A Witch's Mortal Desire (A Distant Edge Romance Book 1) Read online

  A Witch’s Mortal Desire

  Sadie’s Book

  Chloe Adler

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chloe Adler

  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

  Afterword

  About the Author

  Also by Chloe Adler

  Copyright

  A Witch’s Mortal Desire by Chloe Adler

  Book 1 in the Distant Edge Series

  Copyright © 2017 by Signum Publishing

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming book A Witch’s Dark Craving by Chloe Adler. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

  Cover Credit: Cora Graphics

  Editor: Elizabeth Nover - Razor Sharp Editing

  Proofreader: Candace Haven - Help Me Edit

  ISBN: 978-1-947156-08-1

  Dedications

  This is my first published book and though I would like to thank everyone that made it possible that list would take up half the novel... Please forgive me if you are not mentioned below by name, it does not mean that I do not love you and appreciate everything that you have done for me! I had to shorten this for the “look inside” - it was 6 pages long so most likely you were mentioned!

  It all started with Beth Forsman, who introduced me to the work of Carly Phillips. Without Beth this book (and the 3 before it that remain hidden under my bed) would not exist. In addition - this book would not exist without my local chapter of RWA (Romance writers of America) and all of the amazing women and men that I’ve met at the meetings, online and at the national conferences. Every single person who has interacted with me has shaped my growth and commitment as a writer.

  All of my critique partners in Wet Ink! And everyone in my local chapter of RWA — Mad love to all of you and every single author I’ve ever met!

  My editor Elizabeth Nover - without her, all of these pretty words that you see would just be ink stains on a page.

  My friends and fam who’ve been supportive and encouraging. Susan, my BFF, who always understands when I say "I can't hang out I have a deadline". Curtis my partner, for being my rock throughout much of this process and respecting “quiet, I’m writing”. David, my BFF who turns off the world with me by watching endless hours of BBT and has recently informed me that after reading this book he is my “biggest fan”.

  My entire support group, many of whom are not mentioned but you know who you are.

  AND - MOSTLY FOR YOU - READERS!

  Chloe Adler

  Dear Reader,

  Please click here to join my ARC (advanced reader copies - reading to review) team, in which you’re asked for an honest review in exchange for a free book. Please contact me with questions.

  Here is my newsletter list if you’d like to receive news, blog posts and updates including new releases.

  I welcome reader engagement!

  Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoy it!

  XXOOXX ~ Chloe Adler

  Chapter One

  “Sadie Willamena Holt, you were born headstrong. You almost tore my uterus completely open at birth. At twenty-one years of age, you still remain a pain in my side,” my mother, Aurelia, turned to tell me while polishing the silver, a task she never seemed to tire of.

  Mother liked to remind me about this whenever she was angry, just like she liked to call me by my full, horrendous name. I suspected she gave me Aunt Willamena the spinster’s name because she resented the way I had come tearing, quite literally, into this world.

  I pretended not to notice her reflection in the teapot she was scouring, which stared at me with one bright blue eye and one dark and accusing brown eye. Heterochromia iridum, a matter she could easily remedy if she wanted to, but she’d always liked the dramatic effect. Sometimes I changed the color of one of my eyes to be dramatic as well, the extent of my powers. But it just wasn’t the same as being born with it.

  “I know you and Chrysothemis don’t see eye to eye, but can’t you bring your sister along with you and your friends tonight? With what’s been happening in Distant Edge, all the disappearances, I’d rest better if there were more of you together. Plus, all of Chrys’s friends are getting married and having children. She rarely gets out anymore.”

  I snort-laughed at this, it was involuntary.

  “That is not ladylike, Sadie, and what’s so funny?” Aurelia said, her lovely features crumpling in on themselves. Even when my mother was displeased, she was still a hauntingly beautiful woman.

  “Chrys. She’d better meet someone soon.”

  “How can she if she never gets out?” Aurelia looked at me under wisps of wavy strawberry blond hair. “This will be a good opportunity for her.” She shook her head. “You’ll bring Chrysothemis.”

  I tried a different tactic. “You know that Chrys doesn’t approve of what Burgundy, Jared and I do for fun. She’ll complain and reprimand us the entire night.”

  Aurelia stopped polishing for a moment and turned to look at me full force. That wasn’t good.

  “Then do something Chrys will like. Go somewhere where she can mingle and have the chance to meet others. And, Sadie, keep it in your pants for one night. You don’t have to engage in endless depravity. It’s disgusting.”

  “Why do you polish your silver anyway?” My voice sounded nasal and distant. We both knew I was trying to change the subject. My mother had made it abundantly clear that she didn’t approve of my lifestyle. “All you have to do is conjure it perfectly clean.”

  “I like to busy my hands when you frustrate me so I don’t turn you into a toad.”

  I had to look away from that stare, trying not to remember the time she’d been so angry she’d turned me into a mouse. An actual mouse. It had been horrible. All I could think about was food, besides the fact that everything terrified me, and I kept trying to hide under the refrigerator, which was humming so loudly my tiny little mouse ears felt like they were going to explode. That had been a month after Dad disappeared. She had left me in that mouse body for days on end. I never understood if it was because she’d forgotten about me or if she had been mourning the loss of her husband. Maybe both, but what did it matter? Letting a nine-year-old child suffer like that, there was no excuse.

  It wasn’t until after our cat, Armageddon, cornered me in Iphi’s room that Aurelia changed me back. I shudder to think what would have happened if my younger sister hadn’t found me there. My little hero saved me, pushing Armageddon away and holding out her six-year-old chubby hands so I could climb to safety. I n
ever liked cats after that. Iphi hadn’t even known it was me; she’d just seen a helpless creature, and it was in her nature to save it. When she’d brought me into the living room to show Aurelia what she’d found, our mother had rolled her eyes, as though it was a grave inconvenience to change me back.

  Maybe that was the beginning of the end for me. When I started to feel unsafe in the house I’d grown up in, with the woman who was supposed to protect me. Being physically free of her tyranny by moving in with my best friends soon after I turned eighteen had helped a lot with my sanity. And even though my female BFF, Burgundy, tried to build up my self-confidence, every time I visited my mother, I seemed to regress.

  My little sister, Iphigenia, the light of everyone’s life, still lived at home and I could never abandon her with the monster we called Mother. I’ve been told that it’s in our cells to love those who raised us, even when they’re awful. I was no exception.

  “I’ll bring Chrys, and I’m sure Iphi will want to come with us too.” By the same magnitude that my younger sister was like a rainbow of delight, my older sister was a mood killer.

  “Iphigenia starts teaching at the circus school tomorrow. She needs to prepare and can’t stay out late,” Aurelia said.

  “She starts tomorrow? But she’s only eighteen. I thought . . .”

  “She’s not like you, Sadie. Iphigenia is responsible and wants to contribute. Eighteen is old enough to get a job. You could learn something from her. And Chrys.”

  “I work, Mom. At the Art Academy.” It was difficult not to sound indignant.

  “You pose naked. How is that a job? It’s distasteful.”

  “Can we please not go there again? They pay me fifty dollars an hour. That’s probably more than Iphi’s going to make. And Chrys is a student there, she’s not even working.”

  “Chrysothemis works on her craft, as does Iphigenia. And they both do so with integrity. Something you seem to lack.”

  Why did I put up with this? It wasn’t my fault I had no “craft” to work on. She only treated me this poorly, never my sisters, and I never understood why.

  “I’m out of here,” I said, spinning around to leave.

  “You will not leave while I’m speaking to you or I will make your life miserable.”

  I was an adult and my mother still ruled my life. If it weren’t for my best friends and younger sister, I would have left Distant Edge years ago. Turning back to her, I placed my hands on my hips and waited.

  “Weren’t you planning on going to the sex club tonight?” Aurelia asked. I knew no matter how I answered, she’d be upset. At 186 years old, Mother was very old-fashioned.

  “Yes, it’s one of the few nights that Burgundy doesn’t have to work there,” I said, trying to keep my voice even and calm.

  “What if you save the club for another night and take Chrys dancing? I know you all like to go do that hippie dancing.”

  “It’s not hippie dancing, Mom.” I knew my tone sounded as exasperated as I felt.

  “Whatever it is, Sadie, it’s better than the sadist vampire club.”

  I wanted to argue with her. Tell her that the club was not only for sadists and vampires, it was a nice mix of everything, including humans, but I didn’t say anything.

  The only thing my mother hated more than vampires was humans. We used to have a human neighbor, Ms. Bretscher. She had always been kind to us. We’d played in her backyard, swinging on the branches of her apple tree. Aurelia had treated her well enough, not overly kind but not antagonistic . . . until our father left. Or died, according to Mom, though we never saw a body. After that, she’d started acting out, first in small ways and then larger ones, to make sure the woman felt unsafe in her own home. What began with leaving a dead rat outside Ms. Bretscher’s front door ended with Aurelia actually setting fire to the woman’s house. No one had been hurt but it hadn’t taken long before our neighbor had moved to a part of the Edge that housed a larger human population. We all knew Aurelia would be happier living in a town of pure Signum, but those didn’t exist yet. It was a big enough deal that we were allowed to have three places on the planet where we could live freely.

  “Sadie, did you hear me?” Aurelia called.

  I couldn’t help curling my top lip as a low, displeased growl escaped.

  Aurelia’s back stiffened, but she didn’t turn around. “Classy, Sadie. Did you pick that up from Jared?”

  “Mom . . .” I started, not sure what to say next. She still knew how to push my buttons even though I hadn’t lived at home for three years. Jared Weks and Burgundy Rosales were my two beloved roommates. Mother openly hated them both for what they were as much as for who they weren’t afraid to be. “Jared’s not an animal, he’s a shifter. So what if he gets a little growly once a month? We live in Distant Edge, where every Signum gets to be themselves. Where we don’t have to hide our true nature.”

  “Signum is not an English word, Sadie,” she hissed. She tossed her hair again and reached for the dried peppermint hanging in a cluster attached to the wood-beamed ceiling.

  “It is now, Mom. It’s in the urban dictionary,” Chrys said as she entered the kitchen, her limp brown hair pulled off her face in a tight ponytail that was too severe for her soft features. Once upon a time, we’d played with Aurelia’s makeup and braided each other’s hair, before Dad had left.

  Now when I tried to get near her with a hairbrush, she’d push me away with insults. “Not everyone wants to look like a ho,” was one of her many jibes.

  “And so? They think they can just vote in a Latin word willy-nilly?” My mother turned toward Chrys, her shoulders raised.

  “It means we’re miracles,” Chrys said with a smile that crinkled her eyes.

  Aurelia reached out to rub the paint splotch off Chrys’s cheek. “I know what it means, honey.” Aurelia’s eyes narrowed. “But we aren’t miracles. We existed before humans.”

  Chrys squeezed Mom’s shoulder in exasperated affection. A familiar twinge of envy pierced my heart like an ice pick. They’d always had an easy relationship. Once, when Chrys had been my ally, we’d had a great one too. Chrys and Aurelia were almost the same height, but that’s where any similarity ended. My older sister was the only one of us who resembled our father. Mousy-brown hair, thin and delicate. Cat-like features that actually looked better on Dad than on Chrys. I never understood how the three of us looked so different. Chrys was like dad, Iphi more like mom. But me – I looked like I came from the mailman. Iphi and I shared mother’s porcelain skin but that’s where our resemblance ended. My flaming red curls were mine alone as were my emerald green eyes.

  Aurelia held out a fresh cup of peppermint tea. Chrys took it and brought it to her lips, nodding thanks.

  I had to look away, it hurt too much. Worrying the three-tiered family ring on my index finger brought momentary solace.

  “Sadie wanted to invite you out with her and her friends tonight,” Aurelia said.

  I tried to shake my head no, completely subconsciously and imperceptibly I thought, when the icy, vice-like grip of my mother’s fury grasped my neck, holding it perfectly still. How did she do that? Could my sisters do it too? Damn her for never teaching me anything.

  Chrys turned to me, her eyes wide at first, then narrowing ever so slightly in complete contrast with the sudden flare of her nostrils.

  I felt my head nodding up and down but not of my own accord, and a smile stretched across my face, also not of my own accord.

  “Where are you going?” Chrys asked, still wearing her expression of disgust.

  “Dancing at the hippie place,” Mother chimed in.

  “Oh,” Chrys clapped her hands together, “I love dancing.” She blew a puff of air out of her nostrils. “As long as I don’t have to be alone with Sadie, I’d love to go.” Chrys smirked at me. Her mean-girl face. The one I was too used to seeing.

  I tried to open my mouth to protest, to explain that Chrys would not love this kind of dancing, but my mother had spelled my
mouth shut and continued to work my head up and down on my neck.

  The soot-black cat made its appearance, mewling, into the kitchen. Chrys bent down to pet it as it weaved in and out of her legs. “Armageddon,” she cooed, burying her face in its soft fur.

  I sneezed, taking a step backwards. Apparently Mother’s silencing spell didn’t work on autonomic reflexes.

  Chrys threw me a contemptuous look, as though my cat allergy was something I could control. “Can I stay home with you and Iphi instead?”

  “I’d love that, sweetheart.” Aurelia’s voice was sugary sweet, a tone she reserved for my sisters alone. “But what I’d love more is for you to get out of your comfort zone, make new friends and have fun.” Aurelia flashed me a warning look. “Good, clean fun, not the kind Sadie has,” she added.

  I tried to speak again, but my mouth was still spelled shut. I gazed at Aurelia, who was looking at me sideways, and as Chrys turned toward the counter, Aurelia held her finger up to her lips. As if I could say anything right now.

  “Sadie promised to keep it in her pants tonight. Jared will play the part of the gentleman, and Burgundy won’t bare her fangs.”

  I couldn’t protest even if I wanted to.

  Chapter Two

  The house I lived in with my roommates was about ten minutes from Aurelia’s, nestled up in the hills on Canyon Drive. It was dark as I rode my Vespa back. At least I had that to be proud of, the vintage pink and white beauty that I had purchased with my own money. The headlights banked and sparked off the ocean as I sped down Discovery Highway, the main drag that cut through the center of our town. I’d spent the entire drive berating myself for stopping by Aurelia’s in the first place. But when that woman summoned, everyone jumped. My mind fumed at the way she’d treated me and how I’d let her. As usual, she’d gotten what she wanted, forcing me to agree to take Chrys with us later.