Brother (Short)

By Jo-Anne Sieppert

Brother is book 2 in the Aberrant series. With Jack by her side, Delilah is ready for anything. Or so she thought. What more could the Painfully Perfects do to her, they have already tried killing her and yet she returned. Will they try again, or try another target?
But Delilah and Jack have more to worry about than just the Painfully Perfects. When a stranger turns up that could expose Jack for who he is, they have far more to worry about than the school bullies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jo-Anne Sieppert
• Release date: Sep 30, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301245178

Jo-Anne Sieppert

Jo-Anne Sieppert is the president and creator of Pen to Paper Publishing, was born in Leeds England and is currently living in Calgary, Alberta with her husband of fifteen years and her two sons. Jo-Anne has a level 2 in early childhood education and has worked with children now for over ten years. Jo-Anne is a member of CHADD Calgary and CADAC Canada, both of which are organizations for Attention Deficit Disorder. After being diagnosed with ADHD at age twenty-two, Jo-Anne has focused on learning, and advocating for ADHD. When her youngest son was diagnosed at age five, this became her passion. Jo-Anne runs an online support group for parents raising children with ADHD, she attends the monthly support meetings at CHADD, and presents in schools to teachers and parents.Jo-Anne uses her own personal experiences to help others facing similar struggles, she does so with honesty, care, understanding and humor. She focuses on the positive aspects of ADHD along with the real life struggles, ideas and solutions to help overcome those struggles.Jo-Anne also writes youth fiction, children’s books, poetry and articles for the online website and magazine, The Family Room. She is a regular guest on the radio show, Real Life with Susan J Sohn. Along with running the writing group Pen to Paper, Jo-Anne also attends a writing group that runs bi –weekly, and makes a point to support all local authors in her community by attending their events and adding their work to her library.

Book preview

BROTHER

Book 2 in the Aberrant series.

By Jo-Anne Sieppert

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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Published by

Jo-Anne Sieppert on Smashwords

Copyright © 2013 by Jo-Anne Sieppert

All rights reserved.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my husband Scott Sieppert. Thank you for supporting me, listening to me ramble on and on, reading my manuscripts over and over again and not getting annoyed when I bring my computer to bed. I love a little more every day that goes by.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank you to Eren Wiebe for editing and encouragement.

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Prologue

Rules

And to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this evening Bartholomew? It is rather late after all.

Late it may be August, but this cannot wait until morning I am afraid.

Well then, it sounds like this may require a drink. Gretta, pour two drinks, then fetch our guest something from the kitchen. The young servant curtsied, kept her eyes on the ground and did as she was told.

Nothing from the kitchen, a drink will do just fine. Bartholomew said. The two men then waited for the servant to be clear of the room. August listened to the sound of her footsteps retreating down the hallway from his study, while staring at a large tapestry that hung above the fireplace.

Your new piece is finished I see, it does look grand indeed. I must have one of my own made for my wall.

I shall send the women your way. She is quite talented. When they were sure the servant was clear of hearing their words, Bartholomew turned his eyes from the exquisite tapestry of August and began to explain the reason for his late night calling.

I’m telling you August, when rules are broken, trust is broken. Without trust we have nothing left.

I simply cannot believe it to be true, he is our friend Bartholomew, we have known the man for hundreds of years. I cannot believe he has broken of all rules, that rule.

Well it seems as though we don’t know Nathaniel as well as we believed we did. He has indeed Fathered a mutt. Rules were broken; he is broken. August, Nathaniel is not the same man, as we once knew. He has changed. She has changed him. August downed his drink with one gulp. Placed his glass down and paced the floor, his finger tapping his lips as he pondered over the information before him.

Bartholomew, you are talking about Nathaniel, his wife Emeline is also Aberrant they could not have given birth to a mutt, and if my memory is correct I have seen Emeline on more than one occasion over the last while and I do not believe she was with child.

Do not be so foolish August, a man is more than capable of fathering a child with a woman other than his wife. August stared at Bartholomew, this situation would need to be dealt with carefully, and how he would proceed would change everything.

Are you certain your information is correct? The informant, he is reliable?

August stop pacing, you will wear through the floor. The informant, you tell me if he is reliable.

I could tell you if I knew who he was. August poured himself another drink. Drank it in one gulp and poured another.

I had thought he would have told you himself. Isaac is the one who confirmed it was in fact Bartholomew who fathered the mutt.

Isaac? How could Isaac have such information? Right on cue there was a knock on the door.

Hello Father, Bartholomew. A young man entered the room dressed as smartly at August yet his shoes were covered in mud. August glanced at the young man’s feet with obvious disapproval.

Good evening Isaac, I was just informing your Father of the situation with Nathaniel.

I believe I have spoken to you before about the state of your footwear when you return home.

Sorry Father, it won’t happen again.

Bartholomew explained that you are the one who confirmed that it was in fact Nathaniel, and that the rumors about the mutt are true.

That is correct Father. I witnessed Nathaniel speaking to the mutt myself. The young man stood confidently as he explained to his Father. I overheard them speaking. I had my suspicions so I followed him. They met in an alleyway beyond the market. He gave the mutt a small package, and what looked like a jewelry box. I heard him mention the name of the whore who gave birth to him as Josephine Wells.

That woman died Isaac, some years ago, she was found in the streets. August said, refilling his drink. The rogues were attacking all the whores and the homeless in the area. We covered her murder up.

I have not forgotten Father.

Nathaniel took care of her body. He was the one who found her, and he was the one who disposed of her. Bartholomew said.

Nathaniel told the mutt to disappear, he said there was enough in the package to take care of him for now and that he would find him when he could.

Isaac you have to be sure son. Did Nathaniel say anything else? August said as he placed both his hands on Isaac’s shoulders, he looked into his eyes.

That is all that I heard Father.

August what more do you need? We cannot put this off any longer. Once we deal with Nathaniel, Aberrant’s will once again have faith in the power of their Elite. We must restore order within our people, dealing with Nathaniel’s mess is the first and most important step to doing that.

"And