Druids Storm Read online

  Druids Storm

  An Alice Skye novel

  Taylor Aston White

  DISCLAIMER - Written in British English including spelling and grammar.

  Copyright © 2019 by Taylor Aston White

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Acknowledgments

  This is for the Gazzard’s, who were far from happy at not being mentioned the first time around.

  Alice Skye

  Witch’s Sorrow

  Druids Storm

  Book Three coming soon

  Book Two

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 0.5

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 6.5

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 13.5

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 19.5

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 26.5

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Also by Taylor Aston White

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Dread felt like he was on trial.

  The box The Council made him stand in was small and confined.

  “So it has come to our attention…” a slight pause as Valentina, the head of The Council looked down at her notes. “Alice has come of age.”

  “Define ‘come of age’,” asked Dread, slightly anxious. He didn’t get nervous, not in his thousand plus years roaming the earth. He had seen kingdoms fall, queens conquer lands and fought the Great War.

  Yet, he felt nervous now.

  The Council governed all Breed. It was they who made the laws, who worked out a treaty with humans almost three centuries ago. It was they who publicly executed anyone they believed to have a difference of opinion. Dread had worked hard to keep under their radar, and had run the Supernatural Intelligence Bureau as directed, no questions asked. He’d worked even harder to keep Alice under control, to downplay her power surges as a child. He had hoped, prayed even, that her ancestry was simply an exaggeration.

  How wrong he was.

  The Council of Five stared, their attention on him absolute. On the left, seemingly uninterested in the situation was Xavier, his orange eyes flashing in challenge as Dread met them. His hip tilted, feet dangling off the side of his wooden throne. A slow smile crept across his thin lips, showing a row of sharp, pointy teeth as his other half, the tiger, shone through. He was very much dressed down in ripped jeans and a short- sleeved T-shirt with a bands name Dread had never heard of.

  “Don’t be so crass. You know exactly what we mean.”

  Beside Xavier sat Frederick Gallagher, one of the most powerful witches in Europe.

  “Do you think her sudden power flare has gone unnoticed?” He leant forward as he spoke, his velvet green robe opening to reveal a white ruffled shirt.

  “As my fellow councilman has pointed out, we know of her recent power incline. You were asked when you became her legal guardian to inform The Council when she started to show the power her heritage gifted her.” Valentina pursed her lips disapprovingly. “We will do well not to allow her to succumb to the same fate as her brother.”

  Dread said nothing, not wanting to inform them that Kyle was believed to be alive, but missing.

  The Council craved power.

  The children of Dragon were power.

  “This is getting –”

  “– tiresome.” The Fae twins sat to the far right, each sitting on an arm of their single throne. Quention and his sister Liliannia were both faeries with straight white gold hair, oversized lilac eyes and pointy ears. They were identical to the point their androgynous appearance made it exceedingly hard to tell them apart, it was only the slight curve of Liliannia’s breast that gave her away. They watched Dread as if he were a bug, boring and unimportant.

  “Does she even know –”

  “– about her legacy?” Quention finished for his twin, their voices painfully high-pitched.

  “No.”

  He was sure of it. She wasn’t ready to understand, wasn’t prepared to have that sort of responsibility.

  “Do you think us fools, monsieur Grayson?” Valentina tapped her exceedingly long nails against the wooden arm, painted a blood red.

  “I would never lie to The Council, Mistress.”

  He almost choked on the last word, a name he was forced to use out of ‘respect’ for the leader of his Breed.

  “He’s telling the truth.” Mason Storm was the last member, sitting directly to Valentina’s right.

  He stood for the druids, completing The Council of Breeds.

  “She seems to know nothing of her heritage,” he said on a laugh. “Ignorant.”

  “Careful.” Dread felt his fangs release, his eyes darkening in a warning.

  “How dare you speak…”

  “ENOUGH!” Valentina’s voice echoed throughout the room, anger surging across her delicate features as she demanded attention.

  She carefully pushed her straight black hair behind one ear, showing more of her delicate porcelain skin. Dread looked at the large ruby at her throat, not wanting to meet her dark, slitted eyes. Valentina was old, older than even him although she looked around fifteen, an undeveloped fifteen-year-old.

  “You mock us.”

  Frederick had sat back in his seat at Valentina’s outburst, a ball of pure white arcane rolling playfully through his fingers.

  “It was agreed that once Alice came of age, she would be trained. I demand she immediately be turned over to my guidance.”

  “We had all agreed at the time, that monsieur Grayson would be the most suitable…” Valentina started.

  “I did it as a favour to a friend. Not for The Council,” Dread stated, watching Valentina’s face tense at the blatant disregard.

  “This is ridiculous.” Frederick extinguished his arcane, fidgeting in his seat. “Her care should have been given to The Magika and me. Not this vampire who hasn’t even trained her in basic magic.”

  Dread growled, unable to stop the sound.

  “I have done what is best for her, unlike you…”

  “Hold your tongue,” Valentina snarled, flashing her fangs. “We have not forgotten that you lied about her survival. We could have executed you on principle but decided it was better for the child to stay with you for stability.”

  Dread clenched his jaw. He had hidden Alice successfully for years, created a spider web of lies to keep her safe from the people who would use her for their own personal gain. Unfortunately, nothing got past The Council.

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Now, we have been given reports that Alice is unable to control her power surges, can you confirm?” she asked, raising a dark eyebrow.

  Dread wanted to hit something, his fingers crushing the edge of the wood he gripped in anger. He knew Valentina had sent a spy to work for h
im, knew instantly his new recruit was The Mistress’ soldier and he was sure the others had sent spies too.

  “She’s been seeing a doctor regularly, a witch,” he added before Frederick could protest, “who is helping her with control.”

  “You failed as her Caretaker,” Xavier’s deep, smoky voice said. “You need to be punished.” His orange eyes flashed finally with interest, clearly the one who wanted to do the punishing.

  “She should be with me,” Frederick stated.

  “Do you think we do not know –”

  “– what you would do with her Frederick?” The twins chimed in. “It is why we decided she shouldn’t be with The Magika –”

  “– until she could hold her own. We can’t have you syphoning off all that power now, can we.”

  A chuckle as Xavier leant forward, stripes appearing then disappearing on his tanned skin as he played with his beast.

  “This little witch sounds interesting.” He tilted his head in a feline way. “Mason,” he started, turning those unusual orange eyes towards the druid, “is it not your job to deal with Daemons?”

  Mason’s face flushed a deep red, his eyes hard as he adjusted his necktie.

  “That situation has been dealt with.”

  “Your transgression almost cost us dear little Alice’s life. Maybe you’re the one who needs to be punished.” Xavier tensed as if he was ready to pounce.

  “We have called this meeting to discuss the future of Alice,” Valentina said sternly, ignoring the tiger.

  “Alice should be turned over to myself and The Magika.” Frederick shot to his feet aggressively. “We have the ability to train her.”

  “I disagree, it should be an impartial party that cannot benefit from her.” Xavier smiled lazily, loving the friction he caused.

  “This is just ridiculous.” Frederick sat down again, his long robe floating down to rest beside him.

  “We agree with the tiger.” Quention settled for the twins.

  “I have a suggestion.” Liliannia joined in with her brother. “She should have a Warden assigned. One who should train her –”

  “– in both defensive abilities as well as magic.”

  “Interesting.” Valentina clicked her tongue. “What do you think, Commissioner?”

  Dread tensed, not usually addressed with his proper title.

  “If it pleases The Council then a Warden couldn’t hurt.”

  “I will put myself forward.” Mason inserted. “As a Druid, we are gifted warriors in both combat and magic.”

  “This is absurd,” Frederick grumbled.

  “This is becoming boring,” Xavier dragged a claw against the wooden chair arm, leaving a long scratch. “I vote for Mason.”

  “A druid would be the appropriate choice considering her lineage,” Liliannia added.

  “I agree with my sister, we vote for Mason,” Quention agreed.

  “I must disagree.” All eyes turned to Dread. “Councillor Storm, you are the head of The Order, or have you forgotten? You could not possibly give Alice the attention she would need for such training.”

  “The Guardians then.” He smirked as if he had won. “They are trained since children with discipline. It’s exactly what that girl needs.”

  “We have voted.” Valentina flicked her hand. “Councillor Storm will assign one of his Guardians as a Warden to Alice. They will be in charge of training her in the correct skills to defend herself as well as controlling her increasing power.”

  She quietened Frederick as he started to object.

  “After an initial period, Alice will be asked to prove her skills with a test. If she shows no sign of control, she will be turned over to The Magika. They will decide her fate.” That pleased the male witch.

  Dread looked over at Mason as he fought not to comment, not wanting any emotion to leak through his words. Alice was his daughter in every way but blood, and he was honoured to bring her up for his late best friend. Yet, he felt helpless as he watched the Council decide her fate.

  He just hoped that one day she could forgive him.

  Dawn’s light woke him as a bird chirped outside the open window, the white curtain blowing gently in the breeze. Opening his eyes he stared at the ceiling, the small imperfections memorised as he checked how his pet spider was doing in the far corner.

  Jumping out of bed he quickly grabbed his clothes, pulling them on methodically as he flicked his eyes to the clock above his bed, the only decoration in the stark, square room.

  Ten minutes.

  He began to pace, it was only a matter of time before he was due to be trained again. Due to be humiliated as the teachers beat him to a pulp.

  It wasn’t supposed to be this bad, his training. It was supposed to come naturally according to his father.

  He was born for this.

  Yet he couldn’t control his beast.

  So they trained him. Trained him beyond what his body could handle until his bones ached and his skin became swollen. The beast controlled him, not the other way round. His beast was better, stronger.

  His spirit animal.

  The other half of his soul.

  Five minutes.

  Letting out a puff he sat on the bed, the only piece of furniture in the room beside a clothes rack, which held three identical black outfits. There wasn’t even a mirror, strange considering vanity was an asset according to the teacher. Which was crazy. The prey he was being trained to hunt, to extinguish, wouldn’t care about his looks.

  One minute.

  He stood up, making sure his tight black shirt was wrinkle free and that his arms were folded behind his back as he waited for the bedroom door to be opened, for his training to begin.

  It was only another four years, two months and twenty days before he was back home where he belonged. Not that he was counting.

  Chapter 1

  The black floor-length dress was modest, high in the neck but low in the back as she posed in front of the mirror. Alice knew as she walked that flashes of her legs would be seen through the almost indecently cut slits down each side. Not necessarily appropriate for a charity Gala, but perfect for being able to access the twin daggers strapped high on her thighs.

  She hated shopping, which was why Sam was the one who went and purchased the dress specifically for the Gala.

  He would make a great wife, she mused to herself.

  A flash of light caught her eye, her favoured sword sitting where she left it a few months back.

  According to Dread, it had been her mothers, a traditional blade passed down through the family. It was still bittersweet that she never received it from her parents, that they would never be able to see her use it. That she would never get to ask why the blade flashed with twinkly lights every time she now touched it, glowing runes that only appeared when she either stroked the steel or held the hilt. Writings she couldn’t understand.

  It had never happened before. Not to her at least.

  Not wanting to think about it, or the man who could also make the steel glow, she faced the mirror once again, glancing at the elegant lines of the dress as she applied a dark lipstick.

  Struggling to do the zip she strode down the stairs into the living room, surprised to see Sam stretched out on the sofa half asleep in a way only a feline could. He let out a little sneeze, his eyes opening a slit as he appraised her outfit with a knowing smile. He really enjoyed shopping.

  “Come here baby girl...” He motioned for her to stand before him, his movements lazy as he reached for the hidden side zipper. “You look delish, all those rich snobs won’t know what hit them.”

  “You know this is a work thing,” she said with a grin.

  This was her first contract in months, well, technically it wasn’t a formal contract, but that couldn’t ruin her mood. She was joining a team of Paladins as security for the charity ‘Children of the Moon,’ an organisation that helped young children who suffered from life-threatening illnesses caused by the vampira virus.

&n
bsp; The Gala was held yearly in the Grande Hotel, a sizeable, flashy event that allowed a handful of celebrities and local wealthy elites that used the limelight generated to showcase their own personal wealth.

  “Does that mean they have cleared you from medical leave?” Sam asked as he started to play with her hair, curling it around his finger before pining it artfully into a bun.

  “I’ve been cleared for weeks.”

  Her doctor had cleared her healthy and strong enough to get back to work.

  Dread on the other hand had disagreed.

  She had asked daily to get back to the hunt, almost squealed in delight when he said he needed her for tonight.

  “That’s it, you go have fun with the uber-rich while I stay home with Mr Shorty over there,” Sam sighed, stepping back to admire his work. “Bloody thing is back, almost gave me a heart attack.”

  “What?” She looked at him like he was crazy. “Oh, you mean Jordan?”

  “Aye,” he nodded towards the space beneath the stairs.

  Following his gaze, she searched beside the cardboard boxes that still held some stuff they are yet to unpack. At this point, she had no idea what was in them, clearly something unimportant if they hadn’t noticed anything missing.

  Beside one large box stood Jordan the gnome, his fists clutched tightly around a fishing rod, face frozen into a smile. With his blue coat, green belt and red-capped hat, they had no idea know how he had gotten there. He just appeared one day and hadn’t left since.