Slivers of Skye (The Skye Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  Slivers of Skye

  The Skye Chronicles Book Two

  Anna Moranski

  Slivers of Skye

  The Skye Chronicles Book Two

  Copyright 2014 by Anna Leah Moranski

  All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events or real people are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Slivers of Skye / Anna Leah Moranski. –1st Edition

  ISBN-13: 978-1502455451

  ISBN-10:1502455455

  [1. Paranormal—Fiction. 2. Romance—Fiction. 3. Supernatural—Fiction. 4. Fantasy- Fiction.] I. Title.

  Cover Art by Dreamscape Covers

  Edited by Kelly Scott

  First Edition

  For Adam and Drake. The two loves of my life.

  Dedication

  My siblings. I dedicate this book to all of my brothers and sisters. I am lucky to have so many of you to share my life with. Some since birth, others once our parents married, and even my newest sister that may have been adopted, at birth, but she was born to be my sister. She has always been ours. I love all of you. Even those I may not have met ha ha.

  So this is for you: Jason, T.J., Jennifer, Angel, Billy, Zach, Elijah, Hannah, and Andrea.

  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

  Prologue

  Maddox paced back and forth in his living room. After Skye had disappeared into thin air his father ran off immediately leaving him alone and confused. Maddox groaned wondering if Skye was alright. Every possible scenario was running through his mind. He wondered if she was hurt, confused, lost, or something worse that he couldn’t even bear to think of.

  Skye’s grandmother said she sent her “home” but Maddox didn’t understand. Why she would have sent Kel, Mike, and Buck with her? Especially Buck. Buck was a demon and his cousin. It seemed to Maddox that she would have wanted any demon as far from her granddaughter as possible. A strange thought occurred to Maddox that instantly had him hammering his fists against the wall. He paused and bellowed loudly in frustration.

  “Buck would never be with her like that! He’s family. He only likes Skye as a friend.” Maddox felt ridiculous but he thought saying it out loud would ease his mind of the suspicion he suddenly had over Buck’s intentions. It didn’t work. “Fuck this!” He grabbed the door to leave when it opened quickly in front of him, nearly hitting him in the process.

  Luke walked in and behind him was a man Maddox had only ever seen once before, in a vision with Skye. The man looked almost identical to his father but had different colored hair. Maddox slammed the door behind them and looked to his father.

  “I know you’re angry son but I can explain.” Luke said calmly.

  “Explain? I’d like to see how you could possibly explain this to me! I knew you had tried to kidnap her when she was a child because of the visions I shared with her. I don’t understand why! We have never harmed children that young.” Maddox spoke quickly.

  “Maddox, I wasn’t going to kill her when she was a child. I was trying to discover her full power, yes, but not because I wanted to kill her. She is different like I told you before.” Luke was still calm which annoyed the hell out of Maddox. Maddox felt so wound up that he was ready to burst.

  “Different how? She’s an elf yes, but different?” Maddox let out a breath trying his best to calm down to listen.

  “She’s more powerful than you know.” The man with Luke spoke up.

  “Who the hell are you? You were with my father when Skye’s father was killed, but I have no idea who you are.” Maddox glared at the man.

  “My name is Kirk. Your father and I go way back.” Kirk answered.

  “Great explanation.” Maddox looked back to his father. “I want answers and I want them now!” Maddox shouted feeling his control slipping.

  “Kirk and I grew up together in our home realm Lurtsia. When Skye was born every powerful supernatural being knew. We felt it. It was as if we all had been electrocuted. I saw a vision of her being born. I instantly knew her mother, Cloud, had given birth to her. Cloud’s family being royalty made anything she did very noticeable in our world. I knew immediately that I needed to find this girl who had enough power inside of her to make so many of us feel her presence.” Luke said as he remembered the day Skye was born.

  “How is that possible?” Maddox asked confused.

  “I don’t know. There’s always a prophecy about this or that and “blah blah blah”… But with Skye I think her prophecy is true.” Luke said looking to Maddox.

  “And just what prophecy would that be?” Maddox asked. He had always been like his father, never caring about prophecies. There was always a Seer or fortune teller ready to give you a story about some greatness you were destined for or some doom that was pending. Maddox was surprised his father seemed to be taking this particular prophecy seriously.

  “That a girl from mixed family lines, yet royal in blood, would end the world as we know it.” Luke said sitting down on his couch. Maddox stared at him.

  “That’s conveniently vague. That doesn’t answer anything. So what? Is Skye going to kill everyone? Is the world going to explode because of her?” he huffed.

  “I don’t know son. I only know that she is powerful enough to make almost every supernatural being feel her entrance into this world. That is a power no one should have.” Luke said.

  “If no one should have it, then why did you try to kidnap her? Why did you have to kill her father?”

  “Maddox, I didn’t kill her father. He’s still alive.”

  “I saw you, I saw…” Maddox stopped speaking for a moment and thought back to the vision. Gary had died hadn’t he? Maddox remembered Gary taking his last breath and turning into dust right in Skye’s small hands.

  “Gary wasn’t fully human like he claimed. Actually I believe he thought he was human, but that’s beside the point. Gary’s ancestry is an interesting one. When I discovered who Skye was I began looking into her family blood line. The woman who was posing as her mother, Lucille, was human. There was nothing special about her. Gary though… well his ancestry was filled with supernatural beings.”

  “Skye never knew that.” Kirk said, finally speaking up. “She thought her father was a normal human as well. We believe Gary’s grandparents put a powerful spell on him to hide what he truly was.”

  “What was he? Or is he, I should say, since you claim he’s alive?” asked Maddox. He was convinced the conversation was giving him a headache.

  “He had several shared bloodlines. Gary is part elf, fairy, werewolf, and demon.” Luke said.

  Maddox stared at his father in disbelief. He had never heard of any supernatural being having more than two shared bloodlines. He shook his head trying
to make sense of it all.

  “That’s impossible.” He said.

  “That’s what everyone thought. Skye has these other beings in her blood. If she were properly taught, she could be more powerful than any other supernatural.”

  The thought of Skye having so many different powers scared Maddox, but not for the same reason it did his father. Maddox knew that each different species of supernaturals would possibly fight to have her on their side, or worse to destroy her. All this new information did was put Skye in even more danger.

  Maddox groaned wondering if his fake affair did more harm than good. He had wanted her out of his life so she would be safe. It was clear to him now that she would never be safe.

  “Did Cloud know?” Maddox asked after a moment of thinking to himself.

  “I don’t know. I believe she did though. I think that her family put a protection spell on Gary so that when he died as a human, he would actually be transported back to his home realm to be with Cloud again.” Luke replied.

  “So when Skye’s grandmother sent her away, she actually transported her back to her parents?” Maddox knew the answer but he had to hear it. He had to know Skye wasn’t alone. He had to believe she was okay.

  “Yes.” Luke’s answer should have made Maddox happy, but it didn’t. He was relieved to know she wasn’t alone, but he still missed her more than words were able to express.

  “Why did she send Buck with her? And her other friends?” Maddox wondered. He didn’t want to show his jealousy. His father had already seen enough weakness from him.

  “They were protecting her. I’m sure her grandmother is smart enough to know she needs as much protection as possible.” Luke said.

  Maddox couldn’t disagree with that. He knew Buck would protect Skye, as would her friends. He hated that he felt jealousy over his own cousin. He knew Buck would be there for Skye as a friend and wouldn’t cross the line with her.

  “At least she has Buck and her friends with her.” Maddox said.

  “There’s something else you should know.” Luke said watching his son carefully.

  “What? Just tell me.” Maddox said feeling a bit defeated.

  “Her friends are supernaturals as well. The girl is a shape shifter and the boy is also an elf.” Luke said.

  “Mike is an elf? I never sensed anything from him.” Maddox felt jealousy rising again inside of him and hated the feeling.

  “They were and have always been shielded by someone quite powerful. After they were transported out, I ran off to find a Seer to find out more. Seems that the boy elf has been betrothed to Skye since birth. Now that they are in their homeland they will be expected to marry.” Maddox couldn’t bear to hear anymore and he snapped as he lunged towards his father.

  Chapter One

  Days can seem a blur when you don’t pay attention. Time can be an endless thing to try to compete with. It can also pass too quickly if you don’t even realize time is passing before it’s too late to grab ahold of it, hoping to slow it down.

  Skye had felt this way several times in her life. But in this past year, it seemed life had flown by without her even realizing it until once again it was too late to take notice. Time in the realm that everyone just seemed to just call “Home” passed even more quickly than the years before.

  Although she knew this, it was still hard to adjust to it, even after a year of being here. She realized that on Earth only a short amount of time had passed during her year here.

  She often found herself sitting alone in a garden surrounded by beauty, yet only able to think of Earth. Earth held beauty as well, especially when it came to Maddox. She hated the part of herself that was still in love with him, but she knew love was sometimes more of a curse than a blessing.

  Love took hostages. It rarely left any survivors. She knew her heart had been damaged forever by him and his love, and even more by his indifference and his abandonment of her. A year had passed, Skye had changed not only physically, but mentally and yet her heart was still damaged.

  She took solace in the fact she had her parents by her side for the first time in her life. Gary and Cloud both took care of her emotionally, as well as making sure she knew how to use her powers effectively. She felt like she was split into two people: one was a child who was finally getting to have her family and the other a young adult who had felt she had lived two lifetimes worth of pain. The two parts of herself were trying to fuse together to make one whole person. Some days she thought it worked. Others, she felt she would never find the glue that put her back together again.

  Skye jumped to her feet in the garden refusing to focus any longer on the pain of the past. She had to make her life count. She wouldn’t allow herself to be a victim any longer. She had promised herself that she would start to move forward and she intended to keep that promise to herself.

  Skye took a deep breath heading back to her new home. Her parents had a beautiful cabin in the woods, surrounded by wildlife she had never even imagined had been real. Flowers that seemed to lean towards her as if they were reaching out begging to be touched by her. She had been afraid of them at first, Gary explained that it was the light within her they yearned to be near and she finally opened herself up to Nature. It opened up a part of herself that she never knew existed.

  She was finally in tune with nature and she felt connected with it, not only because they shared space together, but because she could feel it as if it had a soul like she did. Skye paused taking a moment to stroke the beautiful flowers that seemed to long for her touch. When her fingertips softly traced over the flowers she could feel the happiness from deep within them. They seemed to bloom brighter and wider, as if to come alive under her touch.

  Skye couldn’t help but smile. She was finally part of something bigger than herself. She knew nature depended on elves, fairies, and other magical creatures to flourish. Her mother, Cloud, had been teaching her to use her inner light to bring out the love in everything she touched. Skye looked around and when she confirmed she was alone, she bent down and kissed a flower softly. A part of her knew it was crazy, yet she knew if that flower were capable of blushing it would have. The thought of that brought a bigger smile to Skye’s face.

  She walked up to the cabin, opening the door slowly to peek inside. Over the past year she had learned that her parents had an insatiable hunger for each other and that they were capable of forgetting they had a daughter sharing their home now. She tried to ignore the first few times she caught them in the act of making love, but it was ingrained in her memories.

  She had to admit to herself that even though it was weird, it was also lovely. She had always wondered what it would have been like to have her parents together. All she remembered of her father Gary was his protectiveness and his love for her. She had never seen him love her stepmother in the same way. She didn’t understand that when she was younger. Now seeing the way his eyes would catch Cloud’s and how they both seemed unable of holding back the love that shone in their eyes, it made Skye feel complete.

  Gary was standing in the kitchen in the front of the cabin making lunch for everyone. Skye walked into the kitchen and immediately into his arms. She found that she was incapable of not hugging him every chance she saw him. He had been a missing piece in her soul that she was finally able to get back.

  “My beautiful daughter, how was your daily meditation in the garden?” Gary said smiling.

  His brilliantly bright blue eyes shined with love and happiness. It almost hurt Skye to see how beautiful he was inside and out. Skye knew she was considered pretty on the outside, but on the inside she was truly just a tangled mess. She tried hard to hide that fact from everyone, but she knew they could see it. The great thing about them was that they loved her enough to give her time to heal. Skye just hoped that she wouldn’t let them down and that she would be able to heal. There were times when she was hopeful, and yet there were times when she felt it was impossible.

  “It was beautiful as always, Dad.” Sky
e smiled. She loved calling him “Dad” so much that she tried to call him that constantly. She knew part of her was making up for all the years she was unable to call for him.

  “Your mother went out with Kel and Buck. They are helping her in the garden behind the house. Time to harvest some more food. Some of your friends have large appetites.” He joked happily. Skye nodded.

  “Where’s Mike?” she looked around surprised that he wasn’t with her father. He seemed to like to be around Gary as much as possible as well. That wasn’t surprising to Skye considering Gary had a natural charm that seemed to invite others to be close to him. However, Skye did worry that part of Mike’s eagerness to be around Gary was Mike’s way of winning her parents over in hopes that Skye would change her mind and decide to be his partner, his wife, or whatever other word he chose to describe her on a particular day.

  “He is upstairs taking a nap. Seems he isn’t sleeping well and it’s catching up with him. I think you are being too hard on him.” Gary couldn’t help but smile as he poked at his child. He knew she still yearned for someone she couldn’t have. He would have given anything to see her healed from that past already.

  “I know. I feel badly, Dad, but I do care for him quite a bit. Being here with him without any distractions I can say…” Skye paused looking around to ensure they were truly alone.

  “There are no ears but ours listening.” Gary reassured her.

  “I care for Mike. He makes me feel less melancholy. I don’t feel this gaping hole in my chest where Maddox ripped out my heart when I’m with Mike.” She paused again not sure how to say the rest. Gary put his hands on her shoulders softly. Skye lifted her eyes meeting her father’s brilliant eyes.

  “But you are not in love with him.” Gary finished the thought that she had felt too guilty to say out loud.

  “Yes. I do love him but not in the way he deserves. He’s such an amazing guy. He’s been a best friend, a confidant, and a lifeline when I needed him. Part of me feels like I should be with him but then I think I’m being selfish. What if I’m only being with him to fill the void I feel inside? That’s not fair to him. He deserves someone who will love him the way he deserves to be loved. I just don’t know if I have that in me anymore.” Skye lowered her head ashamed.