Of Flame and Light: A Weird Girls Novel Read online

  Praise for the Weird Girls series

  “One of my favorite books series . . . so much action, so much violence and, oh, the lust radiating off of our heroes . . . I definitely recommend this series for lovers of all things paranormal and awesome.”—USA Today

  "Robson's blend of smart-alecky wit, good old-fashioned romance, and suspenseful episodes of fighting off evil spirits form a paranormal thriller that will make pulses pound." –Publishers Weekly

  “[With Robson’s] edgy, witty and modern style of storytelling, the reader will be drawn deep into this quirky paranormal world. . . . Strong pacing, constant action and distinctive, appealing characters—including a gutsy heroine—will no doubt keep you invested.”—RT Book Reviews

  “…Robson’s supernatural tale will leave readers clawing for the next installment.”—Booklist

  “A healthy dose of humor, a heaping dash of the supernatural, and a pinch of mystery all laced with a heavy dollop of action . . . Robson knows how to combine all the best ingredients to keep her readers hooked and begging for another hit.”—Fresh Fiction

  “Jam packed with action, suspense, kickass girls, hot guys, humor and all out weird girls, this series has me coming back for more and more.” –Night Owl Reviews (Top Pick)

  BY CECY ROBSON

  The Weird Girls

  A Curse Awakened (novella)

  The Weird Girls (novella)

  Sealed with a Curse

  A Cursed Embrace

  Of Flame and Promise

  A Cursed Moon (novella)

  Cursed by Destiny

  A Cursed Bloodline

  A Curse Unbroken

  Of Flame and Light

  The Shattered Past Series

  Once Perfect

  Once Loved

  Once Pure

  The O’Brien Family Novels

  Once Kissed

  Let Me

  Crave Me (coming soon)

  Feel Me (coming soon)

  The Carolina Beach Novels

  Inseverable

  Eternal (coming soon)

  Infinite (coming soon)

  A Weird Girls Novel

  Cecy Robson

  Of Flame and Light is purely a work of fiction. Names, places, and occurrences are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, or persons, living or deceased, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright ©2016 by Cecy Robson, LLC

  Cover design © Sarah Hansen, Okay Creations LLC

  Edited by Gaele L. Hince of BippityBoppityBook.com

  Formatting by BippityBoppityBook.com

  Excerpt from Sealed with a Curse by Cecy Robson copyright ©2012 by Cecy Robson, LLC

  All rights reserved. Including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form without prior written consent of the author, except for brief quotes for use in reviews.

  This book contains an excerpt from Sealed with a Curse, the first full-length novel in The Weird Girls Urban Fantasy Romance series by Cecy Robson. The excerpt has been set for this edition only, and may not reflect the final content of the final novel.

  Published in the United States by Cecy Robson, LLC.

  Amazon Stock: B01J0SCGEK

  eBook ISBN 978-0-9971947-4-6

  Table of Contents

  DEDICATION

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  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

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Reader’s Guide to the Magical World of the Weird Girls Series

  Excerpt from Sealed with a Curse

  About Cecy Robson

  DEDICATION

  To Jamie and Nic, for believing in the magic

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To my three babies who still think I’m great despite my not-so-great moments. Who still smile when they greet me and who find all the gore and twisted humor as funny as I do.

  To my husband. Jamie, you’re still the best man I know. Where would I be in publishing and in life without you?

  To my agent, Nicole Resciniti, who fell in love with my Weird Girls and made this all possible.

  To Lisa Filipe, my hardworking publicist who gives as much as her heart as she does her time.

  To Gaele Hince, my copyeditor. You really get me, don’t you?

  And to my fans who die a thousand deaths along with my characters yet still beg for more. Thank you for falling in love with my heroes and finding a place for them in your hearts. Believe me when I say, I laugh (and cry) right along with you.

  Chapter One

  You know it’s going to be a bad day when you wake up in the morning and the first word out of your mouth is “fuck.”

  My right arm―or should I say my new arm generated after my real one was chewed off by a psycho werewolf (no, this isn’t a joke) ―buzzes me awake. That’s right, buzzes.

  I do my best to hide my limb. Not just because it’s as white as alabaster. Or because of the fluorescent blue veins that run its length. But because it’s doing things I can’t control, like, interfering with my magic, glowing like a light saber, and now, making noise.

  I lift my head, half-asleep, wondering how a wasp’s nest found its way beneath my pillow, but too exhausted to run away screaming, yet. If you were familiar with my life and world, you’d understand pissed off wasps in my bed wouldn’t be the craziest, or scariest, thing that’s ever happened to me.

  My eyes narrow at the quivering pillow as my haze clears. Maybe it’s because I’m tired, or maybe it’s because I’m bitter as all hell, but I can’t help thinking that the arm and the pillow are laughing at me. I pull my glowing and buzzing arm from beneath the fluffy white pillow and swear.

  “Really? Really?” I ask it. “What’s next, singing and origami?”

  Apparently, my incandescent light saber arm isn’t a fan of sarcasm and proceeds to flicker on and off like a twisted strobe light. I shake it hard and smack it against the mattress for all the good it does. “Knock it off,” I tell it.

  It’s not that I think it listens, or that I manage to control it, there’s simply no controlling this thing, but somehow the glowing recedes and so does the noise, and my arm resumes its “normal” death-like tone.

  It quiets, no longer casting light. I should be thankful, right? I should be happy, true?

  Oh, I wish.

  The color is startling, and contrasts horrifically against my deep olive skin. But its eerie tone and its unpredictability aren’t the only things that trouble me. There’s something wrong with this limb. It doesn’t belong on me. And in a way, it doesn’t belong in this world.

  Maybe like me, it’s something that wasn’t supposed to be.

  I sigh and clutch it against me. It feels like my old arm, the skin soft and smooth. It moves like my old arm. I’m not limited with eith
er fine or gross motor skills. But it’s not . . . human.

  When I lost my real arm, the Squaw Valley Pack Omega, created this new one using ancient werewolf magic. If I were a were, I think things would have been fine, peachy-keen, and all that good stuff. But I’m not a were, or human, or witch, or vampire, or anything. Not even a little bit.

  My sisters and I may look human, but nothing like us has ever existed on earth. And because of it, earth’s ancient magic seems to really resent helping a weird girl like me.

  I used to wield fire and lightning with ease, and catch glimpses of the future. I used to be badass. I’m no longer badass, and the only things I catch now are odd glances cast my way.

  “Are you the punishment for my sins?” I ask my arm.

  I don’t expect it to answer, but it does. Sputtering light and buzzing before abruptly ceasing its response and sinking into the mattress.

  To anyone watching, this whole thing might be funny. To me . . . nothing’s been funny in a long time.

  For a moment, I simply stare at it. There’s a part of me that wants to cry, wondering what it will start doing next. But I’ve already cried too long and hard for what it has cost me.

  Or should I say, who it cost me.

  I scan the room. Nothing of Gemini remains. Not his clothes, not our pictures together. I even deleted and blocked his number. For all my arm disgusts me, I never expected it to disgust him more. After all, this was the werewolf who claimed me as his mate. The same male who swore he’d love only me forever.

  I suppose forever only counts so long as I didn’t change, so long as I remained perfect in his eyes. But I never claimed to be perfect, even if many believed I’d looked the part.

  My arm flickers and zings, the electrified charge is strong enough to startle me and slap any remnants of sleep away. Yeah. No way am I perfect. Not by a long shot, especially with this thing constantly mocking me and reminding me of everything wrong in my life.

  A sharp rap to the door has me glancing toward my right. “Taran?” my perky sister Shayna calls. “I heard your alarm clock go off. Want some breakfast?”

  I lift the bane of my existence and sigh. Alarm clock? I suppose that’s one word for it.

  “T?” Shayna presses. “I’m making waffles.”

  She semi-sings her last few words which is a very “Shayna” thing to do.

  “I’ll be right out,” I answer.

  “Cool!” she responds. “I have plenty.”

  It’s not that I want to eat. It’s that I know how worried my sisters are about me. So I sit with them when I can, and plaster on a smile when I need to, but even that’s burdensome, which sucks. I don’t want my time with my sisters to be a chore. I love them. But I’ve learned some things can’t be helped.

  My arm fires with its haunting glow. Case in point.

  With a groan, I slip out of bed, pulling on a fresh pair of panties and a bra before heading to my bathroom to clean up. After a few swipes of mascara and some lipstick, I yank on a form-fitting red dress and shove my feet into a pair of platform pumps, doing my best to strut and not collapse back in bed. Yet even though I’m almost to the door, there’s one more thing I need. Most women won’t leave their homes without their cell phones. I can’t leave my room without my elbow-length gloves. It helps me hide the ugly appendage and the light show that accompanies it.

  But now that my arm’s buzzing . . .

  I pause with my hand on the doorknob. What am I going to do about this thing?

  I take a breath and wrench open the door, tugging on my gloves as I walk down the hall and into our large kitchen. Shayna abandons the waffle iron when she sees me and skips forward, her ponytail bouncing behind her.

  She throws her arms around me like it’s been months, not hours, since she’s seen me. “Hey, T!” she tells me brightly.

  I pat her back, wishing I could hug her for real. But real hugs lead to my very real tears, and I can’t keep doing this to my family. “Hey, princess. Wow, everything smells great.”

  It’s the truth, yet my comment sounds phony and forced, even to me.

  Her arms fall away slowly. Although she keeps her grin, I sense the worry behind it, as well as her fear. “You look hot,” she tells me, punching my good arm affectionately.

  No. I look acceptable. I used to spend over an hour styling my dark wavy hair and applying my makeup. Now, I do enough so I don’t resign myself to sweats, watching made for TV movies, and stuffing my face with potato chips.

  “Thanks,” I manage with yet another forced grin. I make a show of taking in all the breakfast foods, including the freshly baked muffins. “Yum. Do you need help setting the table or anything?”

  “No. It’s all good.”

  She says nothing more which is unusual for Shayna. Either she’s waiting for me to speak, or she’s debating what to say. I can’t take another pity party so I lift a pan filled with eggs and plate stacked with waffles and bring them to the table. “Where’s your puppy?” I ask. Or in other words, where’s your gigantic scary werewolf husband, Koda.

  “Oh, he already ate and left. He’s doing more at the Den since Celia’s been needing more ah, time with Aric.”

  Okay, now I really grin, and so does she. Time with Aric is a mild way to describe what Celia desires from her husband.

  Our youngest sister Emme walks out of the laundry room blushing, which tells me she’s heard us discussing Celia. Shayna’s grin quickly turns into a laugh. Emme’s shyness has that effect on her.

  Emme clears her throat, but not her obvious discomfort. Where Shayna has dark straight hair, Emme has soft blonde waves and fair skin that reddens the longer we take her in.

  “Emme,” I offer. “What’s the big deal? So what if Celia’s banging Aric like the lead drummer at a Fourth of July parade. They’re married. It happens.”

  Emme holds up her hand. “Taran, please let’s keep their private life private.”

  I reach for a glass of freshly squeezed juice. “I would if they weren’t so damn loud. I swear, I thought the walls were going to come down around midnight when they―”

  “Taran . . .” Emme whimpers, shaking her hands like she can’t stand to hear another word.

  Emme’s always been so sweet and angelic. Me? Not at all. “Hey, do you suppose Celia’s more flexible now, given how Aric knocked her up? As in ankles behind the head kind of flexible―”

  Emme lifts a muffin with her force and sends it soaring. I catch it just before it rams me in the mouth. “Eat,” she insists. “Just eat.”

  In other words, for once in your life, shut your inappropriate trap.

  Shayna takes a seat beside me, laughing her skinny ass off. Emme sits, too, in time for Celia to stagger down the back steps.

  Good God. Celia’s long curly hair is tousled from lack of sleep and the insane amount of sex she’s had. And her eyes are glazed with a hunger that warns me not to get too close. “Is there bacon? Please tell me there’s bacon,” she growls as if crazed.

  Her entire face beams when Emme levitates a plateful of bacon and lowers it in front of an empty seat. Like a woman possessed, Celia sits and rams about four pieces in her mouth at once. The rest of us watch her in stunned silence as she chomps them down and reaches for another few slices. She freezes when she realizes we’re all gaping at her. “Sorry. Would you like some?”

  Her tigress eyes replace her human ones, making it clear she’s only trying to be polite. And that only an idiot would get between her and her breakfast.

  “No, nope, uh-uh,” the three of us answer at once.

  This seems to settle her inner beast enough so Celia’s human eyes once more blink back at us. I pour her a glass of juice, while Emme and Shayna carefully place plates stacked with food closer to her reach. What can I say, we don’t want to be eaten.

  “Are you all right?” Emme asks her quietly.

  Celia slows her frantic munching. “I don’t know,” she admits, her husky voice trickling with concern. She lifts her T-s
hirt and shows us her tiny belly. “The baby’s not growing.”

  We’ve noticed that, too. Her pregnancy had been unexpected given she was incapable of bearing children. But within two weeks of finding out she and Aric had conceived, her baby bump had appeared and was visible through her wedding gown.

  That was two months ago. And now, despite how this baby has been prophesized to rid the world of evil, we’re all pretty much freaking out that he or she isn’t growing.

  “But your body’s changing,” I insist. I don’t exactly ooze optimism. In fact, I’m a the sky is falling and the earth is swallowing us whole kind of gal. But Celia doesn’t need to hear what’s wrong. My girl needs hope and that’s what I give her. I point to her chest. “If your hooters don’t scream you’re knocked up, I don’t know what does.”

  She glances at her girls and then back at me, the tension in her shoulders lifting slightly. “They are a lot bigger,” she agrees quietly. She gathers her thoughts, appearing to want to say more despite her obvious hesitation. “And my body does feel like it’s becoming something more. Maybe not outwardly, but I can feel the difference inside of me.”

  “What are you feeling, Ceel?” Shayna asks. “Is your magic changing?”

  Celia nods. “The magic that helped me get pregnant seems to compliment mine. But my hormones are out of control.” Her cheeks flush and she lowers her voice. “Poor Aric. I can’t stop having sex with him. It’s like every time I see him, I pounce.”

  Aric bounds down the steps as if called, his eyes glassy from lack of sleep and his five o’clock shadow now a full-out beard thanks to his preference to satisfy Celia’s needs rather than shave. His face lights up when he sees Celia, kind of like she did at the sight of bacon.