Embers

By Melissa Bell

A Vampire Romance with bite.

 

The world is not always as it appears. 

 

Dakota is grieving the loss of her grandmother. Left all alone, she performs a very dangerous ritual to find her soulmate—the one who returns to you in every lifetime. 

 

What happens when he turns out to be a Vampire?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Melissa Bell & Jordin Thiele Inc.
• Release date: Mar 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9781311611499

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Dakota sipped her wine as she prepared all the things she would need for the ritual she’d been preparing for, for the last week. She’d bought the candles, found her grandmothers moonstone and had cleansed her body every night in the lead up to the full moon. She placed the large antique mirror from her grandmother’s attic, at the back of the altar. Then placed the moonstone necklace around her neck as her anchor. After finishing the last of her wine and crushed herbs, she lit the candles on either pedestal behind the chair she had set up. She wiped away the tears of grief at her recent loss, her grandmother’s passing had been unexpected. One day she was here and the next she was gone, leaving Dakota without anyone. Sure her grandmother had left her the house and the car, but other than that she felt lost.

Her grandmother had told her stories of how true soul mates would always find each other in their next lives, but patience wasn’t her strong point. Her soul mate could be someone that she’d already met, but hadn’t recognised. What if he was someone she didn’t even like? When she’d been cleaning out the basement after her grandmothers passing, she’d found a number of interesting books to read on all sorts of subjects from witchcraft to supernatural beings. She giggled at the thought of even finding a couple of bookshelves with naughty paranormal romance novels crammed into them, so tightly there wasn’t room for one more.

Okay, so she’d become hooked on a few of the vampire and shifter series herself. Just as her grandmother looked to have been, and she planned to keep it a secret between herself, her dead grandmother and her iPad’s kindle app.

In a black ceremonial robe, she lifted the hood to cover her head and took a seat in front of the mirror. She focused on her breathing, and steadied her nerves, as she had never done this type of ritual before and it was believed to be one of the most dangerous ones if not done right. She stared at her reflection in the mirror without blinking and as she felt herself getting closer to the reflective surface, FUC jumped up onto her lap with a meow and a hiss at his own image in the mirror, startling her and breaking the spell.

FUC I have to agree with grandma, you are one fucking ugly cat. What do you want? You’ve been fed, and you’re not going outside tom-catting with the neighbour’s pussy, not tonight.

The black fur ball sat up on her lap as though he understood every word she was saying, staring at her in the mirror. His ears pinned back, and he began to growl as she stared into his eyes. One moment it was her face she could see in the mirror and the next it began to melt and morph into that of a face she didn’t recognise, yet, at the same time she knew it was herself. As she ‘walked the mirror,’ she became hypnotised by what she was seeing. The stone cottage in front of her looked nothing like her grandmother’s house. She looked back over her shoulder to see herself on the other side of the mirror.

Holy shit! she whispered.

Briana, what did you say love? she turned her head to see a handsome man closing what looked to be the front door to the cottage.

Oh, never mind it wasn’t important. she frowned to herself looking down at her attire and stuttering. ‘What the fuck?’ she thought to herself, she looked like she belonged on the set of ‘Little House on the Prairie’ or the ‘Walton’s.’

When she wiped her hands briskly on her apron, she saw the glint of a gold band on her left hand. The man in front of her wasn’t ugly, she would probably call him ruggedly handsome, and if he lost the beard, he’d probably be quite good looking. She then ran her hand over her hair to find it tied up in a bun, tucking a stray stand behind her ear she smiled.

As the man moved past her to warm himself at