After Ace and I filled our stomachs full of corn dogs and sweet funnel cakes, we drove out to the fair grounds where the carnival was lit up like Vegas.
“What do you want to do first?” Ace asked, as we stood in the middle of the carnival.
My eyes were taking in the sights and I couldn’t decide. Everything looked like so much fun as people laughed and screamed on the rides. I watched a family laugh as a little boy won a huge green dragon stuffed animal at one of the ring toss games.
Then, the bright lights of the Ferris Wheel called out to me like a beacon.
Pulling Ace along with me, I rushed through the crowds and got in line. “This is what I want to do.”
Wrapping an arm around my shoulder, Ace kissed my forehead. “Anything you want.”
“I love this change in you,” I goded, hugging him tightly.
I felt Ace release a heavy breath. “I did everything wrong when it came to you. I should have told you how I felt earlier. I shouldn’t have pushed you away. A change was what I needed.”
Admiring him, I took a moment to really memorize everything about him. Even though the heartache he had put me through; it was all worth it now. I understood his need to protect me and himself. Our lives were complicated, but we both deserve happiness.
As our car approached, we sat down and watched as the world grew smaller as we sailed into the sky. All of the lights and sounds of the carnival became a blur as I felt like I was looking down on a snow globe, an observer to the fantastic fun below.
The cool wind wrapped itself around me and I shuddered. However, I was quickly warmed by Ace’s arms as he held me close to him.
“I want you forever,” Ace said, wrapping me tightly into his warm arms.
“Forever is a long time,” I said, turning my head so I could take in all of his beautiful face.
“Not long enough,” he sighed. “An eternity isn’t long enough, but I will spend all of the time I am given loving you and protecting you.”
Tears pooled in my eyes as a surge of bliss filled me. I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would ever be this happy. I was different-- that was definitely for sure, but somehow, I had found a way to accept my unique ability. I had found my voice and the journey to discovering who I truly was.
I was a Shadow Seeker.
A beholder of protection to a town I now called home.
And, I was part of Crow Haven.
My life may not be perfect, but it’s mine and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for me.
“Good, because I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I said.
As we sat together, our souls combined as one while I watched as two Crows flew over us. I knew it wasn’t by happenstance and it made me smile knowing that we were all together in our secret world.
The End...for now
A Note to Readers
Thank you so much for reading this novel. This story has been in the works for years, and I really hoped you enjoyed the first book in the Crow Haven Series. This is a spin-off from my best-selling, Wicked Cries Series, and I hope you stick around to check out what happens in the second book, Dangerous Alliances. Be on the look out for this one!
If you are like me and love to talk about books you loved, please consider leaving me a review on Amazon and Goodreads. These reviews are what authors depend on to gain new readers. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
As an additional bonus, I am including an excerpt from Wicked Cries: Book 1 in the Wicked Cries Series. Turn the page to enjoy!
Extras
Chapter One
I didn’t think my night could get any worse. Well, that was until the dead girl punched me in the face. The Electric Night Club was over-crowded with sizzling teenagers bumping and grinding their sweaty bodies against one another in the thick and humid air. Amber, Lia, and I had been sitting around our usual table at the underage teen club, celebrating the end of summer vacation and our last night as high school students together. Within the sultry night club, the heat was almost as bad as the vibrating techno music blaring from the loud speakers above our heads.
No one noticed my bloody attack until after I was already lying on the cold ground. Of course, no one else seemed to notice the freakishly tall blonde girl glaring down at me. Then again, they wouldn’t, because she was dead. Unlike me, everyone else was normal and didn't find themselves intertwined with the angry deceased.
I lay on the cold, sticky ground, repulsed by the amount of spilled drinks that seemed to glue me to the floor. Music and voices blended together until the room became more of a holding cell than a dance club. I searched through the crowd for my best friends, Amber and Lia, only to find my attention focused on the DJ at the front of the club. The volume in the room exploded when Tanner Mason grabbed the microphone from the surprised spikey-haired DJ. "School’s out, everyone party!" Tanner, the undeniably gorgeous homecoming king yelled over the booming noise as he stood on a metal chair, holding a large cup in one hand. Liquid spilled out over the edges and onto a group of dancing girls as he banged his head with the beat of the music. Cheering erupted from the crowd and everyone threw their hands in the air as they danced. Hosting this incredible bash was just another notch on his jerk-belt.
Amber was still sitting in our booth, the sharp tone of her voice cutting through the music. "He's such a loser; I can’t believe I dated him, especially when I should be single for summer." Amber, my overly dramatic yet loveable best friend was, as always, too busy telling another dramatic story about her latest fight with this month’s boyfriend to notice I'd been assaulted. Tanner had dumped Amber before summer break, but in her story, she was the one doing the dumping. Her hands were waving in front of her as she spoke, adding juicy drama to help get her point across. The sharp thump of a new beat blaring through the speaker startled the group, making my absence from my seat noticeable.
"So, of course, I told him to get lost when I found the necklace in his car that totally wasn’t mine…" Still rambling on about her latest dating disaster, Amber reached for my leg and jumped when all she grabbed was moist air. She stopped talking, bounced up, and her mouth dropped about ten feet when she noticed I was on the ground. Her eyes grew to the size of saucers, especially when she saw the bright red blood dripping from my nose. She reached her hand out to offer me support, and said loudly, "Sadie! Your nose! What happened?" She fumbled through her purse for a tissue, and then yelled for Lia, the motherly one of our group.
Lia pulled me up off the floor, inspected my nose, and helped clean the dirt off my shorts. My heart was beating against my chest in the same fast rhythm as the music. Though my legs were trembling, I tried to keep my cool. I couldn’t let them see my fear; I had to pretend I'd had an accident and that I wasn't engaged in a bloodbath with the dead.
I rolled my eyes and found my voice just in time to see a crowd begin to gather around us. "I’m fine," I yelled. "It’s nothing‒just a minor nose bleed." I smiled, trying to take the focus off myself. This was just the thing I needed on my last night in town: a juicy story starring myself. I could already hear the gossip spreading.
"Did you see what happened?" one girl asked, as she stood by the bar sipping her diet Coke like it was her last meal.