Read From the Ashes (Witches of The Demon Isle Book 8) for Free Online Page A

here.”
    “You think it will get ugly?”
    “Hope not. No way to know until it’s done. But this old manor is the only place we have left out of all the properties the family used to own. We have nowhere else to go, so as far as I see it, free country. We’re not breaking any laws.”
    “I don’t know as Howard Witches abide by normal government type laws, Lucas.”
    “Just be careful out there. We’ll be ourselves, show them we’re not here under any false pretenses. Stay out of their business. We should all get along. So when you seeing this gal again?”
    “Tomorrow. Lunch. I want to plan something special. I scoped out a private cavern on a beach, I think it’ll be perfect.”
    Lucas shook his head. Amused. Happy. But skeptical as well.
    This was a big move with big chances being taken.
    If they were super lucky, this woman Riley had met would be good for him. She’d already perked him up more than Lucas had seen in months.
    He’d take it as a good sign. Coming here was the right move.
    Wow.
    What an idiot he’d been thinking that!
    What damage one summer could do.
    What damage a few days could do.
    Heck, what a curse could do.
    Landing them in one of those unexpected, irreversible life-changing moments that would create a new normal. An unasked for, unwanted, change. Lucas groaned in the displeasure of it. They’d had enough new normals to last a lifetime already. There were so many in the last few years there wasn’t even enough time to adjust to one before another life altering change hit them, head on.
    Lucas looked up to catch Lizzy with her eyes closed, a contented grin on her face as she soaked up the salty moisture hitting her skin like it was going out of style. It brought a sluggish smile to his lips. She was stubborn and kind of a pain in the butt, but she grabbed onto life as if it might end at any moment. He guessed she had reason to after being cursed out of her body to spend hundreds of years existing as a ghast, forced to guard Deane family secrets.
    His bloodline really was cursed.
    Lucky me. Lucky Riley. Lucky Lizzy, he scoffed.
    What disastrous thing would happen next?
    A movement to his right snagged his attention. He flicked his head to the side, thinking he’d seen the shadow of someone running by, but there was nothing there but a foggy trail. No other people at all. It was midweek and the first early ferry of the morning, so it was nearly empty. Tourists would arrive in droves come later in the day, and week, though.
    His head flicked to the other side, his eyes pinching together. He swore he’d heard footsteps slapping along the wooden deck, but again, there was no one. He shook his head and blinked hard a few times. He definitely needed sleep. Coffee at the least, if sleep wasn’t going to be an option.
    He sucked in a startled inhale when a dark shape sprinted by him to the edge of the boat. A man wearing a black trench coat and oddly, bare feet. There was an intense determination on his scruffy-bearded face. Lucas’ eyes popped wide when the man threw a leg over the boat railing.
    “Hey,” Lucas called out. “You’d better be careful.” He got up, intending to stop the man.
    Lizzy turned around and gaped at him. “What do you mean?”
    “Not you. Him,” he pointed.
    “Who?” she asked.
    Lucas didn’t understand. “You can’t see that guy?”
    The man took another fleeting scan behind him, casting a forlorn gaze that cried a final farewell. Lucas gasped when the man threw his other leg over the side, and jumped. Lucas spun around unsure what to do. He opened his mouth to shout for help when suddenly there was a crowd screaming toward the railing calling out to the man.
    Where did all these people come from?
    Lucas spun around and around.
    And why is everyone dressed like it’s the 1950’s? I must’ve fallen asleep.
    A crewmember shouted ‘man overboard,’ and chaos took over as they searched the ocean waves for the man. Lucas darted through the crowd to the