Oracle Haunting (The Phoenix Files Book 4)
Page 1
Table of Contents
Oracle Haunting
By Morgan Kelley
prologue
Two Thousand
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
One Twenty-Five
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
One.
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Epilogue
Coming Next:
Oracle Haunting
By Morgan Kelley
Copyright © 2017 Morgan Kelley LLC
All rights reserved without limiting rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, introduced into a retrieval system, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including without limitation photocopying, recording, or other electronic or technical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
The scanning, uploading, and/or distribution of this document via the internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials. For permission requests, email author.m.kelley@gmail.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, 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.
Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains graphic violence, explicit sexual activity and disturbing imagery
©Copyright 2017 cover done by Celeste Abrahms
Editing by Rachel Blackett and proofreading by Laura Matias.
Dear Reader,
Since my books crossover a great deal, I recommend reading them as they are written. I tend to mention characters in books they don’t generally occur in, and later in the series, there are full crossovers.
Some readers have contacted me for this list, and I figured I’d pass it on to the rest of you.
While you can read the books by series only, it only enhances the reading experience if you go in order of how I wrote them. I tend to give away secrets…
I’m sneaky like that.
On the next page, I’ve given you the list.
MK
Here is the reading book order:
The Killing Times (FBI)
Sacred Burial Grounds (FBI)
True Love Lost (FBI)
Deep Dark Mire (FBI)
Fire Burns Hot (FBI)
Celestia is Falling (Croft & Croft)
Darkness of Truth (FBI)
Vegas is Dying (Croft)
Devil hath Come (FBI)
Christmas is Killing (Croft)
Blood Red Rage (Littlemoon)
Consumed by Wrath (FBI)
Sinner Repent (Carter trilogy 1)
Love is Bleeding (Croft)
Lost & Broken (Littlemoon)
Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1)
Redemption is Here (FBI)
Sinner Realized.(Carter trilogy 2)
Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2)
Heaven is Weeping (Croft)
Unthinkable Games (Littlemoon)
Dead Shall Speak (FBI)
Sinner Reborn (Carter trilogy 3)
Pledging to Die (FBI)
Hell is Burning (Croft)
Truth is Found (Littlemoon)
Slay Bells Ring (FBI)
Holiday Reinforcements (Trilogy 3)
Oracle Rising (Oracle)
Past will Haunt (FBI Flashback 1)
Choices will Destroy (FBI)
Justice is Dead (Final croft book)
Haven of Nightmares (Littlemoon)
Blood Shall Run (FBI)
Oracle Seeing (Oracle)
Dark Justice (New Croft Series)
Forbidden Secrets (Littlemoon)
Act of Blood (FBI)
Oracle Saving (Oracle)
Stalked by the Past (FBI flashback 2 )
Dying to Love (FBI)
Lost Justice (Croft)
Kiss of Souls ( Littlemoon) (FBI/Littlemoon crossover)
Oracle Haunting (Oracle)
Revenge has Come (FBI)
Paid Justice (Croft)
Lost Souls (Littlemoon)
Discarded by Fate (FBI)October 2017
Atonement (Hunter Trilogy 1) November 2017
It’s Good to be the Boss (Romance Anthology 1) November 2017
Harcourte books do not cross over and can be read anytime.
Dangerous Revelations
Dangerous Choices
Dangerous Misery
Dangerous Retaliation
Dangerous Influence
Dangerous Sacrifice
Dangerous Destruction Dec 2017
~~~~ About the Author ~~~~
Morgan Kelley lives in the beautiful Pocono Mountains with her husband and two children. After attending college at Penn State University and studying Criminal Justice, Morgan knew her only true passion in life would be murder and books. She put them both together and began her career as a writer. Other than books and writing, you can find Morgan hanging out in her garden and digging in the dirt.
Her other works include: The Junction, Serial Sins, The Blood Betrayal, The Killing Times (1), Sacred Burial Grounds (2), True Love Lost (3), Deep Dark Mire (4), Fire Burns Hot (5), Darkness of Truth (6), Devil Hath Come (7), Consumed by Wrath (8), Redemption is Here (9), Dead Shall Speak (10), Pledging to Die (11), Slay Bells Ring (12), Past will Haunt (13), Choices will Destroy (14), Blood shall Run (15), Act of Blood (16), Stalked by the Past (17), Dying to love (18), Revenge has Come (19), Blood Red Rage (1) Lost & Broken (2), Unthinkable Games (3), Truth is Found (4), Haven of Nightmares (5), Forbidden Secrets (6), Kiss of Souls (7), Celestia is Falling (1), Vegas is Dying (2), Christmas is Killing (3), Love is Bleeding (4), Heaven is Weeping (5), Hell is Burning (6), Justice is Dead (7), Dangerous Revelations (1), Dangerous Choices (2), Dangerous Misery (3), Dangerous Retaliation (4), Dangerous Influence (5), Dangerous Sacrifice (6), Sinner Repent (1), Sinner Realized (2), Sinner Reborn (3), Oracle Rising (1), Oracle Seeing (2), Oracle Saving (3), Oracle Haunting (4), Illegal Fantasies (Anthology 1), Romance Under Arrest (Anthology 2), and Holiday Reinforcements (Anthology 3)
Please feel free to visit Morgan at her website: www.morgankelley.com, email her author.m.kelley@gmail.com, or visit her blog at www.morgankelley.blogspot.com or her website www.morgankelley.com
prologue
Adare Ireland
Population:
Two Thousand
I t may be a sleepy town, but there was still so much for it to offer the world. It was a plethora of colorful people, happy moments, and joyous families coming together to make a wonderful community.
Many great things came out of Adare, and it was well-recognized as a wonderful holidaymaker’s mecca.
It was close to all the hot spots. Ne
ar Limerick, and off the beaten path to Cork, it was a tourist’s haven of shopping, sightseeing, and tranquil country air. The people, in and out, added to the beauty, the wealth of heritage, and the everyday life of the Irish people. They were what made Adare…Adare. You could tell they breathed life into the town, painting their shops bright shades of blue, yellow, and green.
It was a sight to be seen.
It was quaint.
It was lovely.
And…it was hiding a secret.
With each year, something evil began growing and lurking in Adare. It stalked the unsuspecting at night, it haunted people’s waking moments as they carried on through the day, and worse…it hid in plain sight.
It had only one name, and everyone knew it. You couldn’t escape the bent and twisted claws of fate.
That evil was death.
No, it wasn’t the death that came when you reached those ripe retirement years after working all your life. It was the death that stalked, tracked, and stole those who still had time on the clock.
It craved them.
It wanted them.
So…
It hunted them.
While the residents of the town slept, safely tucked into their beds, it snuck around, picking the perfect victim. Oh, that evil beast of death was particular.
It knew exactly what it wanted.
The first year, when it realized it could get away with its horrid plans, it was a child, plucked from its sleeping cradle. When that went off without a hitch, it chose someone bigger, harder, and more of a challenge. It sought out that man who drank just a little too much, forgot his way home, and fell asleep in the park near all the cozy bed and breakfasts.
It liked the weak.
It loved the power.
With each passing day, the people of Adare spoke of the wickedness, but never gave it a name. If you didn’t speak of such things, it couldn’t hurt you.
It couldn’t find you and pull you under.
It wouldn’t destroy your happy little life.
Well, that blasé belief was coming to an end. The monster, hidden in the rolling hills and peaceful darkness, was awake, and it was on the prowl.
It was hungry for blood, for that power found in the rolling green hills of Ireland, and the magick that came once before. It wanted to come back and rule with a wicked fist.
The evil needed to be there, stalking and raging against the peace, happiness, and love.
It was going to change.
Adare wasn’t going to be the sweet, calm place everyone wanted it to be. Those days were long gone—thanks to the entity that lurked in the wickedness of a killer. In fact, a new evil had begun searching for a way to come back, and it was growing in power.
Before long, Adare wouldn’t know what was happening. What it would know was that nothing could save them from that insatiable hunger.
Not friends.
Not family.
Not God.
Wickedness had come to the town, and it wasn’t leaving until it had its fill.
It was hungry.
And it was unstoppable.
* * * O R A C L E * * *
Across Town
Castle Glen B&B
Her head was pounding.
She wanted to vomit.
The entire day, the vertigo made it hard to focus on anything around her. As she tried to work, it wasn’t easy to block it all out.
Something was coming.
And she was struggling with keeping it hidden.
Deep down, she wanted to purge her secret, finding a way to fit in, but that never happened. Back home, she was the outsider, and it got to be too hard to pretend.
No one could know what she was living.
Feeling.
Seeing.
Experiencing.
It was her secret.
Her shame.
Despite that need to keep it locked away, she kept getting those flashes, and she was paying attention.
In her life, she knew one thing.
Everything happened for a reason. She was led to Ireland by her sense of adventure, but there was more.
Fate had a plan.
So, when the dreaded flashes came, coming alive in her with a vengeance, she let them happen. She watched, learned, and prepared.
They were unpleasant, scary, and filled with gore, but she stayed focused.
There was a knife.
There was a scream.
Then, there was nothingness.
These nightmarish flashes had happened once before, and maybe that was why Brianna Collins, from New York, had decided to leave. Maybe that was her breaking point after being in a horrible relationship, and dealing with overbearing parents, but she’d had enough. In those flashes, she saw this beautiful country.
And she was compelled to go there.
So, she did.
Now they were back, and Brianna didn’t know what to do about them. She ran once, but now…she wanted to stay. Ireland, over the last year, had become so much to her.
The people.
The little quaint houses.
The adventure.
Brianna couldn’t fight fate, and she knew it. There was no doubt that the fickle mistress was in control. Everything had worked out perfectly, lining up as if fate was steering her life.
She had dreams about Ireland.
Nightmares where she was compelled to help.
Then the job offer came.
She couldn’t say no.
Brianna wasn’t sure, but tucked safely in her bed, the wind whipping outside, there was definitely a storm coming. Only, she was pretty sure it wasn’t of the Mother Nature kind. All the energy around her felt off.
It was charged with electrical currents, and her sixth sense was going off all around her.
Something was up.
But what?
That was what she wasn’t so sure about. For now, Brianna would let everything happen, and go from there.
She trusted fate.
Brianna had to because she had nothing else to lay her hopes and dreams on. Her past…it had been lies, and she wasn’t going back.
NEVER!
How could she when she arrived in Ireland, and she’d felt nothing but happy?
It was hard to explain.
But she belonged there.
Brianna was sure of it.
At first, when she left for Ireland, it was to explore the world by teaching, learning, and soaking it all in. Then it became so much more. She was a wanderer by nature, a gypsy, if you will, and Ireland had called to her.
Something about it was a lure she couldn’t fight. In her head, there were those whispers, telling her to find Adare.
Get there.
Learn.
Enjoy.
And she was doing just that. Brianna was having a great time being an American schoolmarm in Adare. The small school in town was quaint, and it was just like she wanted it to be. The kids were freckle-faced cherubs, who smiled at her with toothy grins and wide-eyed wonder.
They loved her accent, and she loved theirs.
They asked her questions, and she learned from them too. It was symbiotic.
She would be lost without them.
As part of her choices in life, Brianna had opted to not put down roots with someone who didn’t get her. As a wild spirited woman, she believed her Prince was out there, and in America, she’d had a miserable time finding him.
The men…they sucked.
They didn’t seem to want to let her be herself. There was always a shelf she would be put on, and Brianna didn’t like it. She wanted to be in the action, having fun, and living life to its fullest.
Her parents?
They were the same.
Maybe she left New York because her parents were so stable, never yielding, and always insisting on staying in one place. They feared everything she wanted to try, and they told her she couldn’t do anything on her own.
They didn’t believe in her.
So, she snuck away and didn’t tell them where she was going. How could she when they would say the same thing over and over?
She didn’t have to travel to experience.
After all, learning could be done at a local Library.
Traveling could be done online without ever leaving home and there you would be SAFE.
It was a dirty word to her—especially given what she’d seen in her visions—ones she never told them about.
They would have locked her away.
So, she kept them to herself.
As soon as she was given the opportunity, to escape, Brianna took it.
She ran for it.
She ran from them and a man who bored her to tears. She wanted to give her gift the ability to flourish, and here, in Ireland, it felt right.
What did they know?
There was more to life than being a brood mare for some man who would never love her.
How could she settle?
Being a teacher was so satisfying. It made her happy and that was all that mattered. Now that the school year was coming to a close, she had a few weeks to decide what she wanted to do in life.
Stay here?
Go to another country?
It was up to her and that awesome thing called freedom. She’d had an offer from a school in Scotland, and she’d always wanted to see that country too.
Only, Ireland…she was fixated on it.
She kept telling herself it was those children. It was because of the Mary Murrays in her life, one of her pre-teen students who walked her back to the bed and breakfast after school each day.
It was her innocent smile and curious questions that kept her there, wanting to finally put down roots.
They made the adventure.
She loved Mary so much that she hadn’t bothered to find an apartment. Instead, she lived there at their bed and breakfast with Mary, her father, and her aging grandfather.
Why not support a small business?
After all, they ran a beautiful place, and it made her feel welcome as she stayed with them.
There was the Irish breakfast each morning, where she could eat scones and not be scolded by her mother.