The Long Lost
The Long Lost
Title Page
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
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty Two
Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter Thirty Five
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty Seven
Chapter Thirty Eight
Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty One
Chapter Forty Two
Chapter Forty Three
Chapter Forty Four
Chapter Forty Five
Chapter Forty Six
Chapter Forty Seven
Chapter One
The Long Lost
Book Five the Hayle Coven Novels
Patti Larsen
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012 by Patti Larsen
Find out more about Patti Larsen at
http://www.pattilarsen.com/
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
***
Cover art (copyright) by Stephanie Mooney. All rights reserved.
http://www.stephaniemooney.blogspot.com/
Edited by Annetta Ribken, freelance Goddess. You can find her at http://www.wordwebbing.com/
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Dedication
To my creative partner and dear friend, Renee Laprise,
who always says yes and makes sure I do too.
***
Chapter One
I was out of bed and thundering down the stairs before I was awake enough to realize the person I felt in the back yard wasn’t the one I had been waiting for.
Panting, I pulled open the inside door, peering through the screen into the dark beyond. The motion activated light flickered to life, casting a ghostly glow over Sunny’s smiling face.
“Hi, Syd.”
I pulled the door open, yawning as my disrupted sleep caught up to me. “Hey, Sunny. Come on in.”
She hesitated before gesturing for me to join her outside instead. A moment of nerves thrilled through me. Not that I didn’t trust my uncle’s undead girlfriend. It’s just she’d not so long ago fallen under the control of the evil vamp who made her, betraying us all. Mind you, she’d redeemed herself over and over since then, but I still felt jumpy.
The life I led, who could blame me?
I think she must have sensed something was wrong because her hands dropped and her expression stilled to calm. Scowling internally at my own lack of trust, I boldly stepped out into the grass and hugged her.
She was nice and warm, meaning she had already fed, bless her. Nothing like hugging a hungry vampire. Might as well stick a handful of ice cubes down your shirt.
Sunny returned my hug with enthusiasm, smiling when I backed away. “How are you, Syd?”
I shrugged, only then realizing I’d not seen much of her or Uncle Frank. Ever since the leader of their blood clan, Sebastian, took off full of blood tainted by the spirit of all vampires, she’d been overseeing the leadership of the family. Uncle Frank was her right hand fang.
“Miss you,” I said, meaning it from the bottom of my heart. I actually blinked back a few tears, my emotions suddenly cresting. Since the whole incident with the Wild Hunt ended, life settled back into more or less normal. And yet, not so normal. There were key people missing from my familiar day-to-day—or night-to-night—and she was one of them.
Sunny’s smile turned sad, fingers running through the end of my ponytail. “I know,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Like it was her fault. Grow up, Syd.
“I’m fine,” I said with extra cheer, “thanks for asking.”
Humor sparkled in her eyes. “I bet you are,” she said. “I knew you’d come through all of this just fine.”
Nice of her to tell me. So much happened in the last year I was sure I wouldn’t survive, let alone be okay.
She tapped her temple with one graceful hand. “And the rest of you?”
Had it been anyone else I would have instantly shut down or lost my temper. But coming from Sunny… I just shrugged.
“We’re adjusting,” I said. And we were. Though it was getting kind of crowded sharing my head with a demon and the reincarnated spirit of a Sidhe princess. Mind you, neither of them spoke up like my demon used to when we weren’t whole. But I felt them both stirring around in there, listening as I was listening.
Gave me the creeps just thinking about it. Which pissed them off, naturally.
“Glad to hear it.” Sunny’s eyes held sadness, just for me. “You made it down here quickly.”
I shrugged, knowing I was blushing, but not minding so much she saw it. Sunny had always been like a big sister to me. “I’ve had a number of visitors back here in the last few months,” I said. “Makes me sensitive.”
Her smile never faltered, but the sorrow remained. “He does love you, you know.”
She had to bring up Quaid. Had to, didn’t she? More freaking tears, these choked back through a thickening throat.
“Are you coming in or what?” I needed to change the subject. My so-called boyfriend left me even after telling me we were meant to be together. I understood his motives, the fact he wanted to find his family, but it still hurt. A whole week had gone by without one word from him.
Sunny shook her head. “I can’t.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, letting a little anger out. Better. Much preferable to crying all over Sunny. And I knew she wouldn’t take my snark seriously.
“I’m assuming there’s a reason why not?” I meant it half jokingly, but the look on her face told me there was a lot more to it.
“There is.” She hesitated, gaze drifting to the house and back to me again. “I’m not allowed.”
Huh? I’d grown up with Sunny. She and Uncle Frank usually lived in our basement in fancy wooden cupboards because neither of them liked coffins. It was only recently they’d moved out. And sure, there was a short time when vampires were banished from the house, but that was when her former creator, Nicholas, was still alive.
“What are you talking about?”
Sunny paused again. As she did, my real anger grew. My coven leader mother and I had a history of issues, one of which the fact she kept things from me on a regular basis. But since I’d accepted my magic, all of her sneaking around behind my back was supposed to change.
Not so much, turned out. Old habits and all that crap.
“
It was a full coven decision.” Sunny said it delicately, like her delivery of the news would make everything better.
“Um, not.” I felt my eyebrows pinch together. “I happen to be a coven member and don’t recall getting a vote.”
Sunny shrugged, a smooth motion rippling her blonde hair. “It’s all right, Syd.”
“No,” I said with heat. “It’s not.” Mom was so hearing it from me the moment this conversation was over. “But that’s not why you’re here, is it?”
Sunny shook her head. “It isn’t. I came to warn you.”
Why did that send butterflies knocking around inside me? “’You’ as in ‘the family you’ or ‘you’ as in me specifically?”
Sunny flashed me a sudden smile, followed by a bell clear giggle. “Syd,” she said, “you crack me up.”
That drove my own mood up. “You’re welcome.”
She stroked her fingers down my cheek. “You specifically,” she said. “I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’ve always had a hint of precognitive ability.”
I didn’t. “Cool. Can you tell me lottery numbers and stuff?”
Sunny wrinkled her nose, eyes glittering. “No, silly girl. It’s nothing like that. Usually it’s vague and incredibly unreliable.” She dropped her hand and gripped mine with her smooth fingers. “But since the coming of the Wild and all the power passing through us, I’ve been having clearer and more accurate visions.”
Uh-oh. “I take it they aren’t happy visions.”
“I wish they were.” She squeezed my fingers lightly. “But it only ever seems to come with a warning.”
Great then. “Lay it on me.”
“Every night, just as I rise, I have the same images run through my mind.” She was looking directly at me, but I suddenly knew she didn’t see me anymore. “You’re surrounded by shadows. I hear the howl of some animal… a larger blackness looms over you, and it laughs with a horrible sound.” She shuddered softly, hand grasping me too tight, but I held still and listened. Her eyes refocused on me. “I’m very concerned,” she said. “Whatever is approaching means you ill. Will see you destroyed, if it can.”
“What else is new?” My attempt at flip was pathetic, admittedly, but it shook Sunny out of her melancholy. Her fingers slid free of mine and she smiled a little.
“I’m sorry I don’t have more. If it solidifies further, I’ll tell you immediately.” She sighed, a lovely sound, almost musical, from lungs that didn’t breathe anymore. “I hesitated to tell you at all, after everything you’ve gone through, but if there is someone who means you ill, I’d rather you were forewarned.”
She was right. But it didn’t make me feel any better.
“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open for laughing shadows.”
Sunny kissed me softly on the cheek with a farewell hug. “I have to go,” she said. “Please, be kind to your mother when you confront her.”
She knew me so well. “This is ridiculous,” I said. “Uncle Frank too?” I couldn’t believe after all the help the vampires had given us the coven wanted them kept out.
Sunny nodded. “I’m afraid so.” She stepped back, one hand rising, fingers wiggling in a wave. “Love you, Syd.”
“Love you too,” I said. “You’re welcome here anytime.”
Her sad smile was the last thing to flicker into darkness as she vanished.
I stood there, still and thinking for so long the light went out. As it did, I made some decisions. First, Mom would know nothing of what Sunny just told me about the threat. I wasn’t sure I believed it and besides, if she wanted to keep secrets as big as the doozy I’d just learned about, she deserved what she got. Two, it was time to stop pining over Quaid and feeling lonely and sorry for myself. It didn’t help that my best friend Alison still wasn’t talking to me. She’d expressed interest in Quaid and turned on me when she found out we were together. That led to number three.
No more messing around. I wanted my normal life back. Sure, things were way better on the witch front now that I’d returned Gram’s sanity. Now that I was free of Gram’s magic and the compulsion not to use my own, I’d actually started to enjoy being a witch. Kinda. But there was a slice of life missing and I realized what it was.
It was time to mend my broken fences and get on with it.
I shuddered as I turned toward the house. The light came back on again, making me blink in the bright, but it wasn’t what stirred my goose bumps. A cold breeze whipped around me for a moment, raising the hairs on my arms and sending a thread of nerves up my spine.
Shaking my head when the gust died away, I went inside and firmly shut and locked the door behind me.
***
Chapter Two
I was so distracted by my thoughts I stumbled into something huge and hairy at the bottom of the stairs. The lump grunted as I jerked back in instant fright. Glowing red eyes flashed from the darkness for a moment before the fire died in them.
“Galleytrot.” I clutched at my T-shirt, heart pounding. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting for you.” His growling voice always made me think of meadows and secrets kept, the thrum of wild places rippling through it. The hulking black dog of the Sidhe climbed to his feet from where he’d sprawled at the foot of the steps. His head was almost at level with my chest as he looked up at me.
I scratched one of his ears before rubbing my hand over the top of his head where the softest fur was. “You have to stop following me.”
The man I’d once known as Jared, locked forever in the body of a magic dog, shook his head, heavy mane flowing. He pushed his flat, wet nose into my stomach gently. “I’ll never stop,” he said. “You rescued me, Syd, and I owe you my life. Nothing will ever hurt you again for as long as I have breath.”
Seeing as he was immortal and tied to the rising of the Wild Hunt buried in my back yard, I knew I’d have no relief from him if he really wanted to push it. And now that I thought about it, the past week he’d been pretty much under my feet the entire time. I just hadn’t really noticed.
“Just be a little more subtle,” I said, going easy on him as I wouldn’t for anyone else. He’d had it pretty tough so far and I wanted him to feel welcome. Yeah, he’d almost gotten my family killed by betraying us to the Moromonds last fall, using his Sidhe magic to undermine Mom and take the power of the coven from her. But he’d proved faithful and loyal since then and I made sure he stayed that way by winning him his freedom from the Wild Hunt.
His huge, wide head bobbed. “Fair enough.” Galleytrot padded to one side, thick tail wagging, the thump, thump, thump of it against the living room chair behind him betraying his good humor. “After you.”
I climbed the stairs with him following, feeling a little weird about the whole thing. Worse, when I entered my room and softly closed the door with him inside, I turned to see my demon cat, Sassafras, sitting at the end of the bed, amber eyes aglow. The silver Persian’s thick tail hung over the edge, the tip twitching back and forth.
“And just what were you thinking?” His sarcasm and anger mingled together in classic Sassy attitude. “Tell me you did not just go out into the back yard in the middle of the night.”
I rolled my eyes, flopping down on my messy covers. “Sass,” I said, “it’s our back yard. The safest freaking place on the planet. There are wards on it that could survive a nuclear bombing for goodness sake.” I stroked one hand down his back. His fur rippled as he tried to reject the pleasure of it.
“You need to be more careful.” He glared at me, one paw reaching out to swipe my fingers away. “Always with the stupid, impulsive acts, Sydlynn.”
He was such a brat. My fingers found the body of a toy mouse buried in the folds of my comforter. I whipped it out and dangled it in front of his nose. Instantly his pupils flared huge, ears flattening as he tensed, hind quarters quivering.
“Sassy want a mousey?” I shook it a little as he fought for control. He lunged at it, ripping it from my fingers, pinning it
to the bed with a growl only to shake himself and snarl at me.
“Damned cat body,” he said.
I knew teasing him only made things worse in the long run and that doing so was all kinds of cruel. So why did it always make me laugh?
Even Galleytrot chuffed out a chuckle. I slid under the covers, sighing as I curled up on my side. Sassafras wasn’t about to forgive and forget. He tromped his way across my body, shaking the bed with his heavy progress, until his face was in mine.
“Are you going to tell me who was out there?” Amber fire glittered.
“You know very well who it was.” My anger came back. “Thanks for telling me Sunny and Uncle Frank are family lepers all of a sudden.”
He sighed and settled. “Not all of a sudden.” I knew he was right. It was only because of Mom they were part of the family at all anymore. She insisted. And since she had some vampire power tied to hers as well, the coven listened.
“What happened?” It felt crummy and dirty and made me want to bang on Mom’s bedroom door and demand an answer.
Sassy licked at some imaginary dirt on his paw. “Nothing and everything.” He paused in his grooming as Galleytrot approached the edge of the bed, his big chin resting on the sheets. “With all that the coven has gone through this year, there were those who insisted on some precautions.”
I could imagine who he was talking about. And Celeste Oberman would be leading them. She’d been undermining Mom’s authority for ages. I wouldn’t put something as petty as this past her. And it was petty.
“So they can stand around in the yard,” I said with some sarcasm, “in the center of the family power, but they’re not allowed inside the house. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Me too, Syd.” Galleytrot’s deep voice was welcome support.
Even Sassy nodded. “Myself also.” He settled his chin in his paws, eyes half lidded. “Your mother is well aware this is simple retaliation from those unhappy with the choices she’s made. Give it a little time, some peace and quiet, and all will be resolved.” His eyes narrowed further. “I mean it, Syd. Peace. And. Quiet.”