Forgotten Visions (The Divinities Book 1) Read online

  Forgotten Visions

  The Divinities, book 1

  © copyright 2016 Lia Davis

  Published by After Glows

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-944060-14-5

  Print ISBN: 978-1-944060-15-2

  Cover by ORIGINAL SYN

  Formatting by AG Formatting

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  www.AuthorLiaDavis.com

  Forgotten Visions

  Childhood sweethearts reunite to search for a killer but find themselves in the middle of an ancient war between witches and demons.

  Kalissa Bradenton isn’t your average coffee shop owner. Born to an elite witch bloodline with a rare genetic mutation, she’s a Divinity on a mission. Her investigation into the deaths of her parents sends her straight into the middle of an ancient war between witches and demons. After a near-fatal accident, a childhood friend, Ayden Daniels, comes to her aid and triggers visions of a past she doesn’t remember, sparking an old flame and new desires. With their history slowly becoming clearer, Kalissa eagerly sets her sights on mending Ayden’s heart and gaining his trust—until a ghost from her past returns to claim her as his demonic mate.

  While investigating a series of Divinity murders, Ayden, the new sheriff of Maxville and grandson of the oldest living Divinity, comes face-to-face with the one woman he hopes to have little to no contact with. Old pain rises instantly and is quickly followed by anger and resentment. Through his rare power of adaptability, however, he learns that things from his past may not be what they seem. Hope fills his broken heart, and determination pushes him to do whatever it takes to win Kalissa once more before he loses her forever.

  Together, they must find the strength to mend their tattered souls and learn to love again, while fighting an evil out to destroy the world.

  Chapter 1

  A cool sensation passed over Kalissa Bradenton’s subconscious as she entered her bedroom. She shivered and suddenly found it hard to breathe. A feeling of abandonment rose from deep inside and coiled around her like a cold current. Panic and fear raced through her veins, increasing her heart rate in alarm. The faces of her parents flashed in her mind.

  No.

  She rushed to her dresser, picked up her phone with shaky hands, and dialed her mother’s cell. No answer. With blurred sight and a lump in her throat, she tried her father’s. It went straight to voicemail. Kalissa’s dread cut through her soul, and the bitter taste of fear rose in her throat as hot tears slid down her cheeks.

  Gods no! She dialed again and again. Still nothing. It wasn’t like them to not pick up.

  Her parents had driven into Jacksonville for dinner to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary. They should’ve been on their way home.

  Kalissa staggered back a few steps as her Divinity gift of visions transported her to the event. One minute she was in her bedroom, and the next, she stood on the side of the highway. A royal blue Mercedes barreled past her and repeatedly flipped across the median and into oncoming traffic on Interstate 10. The sound of crunching metal cut through the stillness of the night, and broken glass littered the ground, trailing to where the car had slammed into a large oak tree.

  The heavy, sulfur scent of dark magic flowed on the breeze.

  When the vision cut off, tightness gripped her chest, and a lump stuck in her throat.

  Pocketing her cell, Kalissa ran from her bedroom to her twin sister’s room on the other side of the second floor of their family home. She charged into Khloe’s room without knocking. “We have to go. Grab a jacket.”

  Kalissa ran down the stairs and grabbed her car keys off the small table next to the door. She turned and met Khloe’s watery teal eyes. They didn’t need to speak out loud because magical twins shared a psychic bond. The words they could hear each other think lingered between them. Mom and Dad had an accident. The tears threatening to spill from Khloe’s eyes said she already knew. Instant loss and painful sorrow passed between them. Their Divinity link with their parents cut off like someone had flipped a switch, leaving behind a cold and empty space in their hearts.

  A blast of frigid air slapped Kalissa in the face as she stepped out into the frozen January night. She ignored the bite of cold wind against her skin and rushed to her car parked a few feet from the front door.

  They climbed into the Audi, pulled out of their driveway, and sped down their street toward the highway at speeds sure to get her a healthy ticket if she were caught. A mile down the Interstate, her heart sank at the scene in front of her. Their parents’ car sat half wrapped around a tree off the side of the road. It was two in the morning, and the few cars on the road were stopped along the shoulder. Beams of headlights cut through the darkness. Concerned citizens stood, observing the scene in amazement and horror.

  Kalissa parked her car on the shoulder, pressed her forehead to the steering wheel, and closed her eyes. With deep, ragged breaths she called to her Divinity gift of visions once more. Images of the accident replayed in her mind, this time with more detail.

  A man steps out onto the dark highway, illuminated by the headlights of the Mercedes. The wind blows his long black hair behind him and wraps the hem of his long trench coat around his legs. Startled, Troy hits the brakes hard, but they don’t work. He jerks the car to the left and hits an icy patch on the road at the edge of the grassy median, sending the car into a spin. Panic assails him, and he overcorrects. The car slides through the median, hits a dip in the grass, and repeatedly flips into oncoming traffic until it lands in the woods, wrapping around a large oak tree. Troy, and Connie, his wife, die on impact.

  Kalissa couldn’t hold back the tears as the vision faded. She let the fat, heavy drops fall from her eyes. She allowed herself to break down. To get it out of the way so she could face the authorities.

  After a few minutes, she wiped her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the door. When she stepped out of the car, the wailing of sirens cut through the whispering voices of the bystanders. Red and blue lights flashed wildly as the emergency vehicles advanced toward the accident.

  She met Khloe at the front of the car. Kalissa glanced at her sister and asked, “Are you staying here or coming with me?”

  “No…yes.”

  “Me neither,” Kalissa grumbled in reply to her sister’s indecisive answer. She didn’t want to see her parents’ lifeless bodies trapped inside the mangled car. Curiosity pulled at her to investigate, see for herself what had killed two powerful, hard to kill witches. She was sure it was a spell that had killed them, her vision told her as much. Still she wanted to see for herself.

  Kalissa held out her hand. “Come on.” They tried not to draw too much attention to themselves in public with their telepathy. It disturbed those who didn’t understand. Although, humans knew about witches and other magickin, they held prejudiced views of the supernatural.

  Fifteen minutes later, Kalissa stood with her arms cr
ossed over her chest, scowling at the several policemen from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office as they took statements from witnesses. None of which saw a damn thing except her parents’ car lose control.

  The slam of a car door drew her attention to the new arrival. Maxville Sheriff’s Deputy, Zach Manus, emerged from his unmarked 2011 Chevy Camaro and stalked toward them, deep sorrow and anger laced across his handsome features. His light brown hair was standing a little more on ends than usual. He stopped in front of them, his frown deepening and his golden brown eyes darkening.

  Zach, along with most his family, was empathic. Kalissa didn’t need to tell him how she felt. A flicker of grief laced his features, then disappeared in a flash. He inhaled deeply, facial features blanked, devoid of emotions. He put up his shields that block others’ emotions, she mused. Why hadn’t he slammed them in place before getting out of the car?

  He was testing our mood, she thought sourly to Khloe.

  “Don’t do that twin thing with me.” Zach gave a forced smile.

  “What twin thing?” she and Khloe asked at the same time, trying to look innocent. But it was next to impossible while they stood there wrapped in grief.

  His dark brows dipped downward as he shifted to look at Fire Rescue working to get the flattened top of the Benz open. Turning his head back in Kalissa’s direction, eyes narrowed, he said, “You’ve been arguing with them?”

  She flicked her attention to him. Yeah, she’d argued. JSO had the most irritating and pigheaded officers. The chief detective hadn’t wanted any insight from her. Prejudiced bastard.

  Zach was like a brother to them, and Kalissa trusted him fully. Sometimes, it was hard to remember that he had a serious, responsible side. Around family, he was playful and sarcastic. But tonight, there were no sheepish smiles or factitious remarks.

  “They won’t talk to me. I tried to tell them this wasn’t an accident, but they dismissed me like I was nobody.” She hugged her waist, staring back at the crushed car. It had been pulled away from the tree and loaded onto a wrecker. “They shouldn’t have died,” she whispered. What kind of power could kill two immortals like that? Who was that man in her vision? Was he a man at all?

  Zach reached out to Kalissa, rubbed her arm with one hand, and took Khloe’s hand in his other to draw her into a comforting brotherly hug. “I know. There is a presence of dark magic,” he said, making Kalissa look into his golden brown eyes. “I’ll handle it,” he told her. “Do not investigate this on your own. I mean it, Kalissa. If you find something or have more visions, let me know. I don’t need you to suffer the same fate.”

  He knows something.

  Agreeing with Khloe’s telepathic acknowledgement, Kalissa traded glances with her sister. She pushed it aside—for now—and scanned the scene one last time before she climbed back into her car.

  A man standing behind the growing crowd of onlookers a few feet away caught her attention. He wore a ball cap pulled down low, hiding his face. There was something about him. Something familiar. She narrowed her eyes. He lifted his head in a sudden movement and looked directly at her as if he felt her stare. Their gazes locked.

  A scene from her earlier vision popped into her mind. The man steps out in front of her parents’ car. She concentrated on that scene, stilling it as though she’d pushed the pause button on a TV remote. The eyes of the man in her vision and the eyes of the man looking back at her now were similar. Kalissa stalked toward him without any idea what she was going to do when she got there. Was this the same guy? And if so, why had he caused the accident that had taken her parents away? By damn, she wanted some answers. And Mr. Ball Cap looked guilty of something.

  The man moved out of Kalissa’s sight, ducking behind the crowd. She increased her pace. When she arrived at the spot where he’d stood moments before, he was gone.

  Had she imagined the whole thing?

  Chapter 2

  Kalissa needed answers. Eighteen months was long enough to sit by and wait for the authorities. The building frustration said it was time to take matters into her own hands.

  After much debate and hours of heated discussion, she’d finally convinced her twin to go into the attic to search through their parents’ things in hopes of finding clues about their deaths.

  On her way up the stairs of the mansion-sized farmhouse, the familiar country vibe their mother loved swirled around Kalissa. She and Khloe shared the same love of their home, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. That’s why, at thirty-two, they still lived there. It was almost customary. Witches lived in covens; communities where magickin—witches, fae, and other magic-born beings—lived away from human judgment and prejudices. Magickin lived together for most of their lives.

  The fact that she and her twin were Divinities was all the more reason to stay close to the coven. There were things lurking in the shadows that wanted possession of the god-like powers running in their blood.

  In the attic, she cast a longing glance around the room and the boxes that held their parents’ lives. Converted to a home office a month after her parents had moved in, it looked like the rest of the rooms throughout the house. Walls painted white with honey maple wood trim. Their mother’s personal touches were scattered throughout the office, lavender and sage curtains hanging from the single small window. Family photos from all stages of life littered the shelves and walls. Kalissa didn’t have the heart to take any of them down.

  That would be too much of a goodbye. So they would remain as a positive reminder of the loving family they’d once been.

  She took a deep, shaky breath and pushed on. It was hard to part with their parents’ belongings, but they couldn’t hold on to everything. Kalissa’s heart ached for the loss of the two people she’d wrapped her life around.

  “Hey, Lo, look at this,” she said as she pulled a sheet of paper out of a box. The drawing had two big stick people with two little stick people. There was no hair, no hands, and no feet. In the left-hand corner, was a round purple object. Kalissa looked at the drawing more closely. Little Ws in the sky represented birds flying, and the white, puffy clouds told her it was daytime. It was just like her mother to keep their drawings from when they were children. Kalissa inhaled deeply to keep from bursting into sobs.

  “Oh, my gods! That is so funny.” Her sister leaned over to take the drawing from her. She had a smile on her angelic face that Kalissa hasn’t seen much of since the deaths. Khloe turned it over. “Mama wrote on the back. ‘Khloe, age four.’”

  “This whole box is full of them. We could make scrapbooks of them by age.” Kalissa closed the flaps on the box and moved it to the ‘keep’ pile. She stood from her chair and stretched, arms straight up over her head with fingers laced.

  With a heavy heart, Kalissa moved to the desk and picked up the pile of books that were going to the children’s hospital in Jacksonville. Their mother had read those books to them when they were little. Sorrow enveloped her at the thought of parting with them, but she knew the kids at Wolfson’s would enjoy them as much as she and Khloe had.

  “What’s this?” Khloe held out a star-shaped, wooden box.

  Kalissa glanced curiously at the hand-carved oak container. After placing the books inside an empty box, she took the five-pointed star from her sister. At closer inspection, there was no visible opening. Puzzlement twirled in her mind, quickly replaced by a nosey need to figure the thing out. What is it? She silently repeated Khloe’s question.

  It looked like one of her mother’s trinket boxes at a glance. But it was different. Magical essence coated the wood and made it warm to the touch. The wood felt almost alive, enchanted.

  “It could be spelled,” Khloe chimed in.

  “Where did you get it?”

  “In here.” Khloe looked inside the box that she was going through. A piece of her pink-streaked blond hair escaped her ponytail and fell on her face. Their hair and eyes were the only way to tell them apart. Khloe had teal eyes and had cast a glamour spell over her hair s
o it was a light blond with pink streaks on either side of her slightly oval face.

  Kalissa never cared for glamour, never wanted to bring any kind of attention to herself. Her very vivid violet eyes did that enough.

  “Ah!” Khloe extracted another, larger wooden box and opened it. “There are ritual items in here. Salt, chalk…” She lifted a piece of parchment paper and carefully unfolded it.

  “What is it?” Kalissa moved closer.

  “Instructions,” Khloe stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Kalissa rolled her eyes as her sister read through the directions.

  “Set the star in a circle. Touch each point, and recite the corresponding element counterclockwise, starting with south.”

  “What?”

  Khloe laughed out loud, and Kalissa couldn’t hold back her own smile. Picking up the glass jar of salt, Khloe made a perfect circle on the hardwood floor, big enough for the star-shaped box. She took the box from Kalissa and set it inside the circle. Slowly, she touched the left bottom star point. “Fire.” She moved to the point to the right, “Air,” and continued around speaking the remaining elements of each point: earth, spirit, and water.

  When she was done, she raised her hand above the pentacle and said, “I will thee to open. So shall it be.”

  The top of the star clicked and unlocked.

  Kalissa raised her eyes to meet her twin’s. Khloe gave a shrug and motioned to open it. A whiff of her mother’s perfume hit Kalissa as soon as the lid was removed. Tears stung the backs of her eyes as she lifted the box to her nose and inhaled. A blend of tuberose and vanilla oils invaded her senses, wrapping around her like the hug she longed for. Her mother’s face instantly came to mind. Her beautiful smile. The twinkle in her eyes when she looked at her family. Then Kalissa held the star out to Khloe and watched her vivid teal eyes fill with tears as she took in their mother’s scent.