The Promise
(Coven #1)
Author: Apryl Baker
Release Date: September 16th 2011
ISBN: 0615535569
(ISBN13: 9780615535562)
Pages: 170
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult,
Romance, Paranormal
Series: Coven #1
Summary
Armed with
kick-ass shoes, can CJ stop a maniacal coven leader, save the town, and
still get Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous while surviving the darkness
coming for her?
The smoke from the fire burned her eyes,
its heat caressed her skin and the taste of fear choked her. She was
going to burn just as her ancestor did all those centuries ago in New
Salem Village. How could she have been so wrong about everything?
Cassie
Jayne Bishop grew up the only non-believer in town of Coven. When a
stranger comes to the sleepy town of New Salem, everything she thought
was true unraveled around her. Ethan made her question everything, even
her sister’s death. Clues start to pile up and Cassie is determined to
find out if the Coven was the real reason her sister died.
What she uncovers terrifies her to the very depths of her soul....
Excerpt
Why does it always happen to me? What did I do to piss off the Fates so badly? I stared down at my puke-covered Mary Janes and winced. Eww, gross. So
much for my brand new shoes.
“Come on, Kay, let’s get you home.” I pulled my best friend up and put my
arm around her. She smelled like
stale beer and vomit. Rancid
breath. I should leave her here, I
thought spitefully. I hadn’t even
wanted to come to the stupid party to begin with. It was just another one of their attempts to get me into the
fold, but I had no intention of getting involved in any of that nonsense. Just look what it had gotten me
tonight—Jeff hit on me yet again…ugh… and then my shoes were ruined. So wrong.
“S-s-sor-ry,” Kay slurred as she focused on putting one foot
in front of the other.
“Where’s your car?” I asked as I scanned the vehicles parked
too close together on the fringe of the lake.
“Jess.”
Perfect, I groaned to myself. I’d seen her sister earlier arguing with her loser boyfriend,
but didn’t know she’d already taken Kay’s car and left. I used my cell to try and call her, but
wasn’t surprised it went straight to voicemail.
Just fabulous.
It’s not like I could even call Kay’s boyfriend. His parents had cornered him into some
kind of family night.
I searched the mass of bodies looking for someone who’d loan
me their car. The raucous laughter
of teens filled the air as they danced around the mummy of the headless
horseman they’d built, his pumpkin head ablaze, to usher in the month of
October and the ritual of Samhain.
Bonfires decorated the shore to welcome our most celebrated holiday.
The haze from the bonfires made it hard to see anyone. Jeff caught my eye and waved. I could ask him, but Neighbor Boy would
think I owed him. Uh, definitely
not. He was one of my best
friends, but he had a serious crush on me. Loaning me his Jeep would equal a date in his eyes. Not gonna happen. I didn’t see anyone else that I knew
well enough to ask.
Kay made a horrible retching noise and threw up all over my
shoes again. Why me?
“Looks like we’re walking.” Thank the Fates she didn’t live far.
I half dragged the semi-conscious girl away from the lake
and toward the outskirts of New Salem.
I still couldn’t believe I was stuck hauling her drunken ass home. She owed me big time.
It was dark, but I knew my way through the woods. I’d spent enough time in them growing
up to be able to walk through blindfolded. Kay, however, made it more difficult. I had to stop every few minutes to let
her throw up. By the time we
finally reached the first house on our street, Gallows Lane, I really was ready
to leave her.
She groaned and pitched forward, dragging me with her. Now I could add scraped knees to my
list of things that had gone wrong tonight, I thought as I fell. Fingers curled around my arm and yanked
me backward before I could hit the ground. Kay fell flat on her face.
I turned around to say thank you, but the words froze in my
throat. I looked up and up. The light from the street lamp
illuminated hair the color of rich, dark chocolate. It swept down almost to his shoulders in a perfect mess that
framed a face of sharp angles and strong features. Sculpted perfection was my first thought. Gray eyes that reminded me of the fog
swirling over the mountains after a rain, stared steadily down at me. My mind focused on one fact—he was
absolutely gorgeous.
“Are you okay?” he asked. His voice was deep and gravelly. I liked it.
I nodded, not trusting my own voice. I was in full ogle mode.
He looked down at Kay and sighed. He lifted her into his arms and turned to me. “Where does she live?”
“Just up the lane,” I told him, grateful my voice didn’t
crack while I admired the way his muscles rippled under the tee shirt as he
shifted his hold on Kay. “Thanks.”
He nodded and motioned for me to show him the way.
“I’m Cassie Jayne Bishop,” I told him as we walked. “CJ.”
Crap, why I had I told him my full name? We were taught at an early age not to
tell strangers our full names. To
us it was the ultimate taboo. Oh
well. It’s not like I believed in
that nonsense anyway.
“Ethan Warren,” he said and quickened his pace.
Okay, so maybe he didn’t want to talk to me. Or he could just be in a hurry to get
away from the stench of dried vomit and beer. I hoped it was the latter. Then I remembered my shoes. I probably reeked too.
We reached Kay’s house in record time. His long strides ate up the
sidewalk. I found myself running
to keep up with him. He had to be
at least four or five inches over six feet. I barely reached his shoulder.
Fate decided to forgive me. Her Dad still wasn’t home. Neither was Jess.
I opened the back door with the spare key they kept buried in the
gravel. I turned around to take
Kay, but he was already entering the house. I led the way upstairs to her room so I could open the door
for him. He dumped her on the bed. I pulled her shoes off and tucked a
throw around her.
“Come along, Cassie Jayne Bishop. I’ll walk you home.”
He turned and headed out the door.
I stared after him.
Who was he? I found him
waiting at the back door when I came down. After locking the door and pocketing the key (hey, he’d seen
me take it—how was I to know he wouldn’t come back?) we started up the lane
toward my own smaller, more meager house.
“Why weren’t you drinking?” he asked me as we walked.
“You were at the party?” I looked up, startled.
He nodded.
“Yeah. I saw you and Drunk
Girl arrive, but I never saw you drink anything all night.”
“No, I don’t drink.”
And I didn’t. I’d seen what
it did to my dad. Watching that
train wreck was enough to deter anyone from ever wanting to touch the stuff
themselves, including me. My dad
was great, except when he drank.
Then the impact of what he’d asked sunk in. How did he know I didn’t drink
anything? Had he been watching
me? I peeked sideways at him and
felt my mouth go dry. It was
indecent the way his tight, green tee-shirt hugged his abs.
“Interesting,” he said after a moment.
Interesting?
What did that mean? Did he
assume I was like Kay and drank myself into a stupor on a regular
occurrence? Please don’t think I’m
that much of an idiot, I begged silently.
Why did I even care what he thought anyway? It wasn’t like he was interested in me or something. Was he? Did I want him interested? Oh, yeah, you bet your ass I did.
Guys tended to notice my best friend, Makayla Martin,
first. It didn’t bother me,
though. I had just as much
confidence in myself as she did. I
always got anyone I wanted. Kay
and I were the same in many ways, but we were also as different as Gucci heels
were to a pair of Payless stilettos.
She was tall with dark, onyx hair that glowed like black
fire. Her eyes, always full of
life, shone like the hazel eyes of a cat.
An olive complexion gave her an exotic look. Guys fell all over themselves for the chance of a smile.
Me now, I was a bit of a different story. I was short, petite, and full of the
fire that is inherent in a redhead with an Irish ancestry. My hair stood out. It wasn't auburn or even that ugly
orange shade some red-heads ended up with. No, my hair was blood red like a Coca-Cola can. My golden colored brown eyes
flashed with the same confidence of Kay’s. I could turn heads just as easily as she could. And I knew it.
Our personalities were just as different. Kay had this insane need to be the
center of attention. She was
literally a force of nature. I was
usually content to be the fashionable sidekick with the kickass shoes. I didn’t need every single person
clamoring for my attention just so long as I got the attention of the person I
wanted. Like the boy walking
beside of me. And I would have
him. Maybe. The stench could be a hurdle. Kay was so gonna get it tomorrow.
My mind flashed to my sister and for a second, her face
danced in front of my eyes. If only she could see me now. She’d be laughing herself silly.
“This is my house,” I told him as we came to the old yellow
Victorian home. It was just a bit
run down, but I still loved it. He
followed me up the steps and stopped under the porch light. “Thanks for walking me home.”
When he didn’t say anything, I looked up to see him staring
at me. A smile flirted with his
lips. Dimples. He had dimples.
“Don’t worry about it.
I figured you might need some help when I saw you staggering away from
the party. Does she always get
that drunk?”
So he did look at Kay as possible girlfriend material! Of course he would be worried about her
getting drunk all the time. I
sighed with irritation. This could
be a problem. There were times I
really hated my best friend.
“No,” I lied, my BBF skills kicking in despite my
irritation. Kay did get drunk a
lot. I coped with problems at home
by writing in my journal. She
coped with her problems by drinking.
I frowned, a thought occurring to me.
“Wait, you followed us? A bit stalkerish don’t you think?”
He grinned. My
knees turned to butter. “Yeah,
that’s why I decided to follow you and only give you some help if you needed
it. You’re a tiny bit of
fluff. I’m surprised the Amazon
didn’t bowl you over before you reached the lane.”
“You’re rude.”
Tiny? Why did he have to
remark upon my shortness?
His smile widened.
“And Kay doesn’t always act like that.”
“You’re a loyal little thing aren’t you?” he laughed.
A little thing?
Yet another remark upon my stature, my one bone of contention with my
appearance. It irked me. He irked me. Maybe I didn’t want him after all.
His eyes sparkled with laughter. He was irritating me on purpose.
“She’s my friend.”
His lips turned up in a half smile and his eyes darkened to
steel. “Did I say something to
upset you?”
“Of course not,” I replied coolly. I couldn’t seem to drag my gaze away from his eyes. They fascinated me. I’d never seen eyes that could turn so
many shades of gray in a matter of seconds.
“And you’ve got a bit of a temper,” he mused. His face wore an odd expression as he
reached out and pushed a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I almost hyperventilated.
Normally, I would have evaded any guy who tried to touch me,
especially one I didn’t know, but not this one. I wanted him to touch me. Very weird.
His fingers were warm as they continued down from my ear and
brushed my cheek. I felt a little
spark of electricity shoot across my skin.
“Anything else you’d like to point out while you’re doing
such a bang up job of it?” I tried
to work up a good glare. He looked
at me like he couldn’t quite figure out how I fit into the whole puzzle. I was the odd piece that just didn’t
work no matter which way you turned it.
His face turned serious as he thought about it. “Your face gets all red when you get
angry.”
Oh, he did not.
“And you make a funny choking noise when you’re trying not
to yell.”
My fist clenched.
I turned and unlocked the door. No way was I going to stand here and listen to this.
His hand found mine before I could open the door. He pulled me back to him.
“And despite all that, you’re still the cutest little thing
I’ve seen in ages,” he told me with a devilish grin.
My mouth fell open.
He thought I was cute?
“I’ll see you around, Cassie Jayne Bishop.” He tweaked my nose and then sauntered
back the way we’d come.
I watched him until he disappeared. Cute? He said I was
cute? Mr. Melt In Your Mouth Gorgeous thought I was cute? I smiled. Then I caught site of my Mary
Janes. Ugh. Kay owed me a new pair of shoes.
I shivered as the cold wind blew through the trees and
wished it was just a bit warmer.
The wind faded and I could feel heat radiate around me. The heat pump must have kicked on, I
decided. At least Mom had
remembered to turn it on.
My gaze flitted back to the spot where he’d
disappeared. I hadn’t actually
seen him turn the corner. It was
more like he’d…faded. Odd. My eyes must be really tired, I
decided, but I smiled. I could
still feel his fingers where they’d grazed my cheek and my hand tingled from
the warmth of his.
Things might definitely be looking up.
That is if I could forget October 15th and stay out of the
town’s clutches.
Author
So who am I?
Well, I'm the crazy girl with an imagination that never shuts up. I LOVE scary
movies. My friends laugh at me when I scare myself watching them and tell me to
stop watching them, but who doesn't love to get scared? I grew up in a small
town nestled in the southern mountains of West Virginia where I spent days
roaming around in the woods, climbing trees, and causing general mayhem. Nights
I would stay up reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers until my
parents yelled at me to go to sleep.
I love books, I love writing books, and I love entertaining people with my
silly stories.
Author
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