Chasing Fate

By Elle J Rossi

She is forced to kill . . .
When a much-needed vacation turns into work for the third Fate, Atropos vows to sever the mortal’s lifeline quickly and get back to the sea and sand. Having her mysterious quarry offer a deal in exchange for more time is an unexpected complication. Always surrounded by darkness and death, Attie embraces the chance to toy with life and love and to help right an unjust wrong.

He refuses to die . . .
Dru spent months praying for death. Anger over the brutal killing of his family festered until those prayers turned to plans for revenge. Making a deal with the Death Fate was the only way to extend his lease on life. He only needed a handful of days to avenge those he lost, but within minutes of meeting Atropos he knew he’d want forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elle J Rossi
• Release date: Jun 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476269405

Elle J Rossi

Elle J Rossi grew up in rural Indiana surrounded by great people, a huge family and more animals than she could count. But the sites and sounds of the world beckoned, so she left her small town to escape into a creative world full of music. As a full time singer she was able to lose herself in a thousand different songs in a hundred different places. After meeting the love of her life and settling down, she yearned to find a new and fulfilling creative outlet. Overly fond of the happily ever after, she wondered what it would be like to have her own characters lead her down dark and twisted paths. The very first word on the very first page sealed her fate. She’d found a new love. She’d found her escape. Now along with weaving haunting tales about the journey to love, she’s creating cover art for authors around the world and loving every second of it. For fun, she cranks country music to take her back to her roots, and sings karaoke anytime she gets a chance. Her husband, two children, and a cat that rules the roost keep her company along the way and guarantee she doesn’t get lost in the enchanted forest. She wouldn’t have it any other way.

Book preview

Chasing Fate

An Unspun Novella

By Elle J Rossi

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

Copyright 2012 by Barbara Justen Hisle

Smashwords Edition 1.0 July 2012

Edited by Theresa Cole

Cover design by Elle J Rossi of EJR Digital Art

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 author.

Destiny. Some will do anything to change it. Even hunt down the spinners of fate.

The Fates are said to control our destinies. From our first breath to our dying gasp, these creatures of legend weave the courses of our lives. Even the gods are subject to their decrees. Spinners of dark secrets, the Fates have been feared for the tragedies they weave. No man dared confront the Relentless Ones… until now.

~ The Unspun Novellas ~

Creating Fate by Rachel Firasek

Stealing Fate by Berinn Rae

Chasing Fate by Elle J Rossi

Chasing Fate

She is forced to kill…

When a much-needed vacation turns into work for the third Fate, Atropos vows to sever the mortal’s lifeline quickly and get back to the sea and sand. Having her mysterious quarry offer a deal in exchange for more time is an unexpected complication. Always surrounded by darkness and death, Attie takes a chance to get a taste of life and help right a wrong that never should have happened.

He refuses to die…

Dru spent months praying for death to take him. Anger over the brutal killing of his family festered until those prayers turned to plans for revenge. Making a deal with the Death Fate was the only way to extend his lease on life. He only needed a handful of days to avenge those he lost, but within minutes of meeting Atropos he knew he’d want forever.

To my family, and all that word encompasses.

Contents

Prologue

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

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Prologue

Death is never easy. Not for anyone involved. Not for those who draw their last breath. Not for those who mourn the deceased. Perhaps the most affected of all is the one who severs the lifeline and carries the weight of those souls on her shoulders. Atropos. The third Fate. The taker of mortal and immortal lives alike. Her destiny is nothing if not long and full. Full of death.

The scent of blood tinged with evil nearly choked Death, but the tortured screams and whimpers that had summoned her from her home on Olympus affected her more. So much pain. So much sorrow. Yet the air in the opulent room sizzled with twisted jubilance as if the source became more alive with each victim’s stuttered breath. Even from outside the room she tasted the horror, tasted the thick syrup of madness. Brows creased, she angled her head, her gaze sweeping the room and counting what would soon be fatalities.

The two women who clung to each other, lost in a world of fear and despair, and the man halfway across the room pulling his broken body toward his loved ones—they would not die—not until Death herself cut the thread. To see them suffer at the hands of such malevolence had Attie swallowing overwhelming anger. Anger would not serve her purpose here. She had a job to do and would only succeed with steady hands.

A sinister laugh followed by, He will regret fucking with me, drew her attention.

She turned in time to see spittle fly from the mouth of a tall, slender man as his punishing forearm struck one of the women with enough force to knock her out. The other woman, her torn clothing stained with more than just blood, screamed and pulled at her hair, as if her sanity had been ripped from her white-knuckled grasp. Attie vowed then and there to make sure the poor mortals never woke again, never experienced the terror swimming in this room.

With determined steps, she approached the shrieking female, whose wild eyes darted around the room like a prisoner searching for a way to escape the metal box. Crouching, Death smoothed a hand over long, sweat-dampened, auburn hair, and pulled her blade from its sheath. She watched as those ruined eyes—eyes more wrecked than the battered face surrounding them—abruptly stopped moving. For a moment, Attie thought the woman may have been gazing at her, but that wasn’t possible. The pleading look was meant for someone else. Always meant for someone else. A final "shhh," a quick cut, and her victim slumped against her. Nothing could be done about the agony frozen on the bruised and beaten face. Nothing but move on and remember.

Dressed in blood splattered khakis and a button down, the evil one never glanced in Attie’s direction as he stood and crossed the room with his knife in hand. He twirled it around his knuckles, flicked it into the air, and caught it, like the shank was a baton and he the leader of the slaughter parade. Her eyes narrowed when he squatted next to the broken man and began cutting and slicing, ignoring his victim’s frantic begs and supplications. Atropos made another swift cut as sirens rent the night. The assailant shot to his feet, flew past her, and disappeared through another door. Cries of "why, why, why" had her turning, forgetting about the one who had massacred and focusing on the last living soul. Again she crouched, again she soothed, and again she cut.

Chapter 1

Vacation is a state of mind, not a destination.

Attie dragged herself out of the ocean, spitting water, and cursing any and every god she could think of. She'd asked for a vacation and apparently, her time off had started immediately. Ten seconds ago, she had been in her father’s throne room, listening as he spouted off with, "Now, Atropos..." Blah, blah, blah. She’d told him no less than a million times she preferred to be called Attie. Wringing the water from her hair, she took in her surroundings. Definitely a small beach town–a little sleepy, but workable.

Yes! She pumped her fist as she spied her belongings sitting about twenty feet up the beach. Thankfully, her bag hadn't landed in the water—just her. Compliments of Zeus and Hera. At least they hadn't dropped her naked. Sporting a white bikini, she tilted her face up to the sun, basking in the warmth, and hoping the golden heat could take away her perpetual chill.

Figuring out what to do about her sister—Chloe—and Chloe’s shattered heart, had turned out to be quite the conundrum. Attie, along with her other sister Lacey, had practically begged Zeus to send them on this mini-vacation so they could ease Chloe’s pain with a little fun in the sun.

Knowing the lot of the mortal’s short life, Lacey had warned Chloe not to get hooked on that human, but unsurprisingly, the first Fate hadn’t listened—she never listened.

Shivering, Attie moved away from the water’s edge, hoping the deep chill had come from the impromptu dip in the sea and not the guilt she felt over cutting that particular thread of life.

She knew her sisters wouldn’t be joining her. Her soul had that empty feeling, the kind she only got when she was truly alone. Maybe Zeus