Grave Magic Read online

  Grave Magic

  By Lacey Thorn

  Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  www.supernovaindie.com

  Powered by Your Imagination

  Contents

  Contents

  Grave Magic

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Grave Magic

  by

  Lacey Thorn

  One day can change everything…

  Sheltered by her mother, Alice Savoy has believed in one thing her whole life. Magic. She might not know how to make appropriate small talk, but she’s mastered the art of manipulating the elements with a wave of her fingers. Discovering the grandmother she never knew left her a cottage leads to a cross-country journey that will change Alice’s life.

  Hudson Baines doesn’t believe in magic. After twelve years spent in some of the nastiest places on earth courtesy of the military, he’s not sure human decency still exists. Coming home was supposed to be about reconnecting with his baby sister, spending more time with his parents, and figuring out what to do with the rest of his life. What he wasn’t expecting was a chance meeting with the girl next door and the gut-wrenching need she ignited inside him.

  Copyright © 2018, Lacey Thorn

  Grave Magic

  Edited by Michele Paulin (Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC)

  Cover Art by Supernova Indie Publishing Services, LLC

  Published by Lacey Thorn Publishing

  P.O. Box 924

  Peru, In 46970

  Electronic format ISBN: 978-1-949795-01-1

  Warning: All rights reserved. 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 federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Electronic Release: October 2018

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and occurrences are a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, places or occurrences, is purely coincidental.

  Dear Readers,

  Thank you for your purchase of GRAVE MAGIC. I hope you enjoyed the story and will consider leaving a review at the eBook retailer website where you made your purchase. Reviews are a key way to help other readers find books and authors. Please consider taking a moment to rate and review GRAVE MAGIC!

  I love hearing from readers! Please visit me on my website at http://laceythorn.com where you can sign up for my newsletter or contact me at [email protected]. For a complete list of where to find me on the internet, please visit my website.

  Happy reading!

  Dedication

  To Brynn, Tia, and Dakota. Thanks for letting me be part of the fabulous four! <3

  Chapter One

  Hudson Baines turned his truck onto the dirt track that circled the cottage he’d inherited along with his sister. He cut the lights, choosing not to flash them across the house and risk waking her. It was good to be home. His final tour with the Army had ended last night. As of debriefing this morning, he was officially a free man. He’d planned to be a career soldier, but after twelve years, spent mostly on foreign soil in some of the worst hellholes in the world, Hudson was done.

  It had been three years since he’d seen his sister, Caitlyn. Though he’d told her it would be November before he could head home, he’d packed the truck as soon as he’d gotten to the barracks last night. Twelve years and he had little to show for it materially. All his possessions fit in his rucksack. Other than the St. Christopher medallion his mother had given him and the new smartphone Caitlyn had pushed him to buy, all Hudson really had were clothes. Considering he’d spent most of the last decade in a uniform, he didn’t have many civvies, either.

  He’d driven all day, wanting to surprise his sister on her birthday. He’d made good time. It was just shy of midnight. The sprite his mother had brought into the world in the wee hours of Halloween morning when Hudson had been six would be twenty-four soon. She’d been born with a headful of jet-black hair, big blue eyes, and the tiniest little hands and feet he’d ever seen. He remembered thinking of her as dainty, fragile, and had been afraid to hold her for fear of breaking her with his big hands.

  He snorted a laugh. He’d grown into the large hands and feet that had been the cause of ridicule as a young kid, topping out at six-feet-five by the time he was done growing. And Caitlyn was anything but fragile. She was still tiny at five-two, but the sprite was pure hellion. God, he’d missed her.

  The curtain covering the window on the back door fluttered, and Hudson’s radio cut out as an incoming call rang through, bringing a smile to his lips. He tapped the screen, content to wait for his sister to speak first.

  “You going to sit out there all night or what?” Caitlyn groused.

  “It’s a pretty night,” he replied, turning off the truck and releasing his seatbelt. God, it was so good to hear her voice. “How’s my house?”

  “Our house,” she snapped. “Half mine. Half yours.”

  “Two-thirds mine; one third yours,” he corrected, his grin growing.

  She growled as he’d known she would. The fact their grandparents had left the majority of their estate to him had always grated on Caitlyn’s nerves even though she’d inherit the bulk of their parents’. Mostly, it was the cottage where she and Hudson had spent many fun summers being ordinary kids. It was why he’d told her to live there once she’d hit eighteen and wanted to get away from the city. She’d done college online while he’d joined the military. And they’d both begun finding their own paths.

  “How long before Mom and Dad show up?” he asked.

  She laughed. “You’ve got time. They’re on a cruise and won’t be home for a few weeks. Last we heard, you were coming home mid-November. Mom will be pissed when she finds out you showed up early. And this is a conversation we should be having at the kitchen table after I’ve given you a bear hug and remarked on how old you look now that you’re thirty. Get your ass in here, Hud!”

  She hung up, and Hudson gave a bark of laughter. He shoved open the door and stepped out into the cool air. It smelled fragrant, sweet almost. He shoved his phone in his back pocket then grabbed his sack from the back. Putting the bag over his shoulder, he closed the door, beeped the lock then headed toward the now open back door. He was exhausted. It had been a long drive after a long seventy-two hours on his last mission. He was ready for a cold beer and bed—and the beer could wait.

  “You look rough. Drive all day?” Caitlyn filled the doorway as he stepped onto the porch. She was still all black curls and big blue eyes, a small, feminine version of him.

  “I missed you too, sprite,” he assured her, tugging a curl as she moved out of the way so he could step inside.

  He heard the click of the door as he dropped his bag.

  “Sit,” his sister ordered as she padded across the kitchen to the fridge. He watched her snag two longneck bottles and open them like a pro before heading toward him.

  “Drink.”

  “When did you get so bossy?” he asked, grasping the offered beer and taking a long pull on it. The cold brew felt good going down, and for the first time in a long time, Hudson’s shoulders eased.

  Caitlyn laughed. “As if growing up with you would allow me to be any other way.” She brushed a finger along the scruff on his face. “Rough.” Her gaze skimmed over his face, and he knew she was noting
the exhaustion he felt. “Tired. Beer, bed, then later today, you can help set up for my costume party.”

  “Why did I come home early?” he groaned then took another sip.

  “Because for all your adventures around the world, you missed me,” Caitlyn informed him.

  “I did,” he agreed.

  “My god! You’re more tired than I thought.”

  “Ha-ha. I did miss you, sprite. You and Mom and Dad. It’s good to be home.”

  Her expression softened. “It’s good to have you home.”

  He stood, holding his arms open, and she walked into them, wrapping hers around his sides and squeezing tightly. She still felt fragile to him, but he wouldn’t tell her that.

  “God, I missed you, Hud,” she murmured. “I can’t believe you’re home to stay. It’ll take some time to get that through my head. Which reminds me… Wait until you get a load of our new neighbor.”

  “Someone moved into the old Savoy place?” Hudson couldn’t remember anyone living there since old Alice Savoy had died when he’d been a teenager. He’d once teased Caitlyn that the old lady next door was a witch and would cook Caitlyn in her pot if she didn’t behave. His sister had run next door and told Ms. Alice, who’d threatened to turn Hudson into a toad if he didn’t quit teasing his sister. They’d both missed the older woman when she’d passed on.

  “Apparently, she had a granddaughter.”

  Hudson lifted a brow in question. A granddaughter who’d never visited? “I don’t remember a granddaughter visiting while we were around?”

  “To be honest, I don’t think Alice has been much of anywhere. Not from what I can tell. She’s only been here since late May.”

  “Alice?” he asked.

  “She’s named after her grandmother. Wait until you meet her.”

  “As intriguing as this is, you’ll have to tell me the rest of what’s bubbling in your head later today. I’m beat.”

  “It’ll only take a sec,” she promised, lighting up with whatever tale she had to tell, but Hudson was already moving.

  He dropped a kiss atop her head and grabbed his bag. “Later, sprite. I’m so exhausted I doubt I’d remember anything at this point.”

  “I’m glad you’re home!” she hollered after him.

  “Me, too,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. And he was. It suddenly hit him that he had no plans for tomorrow other than catching up with his sister. It felt good. Really good.

  He headed upstairs toward his bedroom. Not bothering with lights, he dropped his bag just inside the door, stripped to the skin, then dropped face down on the mattress. He was out almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

  * * * *

  “Desiree,” Alice Savoy answered on the phone’s first ring. Her breath caught with a bit of homesickness at the name on the screen.

  “How’s my girl doing? You settling in okay?” Desiree’s words wrapped around her, reminiscent of the hugs she’d once received from the woman who’d been Alice’s nursemaid, playmate, and confidant while growing up.

  “The house is amazing, and there’s so much of her still here. It’s as if she never left.”

  The irony was Alice had grown up in a cottage very much like her grandmother’s, though they’d been worlds apart. She’d had no formal schooling, learning from her mother and Desiree. She hadn’t even known she’d once had a living grandmother until she’d overheard her mother speaking to Desiree one night.

  “Your grandmother always meant for that house to go to you. It’s right you’re there. I can feel it in my bones.”

  “I wish you were here,” Alice admitted.

  “This is your time. To flourish and grow and shine. Your mom wants that for you as much as I do. Probably more,” Desiree informed her.

  Alice’s only reply was a snort of disagreement. She didn’t believe her mother had ever planned to tell her about the original Alive Savoy. Why had her mother been so cruel as to name her daughter after a grandmother she’d never met?

  Alice shook her head at that train of thought. That wasn’t fair. Her mother had been a lot of things, but she’d never been intentionally cruel. She’d been scared, and she’d let that fear control her life. It had controlled Alice’s, too. It still would be if Alice hadn’t found the strength and courage to walk away from the only life she’d ever known.

  Her mother had feared the world was a scary place filled with scary people. And maybe, it was, but there was more than that to find. So much more. Alice had wanted to experience it all. A grown woman shouldn’t have to beg her mother for permission to go out, to go to a store or restaurant or anywhere. Alice should have had friends to chat with, boyfriends to fall in and out of love with. She’d had none of that. At twenty-four, she’d never had a relationship of any kind, save for with her mother and Desiree. Her birthday wish had been to find the courage to leave, and six months ago, she finally had.

  “Your mother worries about you. She fretted from the moment you left here until she knew you’d made it to the cottage okay. That woman had us both on pins and needles, thinking you’d be kidnapped or murdered somewhere along the road.” There was the motherly tone Desiree always took with Alice. The woman had been a second parent to her more times than she could count.

  “She needs to stop worrying so much. Both of you do,” Alice urged.

  She’d discovered a lot since she’d headed out on her own. Growing up with only her mother and Desiree meant Alice hadn’t learned all the social cues others had. She’d quickly realized it wasn’t always appropriate to say everything she thought, but it was a lesson she often forgot in her curiosity. It didn’t take long to figure out it was impolite to stare, to question, to touch or taste or smell without being invited. It was a curious world, and Alice was keen to experience it all. She’d gathered people weren’t always nice. Especially men. The same rules of not touching or smelling or trying to taste without permission didn’t always seem to apply to them. Not when it came to pretty things, which was how they saw her. A pretty, little thing.

  She had a mirror. She knew what she looked like. Long blonde curls and big green eyes in a porcelain doll-like face, with just the right amount of feminine curves to her shape to garner her plenty of unwanted male interest. Some of it good, some of it amusing, and some of it dark and treacherous. Only her quick wit and magic had saved her from situations that could have gone incredibly bad.

  Desiree had taught her well though, at Lucy’s bequest. Alice had practiced, honing her craft and using it to thwart dangerous attention.

  Alice Marie Savoy was a witch. Her powers leaned more toward kinetic magic. Through panic and chaos mostly, Alice had learned she could manipulate the elements: fire, water, earth, and air. She could manipulate objects and sometimes, shadows and light, and even storms, which she found really cool.

  “Well, don’t keep me waiting, girl. Tell me what mischief you’ve been up to? How’s your friend doing? Caitlyn, isn’t it?”

  Alice laughed. “I’m good. No mischief. Caitlyn’s doing well. It’s so much fun having a neighbor, especially someone my age.”

  “But?” Desiree questioned. “I can hear something in your voice.”

  “I’m not sure. Just a feeling I keep picking up on.”

  “Feelings are important,” Desiree assured her. “What is it?”

  “She’s…lonely, I think. Which is weird since she has a boyfriend.” Alice bit off the last word as if it had soured in her mouth.

  “Hmm, one you don’t like if I’m reading that tone correctly,” Desiree replied, and Alice wasn’t surprised the other woman had picked up on the slight nuance in her voice.

  “He’s…” She paused, shrugging as if Desiree could see her. “There’s something about him I don’t like. Like a bad taste in my mouth any time he’s near. Plus, I think Caitlyn could do so much better. She’s such a wonderful person. She deserves someone equally wonderful.”

  “I’m sure she does,”
Desiree agreed. “As do you. Still going for nightly walks in the woods?”

  “To the graveyard,” Alice admitted, warmth filling her.

  “I knew that place would call to you. Your grandmother kept it up while she was alive. It’s only fitting you follow in her footsteps. You’re so much like her,” Desiree said with a laugh. “She always preferred the outdoors, too.”

  The acreage of untamed land she’d inherited with the house intrigued Alice the most about her new home. She’d always felt most at home in nature, which had always been her playground. She had a way with plants and trees and animals. More than once as a child, she’d spilled her wishes and dreams to a flower while leaning against a tree. Other days, she’d hauled books with her and read them aloud to plants. She still did, though now, she tended to go at night when most people were safely tucked in their beds. For all her desire to be a part of the world, it often overwhelmed her, and she found she preferred to be social in small numbers.

  It was on one of her walks she’d discovered the graveyard. She’d stepped into a clearing in the middle of the woods, stumbling across a gravestone, literally. The stone was faded and crumbling, but once she’d taken note of it, the others nearby had been easy to make out. Looking even closer, she’d seen signs that someone had tried to care for them at one time. She’d brushed some dirt from the first stone, and a jolt of heat had zapped through her. It had wrapped around her, reminiscent of a hug, and had her diligently clearing the graves for the rest of the evening.

  That was how she’d discovered the names of the people buried there. Savoy. Her ancestors. Now, she liked to go there, sit in the resting place of those who’d come before her and tell them her hopes, dreams, and fears.

  “I like thinking I’m like her,” Alice admitted. “I would have loved to have met her.”

  “She’s there for you, Alice. You may not see her, but I know you can sense her there, watching over you. Your grandmother would be so proud of the witch you’ve become.”