could have been triplets. They had the same long curly hair, the same delicate bone structure, even the same sweet, innocent smile. And they were all dead, their lives cut short before they even really got the chance to live them.

  “They’re calling him Blood Red?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from that young face that would never get any older.

  “Yeah, because of the hair.”

  I looked up just to in time to see Kim’s perfect face go completely pale.

  “What about the hair?” I demanded. “Do they know who this guy is?”

  “They’re not calling him that because of his hair,” she mumbled, dropping her eyes. “They’re calling him that because of what he does to his victims’ hair.”

  Frowning, I scanned the story in front of me again. And then again. There was nothing there that would give me the first clue what she was talking about. Actually, the article didn’t really tell me anything, except that another girl had been found behind the ruins of the creepy old church at the edge of town. Despite the fact that patrols had been set up to watch the crumbling relic, the killer had managed to dump yet another body there.

  Nothing about the girl’s hair was even hinted at.

  “Let me guess,” I said finally, tossing the paper back across the table between us. “Adam?”

  I knew the second she started fidgeting that I was right and just shook my head at her. Blake’s brother, Adam, had recently graduated from the police academy and had taken a job with the local Sheriff’s department. Given the fact that he had never been able to keep his mouth shut about anything, I didn’t see him making it a month before they fired him.

  “He only told me, and only because he’s worried,” she whispered hurriedly, leaning across the table so we wouldn’t be overheard by Mrs. Fletcher, the Oakhurst librarian, who was shelving books nearby—and shooting us vicious looks for trying to hold a conversation within the sacred confines of her precious library. “He’s worried about you, Em.”

  “Me?” I repeated, frowning. “Why on earth would he be worried about me?”

  Her eyes darted around, taking in all the people around us. The library wasn’t really crowded, but there were enough people studying at the tables nearby to make her nervous—and, of course, dear Mrs. Fletcher had yet to move from her perch on the ladder behind us even though there didn’t seem to be any more books in her arms to be shelved. Nosy old bird.

  Deciding it was too risky to talk out loud, Kim pulled her phone out of her bag and her fingers started flying over the screen. A second later, my phone vibrated. I pulled up the message—and then just sat there staring at it, goosebumps rippling up my arms.

  He’s dyeing their hair red, Em. Like yours.

  Okay, because that wasn’t creepy or anything, right? My eyes drifted from my phone to the picture of the girl still smiling at us from the paper on the table between us, trying to picture what she would look like with red hair. Unfortunately, it was just a little too easy to imagine her looking just like yours truly. Disturbingly easy, in fact.

  “He’s sending a message, Em,” Kim whispered. She looked as tense and nervous as I suddenly felt.

  “How do they get that?” I asked, frowning at her. “I mean, did Adam say anything else?”

  “About the killer? No,” Kim said, rubbing her forehead like she was getting a headache. “But he did say they’re looking for Jack again. It’s kind of suspicious, ya know? He comes up missing, and all these girls start showing up dead? Given how weird he was acting before he disappeared, I can’t really blame them for thinking it might be him.”

  I kept my eyes trained on the paper, so she wouldn’t see the flash of sadness and guilt in my eyes at the mention of Jack. They could look for my old friend all they wanted, but they wouldn’t find him. There were only four people on the planet who knew what had happened to Jack, and none of them would ever tell.

  Including me.

  “It’s not Jack,” I told her in a whisper, damning the tears in my eyes. I couldn’t say Jack’s name without remembering the way I’d last seen him. Being sucked into a portal to spend the rest of his miserable existence on the lost plane. A portal I had created. And every single time, it broke my heart.

  But that wasn’t Jack, I told myself for the millionth time. Jack was dead long before you sent that demon into the void. You know that, Em, so stop beating yourself up!

  I might have been able to make myself believe that if it hadn’t been for the dreams. They had started exactly one week after I’d sent the demon to the void. The only problem was, they didn’t seem like dreams. They seemed too vivid, too real. And in every single one of them, Jack was begging me to help him. Not the demonic version, but the real Jack. My friend, the guy who had annoyed me and made me laugh and drove me crazy.

  But I couldn’t help him. Nobody could.

  “How do you know it’s not Jack, Em?” Kim asked, studying me through narrowed eyes. “I mean, you seem pretty sure. What? Is he still sending you Candygrams or something?”

  “No, I just know it’s not him,” I mumbled, going back to my Trig homework. Even when I sensed she was still staring at me, I didn’t lift my eyes from the hieroglyphic-like equation before me.

  “Like you just knew where my grandmother’s cameo was in the fourth grade?” she asked quietly.

  “Yeah, something like that,” I said on a sigh, pretending a fascination with my homework I was never actually going to experience.

  She was quiet for so long that I thought she was going to let it go. So when her hand slammed down on the table between us, I was nearly startled out of my chair. I looked up to find her glaring at me, her dark eyes full of tears and hurt.

  “That’s it,” she hissed between her teeth, completely ignoring the way everyone had turned to stare at us again—and the irritated shushing noises Mrs. Fletcher was making behind us. “I want to know who the hell you are, and what you’ve done with my best friend!”

  “Kim—” I began, but she cut me off.

  “Don’t, Ember!” she snapped as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t want to hear any more lies. And that’s all you’ve done since you mysteriously disappeared last month! One lie after another after another! And do you know how I know you’re lying to me, Em? Because you suck at it! And do you know how I know that? Because I know you better than anyone on this planet, that’s how!”

  “I explained about that, Kim,” I said, sighing again as I prepared myself to lie some more—and feeling like shit because I had to. “I went to Washington because Grams needed me. I didn’t have time to call you, and I didn’t realize I didn’t have my phone until I was already on the plane.”

  “And yet, you had time to pick up your new boyfriend on the way,” Kim sneered, her expression hard as stone. “What? Was he on sale in the airport gift shop?”

  “Wait!” I said, returning her glare. “Aren’t you the one who was always telling me I needed to find someone? And wasn’t it you and Blake who left me on the side of the road with a perfect stranger?”

  “Well, I never thought you’d move in with him!” she practically snarled.

  “That didn’t happen until I got back,” I defended myself, glad that I could at least tell her one thing that was true. “I told you, Mom and I had a fight because I went to Washington without telling her. It got ugly, and I moved out. I ran into Nathan again at that nasty-ass coffee shop on Oak. We got to talking, and he offered to rent me a room.”

  “Uh-huh. His?” Kim asked with a bitter laugh. “And before you lie to me again, don’t. I’ve seen the two of you together. I know that relationship is not platonic, Ember.”

  She had me there, and I knew it. There wasn’t anything platonic about my relationship with my vampire kidnapper. ‘Passionate’ might have been a good descriptor. ‘Maddening’ wo
uld have worked, too, seeing as Nathan exemplified the three P’s—Possessive, Protective, and Paranoid. It had taken an all-out fight to get him to let me go back to school after what had happened with Jack.

  Mostly, though, I would have just gone with ‘complicated’ as the word to best describe our relationship. Yeah, complicated was a very good description.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to give Nathan my heart. Given that he looked like a Greek god or something, with his dark hair, mesmerizing hazel eyes, and tall muscular body, he was really hard to resist. And there had been so many times in the last month when I was close to giving him what he wanted and completing the soul mate bond Demon Jack had interrupted. But in the end, it came down to trust. And there was part of me that just couldn’t take that leap and trust him.

  And all because of his mark.

  Though he promised he never would—a promise he’d already broken once—he could control me through the pearlescent trinity and heart shaped knot on my neck, the mark he had given me the night he bit me. If he wanted me to do something, I would do it. If he wanted me to see or hear or think whatever he wanted, I would. And if he wanted me to love him, I wouldn’t have a choice. Knowing he had that power over me, that potential to take away my free will, kept me from being able to truly give him the two things he claimed to want most.

  My trust…and my heart.

  “Kim, me and Nathan…we’re—”

  “Complicated. Yeah, you’ve said that,” Kim said angrily, getting up and starting to cram her things back into her backpack. “You know what, Em? I’m done. When you’re ready to tell me the truth, you know where to find me.”

  “Kim!”

  “No, Ember,” she said, slinging her bag over her shoulder and tossing her hair long dark hair back before leveling a cold look right at me. “I don’t want to hear it. When the Ember I know and love comes back, tell her to give me a call. That Ember didn’t lie to me every time she opened her mouth.”