Conjuring Darkness Read online

  Conjuring Darkness

  Melanie James

  Table of Contents

  Praise for Melanie James

  Other reads by Melanie James

  Copyright

  Acknowledgements

  Dedication

  Prologue

  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

  Praise for Melanie James

  “It was one of the cutest and hottest novellas I've ever read. It's rare to have such a great mix of cute and hot, but this author does it perfectly!” ~ Willow Star Serenity Reviews

  “This is one of the best short stories I have read in a long time!” ~ HeadTripping Books

  “This little love story is capable of getting your juices going and turning a dull afternoon into a page turning glorious day.” ~ Aubree Lane, Author of Sierra Mist & Early One Morning”

  “Her stories are fantastic with incredible fall in love with characters!” ~ Kelly Cozzone, Author of Tropical Dreams

  “Kuddos to Melanie James for throwing a good romance our way. I want more!” ~ Jennifer Theriot, Author, Out Of the Box Series

  Melanie James Titles

  Stand Alone Titles

  A Valentine’s Surprise

  A Deadly Obession

  Literal Leigh Romance Diaries

  Accidental Leigh

  Serious Leigh

  Hopeful Leigh

  Haunting Leigh

  Joyful Leigh

  Éveiller

  Ava & Will

  Kara & Dave

  Laura & Alan

  Jamie & Brad

  Ashley & Jeff

  Valerie & Greg

  Edition License Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold 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 wish to 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 delete it from your device and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

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

  The book contains content that is not suitable for young readers 17 and under.

  Copyright

  Conjuring Darkness

  2nd Edition

  By Melanie James

  Copyright © by Melanie James

  Editing: Black Paw Publishing

  Copy Editing: Black Paw Publishing

  Cover Artist: Deadpixels, LLC

  ISBN-13: 978-1499232509

  ISBN-10: 1499232500

  All rights reserved

  Published in the United States of America

  Acknowledgements

  To my amazing readers, thank you so much for believing in me.

  I’d like to thank my Monkeys for all of the help you have given me along the way! You all are amazing and thank you so much for all you do!

  CLA – Ladies you all have given me so much. I am truly blessed to belong to such a wonderful community of amazing ladies and wonderful authors. #PTTP!!

  Dedication

  This book is for my wonderful husband. Thank you for all the love and support you give to me every day! I am the luckiest woman in the world with you standing beside me.

  Gilgamesh, why are you wandering? Life which you look for, you will never find. For when the Gods created man they let death be his share and life they withheld in their own hands. Gilgamesh, fill your belly. Day and night make merry. Let days be full of joy, dance and make music day and night. And wear fresh clothes. And wash your head and bathe. Look at the child that is holding your hand, and let your wife delight in your embrace. These things alone are the concern of men. The Epic of Gilgamesh, Akkadian Tablets 1900 BCE

  Prologue to Conjuring Darkness

  Akkadian Empire 2300 BCE (The territory of present day Kurdistan)

  The sun rose high in the pale, blue sky over the flourishing rows of green that were carefully arranged to sip from the nourishing streams that ran through the valley of Belash, The Farmer. A father and his daughter waded through the tall stalks that waved with their hefty treasure. “Annah! Annah!” The high pitched voice yelled. Annah smiled at the sound of her mother’s voice. Her outstretched arms tapped against the tall grain as she ran to the house. Belash smiled as well. His youngest daughter was nearing her sixteenth year, and he thought about how much she reminded him of her mother, with the same black hair and contagious laughter.

  Annah could see her mother standing in front of the small mud-brick house as she neared it, but her pace slowed to a stop. Belash caught up to her and quietly took the lead because his wife was not alone. Four men dressed in the uniform of the temple guards stood in front of the house. When Belash asked if there was a problem, the guards told him the purpose of their visit. “Annah has been picked to join the priestesses at the temple of Inana. She will be assisting in the preparations of the rituals and the offerings.” Belash nodded to the guards before turning his attention to Annah. “Daughter, the Gods have blessed you with a great opportunity.”

  Annah’s smiling face had been replaced with one of shock. “No! Father! I don’t want to leave here. Remember, I will be marrying the shepherd boy in the next planting season. Please! Tell them!”

  Belash was firm with his response. “No daughter, you cannot refuse.” The farmer’s tough bearded face softened as he put his arm on her shoulder and comforted her. “Besides, it is only for three harvests. Then you will return and marry the shepherd boy. In that time you will learn to make the sacred writings on the tablets. You will learn the incantations so the Gods and spirits will be at your assistance. And of course, you will bring a great honor to our house.”

  “Yes, what your father says is true! There is no need to worry. You are only going as a servant to the priestesses, after all. Do not act like you are a sacrifice. They have assured me that we may visit with you on the temple days as well.”

  Annah looked down at the ground and silently wiped away her tears. The men took her by the hand and led her away down the trail. Before they left the valley Annah turned back and looked at the little house so far away. She saw her parents one last time as they waved their farewell.

  The seasons came and went, and as they did, the days the people gathered at the temple came and went as well. Each temple day brought a visit from Annah’s parents as well as the shepherd boy that Annah had come to love and dream about. Annah found out that her duties to the priestesses were more domestic than she had expected. Still there were many opportunities to learn, and a quick learner she was. Annah managed to learn much of the code they used when writing down magic spells and incantations. She also accidently came upon a secret about the head priestess that she was afraid could threaten the entire kingdom.

  While preparing for one of the ceremonies Annah came across the head priestess reciting an incantation. It was an
incantation that Annah had never expected to hear. The priestess was secretly dedicating her sacrificial offering not to Inana, but to a powerful and forbidden demon. She spied on all seven of the priestesses for months and found out much more. She planned to warn the shepherd boy on his next visit.

  On the next gathering at the temple Annah quickly sought the boy out. It was easy for her to spot him in the gathering crowd. The year of his seventeenth harvest season had been good to him, and he towered above the others. She had noticed how his lanky frame had transformed. His shoulders had broadened and his arms were strong. When she ran to him she wanted to call his name, but it was forbidden for her to say the name of her betrothed until they married. It was believed that if she were to say his name out loud, a vengeful spirit may find the name on the Tablet of Destiny and remove it. She led the boy behind a large stone pillar at the front of the temple and pulled him close.

  She looked at his long black hair hanging over his strong bronzed shoulders, and she longed for the days when she could do more than just gaze into his deep dark eyes. “I have to tell you something. The priestesses are not performing the rituals to Inana! They are witches! Witches that allow themselves to be possessed by forbidden ancient demons. In time they will have conjured all seven of the demons, and they will have brought them into their bodies. They will restore the demon’s old temple in the northern wilderness. If they succeed, they will become a powerful force that will destroy the empire and that will be the downfall for our Goddess of the Moon, Inana.”

  The boy was shocked. “How can they be stopped? Shouldn’t we tell somebody?”

  “The only ones that will be able to stop them are the priests from the city of Mari. I think the priestesses suspect I have been watching them. I am asking you to tell my father. He will go with you to the priests and the leaders. I must stay here or I will be hunted down.”

  The boy opened his dark blue cloak and took a pendant that hung around his neck and placed it on Annah. “Here, this will protect you from the evil magic and from demons. I will go to your father. We will have these hags tied down in the desert and burned by the Sun God.”

  Annah waited for many anxiety filled days until one afternoon, she found herself surrounded by seven priestesses completely covered in their hooded black cloaks. They bound her and dragged her from the temple. She saw them take a small piece of wool from a clay jar and when they placed it over her face, there was nothing but darkness. She opened her eyes and found herself in a different temple.

  To her horror she saw, tied to the circle of giant stone columns, her beloved shepherd boy barely alive. On either side of him were the dead bodies of her parents. Using every ounce of energy she could muster, Annah screamed and called out a frenzied curse. The curse was filled with every bit of dark magic she had learned. She ripped the pendant from her neck and threw it down, into the dirt. Before the priestesses thrust their knives into her, she called on a forbidden demon of her own. She shouted for revenge and then as she faded into the darkness, she tasted a bitterness so strong that it seeped through her soul.

  Chapter One

  Lexi quickly glanced in the mirror hanging on the wall. It was more of a habit than anything, much like the halfhearted effort she took to run her fingers through her shoulder length auburn hair before she headed out the door. Just like every day before, she deftly gathered it in a quick ponytail, shouldered her bag, and grabbed her keys.

  Before opening the door, she tapped the old gold ring that she wore on the small finger of her left hand against the brass door knob. The ring was the only thing she owned that had been her mother’s, and she never took it off. After she made a few more clinking sounds a fuzzy black cat came bounding down the stairs. A series of rapid thumps resonated in the old house. They were the telltale signs of a very spoiled and very portly feline.

  In a cartoon-like scene the cat’s back legs slipped as it skidded across the dark wooden floorboards and around the corner. The cat gained traction and speed as it bolted across the faux Persian runner, and then it came to an abrupt stop. The cat looked at Lexi with a wide eyed stare as if it were trying to hypnotize Lexi with its bright yellow eyes. The cat sang out a single “meow” pleading to come along for the day. “Hello there, Allie cat. Okay fine, you can come along, you bowling ball with a tail.” Together they walked out the front door.

  The familiar squeaks from the worn wooden boards on the front porch comforted Lexi. She had been living in the old Victorian style farmhouse for just over a year. The realty agent was more than optimistic when he described it as a piece of history, a fixer-upper, and a handyman’s dream. He told her that it was a steal at the price and anyone with a little gumption could turn this diamond-in-the-rough into a polished gem.

  Lexi learned later that the do-it-yourself old house shows on television were just as misleading as the agent had been. Anything that exceeded Lexi’s skill level and budget had to wait. Still, Lexi was proud of her creativity and the improvements she had accomplished.

  When her sister saw pictures of the place, she thought it was a style created by accident. Her actual words were, “It looks like a bargain-mart truck crashed into a flea market. Then some drunken elves picked up the debris and decided to throw it all over your house, Lexi!”

  Lexi smiled as she remembered Kate’s voice. It had been so long since she had seen her. She wondered how Kate was handling the grief of losing her husband, Kurt two years ago. As she opened the door to let Allie into the truck, she looked up into the large tree that reached a long arm towards her bedroom window. There was an owl in that tree the night before. Lexi recalled how it looked then as she peered through her bedroom window. She had seen the owl as a horned silhouette against the full moon. It chanted a few lonely notes into the night and then sat still and silent as if it were gazing back at Lexi.

  As she replayed the scene in her head she felt a chilly uneasiness once again. She wondered why the owl seemed to bother her. Well, it’s not there now. Aren’t owls an omen for something? An ancient symbol for sure. I’ve got to remember to ask Kate about it the next time we talk. To Lexi, things like omens were simply trivia topics, and they held no useful purpose, other than to spur one’s curiosity.

  Lexi’s old truck bounced and jolted its way down the deserted highway towards town. Allie stretched herself across the faded and cracked dashboard to soak in the morning sun. Lexi loved driving across the open plain towards the mountains on the horizon. After so many years of feeling stifled by the crowded and humid east coast, this new open place renewed her thirst for adventure.

  Southwest Montana was a spotless sheet of paper just waiting for her to write her own future. The last thing she wanted was to be confined into one of the expected roles of the citizens in the sprawling cities. To have had accepted a fate like that would have killed her very soul. Lexi thought that too many people were already forced to wade through a pool of hypocrisy in order to survive.

  For some people, picking up and moving cross country into a new life might be considered a fool’s journey, but for Lexi it was a purposeful step taken into the unknown. Montana was one of those places where she felt a person could be propelled into anything. As soon as she had received her bachelor’s degree, she found a little dusty corner bookstore for sale on an online listing, and she bought it...sight unseen. The two made their epic journey from Virginia to Montana a year prior. The ever faithful Allie was a good listener when it came to Lexi’s singing and travel commentary.

  An entire year had gone by and Lexi started to feel something that was a bit unexpected, boredom. That first year was chaotic and busy, but Lexi relished in the challenge as she took on the repairs to her house and opened her store. Now that her life had finally settled into a routine, she found herself missing the hectic, yet satisfying feeling she got from conquering each new task. Lexi longed for something truly exciting and adventurous to happen to her. It seemed to Lexi that perhaps the only romance and adventure she could expect to find, would pr
obably come from between the covers of her cherished novels.

  Lexi pulled up to the curb and parked in front of her store. The large glass windows displayed an array of carefully selected new books. She had arranged some hiking guides, a few local western books, and a very visible display of books about fly fishing. In a town like this, you had to know who the paying customers were, if you expected to keep the lights on. The mountains, parks, and blue ribbon trout streams in the area attracted exactly the type of people Lexi wanted to get through her door. Large red letters prominently showed the name: “THE LEXICON, Books & More, Lexi Salenko, Owner.”

  She followed her usual sequence of turning on the lights, radio, and computer. Allie made a half-hearted attempt to be on mouse patrol as she strolled between the display racks. Once the cat felt satisfied that she had reasonably completed her duties, she transformed into a fluffy black ball on a bookshelf.

  The store was small, but it had some additional space in a loft section that was accessible by ornate wrought iron spiral stairs. The upper area made a cozy place for various collectable antique books that sold surprisingly well. The old, red brick walls of the store were decorated with framed poster art that was inspired by classic literature. Lexi looked around and felt satisfied with the niche she had created for herself in Montana. Even though it depleted the remaining balance of the trust fund left to her by her parents.

  The front door swung open and rang a string of small bells that dangled from the frame. A red haired, green eyed Marcie bounced to the register. Marcie’s daily arrival always brought a smile to Lexi. She leaned as far over the counter as she could, letting her long loose red curls fall forward. She planted a wet kiss on Lexi and boisterously laughed at Lexi’s reaction. “What the hell! Marcie?”