THE MAZE
Erica Stevens
Copyright © 2018 Erica Stevens
All rights reserved.
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ALSO FROM THE AUTHOR
Books written under the penname Erica Stevens
The Captive Series
Captured (Book 1)
Renegade (Book 2)
Refugee (Book 3)
Salvation (Book 4)
Redemption (Book 5)
Broken (The Captive Series prequel)
Vengeance (Book 6)
Unbound (Book 7)
The Coven Series
Nightmares (Book 1)
The Maze (Book 2)
Dream Walker (Book 3) Coming in June 2019
The Fire & Ice Series
Frost Burn (Book 1)
Arctic Fire (Book 2)
Scorched Ice (Book 3)
The Kindred Series
Kindred (Book 1)
Ashes (Book 2)
Kindled (Book 3)
Inferno (Book 4)
Phoenix Rising (Book 5)
The Ravening Series
Ravenous (Book 1)
Taken Over (Book 2)
Reclamation (Book 3)
The Survivor Chronicles
Book 1: The Upheaval
Book 2: The Divide
Book 3: The Forsaken
Book 4: The Risen
Books written under the penname Brenda K. Davies
The Alliance Series
Eternally Bound (Book 1)
Bound by Vengeance (Book 2)
Bound by Darkness (Book 3)
Bound by Passion (Book 4) Releasing 2019
Hell on Earth Series
Hell on Earth (Book 1)
Into the Abyss (Book 2)
Kiss of Death (Book 3) Releasing 2019
The Road to Hell Series
Good Intentions (Book 1)
Carved (Book 2)
The Road (Book 3)
Into Hell (Book 4)
The Vampire Awakenings Series
Awakened (Book 1)
Destined (Book 2)
Untamed (Book 3)
Enraptured (Book 4)
Undone (Book 5)
Fractured (Book 6)
Ravaged (Book 7)
Consumed (Book 8)
Unforeseen (Book 9) Coming April 2019
Historical Romance
A Stolen Heart
This book is dedicated to all those who believe in magic.
CONTENTS
Books by the author
Dedication
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
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Excerpt from Book 3, Dream Walker
Where to find the author
About the author
CHAPTER 1
The sand shifted beneath her feet and filtered into her shoes as Avery strode down the beach. Huddling deeper into her windbreaker, she tried to fight off the wind whipping her black hair behind her. The ocean lapping against the shore was the only sound in the night. Overhead, the growing clouds blocked out the stars and drifted across the remaining sliver of moon. The ozone scent of impending rain hung heavily in the air.
Avery berated herself for taking the beach home when a fat raindrop hit her nose. She’d wanted to be closer to the ocean to feel its power and the relaxing comfort it gave her. However, she thought she’d beat the storm home. She’d been wrong.
So focused on beating the impending storm, Avery jumped when a shell cracked underfoot. The noise caused an unreasonable sense of unease to grip her, and she glanced at the dunes leading toward her mother’s house; the welcoming lights illuminating the kitchen windows offered no comfort.
She debated climbing the dunes and walking the road home, but she refused to be spooked for no reason. She had nothing to be afraid of, but no matter how often she told herself this, she couldn’t get rid of the sensation of eyes boring into the back of her head.
The last time she felt like someone was watching her like this was right before they held the séance at Lila’s house. Then, Regan had been watching her from the shadows of his nightmare realm while waiting for her to do something that would allow him to seize his opportunity to capture her.
But Regan was gone. The coven had bound him to his skull and buried it in sacred ground; he could never escape. So then why did she feel like she was the prey about to be snapped up into carnivorous jaws? Avery cast a glance over her shoulder, but the beach remained empty.
Regan’s gone. No matter how often she told herself this, she found it increasingly difficult to breathe as her instincts screamed she was in danger. Don’t run. Don’t be a coward. But her heart thundered, and her skin prickled as sweat slid down her nape.
When she passed Isla’s house, the lights spilling from her back porch cast a pathway across the sand. Avery bent her head and speed walked faster as rain pattered the sand and slid over her skin. Following the light from Isla’s house, she veered toward the road on the other side of the dunes. She hated giving in to her irrational fear, but she would feel better once she was on the street.
She was almost to the top of the dune when the hair on her arms and neck rose. She almost bolted and raced for the road, but she feared her panicked flight would draw forth whatever lurked in the shadows. Regan may be gone, but during Avery’s time with the coven, she’d learned there were many different spiritual planes. Was something from one of them stalking her?
She searched the dunes for a hint of the danger palpitating the air, but the shadows hid anything that might be lurking within them. Cupping one hand over the other to shelter it from the rain, Avery berated herself for allowing her imagination to run away from her as she whispered the word, “Ignite.”
A blue flame sparked to life and hovered an inch above her palm. The light calmed her as she lowered her other hand, and despite the rain pelting her, the fire didn’t extinguish. She savored the warmth of it. It only illuminated a ten-foot circular area around her, but it was enough to reveal the shells, seagrass, and crystals in the grains of sand. Tilting her head to the side, she listened for any footsteps, but all she
heard was the rain and the sigh of the sea.
She didn’t see or hear anything stalking her, but that didn’t reassure her. Something was wrong. She could feel it in the marrow of her bones.
“You’re ridiculous.”
Her whispered words didn’t reassure her; instead, they were abnormally loud in the hushed night. She tugged her jacket closer around her neck in the hope it would warm her, but it was useless as the air wasn’t cold. This chill came from deep inside her, and she feared it would never ease.
A flash of movement in her peripheral vision caused her to whirl toward whatever it was, but there was nothing there. Then a warm breath caressed her neck, and her stomach plunged as she felt the heat of her hunter against her back. Stiffly, Avery turned to face whatever stood there. She expected it to pounce and tear her apart, but she turned all the way without being eaten alive.
Her hand trembled as she lifted her fire higher to reveal the man standing before her. Avery gasped when the flame reflected in a pair of the most stunning electric blue eyes she’d ever seen as Regan’s ethereal, inhuman beauty filled her vision. Hanging to his shoulders, his black hair emphasized the sculpted perfection of his face.
“Boo,” he whispered as his thick, red lips curled into a smile.
This can’t be happening! He’s gone! This isn’t real! We bound him to his skull and buried it!
“I’m coming for you, Avery,” he whispered.
His hypnotic voice reached into her mind and jolted her out of the paralysis gripping her.
“No!” she screamed as her flame sputtered out.
• • •
Bolting upright, Avery struggled against hyperventilating. The sweat pouring down her body cooled on her icy skin as her eyes darted around and she tried to figure out where she was. She saw the bureau and chair, but it was another minute before she centered herself in her bedroom.
It was a nightmare.
“But it seemed so real,” she whispered.
She could still see his eyes and feel the hypnotic pull of his voice as her teeth chattered. Taking deep breaths, it was a few more minutes before she felt stable enough to move from her bed. She swung her feet to the floor and curled her toes into the cool grains of hardwood beneath her feet.
Lifting her phone, she saw it was only five thirty, and she cursed. It was far too early to be up. Then, she remembered what day it was.
The first day of school.
Her first day in a new school, with new people.
The recollection caused her hands to clench on her sheets. No wonder she had a nightmare about Regan; she’d been dreading this day for the past two weeks, so it made sense she dreamed about him today of all days. The only thing almost as terrible as Regan was being the new girl during her senior year at a small school where most of the kids had known each other since kindergarten.
Avery shoved aside her remaining dregs of fear and climbed from her bed. Her sweat-dampened nightgown clung to her skin as she lifted her arms to stretch her aching muscles. She yawned as her arms dropped to her sides.
The first rays of sun crept through her windows to illuminate the warm familiarity of her room. The antique bureau she found on the side of the road with a free sign last summer sat against the far wall. With the help of her friends, Lila, Tina, and Karen, they carried it half a mile to her old home and set it in the backyard. With no idea what they were doing, the four of them spent many hours sanding and staining the bureau to a natural wood color, and they’d done a beautiful job.
Avery smiled as she recalled the laughs, nicked fingers, stained clothes, and many swears she shared with the closest friends she had until her life dramatically changed two months ago. The changes were mostly good, and Avery now had a coven full of friends who were also powerful witches, as well as a boyfriend. It was still difficult to believe that a couple of months ago, she was living in Newport and oblivious to the fact she was a witch. Now she was living on Cape Cod and was not only a member of a coven, but she was the most powerful witch in the coven.
As she ran a hand through her black hair, it caught on the tangles. The mirror on her wall reflected the circles surrounding her sapphire blue eyes. Her skin was paler than usual, her round cheeks looked more hollow, and her lips were compressed into a thin line.
Avery rested her fingers against the crystal of rarity dangling against her throat. Like the other members of the coven, she possessed a special stone. However, unlike the stones of the others, the brilliant blue stone that matched her eyes was the only one in existence. Extremely powerful, the crystal helped people through times of trouble. It also brought forth all the elements, could be used to call upon the dead, and it opened portals between the worlds.
Rubbing the crystal, her thoughts returned to Regan, but thinking about him was useless and would do nothing to ease her anxiety over this day. Lowering her hand, Avery padded past the boxes sitting against her wall and toward the bathroom. Normally, she would have unpacked her things within the first few days of settling in here. She liked all her things organized, but she’d been so busy with the coven and her friends that she hadn’t had a chance.
The boxes marked books caused a twinge in her heart. Her books were so important to her, yet over the two weeks she lived here, she hadn’t even opened the boxes holding them. She vowed to make time to unpack them this weekend. When she finally had all her things organized, she would feel more settled. It would help her feel more settled when she finally had all her things out.
CHAPTER 2
The rambling brick school looming before her had all the welcoming warmth of an ogre prepared to smack down anyone trying to cross its bridge. Avery clasped her schedule as she surveyed the school she’d spend the next year of her life attending. She dreaded plunging into this new environment.
Out of habit, she touched the birthmark on her inner left wrist. The mark, a circle with eight lines leading toward an intricate knot in the center, was about an inch in diameter. Reid had told her the circle with the spokes was the Wheel of the Year.
The wheel indicated the calendar didn’t stop and start up again but moved from day to day without end. He’d also explained the knot in the center of the wheel was the triquetra, an ancient Celtic symbol initially used to represent the maiden, mother, and crone. The triquetra also symbolized the infinite cycle of life and was known as a rune of protection.
Every member of the coven, their parents, and their ancestors all had the birthmark on their right wrist. Avery was the only one who bore it on her left, but she was left-handed, and that was the only reason she could think of for it being in a different spot. She was also the only witch throughout all their histories to have two birthmarks. The other one was identical and located on her left hip.
She rubbed at the mark while she gazed at the school. It was smaller than her old school, but though it was only two stories, it seemed like a monstrosity to her.
“That wing,” Reid said, pointing at the wing branching off the main structure toward the left, “is mostly for seniors and juniors. And that”—he pointed to the wing branching to the right— “is mostly for the freshman and sophomores. The school is a combination of a couple of towns and has about two hundred and fifty kids in it.”
It was a lower number than her old school, but it did little to ease Avery’s worries. She had no idea where she was going and knew no one outside the people in her coven. Briefly, she yearned for Tina, Karen, and Lila as she pondered what they were doing. They would miss her too, but it would be easier for them to adjust than her.
I’ll see them soon.
They would be visiting this weekend, and Karen and Tina had only gone home two days ago while Lila left two weeks ago for more doctor’s appointments and physical therapy. When Lila was injured during a diving accident two months ago, she’d been unable to walk for a bit, but she was well on her way to a full recovery.
Reid squeezed her hand. “It will be all right. The coven is here for you.”
Love
washed through her as she turned to gaze at his handsome profile while he navigated his black Jeep Wrangler through the crowded parking lot. With his straight nose, firm jaw, and high cheekbones, his features could have been carved by a master hand.
She ached to run her fingers through his chestnut hair, but she resisted. It was enough for her to look at him and know he was hers. When he slid into a parking spot, Avery tore her gaze away from him and back to the school.
A horde of kids mulled around the parking lot and loitered outside the building. They called to their friends or huddled in groups as they talked and laughed. She didn’t recognize one face in the swelling mass. At her old school, she would have known everyone, and they all knew her.
“Come on,” Reid said. “The coven should be at the pavilion by now.”
“The pavilion?” she choked out.
“It’s where we meet before school. Nobody bothers us there.” His beautiful silver eyes were filled with love as he gazed at her. “It’s going to be okay, and you have the coven here to help you get through it.”
“I know.” But she still felt like running all the way back to Newport.
Reid grinned at her before removing his camera case from the back seat, slinging it over his shoulder and jumping out of the Jeep. He’d removed the doors from the Jeep, and as Avery undid her seat belt, he strode around the front of the vehicle to meet her. When he held out his hand, Avery clasped it and hopped down.
They dodged in and out of the students and weaved around the thick trunks of the dozen or so maple trees planted in front of the building. Some students were gathered beneath the shade of those trees while one group clustered around a trunk and tried to hide the plume of smoke rising from the center of their group.
The warm, early September air helped calm her as it caressed her skin, and a small breeze ruffled the leaves overhead. The lush, green grass sank beneath Avery’s feet as they made their way out from beneath the shade of the trees and rounded the corner of the building. A large, wooden pavilion came into view and laughter drifted from it.
The Maze (The Coven, Book 2) Page 1
