Storm: Phantom Islanders Part I

  Storm

  Phantom Islanders Book 1 Part I

  Ednah Walters

  Contents

  Storm: Phantom Islanders Book 1 Part I

  Also by Ednah Walters

  Acknowledgments

  1. Chapter 1

  2. Chapter 2

  3. Chapter 3

  4. Chapter 4

  5. Chapter 5

  6. Chapter 6

  7. Chapter 7

  8. Chapter 8

  9. Chapter 9

  10. Chapter 10

  11. Chapter 11

  A note from the Author

  Discover the next in series

  About the Author

  Thank you for reading Storm.

  COPYRIGHTS

  Reproducing this book without permission from the author or the publisher is an infringement of its copyright. This book is a work of fiction. The names characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to any actual events or persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 Ednah Walters

  All rights reserved.

  Edited by Kelly Hashway

  Cover Design by Cora Graphics. All Rights Reserved.

  Interior Design and Formatting by Carolina Silva. All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  Published by Firetrail Publishing: April 2017

  www.ednahwalters.com

  ALSO BY EDNAH WALTERS

  The Runes Series:

  Runes (book 1)

  Immortals (book 2)

  Grimnirs (book 3)

  Seeress (book 4)

  Souls (book 5)

  Witches (book 6)

  Demons (Book 7)

  Heroes (book 8)

  Gods (book 9)

  Goddess (book 10)

  The Guardian Legacy Series:

  Awakened (prequel)

  Betrayed (book one)

  Hunted (book two)

  Forgotten(book three)

  Phantom Islanders:

  Storm (Book one, part I)

  Storm Revealed (Book one, part II) Coming May 30th

  Storm Unleashed (Book one, part III) Coming June 27th

  WRITING AS E. B. WALTERS

  The Fitzgerald Family series:

  Slow Burn (book 1)

  Mine Until Dawn (book 2)

  Kiss Me Crazy (book 3)

  Dangerous Love (book 4)

  Forever Hers (book 5)

  Surrender to Temptation (book 6)

  The Infinitus Billionaires series:

  Impulse (book 1)

  Indulge (book 2)

  Intrigue (book 3)

  DEDICATION

  To my mother, Jane Margaret.

  Thank you for instilling in me a love of reading, writing, and a good story.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

  My support team, thank you for making this project a reality.

  Starting with my editor, Kelly Bradley Hashway. You never cease to amaze me how you find things I don’t see. Cora of Cora Graphics, this cover is stunning and original. Thank you. To Carolina Silva, thank you for formatting the final product and adding your special flair with graphics.

  To Melissa Haag and Karen Lynch, best author buddies ever. Melissa, thank you for forcing me to take a step back and look at the entire story from a different angle. Your honesty made a huge difference.

  To my launch team, you guys rock. Debbie Jerry Bunton, Carolyn Weigand, Andie Ryder, Lloyd Wright, Jeff Miller, Dawn Yacovetta, Irina Wolpers, and Susan Defoe, thank you for the feedback. You guys rock! To my family, as always, thank you for your love and support. I love you, guys.

  CHAPTER 1

  My eyes flew to the phone on the nightstand as it buzzed and filled the silence. I cringed. Please, don’t wake up. Please. I was killing whoever was on the other end of the line if she did. The seven-year- old had barely fallen asleep.

  Her grip tightened on my hair, and tears rushed to my eyes. Dang, that hurt. I wanted to pry open her hand, but I wasn’t heartless. Sienna had picked up the habit a couple of months ago after her mother died. It was her way of making sure I didn’t leave her, too. The other habit was refusing to go to sleep for hours or waking up and crawling into my bed in the dead of the night. Often, I’d roll over and bolt upright when she wiggled under me. She was so delicate and small for her age, and one day I’d probably crush her.

  I bit my lower lip and pressed closer to her to ease the burn on my scalp. Her eyelids lifted, and blue eyes found me. “Lexi?”

  “I’m here.” I stroked her cheek. “Go back to sleep.”

  “What happened to the captain?”

  I didn’t pick up the book from the side table. Philodora the Mermaid was her favorite story, and I’d memorized it.

  “The mermaids’ songs, sweet and melodious, rose in the air. It filled the land, the sky, and the seas. The captain floated from the depths of the ocean and landed on the deck of his ship. He was safe. As the crew cheered, the ship slowly sailed home, its white sails waving. Once again, Philodora the Mermaid had saved the day.”

  “When I grow up, I’m going to be a mermaid,” she whispered.

  “And I’ll be a captain, so you can save me,” I answered.

  It wasn’t long before Sienna went back to sleep and her fist relaxed. I eased my hair from her tiny fingers, and I slipped out of her bed. She mumbled something but didn’t reach for me. Sighing with relief, I switched off the light, picked up my cell phone, and tiptoed to the door leading to the balcony.

  Salty, humid air slapped my face when I stepped out of the hotel room, and I inhaled slowly. God, I loved the smell of the sea. Loved the way the salty water felt on my skin, too. Unfortunately, my thick mane didn’t. It frizzled and became a nest for salt and sand. Luckily, my home in the Idaho panhandle was miles from the coastline. Instead we had lakes and rivers, and my mother had taught me to swim at a young age. I was always at peace when I hit the water.

  A few cars zipped past on a nearby road, the sound blending with the rhythmic slashes of waves crashing against the shores. It was a dark night, beams from the crescent moon barely breaking through the thick air. Cocoa Beach was a tourist destination, but most people used the hotels in the area as their last stop before boarding cruise ships for the Bahamas and South America at Port Canaveral. At least that was what the brochure had said. Being a nanny to Sienna Sinclair, the only child to the man who practically owned our town, came with some nice perks. Private beach homes, best tickets to amusement parks and museums, personal chauffeur, front seat to the best shows, and now a cruise. We were leaving tomorrow.

  We’d spent the first half of the summer staying at their house in Malibu, but in the last two weeks, we’d traveled with Mr. Sinclair. While he’d attended business meetings, Sienna and I had played tourists. He never took us with him before even though I’d been Sienna’s nanny since she was two. Sienna’s mother had hated to travel.

  I pressed my thumb on the button at the bottom of my phone to unlock it, and a groan escaped me. Five missed calls. It might only be ten o’clock back at home, but it was midnight in Florida, and the Wicked Witch of the West wanted to talk. I didn’t have to be a genius to know what she wanted. I tapped the phone surface and let my thumb hover above her number.

  “Stop it, Lexi. She can’t hurt you anymore. Remember, words are your bitches now.” Years of writing in my diary had translated into running the school newspaper and blog, and now a travel channel on an online video hosting
site.

  Bracing myself, I pressed the surface and brought the phone to my ear. Okay, Stepmother Dearest, you have my undivided attention. She picked up after a ring.

  “Where have you been, Alexandria? I hope you are not screening my calls.”

  If only I could. She held all the aces. For now. “I wasn’t.”

  “Where did you put the money?” she asked.

  Way to get right to the point. “Check the pocket of your favorite coat,” I said.

  “I have several—”

  “The one behind your bedroom door,” I added. My cell phone beeped. A quick look told me it was Jo, my best friend. She’d have to wait.

  “I hope it’s enough to keep us going until you send more,” Mom said. “You know I can’t take care of Tommy and work full-time.”

  “I know.” Except she spent whatever she earned at the diner on herself. The woman loved to put herself first and would never win the Mother of the Year award, but I owed her for putting a roof over my head and feeding me all these years. “It should be enough.”

  “Don’t use that tone with me, missy. Why didn’t you pick up your phone earlier? Tommy wanted to talk to you.”

  Tommy. As usual, she was not above using him to make me feel bad. My half brother was the only blood relative I had left, and I would do anything for him.

  “Mr. Sinclair doesn’t like it when I use my cell phone while taking care of Sienna. She hasn’t been sleeping well and barely fell asleep.”

  “The poor child,” Mom said, her voice softening. “To lose a mother at such a young age is heartbreaking.”

  “I lost mine at her age, too, and you’ve never shown me any kindness,” I wanted to remind her. Instead, she’d resented me the moment my father had brought her and Tommy home and introduced me to a half brother I never knew I had. He’d been two at the time. Things had only gotten worse after father died.

  “I’ll call you back,” she said, sounding chipper. “Don’t go to sleep yet.”

  I rolled my eyes. Once she got the money, she wouldn’t want to talk to me anyway. Worse, the money wasn’t going to last a week, which was why I’d sent Tommy some, too.

  Tommy was the only reason I put up with crap from my stepmother. The Sinclairs had offered to pay her so I could move in with them years ago, and she’d accepted. I would have had a driver to drop me off at school and pick me up, a fully furnished bedroom, and servants, but I couldn’t leave Tommy with her. Boy, did I pay for refusing to go. She’d put me through weeks of mental and emotional torture until Tommy had begged me to leave.

  Of course, I hadn’t. I’d promised our father I’d always look out for my baby brother, and I meant to keep that promise. Besides, Tommy hadn’t really meant it. He was all talk. He needed me.

  When I left for Mizzou—University of Missouri in Columbia—the best journalism college, he was coming with me. I wasn’t sure how I would make it happen, but where there was a will, there was a way, and I had plenty of that. I’d already gotten a full scholarship. Then there was my savings.

  When minutes went by without Mom calling back, I called Jo.

  “Are you screening calls now?” she demanded.

  “Yes. So I don’t have to listen to bitches at one in the morning,” I retorted.

  She laughed. “I missed your snarky ass, Lexi. Seriously, where in the zombie-infested world have you been? And FYI, it’s not one over there.”

  “Quit abusing my eardrums, Jo, or I’ll hang up.” Jo liked to yank my chain for crap and giggles. I wasn’t in the mood.

  “Seriously, I sent you, like, a gazillion texts today,” she whined. “Are you ignoring me? Did rubbing elbows with the Sinclairs turn you into a snob?”

  Jo was the mistress of drama, and I missed her like crazy. We’d only spent two days together before I left with the Sinclairs for the summer. When we’d made a quick stop in Clairfield before flying to Florida, I didn’t get to see her at all.

  “You sent me three texts, Jo, and FYI, I’m working.”

  “Oh, please. Going from one amusement park to another, watching shows I’ve only read about online, and going on cruises don’t qualify as work. Not to mention having Mr. Palladino as your driver and bodyguard wherever you go.”

  “Sienna’s driver and bodyguard,” I corrected.

  “You two are joined at the hip, so anything hers is yours. I don’t know how you can stand living with two hot guys. Lukas Palladino is tall, dark, and handsome, and Mr. Sinclair is your gazillionaire golden boy. I wouldn’t know which one to jump first—the poor chauffer or the rich boss.”

  Of course, she’d think Mr. Sinclair and Lukas were hot. Jo had a thing for older guys. Not me. “None of the above. Did you receive the money I sent?”

  “Got it and transferred it to my account. Tomorrow, I’ll withdraw some and take it to Tommy. Next week, he’ll get the rest. My turn. Did you send the pink top you wore in your last video?”

  “Mailed it yesterday, thanks to Lukas.”

  “Thank him for me. I keep telling you that shade of pink is wrong for your complexion. It makes you look dull, boring, and safe. You are not a safe kind of girl. You’re a tiger. You go bold. Purple. Red. Magenta. Electric blue. I don’t understand why you never listen to me when it comes to fashion. You are the future Pulitzer winner, me the darling fashionista you’ll interview after every Fashion Week. Talking about the Pulitzer, your last video went viral. You already have over a hundred thousand views and about three hundred comments give or take a few trolls. I swear you are my hero. I should have snagged that job when it was posted. I’d be the one on a cruise with my super-hot boss, and you would be here having a stay-cay-tion.”

  “We’re not on the ship yet. And when I snagged this gig, you weren’t interested in babysitting.”

  “Oh yeah, those were my Jake years. The guy was so hot he could have had me anywhere, anytime.”

  “Count yourself lucky.” The former jock now pumped gas at a local gas station and was about to be a daddy again. “You’d be a mother by now.”

  “Instead look at me. A virgin at eighteen.” Jo sighed. “So not fair we missed each other’s birthdays. Do you think Mr. Sinclair could send his jet for me when you come back so you and I could celebrate? I mean, you didn’t get to do anything. You even worked. Bet he didn’t know about it.”

  Mr. Sinclair had been out of town on that day, but he’d known. I received a bonus to buy “something nice.” “How about I ask him and if he says yes, you take the Greyhound like a normal person?”

  “But I’m not normal,” she whined. “I’m a changeling. Oh, I could always drive.”

  “Not alone you can’t.”

  “I hate it when you’re sensible. Fine, stupid Greyhound it is. Talk to him and let me know. So if you’re not on the ship, where are you? Some ritzy resort?”

  “Executive suite at The Crowne, Cocoa Beach. We leave tomorrow morning for Port Canaveral.”

  “I so hate you.”

  “Drama Queen.” She laughed, and I joined her. “No, you love me and miss me, and we’re going out to celebrate when you come to LA,” I said.

  “Promise? Because this summer blows. While you’ve been living the life of the rich and famous—”

  “As a nanny,” I interjected.

  “I’ve been flipping greasy burgers. The summer before college is supposed to be fun and exciting, not boring and… Eew! Gross.”

  “What is?” I asked.

  “Some a-hole just blew smoke into my face. Stale cooties. I think I’m going to throw up. Just a sec while I find a quiet place.”

  I sat on the chair and waited for Jo. Funny how she and I clicked yet we were so different. She talked a mile a minute while I tended to listen. She hated smoke while I loved the smell. My dad used to smoke, and the smell reminded me of him. She was a dreamer while I was a realist. Life had thrown me too many curve balls. And she loved to whine, which made me want to plug my ears sometimes, but she was loyal, funny, and dependable. Too many people
I’d loved had left me while she was a constant. We’d been friends since kindergarten.

  “I’m back,” Jo said in my ear. “FYI, I hate this town. Okay, what’s the latest? We hardly ever talk because of Sienna. The little brat acts like you are her personal maid or something.”

  “That’s what a nanny is,” I reminded her.

  “Yeah, whatever. I haven’t lost my virginity even though I was sure I would this summer. Did you? I swear if you did the deed with some rich surfer dude in L.A, I’m so going to need blow-by-blow details, so I can live vicariously through you.”

  I frowned. Jo only ever talked about losing her virginity when she was drunk. “Where are you, Jo?”

  “Club Nine.”

  Go figure. Club Nine was the only trendy place in our town and the in-place for college students, or soon-to-be college students like us. Jo’s cousin was one of the bouncers. “Is Matt there?”

  “Yeah. That’s why I’m hiding in the back office. He said I could use it. Why?”

  It meant she’d have a ride. “Have you been drinking?”

  “No, Miss Worrywart. I’m drunk on loneliness and the lameness of this town. Can’t wait to go to Eugene and lose my V. In fact, I plan to find some hot grad student and lose it during orientation so I can get it out of the way for the part-ay-ing that’s sure to follow.”

  Losing her virginity was one thing Jo had harped on during our senior year, but it wasn’t a priority for me. Not yet anyway. I had to find the right guy first. Someone I was nuts about and who was equally nuts about me.

  I tucked my legs close to my body again and listened to Jo whine about her job, our town, and the guys until my phone beeped. Mom was actually back. Surprise.

  “Gotta go, Jo. We’ll talk tomorrow. Don’t forget to give Tommy the money. I think you should spread it out so he gets a third at a time, or she’ll know.”