Graveyards, Visions, and Other Things That Byte (Dowser 8.5) by Meghan Ciana Doidge

Author:Meghan Ciana Doidge [Doidge, Meghan Ciana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-927850-81-7
Publisher: Meghan Ciana Doidge

2

Rochelle

Buzz.

The city of Vancouver was laid to waste. Ruined. Swathed in harshly edged charcoal grays, smoldering, crumbled buildings spread from the shoreline to the mountains. Not a speck of green among the fallen towers.

Buzz.

I twisted my ankle in the concrete rubble, stumbling but managing to not fall and impale myself on the twisted rebar that jutted out everywhere. I wasn’t quite sure where I was standing. I wasn’t quite sure I was actually in the city at all.

Buzz.

A whisper of darkness slipped up my spine, chilling me through and through. A presence loomed behind me. A dreadful echo of the section of my soul I thought I’d walled off. A future I had hoped I’d thwarted.

I slowly pivoted, already knowing what I would see perched on the towering pile of rubble rising to my right. I wrapped my right hand tightly over my left, crushing my fingers in my grasp, covering the diamond-speckled wedding ring I wore. My mind screamed for me to look away, to look anywhere else.

Buzz.

I was wrong. I had expected the demon with its glowing crimson eyes, viciously sharp teeth, and wickedly curved talons. And the black-scaled beast was there, perched on a pile of steel girders, concrete, and glass … so, so much shattered glass everywhere. Knee high in some places.

It was the girl I hadn’t expected.

She was slim and tall, around eight or nine. Her tousled white hair hung halfway down her back, raggedly hacked off at the ends as though she’d cut it herself. Dressed head to toe in mismatched shades of gray, she practically blended in with the crumbling concrete. Except for her hair and the demon by her side.

The girl reached up and scratched the black beast underneath its chin. It curled its spiked tail around her ankles and purred.

The sound ground into my bones. I shuddered, gasping.

The demon swiveled its broad, flat head, pinning me with flaming eyes.

Rochelle. Its voice screeched through my mind. My Rochelle.

The girl spun to face me, crouching beneath the demon’s chest as if she expected the creature to protect her. As if it were hers.

As if it were her demon, not mine.

Her skin was light brown. Her features were desperately familiar. But it was her eyes that made me lightheaded. Her eyes were brilliant white.

The white of oracle magic.

My magic.

My heart stopped beating, even as it somehow crammed itself into my throat.

The girl wore a silver whip twined around her waist. The whip that had belonged to my grandmother, Win. The whip I was fairly certain was currently in the sorcerer Blackwell’s possession.

The whip that was supposed to have been mine to wield.

The girl’s whited-out gaze flicked around, looking everywhere at once but seeing nothing.

“Mom?” she whispered.

She couldn’t see me.

I wasn’t standing there at all.

“Mom?!”

Buzz.

My phone was buzzing.

With text messages.

I was dreaming.

No … I was having a vision.

I opened my eyes.

I was in the living room, where I had fallen asleep on the couch. Beside me, Beau was snoring quietly, his head tilted back at a harsh angle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.