ASHES & EMBERS COLLECTION (BOOKS 1 TO 4)
CARIAN COLE
CONTENTS
Introduction
Storm - Book One
Title Page - Storm
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
Vandal - Book 2
Title Page - Vandal
Dedication
Quote
A Note
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 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Sterling
Lukas - Book 3
Title Page - Lukas
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
Epilogue
Talon - Book 4
Title Page - Talon
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
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
The Real Talon & Asia
Bonus Material
Chapter One - Loving Storm
Sneak Peek - Torn
Torn - Prologue
Bonus Scene - Asher
Also by Carian Cole
About the Author
INTRODUCTION
This Ashes & Embers series collection includes:
Storm - Book One
Vandal - Book Two
Lukas - Book Three
Talon - Book Four
Bonus Material:
Loving Storm Sequel Novella - Chapter One
Prologue of Torn (Devils Wolves Book One)
Excerpt from Asher’s Book (Coming Soon)
The cover model of this collection is Kevin Creekman.
The photograph is ©HellFox Photo.
STORM - BOOK ONE
ASHES & EMBERS BOOK 1
Ashes & Embers Book 1
COPYRIGHT
Ashes & Embers series, book one
Copyright © 2014 by Carian Cole
Edited by Hot Tree Editing
Proofreading by: Proofreading By The Page
All rights reserved.
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 person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please delete it or return it to the seller and purchase your own legal copy. Libraries are exempt and permitted to share their in house copies with their members and have my full thanks for stocking and offering this book. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. The names, characters, incidents, and places are products of the author’s imagination, and are not to be construed as real except where noted and authorized. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events are entirely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or names featured are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
This book is intended for mature audiences.
DEDICATION
To my mom, who taught me to chase my dreams, follow my heart, and believe in myself. I miss you every day.
To my husband, Eddie, who has loved me unconditionally since the day we met, has supported all my crazy ideas, listened to my incessant ramblings, and served as my number one muse. I love you with all my heartbeats, forever.
CHAPTER ONE
SOMETIMES, WHEN I’M DRIVING ALONE, I go into what I call the ‘road coma’, where I suddenly become acutely aware that I have no recollection of the past, say, twenty or so miles of driving. I can’t remember a darn thing. Not the road, not stopping at stop signs, not what was on the radio . . . it’s a total blank. A quick flash of fear will grip me, and I’ll think what if I ran someone over and don’t even know it? Surely, if I had, I would have experienced a quick bump and thump and snapped out of it.
Right?
I blink and clutch the steering wheel, suddenly realizi
ng I am driving on a winding, narrow mountain road that’s covered with snow. When I left my house an hour ago, the snow was barely coming down. I glance at the GPS, which hasn’t said a word in a long time. The little blue arrow is pointing to what must be nowhere because I don’t see a thing up here except for trees and snow. Lots of snow. Realizing I’m driving at dusk without my headlights on, I flick them on and the beams highlight the snow even more. I swallow hard and wonder if the GPS has been talking to me while I was in a road coma and I just ignored it. Michael promised me when I left the house earlier that there was no way I could get lost with this tiny digital device, but now I am having serious doubts.
I grab my cell phone to call him and tell him I am, indeed, very lost, but the phone is in SOS mode. Sighing, I throw it back onto the passenger seat where it bounces and lands on the passenger-side floor. I reach down to grab it, inadvertently turning the wheel and the car starts to slide. Like the spaz I am, I jerk the wheel back and hit the brakes, and the car goes into a total spin. The snow is coming down hard in a zigzag, and all I can see is a spinning white blur as I try to get the car under control. I’m not even sure what side of the road I’m on or if I’m even going in the right direction anymore. The car and I are like a feather in the wind, blowing this way and that, twirling in the gusts until we finally come to a final stop in a ditch, my head bouncing lightly off the steering wheel. I force my eyes open and peer around. No, it wasn’t a crash. Not really. It was a rather anti-climactic stop after all the spinning. The car just came to a halt—nose-first off the side of the road. While I am thankful the car isn’t totaled with half my head sticking out of the windshield, I am most definitely stuck, tires spinning. Giving up, I turn the car off, not sure it should be running in case I somehow damaged the engine. Cars always seem to blow up on TV shows when they crash into something.
I reach for my cell again, silently praying for a signal, but there’s nothing. Zero bars. I try to remember if I passed any houses or gas stations while in my driving-induced stupor, but I can’t recall the last time I saw any signs of civilization, which really enforces the fact that I am most likely nowhere near the posh hotel where my marketing and branding seminar is being held this weekend. I am lost and stuck. Lost and stuck. My heart starts to beat faster. Lost and stuck. Stuck and lost. Zero bars.
Okay, Evelyn, stay calm. Deep breaths. Now is not the time to have a panic attack. Get your shit together!
“Hey, you okay?” The pounding of a palm on the window scares the heck out of me. I jump and scream. Sasquatch with a black cowboy hat and a long black coat, his eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth, is now trying to break into my car.
Oh, my God! Psycho kidnapper murderer in the snowstorm.
“Hello?” he calls, opening the door, causing snow to fall into the car and onto my lap. I cringe away from him, smashing myself against the middle console of the car seat, not sure what he’s doing out here in the woods and why he’s now trying to get into my car. I sneak a peek at him and see he has a piercing in his eyebrow.
What makes people want to stick strange metal objects into their face?
“Don’t touch me!” I scream as he reaches into the car. I wish I had a gun. Or a knife. But all I have is a pack of orange Tic-Tac’s, and although I did get one stuck in my throat once, I doubt I could use them as a self-defense weapon right now.
“Okay, lady, just calm down. Did you hit your head?”
Lady? Who’s he calling lady? He only looks a little bit older than I am—maybe early thirties. I thought men only called older ladies ‘lady’.
“No, I didn’t hit my head.” Or did I? I reach up and start touching my head. There is a little sore spot and it feels wet. I pull my finger away and examine it. Blood!
“Oh, my God. I think I cracked my skull open!”
“No, you didn’t. It’s just a little bump.”
“It’s bleeding!” I rummage around in my purse, pull out a crumpled tissue and blot my head. It’s just a tiny bit of blood, but still. Sasquatch watches me with an amused smirk, then reaches out his hand and pushes my long hair away from my forehead.
“You’re okay,” he says. “Just a tiny bump.”
I pull my head away. “Please, don’t touch me, and get your head out of my car.”
Laughing, he ignores my request and kneels next to the car, resting his arm on the inside of my open door as if we’re just hanging out having a chit-chat, instead of sitting on the side of the road—in a blizzard—in a ditch. I’m pretty sure he’s insane.
“So . . . what are you doing way out here?” he asks casually.
“My car is stuck,” I reply, sniffling. My nose is running from the cold air.
“Yeah, uh . . . I can see that. I meant, where were you headed before you got yourself stuck in this ditch?”
“To the Falls Inn.”
“The Falls Inn?” he repeats and lets out another laugh. “Baby, you ain’t anywhere near the Falls fucking Inn. It’s about fifty miles away. I guess if your car had kept going about fifty miles through the woods, you might have landed there. Is that what you were trying to do?”
Damn GPS! I should never have relied on that useless device. My situation is starting to feel worse by the minute. Where the hell am I, and how am I going to get to my meeting? Or home, for that matter. I can’t even call my boss to tell him I’m delayed, or Michael to come get me.
“—and it’s about a few miles up the road.” Oh. Sasquatch has been talking to me while I was having a conversation inside my head.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” I ask him. Snow is accumulating on the brim of his hat. Almost a quarter-inch, it seems. That can’t be good.
“I said I have a cabin a few miles up the road. We can go there and wait out the storm. My truck is parked on the road. I pulled over when I saw you spin out and crash. You almost hit me, ya know.”
Oh, hell no! The old ‘cabin in the woods’ story. I wonder how many psychos have used this line. It seems to be the basis of many a horror movie or creepy novel.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so, but thank you for the offer.” Yes, be polite and maybe he will go away without killing me, leaving my body bloodied and beaten in the snow on the side of this mountain.
“Well, I can’t fuckin’ leave you here. This snowstorm is supposed to go on for almost the entire weekend. My cell phone doesn’t work here, and I’m assuming yours doesn’t either or else you’d be on it right now. They’re expecting two feet of snow or more. You could freeze or starve to death out here. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Oh, so murdering psychopaths announce their intentions to their victims now?” I lower my voice to a mock man’s psycho voice. “Excuse me, miss, but I shall commence killing you now. Please, remain in the vehicle until I have reached the designated killing area.”
He lets out a deep laugh and then a long sigh.
“You’re cute . . . but I’m not a psycho. I’m just the guy who was driving behind you when you lost control of your car. And, I might add, you should be grateful I’m even here. Not many people drive this road.”
Terrific! Backwoods road that no one ever uses! The murder scene could not be planned out any better.
I stand my ground, determined to heed the advice we are all given as children: Never get in a car with a stranger. “I’m not going anywhere with you, so you can just get yourself out of my doorway and head up to your cabin. Thank you for the offer, though.”
He lights up another cigarette and takes a few long drags before responding to me. “Look, I’m not leaving you here. I don’t know if it’s ’cause you hit your head, or if you’re just mentally unstable, or what . . . but I sure as shit am not leaving you here in a blizzard, no matter how annoying you are. So, stop being unreasonable. A friend of mine owns an auto repair shop in town. I’ll call him when we get to the cabin and have him tow your car out of here when the storm is over.”
I know Sasquatch is r
ight. I can’t stay in the car and just wait for someone to find me, or hope I might get more than zero bars on my cell phone. I can either stay here and surely die, or go with him and hope he isn’t some deranged killer on the loose.
“Fine,” I mutter in defeat.