Falling Into Place
Read Falling Into Place Online
Authors: Brandy L Rivers
Tags: #vampire, #urban fantasy, #paranormal romance, #threesome, #werewolf, #menage, #Fae, #mage
Others of Edenton: Book
3
Copyright 2013 Brandy L Rivers
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights
under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written
permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of
this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's
imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the
trademarked status and trademark owners of various products
referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without
permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not
authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark
owners.
New Beginnings
Prequel: Others of Edenton
In Too Deep
Book 1: Others of Edenton
Shadows Fall
Book 1.5 Others of Edenton
Shadows of the Past
Book 2: Others of Edenton
Untitled Short
Others of Edenton
Untitled Story
Book 4: Others of Edenton
Nights Embrace
Book 1: Others in Seattle
Hoping for March
Storms Collide
Book 2: Others in Seattle
To keep up with upcoming releases and news
visit me at
www.facebook.com/brandylrivers
To Brandon, my tough little boy.
You are the sweetest kid a Mom could ask for…
most of the time.
You have been through a ton between
JRA and all of the eye stuff.
Mommy’s proud of you.
Acknowledgments and Thank
You
s
First and foremost, I have to thank my Mom
who helps with proofreading without complaining about what I write.
She loves my books, even if she thinks it weird her daughter write
a few hot scenes, and this one may have been a tad hotter than the
previous ones.
Magen McMinimy, thank you so much for
everything. It’s been great bouncing ideas back and forth for your
series and mine. You’ve been amazing. I always love your feedback,
and I love to read your books early. Keep’em coming.
Kristin Mayer, my favorite Slater Stalker.
Having a non-paranormal fanatic as a beta reader helps me fill
things in better. Your questions prompted me to go back and write
the first part instead of relying on flashbacks that just weren’t
doing the backstory justice.
Amanda Richardson, you’re awesome. Thank you
for taking the time to read the early versions and all the
feedback.
Theresa Easterline, you are amazing. Thank
you for taking the time to help me whip the book into shape.
Claire Taylor, thank you for the time you
took to go find those little misses. I feel like a dork, but you
are a rock star.
Laurna J Hamilton, you’re awesome too,
thanks for those suggestions.
To the most awesome Grandfather in the
world, thank you for catching what no one else did.
Aimie Jennison you rock, thanks for that
last read through.
Angela Pratt, I have to thank you for giving
me the name for one of the mages. Hey, you wanted to die in a book,
so here it is.
To my lovely ladies from Dauntless Indies.
Thank you Felicia Tatum and Sarah M Cradit. Your feedback is as
always much appreciated. You’ve been a wealth of support and
laughs. I’m looking forward to the New Year working with you as
well as Shawn and Michelle, of course.
And a huge thank you to all the ladies in
Rivers Others, my awesome street team who are great at getting the
word out about my books. I really truly appreciate it, all of you.
Special thanks to Shirley Williamson, Joy Whiteside, Claire Taylor,
Shannon Burdsall, Aimie Jennison, Jennifer Hensley, and Tarnya
Rutheford.
If I missed anyone, I do apologize, it
wasn’t intentional
Falling Apart
Everything fit together until it all fell apart
Seventy-two years ago.
The early morning light crept through the
bayou, leaving eerie shadows on their path. Tremaine looked over at
the young girl for the hundredth time.
She never once made a sound, but she managed
to keep up. She looked exhausted, and they had been hiking for
hours, but he wanted to put some distance between her and Sinclair
McCallister’s estate.
His heart broke for the beautiful, wide-eyed
young girl who had lived through horrors he couldn’t bring himself
to imagine. Her hair was a tangled mess of colors, her eyes a
combination of green and gold he’d never seen.
Every time he caught a glimpse of the nasty
bruise that covered one side of her face, he wanted to pound the
life out of the sick piece of shit who gave it to her.
After everything she’d been through, she
wore no expression. There was intelligence in her eyes though, and
she responded to every direction he’d given her without
argument.
She was so young. Eleven, maybe twelve years
old, and she’d been through hell no one deserved at the hands of a
monster.
Her slender fingers clutched his coat tight
around her thin frame, her knuckles white. That was the only sign
of emotion.
Tremaine was ill equipped to comfort the
girl, but from the moment he saw her, he knew he would do anything
to protect her and keep her safe. His new mission was to ensure she
had a better life if it were the last thing he did.
He wanted nothing more than to banish the
memory of finding her. His supervisor, Magister Draecyn, had sent
him on an assignment to verify the truth of the rumors circulating
about Sinclair McCallister and his crimes.
Everyone had finally retired for the night,
and Tremaine took his chance to sneak into the library. He knelt
beside the safe, flipping through a huge stack of sales records.
Every last one of Sinclair’s slaves were mage born. Many showed
signs that they were victims of mana theft.
The further Tremaine dug, the more it
appeared that Sinclair was indeed a dark mage, feeding off the very
people he enslaved.
His stomach turned at the thought that his
closest friend was this monster’s brother. Wilhelm was a good
father, who always looked to help those in need. Sinclair took
children from their families, stripping their life essence away in
order to maintain his power.
Then Tremaine found the diaries with
detailed descriptions of the torture and abuse Sinclair doled out
to his slaves. There was one slave who was older in appearance,
sliver streaks through her mahogany hair. A few of the slaves were
in their twenties, but the majority were in their teens.
There was more than enough evidence to
condemn Sinclair for the rest of his unnatural life. Tremaine
needed to find a way to free the slaves before they could suffer
further.
A scream echoed from the next room. Tremaine
ran into the hall. There was another shrill cry, this one full of
pain as a child yelled, “No, stop.”
Tremaine turned the knob but it was
locked.
Sinclair shouted, “Quiet, bitch. You’ll
learn to take it without a sound.” The sound of a slap rang
out.
“
Go to hell,” a girl shrieked.
Tremaine slammed into the door, shattering
it with a pulse of magic. He was met with shadowed webbing that
blocked his entrance
The crackle of lightning and sobs filled the
room. With renewed effort, he shoved his fingers into the scalding
magic and forced his own power into the spell. The shield crumbled
to dust as he tore it apart. Tremaine burst into the room.
A gurgled groan came from Sinclair as
Tremaine turned the corner. Sinclair was on top of a girl who was
covered in arcing blue lightning. His body danced as the girl’s
magic flowed through his flesh, setting him on fire.
Sinclair’s strangled scream echoed through
the room. His burning corpse collapsed on top of the girl.
“
No, no, no,” she sobbed.
Tremaine didn’t think, he rushed forward,
and threw Sinclair’s body from the bed. He hardly felt the heat,
but noticed the fire licking up his sleeves. A quick spell doused
the flames as he turned back to the girl.
He found her staring back at him with wide
terrified eyes, and then she screamed. Her body thrashed, trying to
pull free from the rope and the burning sheets, though her magic
kept her safe from the flames.
A lump formed in his throat, but he managed
to get the words out. “I’m here to free you.”
He pulled a blade from his belt and cut the
ropes binding her to the bed. The second she was free, she
scrambled away, curling up in the corner of the smoke filled room
as she tried to catch her breath.
“
Shh, child. I’m here to help.” He pulled
his coat from his shoulders and crouched down to hold it in front
of her. “We must leave, and we have to do it now.”
She looked up at him as her bottom lip
trembled. “You won’t touch me?”
“
No, never like that. You’re free of that
monster, but we need to go. Now.” He took another look at the four
poster bed that was now an inferno. It wouldn’t be long before the
fire would spread through the rest of the house.
Her head nodded slightly as she stood and
took his jacket. He threw the window open and stepped outside.
Thankfully it was low enough that he didn’t have to touch her. She
was too afraid and he had no desire to spook her. She had been
through more than enough, and his only wish was to take her to
safety.
There was no time to make sure the other
slaves made it out. With Sinclair dead, the wards keeping the
slaves in would unravel. Tremaine turned, letting out a shrill
whistle that he amplified across the property with a spell. It
would wake anyone still sleeping and give them a chance to escape
before the house burned to ash.
After they left Sinclair’s estate, he made a
few lame attempts to ask if she was all right. She never responded,
but he knew there was no way in hell she was okay. Not after the
scene he had witnessed. Then she was forced to walk barefoot for
several miles with nothing but his jacket wrapped around her.
They travelled through the bayou, and he
took her through several yards until he found a clothesline with
something she could wear. He stole a pair of wool pants and a
sweater. They were too big on her, but they covered her. There was
a pair of worn out shoes on the porch that he gave her as well.
When he asked if she needed help, she shrank
away from him, her head going back and forth violently.