Fire (Beautiful Ashes Series, Book 2) Read online

  Fire

  Beautiful Ashes Series

  Book 2

  Lora Ann

  Fire

  (Beautiful Ashes Series, Book 2)

  Lora Ann

  Fire

  Published by The Greatest of These, LLC

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

  The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved below, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  All Rights Reserved

  Copyright © 2016 by Lora Ann

  Cover design by Mason Sabre

  www.sabregraybanecoverstudio.com

  Purchased stock photo from https://stock.adobe.com

  WARNING

  This is a dark, erotic, romantic thriller that contains elements which may be disturbing and offensive. If you are bothered or triggered by violence, torture, and abuse, please read with extreme caution. For a mature audience only!

  Fire should not be read as a standalone. This is a continuation of Dark and book 2 of the Beautiful Ashes Series.

  To purchase Dark, please on the title below.

  Dark (Beautiful Ashes Series, book 1)

  Connected Books to the Beautiful Ashes Series:

  *Please note: You do not need to read the connected series, however, it does contain back stories on the main characters.

  Strand Brothers Series

  Branded (Strand Brothers Series, Book 1)

  Bound (Strand Brothers Series, Book 2)

  Broken (Strand Brothers Series, Book 3)

  Bliss (Strand Brothers Series, Book 4, Epilogue Novella)

  The Strand Brothers Series Complete Box Set

  Contents

  Copyright

  Warning

  Book Links

  Dedication

  Scripture

  Poem

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Playlist

  Acknowledgements

  Special Note from Lora Ann

  About the Author

  Contact Information

  Dedication

  For all warrior princesses—keep fighting and know you are loved, worthy, and priceless.

  For You have armed me with strength for the battle;

  You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

  Psalm 18:39 NKJV

  Black is the night,

  the unhallowed delight.

  Deep is the wound

  that emptiness abounds.

  Head pounding,

  stomach clenched,

  a heart is lost

  in an abyss.

  Through the rage of pain

  an ached for companion.

  For upon departure,

  all was abandoned.

  Howl of the lonesome wolf

  from his peak on high.

  Know of the cry

  his beckoning, why?

  Ashes are all around

  the desolate ground.

  What beauty could behold

  the darkness of a soul?

  -Keeley

  Chapter One

  Keeley struggled to escape the demon’s hold. His hands were all over her, furiously pulling. She saw the fire licking along the gaping hole he wanted her in. If she could just stay where she was, Tar would come back for her. He promised to help her fight these demons. That he wasn’t afraid of her darkness. Yet his last words echoed in her ears, a loud clanging like a gong, “I. Did.” Did…did…did.

  He did love her.

  He did promise to fight for her.

  He did vow to help her.

  And now, now he was gone. She slammed her fists down hard enough to break her hands on the cold, unforgiving cement as she screamed and screamed for him, “Taaaaaaarrrrrr! How could you leave me? Why didn’t you do as you said?” Damn him! He’d told her once before, ‘I do what I say when I say I’m going to do it.’ Fucking liar!

  The demon recoiled and hissed, “Love. Light. How can it still be here?” But there was no sense denying what he saw all around Keeley. Protecting her. A shield over her. He fought again to grab a hold of her and yank with all he had, yet there was resistance. He searched for the source. There it was in the form of a man. Even Strand. Fuck him!

  He slid his tongue in Keeley’s ear and whispered, “He’s in love with your sister. She’s the only reason he’s here. E doesn’t give a shit about you. It’s all for Lacey—always Lacey. You’re never going to have that kind of devotion. Girls like you don’t deserve to be loved, honored and cherished. Look, Tarius proved that when he left you here. Come, my dark angel.” He snaked his hand between her legs as she tried to pull away from him. “Yesssssss, I can give you what you want.” He ran his razor sharp nail along her.

  Both looked down at the blood trail he left. She struggled once more and shrieked, “No! I don’t want this.”

  “Keeley, no human can give you what you desperately crave…torturous pain.”

  She could feel him gaining strength and jerked forward with enough force her head hit the concrete with a sickening crack. Keeley would rather be dead than leave with the monster that had Caleb’s face. To prove that to herself and the corpse, she repeated the action. Her vision was fading in and out as a distant voice called out to her.

  At least she would die her way.

  *****

  E came up on a sight he’d never forget. The broken little girl before him tore at his heart in ways he didn’t quite comprehend. He knew this was what she needed—to hit rock bottom. But not like this. He searched frantically for Mitch, wondering what the hell was going on. Details were not given to him over the phone. Only thing he’d been told was that Keeley was in bad shape and needed help.

  Under-fucking-statement of the year!

  His sister-in-law was lying in the middle of the street, bloody and wailing. Her words incomprehensible. And E wanted nothing more than to annihilate the person responsible for causing it. Though he was pretty sure he already knew. Heaven help Tarius McNeil when he got his hands on him.

  E approached Keeley as one would a wounded animal. Not out of disrespect but understanding of such torment her soul was going through. God, he’d been there not too long ago himself. The feeling of utter helplessness, of wondering if one would ever survive. Questions upon questions: would one ever be the same? Could someone really come back from this? His heart ached fo
r this poor girl who’d been through so much, endured too much for any one person. No one should ever go through even one of the situations she had. Yet Keeley seemed to bring one destruction after another, and none of them were her damn fault. They weren’t poor choices she made. She was forced into them. Her control ripped from her in a violence that made a tsunami look tame. He wasn’t excusing her bad decisions as a result. But damn it all, most wouldn’t have survived the living hell she had. And E wasn’t a fool, she still faced a league of demons ready to take her away with no warning.

  He crouched beside his distraught little sister. She was family, and he’d do anything to protect that family. His beloved wife’s face flashed in his mind. How could he shield her from this? A side of life he never wanted her to see, though he knew that wasn’t exactly fair. His Lacey was a strong woman. Determined. She loved with everything that was in her. It was what attracted him to her in the first place—what he loved so much about her. And this was her twin sister. She’d die in her place, sacrifice anything to save her. He understood that loyalty. Respected the hell out of it. For that reason alone, Keeley was worth it all. “Kee, sweetheart, can you hear me? It’s me, E.”

  He didn’t want to touch her just yet, hoping his voice would bring her back from wherever she was. E was willing to bet it was Hell. She pounded the pavement with her bruised, swollen fists and head. Her voice barely a rasp from what he figured was screaming. He put two and two together in rapid fire, she was purposely hurting herself, as if the pain was keeping her tethered to the here and now.

  What the fuck was holding onto her?

  Fucking A! She was killing herself right before his very eyes. “Keeley! Stop it!” E commanded. She stilled, but something told him there was more going on than met the eye. E began to let his senses take over. A cold he didn’t notice before surrounded his sister-in-law. There was some kind of barrier around her that left a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Even knew he was fighting something not of this world.

  Hell was not taking Keeley Kincaid.

  Not on his watch.

  He clutched her tiny body and tugged with all his strength. They toppled over as she screamed. From pain? From whatever had a hold of her? Shit!

  “You need help?”

  E’s gaze shot up to Mitch. “Yes.” He could feel something pulling her and held on tighter.

  Mitch got on the other side of her and attempted to pick Keeley up. He quickly found himself on his ass. “What the hell?”

  E leaned into her. “Tell him to let go,” he demanded.

  *****

  Keeley was yelling, “E, help me!” when she suddenly heard what he just said. The monster was pulling at her with brutality. Such agony was messing with her effort, but she knew not to give in. With everything she had left, she articulated, “Let. Me. Go!” Her voice was full of authority.

  An earsplitting howl made her want to bury her head underneath something, anything. “Noooooooooooooo!”

  She felt the hands leave her body, then she watched in abstract horror as the ground opened up and swallowed the thing that was there just a second ago.

  How was that possible?

  Keeley attempted to focus, shaking her head to clear her vision. There was nothing but a blackness that consumed everything around her. God, no! She couldn’t live like this?! A bloodcurdling scream surfaced just before she lost consciousness.

  *****

  What the ever-loving-fuck? “Keeley! My God, Mitch, what’s wrong with her?”

  “Seizure. Lay her here.” He patted the ground before him.

  E complied, worry knitting his brow. “Why?”

  “I don’t know, man.”

  Mitch watched with trained eyes, ensuring Keeley didn’t choke, as her body did what it needed to do. Once the convulsions stopped, he checked her vitals, then placed her in the recovery position. He met E’s concerned gaze. “My educated guess is that she hit her head too hard.”

  “Let’s get her to a hospital.”

  “Affirmative.” Mitch got up and went to get more help.

  E kept stroking Keeley’s hair. “You hang in there, sweetheart. Help is coming. I’m right here. No one is going to hurt you.” He silently prayed for angels to surround his sister-in-law. E knew this war wasn’t over, and she needed an army to help.

  In the ambulance he called the troops. His brothers would come through no questions asked. He had to admit they were all in for a fight. But first, they needed to know Keeley was all right. As much as he hated to, he let his beloved wife know where they were taking her sister. E couldn’t help but smile at the resolve in Lacey’s voice, “We’ll make sure she knows she’s not alone. That we love her.”

  E acknowledged that battle lines were just drawn on that street. Fine with him. But he needed to know, where the hell was Tar? What happened?

  *****

  Mitch told Even the whole sordid tale while Keeley was being checked. E stood and paced before spinning back around. “How could you let her work both investigations?”

  “Look,” Mitch’s hands came up in front of him, “I didn’t know she was undercover with Leith, initially.”

  “But you did learn of it.”

  “Yes.”

  E’s fists doubled-up at his sides. “And you were…under orders?” he ground out.

  “Affirmative.”

  E turned to punch the wall but instead came in contact with Nik. “Whooooooooa!” Nik huffed out.

  Horrified, E’s gaze shot to his brother’s. “Fuck. Nik, are you okay?”

  The deep rumble told him Nikko was just fine but was confirmed with, “I’m not a wuss.”

  “No. You’re not.” E half-smiled. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

  “‘S all good, little brother.”

  E bobbed his head as he headed toward the door with purpose.

  “Where you off to?” Nik inquired.

  “I’m going to find Tar,” he growled.

  Mitch’s wide-eyed gaze met Nik’s. “Should he go alone?”

  Nik smirked. “I do believe Tarius McNeil is about to have a come to Jesus talkin’ to.”

  Mitch nodded. “Yeah, probably best we leave them alone for that discussion.”

  “Copy that. How about you bring me up to speed as we wait?”

  By the time Lacey and Alex arrived, Nik was completely in the know. They all sat around waiting for word on Keeley. But Lacey couldn’t shake her intuition. That demon she knew her sister was courting wouldn’t give up easily. She couldn’t help but wonder if Keeley was strong enough for this. So much had already happened to her and Lacey knew she fought hard to stay alive. With Tar gone, would Keeley finally give into the cravings to take her own life? Would she be able to save her sister this time? Lacey just didn’t know. What she did know was that she would die trying. Keeley deserved her all. She only hoped E would understand, that their marriage was strong enough to weather this storm.

  Only time would tell.

  Chapter Two

  E was pretty sure Tar would go back to the penthouse to gather his shit before taking off. Following his gut, he beelined for his own home. Keeley was one troubled soul caught in unbearable darkness, but Tar knew that going in. E could understand how watching that orgasm she was forced to have with Braxton would fuck with the man. Still, it was just that…forced. The poor girl couldn’t control her body’s response any more so than one controlled blinking their eyes. It was a body, for fuck’s sake, that responded to stimulation, and, in her case, pain was what did it for her.

  Heaven forbid she actually worked.

  Considering all Keeley had been through, the fact she functioned was a damn miracle. Was the pain aspect what freaked Tar out? Again, no surprises there. And as much as E wanted that need to go away for her, he knew better. She’d always want things just a little differently than others, yet there were ways to taper it back to reasonable. Plus, when one really thought about it, we were all unique in our desires, fantasies, wants and needs. Part of lov
ing someone was accepting all of them and understanding—we were all broken to some extent.

  All those thoughts and emotions crashing inside E did not bode well for Tar when he found him. E recognized he was dangerously close to losing all sense of control. He threw open his front door with enough force the knob went through the plaster. In his rage, E didn’t register the damage done as he stormed toward the guestroom Tar and Keeley had been sharing. With a quick survey, he realized the man in question wasn’t there.

  Fucker better not have taken off completely.

  E found himself in his home gym studying the man he wanted to tear apart, to hurt him as much as he’d just hurt his little sister. But what he found stopped him in his tracks.

  Tar was on his knees, head bowed, chest heaving. E quickly acknowledged it wasn’t the posture of one who pushed their body too hard in a fierce workout, but a man shattered. Driven to his knees in the pain that consumed him. He approached the suffering man with caution.

  “Tar.” His head shot up, and what E saw in the depths of his eyes almost brought him to his own knees. My God, the turmoil. The outright agony. Fuck, he was as damaged as Keeley. E had to wonder how the hell this couple would ever get past this. They couldn’t on their own, support was needed. Family.

  Tar’s voice was nothing but a mere rasp, “She betrayed me.”

  E nodded. “Nothing that can’t be forgiven.”

  “The fuck,” he barked as fresh tears streaked down his cheeks.

  E realized Tar was caught between extreme anger and excruciating heartbreak. He blew out a heavy breath. “This isn’t an easy path. You’re going to make mistakes just like she is. Understanding that is over half the battle, man.”

  “She’s better off without me,” the confession ripped out of him.