Soul Stone Read online

  ~*~

  Soul Stone

  By

  DelSheree Gladden

  ~*~

  Also by DelSheree Gladden

  Escaping Fate Series

  Escaping Fate

  Soul Stone

  Oracle Lost

  (Coming Fall 2014)

  Twin Souls Saga

  Twin Souls

  Shaxoa’s Gift

  Qaletaqa

  The Destroyer Trilogy

  Inquest

  Secret of Betrayal

  Darkening Chaos

  SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes Series

  Wicked Hunger

  Wicked Power

  Wicked Glory

  (Coming 2014)

  The Aerling Series

  Invisible

  Intangible

  Invincible

  (Coming Fall 2014)

  Date Shark Series

  Date Shark

  Book 2 coming soon

  Soul Stone

  Escaping Fate Series

  Book 2

  DelSheree Gladden

  Smashwords Edition

  Soul Stone

  Escaping Fate Series

  Book 2

  Written by DelSheree Gladden

  Copyright © DelSheree Gladden 2014

  Cover Design DelSheree Gladden

  Published by DelSheree Gladden

  Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher and/or author.

  Copyright 2014 DelSheree Gladden

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  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.

  For the fabulous Leah Brimhall, who said “Why not turn it into a series.” So I did. She gives the best advice!

  Contents

  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

  Also by DelSheree Gladden

  About the Author

  Connect with DelSheree

  Chapter One

  The rain pounds against the windowpane, distorting the image of a young woman dressed in white. Raindrops sliding down the glass appear as tears running wildly down her cheeks. As a hand presses against the window, the reflection follows. The girl and her reflection stare into the darkness with sad, mournful eyes.

  Behind the sadness, there is fear. There are secrets.

  When the young woman’s head dips, blond, wispy curls falls forward, clinging to damp cheeks. Tears, not born of the rain, slip down her pale face. A tremble runs through her fingers as she peels her hand away from the glass and moves toward a curious looking stone perched on the window sill. Her fingers hover over the stone, but do not dare touch its rough surface. Clenching her fingers, anger and frustration blossom on her pale face, yet the stone remains untouched.

  Once more, the young woman’s hand reaches up to the window and presses against its reflection. The sad eyes stare at one another. The anguish that passes between them borders on desperation, but the secret stays buried as the young woman stands and turns from the window. As she walks away, the reflection’s haunted eyes never waver, watching the young woman’s retreating form until she is left alone.

  ***

  My eyes are sluggish to open. They can tell it isn’t bright enough to get up yet, no matter how loudly the alarm whines. I groan as I roll over and tap my cell phone to get rid of the obnoxious noise. The temptation to roll back over and bury myself in my blankets pricks at my tired mind.

  I went to bed unnecessarily early last night at my mom’s insistence, but I still feel exhausted. Images of rain and strange reflections dance around in my head, pinpointing the source of my grumpiness. Ever since the summer when a series of terrifying dreams brought to light the gruesome truth of my family’s history, I have despised dreaming. No matter what the focus of the dreams, I have tried everything I can to escape them. A valiant effort, to be sure, but a pointless one. Banishing my ability to dream has proved impossible.

  As I drag myself out of bed, I wonder about the bizarre dream of the girl at the window. Or was it two girls? I’m really not sure. It made no sense, and all it seemed to accomplish was ruining my sleep and putting me in a bad mood for my first day of school in Grainer. I was perfectly excited last night.

  “Arra,” my mom calls through my door, “are you up?”

  “Yes, Mom,” I call back, my voice filled with irritation.

  “I’ll have breakfast ready in twenty minutes, so be quick.”

  I roll my eyes instead of answering and trudge to the little bathroom attached to my bedroom. As I go through the motions of showering and getting dressed, I try to recapture my good mood from last night.

  It isn’t nerves that have me anxious. Sure, it’s a new school, but I have already been here all summer and know everyone in the junior class. A small town like Grainer makes that fairly easy. I met everyone at the summer bonfire on the beach the first week I was here. Thinking of the bonfire does lift my mood out of the mud just a little. That was one event I never thought I would survive to attend, thanks to my impending death at the hands of an ancient Aztec god.

  I am putting on the last of my makeup when my cell phone starts singing. I recognize the ringtone meant for Tanner and hurry over to pick it up. I smile when I see Tanner’s grin staring back at me.

  “Hey, Tanner. What’s going on?”

  I’m really hoping that he isn’t cancelling his offer to walk me to school. I have no fear of getting lost—Grainer isn’t that big—but I feel better about walking onto the new campus with him there to back me up, just in case. There have been no strange or unusual occurrences since my birthday, but that edgy, get under your skin feeling has been plaguing me since I woke up.

  “Just making sure you were up and ready to go. I know you used to start school a lot later in Manhattan, so I just wanted to be sure you weren’t still asleep,” Tanner says mockingly.<
br />
  I was a few minutes late to our archery practice session last week. Okay, half an hour late. It was an accident, though. It’s hard to pay attention to the time when I start listening to my grandpa’s stories. I have the feeling Tanner isn’t going to stop teasing me about it any time soon.

  “Ha, ha. I am perfectly capable of waking up on time without your help.”

  “Hmm,” Tanner says, “that’s too bad. I was half tempted to sneak through your window last night just to make sure you got up on time this morning.”

  That thought banishes every sour emotion from my mind. “Tanner, don’t joke about that,” I beg. “It’s much too tempting to take you up on an offer like that.”

  And I mean it.

  The first week I was here, when I was struggling to figure out how to break the curse on my family in time to save my life, I was so terrified of going to sleep the night before my birthday that I asked Tanner to stay with me. Even as overwhelmed as I was by everything, lying in Tanner’s arms was a haven of safety and calm. I’ve never felt anything like that before.

  “Arra,” Tanner says softly. The ache in his voice cuts right to my heart. He doesn’t continue, but I know what he’s thinking because I’m thinking it too.

  “Are you still coming to pick me up?” I ask quietly.

  “Of course I am.”

  Attempting to distract myself from thoughts of being anywhere near a bed with Tanner, I say, “If you hurry, my mom is making breakfast. Probably strawberry covered pancakes. You know she’ll make twice as many as we need.”

  Tanner laughs, knowing my mom still cooks every meal as if my older brother David were still here with his bottomless stomach, instead of away at college. “I’ll be over in five.”

  We end the call after a quick goodbye and I hurry to finish getting ready. I am closing my bedroom door when a knock sounds on the front door. I call out that I’ll get it and open the door happily a few seconds later. I don’t even have time to say hello before Tanner pulls me into his arms and greets me with a kiss that continues his unsaid thoughts from earlier.

  I’m not prepared when Tanner pulls away unexpectedly, and I reach up to bring him back. Tanner’s quick retreat almost makes me lose my balance. I can’t understand why he would break off so fast until he speaks.

  “Good morning, Dr. Malo,” Tanner says politely.

  My eyes widen in embarrassment as I turn around to find my dad staring at us with his arms folded across his chest. He does not look pleased. It isn’t hard to read the words behind his expression. We will be having a chat when he gets home from work tonight. My shoulders droop, knowing I am going to be in trouble. Although, not half as much trouble as I would be if he knew Tanner had once slept over. It wouldn’t matter in the least that nothing more than a kiss had happened because I was too scared to even think about taking things further. I would be grounded for life, and Tanner…I don’t like to think about what would happen to Tanner.

  Thankfully, my mom bustles out from the kitchen right about then. “Tanner!” she says happily. “Are you hungry? You’re welcome to stay for breakfast. We have plenty of pancakes.”

  Even after being caught by my dad, Tanner and I both try and fail to suppress a laugh. Dad’s frown deepens even more, probably thinking we are laughing about being caught. I decide to bail as fast as I can before I get myself into any more trouble. I grab Tanner’s hand and drag him toward the kitchen, mumbling a hasty “good morning” to my dad on the way.

  Mom seems a little confused by Dad’s hostility toward Tanner throughout breakfast, but no one bothers to explain. Tanner and I both eat rather quickly and make an exit before my dad decides to break his silence.

  When we are finally outside and headed for the school, I turn a not-so-fierce glare on Tanner. “I am in big trouble because of you.”

  “Me?” Tanner says innocently. Then his lips turn up in a devilish smile. “I wasn’t the only one doing the kissing back there. I don’t think I imagined you kissing me back.”

  “No,” I say as I edge closer to him, “you didn’t.”

  This time I am the one pulling him to me. My lips touch his softly, just brushing his lower lip. I feel his shoulders tense as he tries to stop himself from grabbing me. I kiss him again, this time pulling him closer to meet my lips fully. Tanner’s hands slide down to my hips. His grip makes it clear that he wants to take the lead, but he forces himself to hold back. Lifting up on my tiptoes, I finally give him what he wants, pressing myself against him and deepening the kiss to where we left off before breakfast.

  Dropping back to my heels a few minutes later in order to break the kiss, it takes me a moment to regain my breath and remember how to speak again. “From now on,” I say, “no more kissing me at the door.”

  Tanner’s breath brushes against my ear as he exhales. “I’m sorry I kissed you in front of your dad like that.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” I say. I’m certainly not.

  “I’ll just make sure not to do it in front of your dad anymore, okay?” Tanner pulls back and looks down at me worriedly. “Is he really that mad?”

  “Did you see his face?”

  Tanner grimaces. I try to soften my words by reaching up and looping my hands behind his neck. “Just give him a few days to cool off, okay? I’ll talk to him tonight, but it might be best if you meet me at the corner for a while.”

  “You mean, no more pancakes?” Tanner pouts.

  I roll my eyes and start pulling him down the street. “Let’s not make things worse by being late for school.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  We only make it one more block before Tanner asks, “Hey, was everything okay when I called this morning? You didn’t sound like yourself.”

  I look over at him, surprised he could tell just from my voice that I’d had a rough night. Pulling a little closer to him, I lean my head against his shoulder. “It was just this weird dream. You know how much I dislike dreaming these days. This one was more bizarre than usual and I didn’t sleep well.”

  Tanner looks over at me with a frown. I can feel his arm tightening around me. He’s very sweet, but this isn’t worth getting worked up about.

  “It was just a dream,” I say, “no big deal.”

  Tanner looks skeptical. “What was it about?”

  The desire to blow off his question and not talk about the dream is very tempting. In reality, it was strange, and talking about it might help me get it out of my mind.

  “There was this girl sitting at a window, looking at her reflection. It was raining and the reflection looked like it was crying. The girl seemed pretty upset, though, and she started crying, too.” I stop, attempting to shake off the strangeness of the dream. Failing, I continue. “The weird thing was, the girl put her hand up to the window like she was trying to touch the reflection. Then she held her hand over this odd looking rock. She didn’t touch it, just held her hand over it. When she turned away from the window, the reflection didn’t move. It just kept watching her walk away.”

  Tanner’s brow knits together as he considers what I’ve told him. He seems to be trying to puzzle it out, but he just shakes his head after a while. “That is pretty weird. I wonder what it meant.”

  “Why does it have to mean anything?” The last thing I want is another dream with a hidden agenda.

  “I didn’t mean it like that,” Tanner says, “I just meant, I wondered what brought it on.”

  “Well, at least she didn’t look like me.” That was actually a huge relief. The dreams from the summer all featured a young woman who looked almost identical to me.

  Tanner laughs. “No kidding. What did she look like?”

  “Blonde, curly hair, green eyes, pale skin, beautiful. Pretty much the exact opposite of me,” I assure him.

  “Except the beautiful part,” Tanner says before stealing another kiss.

  I smile as we finally cross onto the high school campus. Actually, it’s the junior high and high school campus, since there are so few s
tudents here, but no one seems to mind. I see brand new little sixth graders talking with seniors. Everyone appears to be mingling regardless of age. The sight makes me wonder where Tanner’s little sister is. He mentioned she had to be at school early for some student council meeting, but I thought she’d be done by now. As I scan through the milling students, my eyes catch on an unfamiliar girl standing alone.

  About to ask Tanner who she is, my whole body dives into panic mode the second she turns toward me. I can’t move. I can barely breathe. My eyes refuse to blink, yet my fingers are strangling Tanner’s. I can feel my head getting lighter, about to check out entirely.

  Tanner turns to look at me with a confused expression. “Arra, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I…it’s …” My throat seizes up. I know I am seconds away from passing out. Tanner’s eyes widen.

  “Arra, breathe,” Tanner says slowly. “Your dad is never going to let me see you again if I have to tell him you passed out at school. He’ll be convinced it was my fault. Breathe, Arra, just calm down and breathe.”

  The possibility of being kept away from Tanner is just barely enough to override my panic. My lungs finally suck in a huge breath of air. My head still feels woozy, but Tanner’s shoulders lose some of their tension. He pulls me against his chest gently and holds me until my breathing finally returns to semi-normal.

  When it does, he pushes me back slowly and watches me for a moment. “What just happened? Do I need to call your dad?”

  I shake my head quickly.

  “Then what happened?” he asks.