by Lacy LeRoch
Lacy LeRoch
The Watchers
A Twisted Sister Novel
By Lacy LeRoch
Copyright 2016 Lacy LeRoch
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this eBook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Book design and formatting by Swish Design & Editing
Editing by Swish Design & Editing
Cover design by Soxsational Cover Art
Copyright 2016
Blurb
What would you do if your whole life changed completely in one day?
Sisters Lucy and Lacy find themselves in a world they never knew existed. They aren't typical nineteen-year-old girls but they are unaware of the magic buried inside.
Can the sisters overcome their fear and be able to move forward?
Lacy and Lucy have a hard road to travel after tragedy strikes. The girls are placed in the care of the Council, under the protection of the Watchers.
Will love be enough to help them overcome their sadness? Will Rafe be able to win the heart of the very quiet twin Lucy?
*Warning story contains light spanking, erotic sexual scenes, and violence.
**Not suitable for anyone under the age of 18.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my beautiful sister Kena.
Without her, there would be no Devilice. She’s always been there in the background pushing me on, giving me the strength to follow my dreams. This story of love and sisterhood is all yours, Sissy. The love and respect that Lacy and Lucy share is only a tiny slither of the love I have for you. We never needed blood to bind us.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I need to thank my husband. If it wasn’t for his understanding and easy going manner, I wouldn’t have made it this far. He’s picked up the household cooking and cleaning, and children duties, when I’ve been sitting down writing notes, or plotting this book out.
Kay from Swish Design & Editing is a miracle worker. I cannot thank her enough for picking up my very raw work, and helping me make it into something I hope others will enjoy. She not only took the time out to edit for me, but she also went above and beyond and helped coach me in all things book world. Thank you so much, Kay. You are one very amazing and sweet woman.
Rae, you my girl, are amazing. There’s never enough words for what I need to say to you. You make all of my awesome teasers, and always give me the boost I need to keep going. I don’t know what I ever did to have you as a friend, but whatever it is, I’m so glad for it. Sorry beautiful girl, but you’re stuck with me now. I flove you, my girl.
To the incredible girls on my beta team. If it wasn’t for your pushing and begging, I wouldn’t have finished this. The way you girls love my men warms my heart. So, Rachel Rae Palmer, Natalie Masters, Cora O’Harver Schrum, Vicky Chivers, Sarah Ellis, Lesley Robson, Maria Ria Alexander, Lyndsey Fairley, Karine Russell, Lisa Rinck Mccullough, this series really is for you girls.
Carmen Costa, it isn’t easy putting up with me. I have high demands on you as my PA. But you rise to them every time. I know I’m not always the easiest boss in the world, but you never complain or tell me no.
For my superheroes—Mark, Cale, Oliver, and Luke. You, boys, know these alphas are all you. Absolutely love you guys more than life itself.
But the biggest thank you needs to go to you. The person who’s reading this book. Thank you for taking a chance on the unknown Australian author. Words can never express just how much you all mean to me. So thank you from my heart to yours.
Chapter Descriptions
Lylian: Goddess to all
McKinley: Grand High Lord on the Judadic Council – Angel
Rafe: High Lord on the Judadic Council – Angel
Markus: High Lord on the Judadic Council – Angel
Jay: High Lord on the Judadic Council – Angel
Philli: Prince and Leader of the Warrior Dragons and Guardian Watcher on the Judadic Council – Dragon Shifter
Jordi: Alpha Wolf and member of Judadic Council – Wolf Shifter
Lucy: Leader of the Phoenix Lyians – Phoenix Shifter
Nix: Lucy’s Phoenix
Owen: Guardian Watcher on the Judadic Council – Angel
Bevan: Guardian Watcher on the Judadic Council – Angel
Laron: Guardian Watcher on the Judadic Council – Angel
Lacy: Lyian – Phoenix Shifter
Brad: Lacy’s Phoenix
Kelan: Ex-Watcher / Buzzock
Sophie: Dragon Shifter
Watcher: Guardian on the Judadic Council
Trulane Forest: Forest on Island Devilice
Judadic Council: A Council that oversees all supernatural beings world wide
Island of Devilice: Also referred to as the Island of Blue
Tutta: Bible of the Judadic Council
Domackin: Brother bond from Watchers
Buzzock: Rogue ex-Watchers / turned supernatural beings
Globe of Seeing: Seers Globe of Seeing
Siren’s River: Water that surrounds Devilice Island
Fog of Lost Memories: Siren’s Protected Waters
French Translations
Oui: Yes
Table of Contents
Blurb
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter Descriptions
Table of Contents
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
Connect with me Online
About the Author – Lacy LeRoch
Chapter One
The summer breeze blows on Lucy’s face as she tightens her hold on the rope. She swings out over the lake with a joyful holler. Our parents start screaming from the shoreline, calling out for her to let go. She swings out over the water, forgetting to unlace her grip on the rope, the result of laughing too much.
Lucy’s bright red hair flies out behind her, making it look like the sunset, marking it as a brand new day. Father has to jump out of the way when she loops back toward him. Her feet run over the surface of the grass to give her more speed, and the reassurance that she’s safe. She laughs, when she springs out over the water, with more force and momentum amidst every swing.
She finally let’s go of the rope and lands in the water with a volcanic splash. I start scanning the water frantically, trying to see if she’ll surface in time for more air. She scares me when she acts so carelessly.
The minute her face is free from the water, she’s able to inhale a deep breath, while she treads the water and attempts to face me. Her head bends back and her hands come up to cup around her mouth like a megaphone.
“Come on, Sissy,” she taunts, laughing.
I stare at the tire swi
ng, my hands shaking violently. I have no idea how they managed to talk me into this. I don’t like the water. Weird stuff happens when water’s involved. I avoid baths at all costs, showering is my only solution. And forget about pools.
“Come on, Lace. If I can do it, so can you. Don’t make me call you chicken.”
She starts to flap her arms up and down mimicking the animal in question and mocking my every word. The look I throw her way is enough to make every single hair on her head singe on impact. I’m just about ready to rip her head off. I love my sister, more than life itself, but she’s always busting my chops. It wears on me after a while. They say that twins are the same, but we couldn’t be any more different if we tried.
I glance from my parents to Lucy and back again, waiting for them to say something, anything. But they don’t, as they stand there laughing along with her. Way to make me feel good guys. I’ve always been the odd one out. Never really fitting in anywhere. Even with my parents. I’ve tried my hardest to be normal as everyone would call it, but I have come to except that I’m just different.
I close my eyes and slowly count backward from ten, before groaning and throwing my arms up in the air, defeated. I know that I need to do this and that if I don’t my sister will continue to hound me until I do.
She’ll never let me live it down. That’s one thing about Lucy, she never backs down. I wish I had that tendency, but I just don’t. My father says that Lucy has a strong backbone and that it’s a great advantage, but I can’t help see the other side of the coin. To me, I’d call it a weakness. She may never let anyone treat her poorly, but she also can’t control the fallout from being so open. Double sided coin of death, if you ask me.
My eyes narrow, and I stare at the offending rope in front of me. I reach out and clasp it as tightly as I can. I’m not going to lie, I’m beyond terrified about this and frustrated with myself in proving a point to everyone. To most, it might just look like a tire swing that overlooks a beautiful lake. But to me, I stare at this small summer act of fun and see my death and all the ways this could go terribly wrong.
My anxiety is starting to skyrocket. Lucy knows I don’t like doing anything this dangerous. Anything that provides adrenaline, I’m out. I’m more of a stay at home with a book kind of girl. Anything outdoorsy is really not that much fun for me. But Mom and Dad insisted we attempt this summer weekend away.
Like, I really wanted to go camping? I mean… yuck. All those bugs and creepy crawlies. I swear I’ve inhaled over a thousand flying insects already. I’m not even exaggerating right now, I can taste them in my mouth and feel them wriggling down my throat, making me regret doing this even more.
Can you say eww? Because that’s all the words I can produce, at the minute.
It’s now or never. I lean back and lift my feet up off the ground copying the way I saw Lucy do it. I don’t push off hard, not wanting to end up as far out as Lucy did. So I allow the momentum of my weight to swing me out over the water.
I have to admit, this is surprisingly exhilarating. All my worries and concerns float away on a gasp, with fear and excitement rolling into one. The exhilarating feeling of freedom rushes over my body like a tidal wave. I feel alive like I can fly away. I’ve only experienced this feeling of freedom in my dreams.
The rope swings me out and back a few times before I end up with enough courage to set myself free. I loosen the grip of my hands and finally let go, landing in the dark murky water with a hard splash and I’m sinking deeper with every stroke. Thinking I shouldn’t be going this deep, it makes me feel as though I’m in a freefall jump that just won’t end. The water that surrounds me changes in color the deeper I fall toward the bottom, turning from a pale green to an overwhelming blackness.
A tingling sensation takes over my body, it works its way up from my feet to my head and feels like a low current of electricity running throughout my body. I try to swim back to the surface, but I can’t find the way. I’ve become confused about which way is up. Panic is starting to set in with a vengeance.
My chest compresses so tightly and my lungs are burning. It feels like a tin can being crushed, the pressure is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. I need to get to the surface and take a breath so bad it hurts.
I remind myself over and over that I can’t. No Lacy, don’t do it. I’ve watched documentaries where they talk about deep sea divers who forget they’re underwater and they take a breath. How they could forget they’re surrounded in a vice of liquid is beyond me. I know I’m here, I know I’m drowning.
My God, I don’t want to die. What the hell is going on? I need to start swimming around and hope my random strokes will end up helping me go the right way toward the surface. My foot brushes up against a rock bed. Hope soars in my chest, at least now I can kick off and push myself to the top. Pushing my feet down, I get ready to propel myself upward. But I don’t feel anything. No river rocks scattered over the bottom, nothing. I’m kicking my legs frantically in the hope of connecting with something, I need to get out of here.
How did I manage to get so deep without realizing? Why can’t I see anything clearly?
My arms and legs are becoming tired from thrashing around.
I’m going to die here, I just know it.
My God, what the hell am I going to do?
Panic sets in even more.
Out of the corner of my eye, I notice something glittering, it glows brightly like a beacon of hope as it approaches me. Someone has come to my rescue. Going by the shape of the body, it has to be a lady. The more I focus on her approach, the more I notice small details. Like the fact that she has a tail and not legs. Maybe I’m delirious with a lack of oxygen. And that’s the reason I can’t exactly make out what I’m looking at.
The glittering tail calls out to me like a beacon and I can’t take my eyes off it. I get the strange compulsion to follow. It’s either that or continue to hold my breath and die in the lake. The tail teases me with its hypnotic dance. All logic and knowledge disappear from my mind.
What have I got to lose, right? I mean I’m going to die here anyway, so following this beautiful vibrant tail can’t hurt. As I see it, why shouldn’t I die with my last thoughts being on something so alluring?
Soft, soothing tones fill my ears, drowning out the panicked pounding of my pulse. It’s weird for me to explain—I have a feeling of euphoria—but a complete calm takes over my mind and body. The orange tail suddenly stops moving, then out of nowhere, it flips in one direction a couple of times dragging my gaze to the movement.
“Look up.” A sweet voice brushes my mind.
What the hell is going on? I turn my head looking away, to see what it wanted me to notice. Oh my God, my new fishy friend has helped guide me to the surface. I see the beams of light that are sky breaking through the water overhead.
Thank the heavens for that. Swimming as hard and as fast as I can toward the glimmer of hope, I push past the burning and pain in my lungs. I know I need to get to the surface as fast as possible, or my body will try to take a breath of its own accord—I’m fighting for my survival. This will not be my downfall, I’ve been through so much in my life already.
Breaking through the surface of the water, hyperventilating, dragging in quick deep breaths, my chest is heaving in pain. Just drawing in the air hurts. But I’m alive. The burning in my lungs lessens with every inhale.
I start looking around for my family, but they aren’t anywhere to be seen. Where could they be? I’m treading water spinning around in a circle trying to find them. I’m frantic in my need to locate them.
I scream out at the top of my lungs. “Mom, Dad, Lucy, stop playing games. Where are you?”
Where the hell is everyone?
What the hell is going on?
Why can’t they see I need them?
Why would they leave me here all alone?
Jump in the lake and go for a swim Lacy. It will be fun Lacy. Yeah, right Mom, this really was a fantastic idea. Who the hell are
they fooling here? I jump in the lake and end up almost drowning, chasing a tail, then come up from the water all alone. Oh yeah, my life totally rocks right now.
Hang on a minute, what’s going on here? This day just keeps getting better.
The sky starts to change to a haze of reds and purples, the wind picks up and is now whirling around making my body shiver with the coolness that it provides. My teeth start to chatter, and I can’t stop the cold shivers that are rocking throughout my body.
“Okay Lace, breathe. Keep calm, you know this will pass in a minute,” I whisper into the wind.
I have no idea who I think I’m talking to, but sometimes our own company is better than feeling as though we’re alone in this world. This isn’t the first time I’ve been brought to this side. I’ve seen this place before, but never in this much detail.
It truly is beautiful. The evergreen trees almost look plastic with how bright they are. The different tones of green blend together perfectly. In the background is a giant mountain, it looks like something from a fairy tale. Its top half is capped with snow. And If I’m not dead or dreaming, I’m pretty sure there are some unusually shaped buildings over the surface.
At the bottom of the mountain, there are houses built into the side. They look like small wooden huts with very little detail. They’re basic, no flourish or elegance added to them. The evergreens and the rest of the forest block out most of my view of the lower half of the mountain. What I can make out are small windows.
I tilt my head up, looking higher up to the mountain side. Oh my Lord look at that? It looks like the huts are becoming more detailed the further they ascend. They must be living quarters. Maybe they’re built that way to define the hierarchy between the ranks? Amongst the snow, right at the top of the mountain, appears to be one of the most extravagant mansions I’ve every laid my eyes on.
