by A. J. Locke
Micah and I have been in therapy for a couple weeks now. It’s been brutal, messy, and there were always tears, but we’re both starting to feel a positive spark about our relationship. We were talking it out, trying to get through things one huge issue at a time. Part of me was looking forward to the New Year in a symbolic way because I was ready to put this crappy year behind me. Next year would be a fresh start. I was going to go into it with as much positivity as I could.
I found the box that contained old photos I had inherited from my grandmother and pulled it out. Luna, who’d been enjoying her exploration of my closet and all the junk that lived there, trotted out to sniff at the box, and then sneezed. It was a dusty box. She decided it wasn’t worth her attention and went back to exploring the closet. I opened the box and started rifling through the pictures.
Ethan’s warm and fuzzy family reunion had awakened a nostalgia in me that I hadn’t even known was there. I never harbored any overwhelming feelings of loss or sadness due to my parents’ absence in my life, but seeing Ethan with his family made me want to reach out to whatever dregs I had of my own. It had just taken me this long to make myself look for those dregs.
On my father’s side, there was nothing. I had never known him, but my mother had come around a few times when I was very young. I had distant memories of her. I knew Grams had a picture or two, and I guess that was better than nothing.
My search was slow though because I kept stopping to smile at pictures of me and my grandmother, of which there were plenty. She was as hands-on as you could get, and had done so much for me and with me. I missed her badly. If she hadn’t been there for me when my mother wasn’t, I don’t know how I would have turned out.
I finally found a picture of my mother and pulled it out with slightly shaking hands. I had been so young the last time I saw her that I barely remembered what she looked like. In the faded Polaroid I looked about three or four years old, and I was sitting on my mother’s lap. We were both smiling. It was a happy moment, but I could see some hidden pain in my mother’s expression. I never knew exactly what her demons were because Grams never saw fit to tell me. Now I wished I knew. But it was too late for answers because anyone who could tell me was no longer around. And what good would it do for me now anyway?
I frowned as I looked at my mother. She had similar coloring to me, dark brown eyes, and long, slim dreadlocks, just like my grandmother. Hers had streaks of blue in them. I knew now that it was just dye, but a memory surfaced of me playing with her hair and asking about the blue, and her telling me that part of the sky had drifted down and added the color. I had fully believed and been greatly amused by her lie.
But I frowned now as I stared at the picture, because an unsettling feeling was coming over me that I couldn’t pinpoint. Just then my phone, which was lying nearby, started ringing, and I jolted out of my thoughts, staring at it for a moment before picking it up to answer. Luna poked her head out of the closet, then came out to eavesdrop.
It was Dr. Lane. I’d been waiting to hear from him. When I’d reached out to him a few times he had told me he’d been too busy and hadn’t gotten to doing the blood analysis on my sweater yet.
I answered the phone with a hammering heart.
“Dr. Lane? Hey, how are you? What’s the news on the results?”
“Selene, hi…” Dr. Lane’s voice sounded very hesitant and that did not give me a good feeling. “The results of the blood stain on your shirt are, uh…are very interesting.”
“How so?” I swallowed hard because my throat was suddenly dry. “Who did it match?”
“That’s the thing,” Dr. Lane said. “It matched to you.”
“Oh,” I felt deflated. Why was he acting strange about that? Obviously it just meant that it was my blood and not my attacker’s. “Well, thanks for analyzing it for me…”
“No wait, let me explain,” Dr. Lane said. “It matched to you, but it wasn’t your blood exactly.”
“Uh, just spell it out, doc, what the hell does that mean?”
“It means that the DNA match on the blood has to be someone related to you. Specifically uh…specifically…your mother.”
I dropped the phone without hearing if he said anything more.
My mother. My mother. I stared at the photo with a trembling hand and now it all made sense. My mother with the long dreadlocks with streaks of blue…now I knew why I’d been getting that unsettling feeling. It was because I had seen hair just like that spilling from the hood of that Rune Teller in the Underground.
It hadn’t clicked then, but that entire encounter had given me a strange feeling. Knowledge of her struggles with addiction plus the fact that I stopped seeing her made me think she had died a long time ago. Never in a million years did I think I would encounter her as a mysterious Underground worker.
A cold feeling spread through my body. Had she recognized me? Did she know I was her daughter? If so, why hadn’t she said anything? And the even bigger question, why had she attacked me? My brain could hardly process this.
I had come face to face with my mother for the first time in over twenty years.
And she had tried to kill me.
END
Look for Book 4 in The Reanimation Files, A Torment of Savages. Selene's story will be continued.
~ About the Author ~
A.J. Locke is originally from Trinidad & Tobago but has resided in New York City for over ten years. She knew early on that she wanted to be a writer, penned her first novel at fourteen, and hasn’t stopped since. Creating is her passion, and other than writing she enjoys drawing, painting, graphic design, and any other creative whim that may take her.
Discover more about A. J. Locke here
http://iqurae.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/maqueripe
https://www.facebook.com/pages/AJ-Locke/522250584507699
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6883907.A_J_Locke
~ Coming Soon ~
A Torment of Savages
~ Also by A. J. Locke ~
Affairs of the Dead
The Reanimation Files Book One
A.J. Locke
Help ghosts, stop a thief, and try not to die…
Necromancer Selene Vanream helps ghosts settle their affairs so they can move on. But when breaking the rules gets her in trouble, she’s bumped down to tracking ghosts trying to avoid the afterlife. Ghosts like Ethan Lance, who claims he was kicked out of his body when someone else jumped in. Which might be plausible—if such a thing were possible. And if Micah, Selene’s partner, didn’t pull her into an investigation of brutal murders that lead directly back to Ethan.
But when the whole mess puts Selene’s life in danger, she suddenly has very personal reasons to get Ethan’s body back. Between her uncomfortable relationship with Micah, and problems with her boss, Selene learns just how much trouble it can be when you don’t follow the rules…
Buy Affairs of the Dead here
http://www.amazon.com/Affairs-Dead-J-Locke-ebook/dp/B00CF0OWAW/
The Ravaging In Between
The Reanimation Files Book Two
A. J. Locke
Selene is slowly dying...too bad that’s the least of her problems.
You could say that Selene Vanream has a lot of problems. First there’s the Rot that’s slowly killing her, despite everything Ilyse and Micah are doing to find a way to save her.
Then there’s Andrew, the ghost of her boss who is anchored to the living world. Selene would like to ignore him, but anchored ghosts with unsettled business turn into anchored beasties, so she can’t write him off. The government has sent a team to post up at Affairs of the Dead and keep an eye on her, which includes making sure she plays up to Andrew to keep him from turning.
On top of that, someone is using Selene’s new power to create anchored ghosts for their loved ones to keep around. Not good since the culprit doesn’t have a clue about that whole anchored beastie angle. Now Selene has a criminal to catch while trying
to stay out of the hands of government goons who have stripping her reanimation power on their agenda.
When Micah and Ilyse finally find a way to save her, Selene thinks she can cross one bad thing off her list--until she learns the terrible price that must be paid to keep her alive. Full plate doesn’t cover it. Overflowing plate doesn’t cover it. Selene’s plate has damn near exploded.
Buy Requiem for the Living here
http://www.amazon.com/Requiem-Living-Reanimation-Files-Book-ebook/dp/B00XK6SM1K/
Black Widow Witch
A. J. Locke
A deadly curse, a dangerous assassin, and one shot to save everyone she loves…
Malachi Erami can’t fall in love. After she’s caught with Knave, the witch Queen’s favorite lover, she’s cursed to savagely butcher any man she falls for. Exiled to live among humans, Malachi runs a bar that serves magic-laced drinks, but since her curse labels her high risk, she’s also closely monitored. Julian Vira is her latest babysitter, but he’s also the first man since Knave that she’s been attracted to. Good-looking and nonjudgmental of her horrible curse? Yeah, he’s hard to resist.
But when Malachi finds a body behind her bar, she knows she’s in trouble. If the Witches Control Council gets wind of it, she’ll be accused of murder and sent to her death. And when her friends start getting framed for murder, she realizes she’s not the only target. Malachi and Julian dig into the evidence to clear her name, but the closer they get to answers, the closer the curse comes to taking over. So when Malachi uncovers a plot to kill the witch Queen, she finds herself suddenly recruited into service, with the promise of having her curse lifted and a reunion with Knave as well. But if she fails, Knave will die. And she and Julian might not live long enough to see that happen.
Buy Black Widow Witch here
http://www.amazon.com/Black-Widow-Witch-J-Locke-ebook/dp/B00KD43GUY/
More Fantasy from Etopia Press
9mm Blues
Thorn Knights Book One
Keith Melton
Flesh-eating ghouls. A kidnapped child. A knight's honor caught in the crossfire...
Christopher Hill is a knight in the Order of the Thorn—the sacred order of soldiers armed with submachine guns, swords, and magic. Their mission is simple: destroy the ancient, profane evils that prey upon humanity.
But that mission becomes far more complicated when a young boy is kidnapped by flesh-eating ghouls, turning a routine search-and-destroy mission into a nightmare standoff. Barricaded inside a run-down house, the ghouls gain a deadly upper hand, and while the body count rises, Hill finds himself caught in a power struggle within the order that puts his life, and his honor, at risk, and threatens both the mission and the boy Hill has vowed to see home safe, no matter what...
Buy 9mm Blues here
http://www.amazon.com/9mm-Blues-Thorn-Knights-Book-ebook/dp/B016FTLR1A/
Confessions of a Punk Rocker
Living Dead World Book 0.5
Nessie Strange
The dead should stay dead...
Jack Norris has just lost his best friend—who also happened to be his band's drummer—to a drunk driving accident. As he struggles to deal with the band's uncertain future and his own personal demons, those issues become unimportant. His dead friend has come back. And he's not showing any signs of going away. Questioning his own sanity, Jack finds his life spiraling out of control. But when a new acquaintance not only hooks him up with a drummer, but promises to help get rid of his ghostly stalker, Jack's life does a one-eighty.
Drew MacLellan, the new drummer, is more than just a new set of sticks—he's the brother of the insanely hot Jen MacLellan, who's definitely not Jack's biggest fan. Jen is nothing like the women Jack's dated in the past, but the more he gets to know her, the deeper he falls. The only problem is she's got a boyfriend. Caught between his growing attraction and the desire to do the right thing, Jack does everything he can to keep his distance. But the more he sees of her, the more he realizes he can't. He's determined to win Jen's heart, if only he can figure out how to help his dead friend rest in peace...permanently.
Buy Confessions of a Punk Rocker here
http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Punk-Rocker-Living-World-ebook/dp/B015QJ7TAS/
Pure Justice
Liah Penn
Human trafficking. A kidnapped partner. Ina's case just got a whole lot darker
In an uncertain future where the Impures—genetic defectives—are banished to a ghetto territory, Detective Ina Stone and her rookie partner, Sam Fujimoto, constantly fight for survival. But when a murdered Impure is discovered in the projects with only a business card in his pocket, the clues lead them into the shadowy underworld of black market trade and human trafficking. After Sam is kidnapped by the Yakuza crime syndicate, Ina must hide her own defect to go undercover as a human trafficking victim. Accompanied by a Tebori master and a new detective with her own secrets, Ina must find a way to free Sam without exposing his role in the investigation, or getting herself killed in the process.
Buy Pure Justice here
http://www.amazon.com/Pure-Justice-Stone-Fujimoto-Mystery-ebook/dp/B015GSEUE2/
Cross Keys: Revelation
Elvenrude Book Two
Ally Shields
If everyone keeps secrets, no one will survive…
Six months after the nightmare in Cross Keys, Kam Ryndel is enjoying her freedom in New Orleans and doesn't miss the constraints of Elven society. She's immersed herself in working missions for the CIA, even if it means less time to spend with her boyfriend, Seth. Seth's not so happy about that. Having shouldered the responsibility of his family's obligations, he's losing patience with Kam's lack of commitment to her own—and to him.
Then a guild worker is attacked by an invisible assailant, and everyone suspects another portal breach by rogues from Elvenrude. As Kam and Seth look for answers, a gang-related CIA mission interrupts the investigation, and Kam is taken to a place she never knew existed—beyond the Louisiana bayou.
Angered by Kam's new mission, Seth enlists the help of his cousin Rhyden to solve the mysterious guild-worker attack. Instead of an assailant, they discover reports of ghost sightings all over town. Not that unusual for New Orleans, but these seem…different. In a mission complicated by gangsters, feuds, failing magic, and old enemies—and the uncertain loyalty of the Elven king—Seth learns something even worse. Kam is missing. And he isn't sure if she's alive or dead…
Buy Cross Keys: Revelations here
http://www.amazon.com/Cross-Keys-Revelation-Elvenrude-Book-ebook/dp/B013J5Y99A/
Table of Contents
Acclaim for A.J. Locke
Look for these titles from A. J. Locke
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
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
EPILOGUE
~ About the Author ~
~ Coming Soon ~
~ Also by A. J. Locke ~
More Fantasy from Etopia Press
