Fractured Legacy (Darkness Bound / Frqactured Legacy #1) Read online

  Fractured Legacy

  Copyright © 2013

  Skye Callahan

  Published by Skye Callahan

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events and locations is entirely coincidental.

  Published: Skye Callahan

  October 22, 2013

  [email protected]

  Publishing assisted by Black Firefly

  Cover by Joy at Indie Author Services

  To my husband and our ferrets for putting up with my crazy.

  Kaylyn

  Kaylyn pulled the covers over her head, as if they could block out the ruckus threatening her sleep. After another series of knocks on the front door, she was left in silence again. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

  She held her breath.

  Sure enough, a floorboard creaked, then her sister’s voice rang out. “Come on, Kay. You can’t avoid me when I have a key. We’re going to be late.”

  “Go away, Cole. I’m sick.”

  “Bullshit. If anything, you’re hungover.”

  “I haven’t had a drink in almost two months.” Not since the binge she went on a week after Ian packed up and moved out. Although, at the moment, she thought, I’d kill for one…or several. “We’ve worked for Carlisle for more than three years, he won’t—”

  “We have a meeting. Mr. Edwards. Historical Society. Wooden box engraved with occult symbols. Ring a bell?”

  Oh, yeah. Kaylyn groaned as she flipped the covers off her head. Her younger sister stood over the side table, leaning against the inside of the doorway. A crisp pink collar peeked out from the top of her dark grey pea coat, paired with matching grey slacks.

  Always overdressed, Kaylyn thought, especially for a job that often had them crawling in dank and dusty places. She pulled herself up, teetering on the edge of the bed before forcing her body to move toward the closet.

  “If you don’t hurry up, the cappuccinos will get cold.”

  “You know I prefer it that way.” Kaylyn said as she pulled some moderately business-casual clothes out of the clean clothes pile and headed into the bathroom.

  “Weirdo,” Cole called after her.

  Kaylyn was thankful for the brief moment of silence as she slid into a pair of black jeans and a blue long-sleeved V-neck. She smoothed out the wrinkles in the shirt then focused on her matted hair, sweeping it up into a low ponytail.

  “Come on, sis, we’re supposed to be there at 9:30,” Cole yelled, smacking the bathroom door.

  Three days until the weekend, she promised her reflection. Then nothing is stopping me from sleeping as long as I want.

  Nothing except the dreams.

  As soon as she stepped out of the bathroom, Cole corralled her toward the front door, leaving just enough time to grab a jacket. Outside, a black Mustang was parked behind Kaylyn’s red ‘68 Chevelle. The Chevelle was her baby, and although Kaylyn would admit she enjoyed Cole’s tame beast, it was nothing compared to the rough elegance of her classic. Walking by the car, she sighed and offered a silent apology. This morning, she had neither the energy nor the time to engage in banter over which car was more appropriate.

  Their meeting was only a few miles away, in the historic district of town, but on the busy one-lane streets of Chatham, that short drive was slow going. As Cole dodged pedestrians and navigated the tight back-roads through town, she also managed to launch an inquisition, which started with something along the lines of, “What the heck were you going to do if I hadn’t showed up to drag you out of bed?” and continued with an assortment of brash allegations concerning guys… booze… parties….

  Without the energy to interrupt or point out that she had been home every night for the past month, Kaylyn pressed her forehead against the cool window, sipped her cappuccino, and mumbled a response when necessary.

  By the time they pulled up to the stonehouse, nestled at the corner of two streets overlooking the river, it was 9:36.

  “Of course, we’re late.” Cole growled, parking the car in the graveled drive next to the building.

  Kaylyn unfastened her seat belt, but even after the cappuccino, her eyes refused to focus. She reached for the door handle only to get punched in the arm by her younger sister.

  “Try to act alive, Kay. We’re not part-time trainees anymore, you know. And Carlisle took a chance putting us together as full-time investigators with only a couple of years’ experience. ”

  Cole was out of the car and at least ten steps ahead by the time Kaylyn closed the passenger door. She shook enough dullness from her head to manage a quick sprint to catch up. Each thump of her foot against the ground echoed through her head, drowning out the latest spiel from her sister—yet another lecture.

  Something is seriously off with this family dynamic, Kaylyn thought.

  “He was supposed to meet us at the main entrance,” Cole said, pulling on the front door. “But it’s locked.”

  “So… lecturing me about being late was all in vain?”

  Cole clicked the heel of her boot against the concrete porch, her lips pressed into a tight line. “Or he gave up on waiting.”

  “Five minutes, Cole. No one gives up after five minutes.”

  Kaylyn and Cole peeked through the windows on either side of the door.

  “Well, I don’t see anyone around,” Kaylyn said.

  “I have a bad feeling.”

  No. Not today. Whether Cole’s bad feelings turned out to be accurate or not, they always meant Kaylyn was about to have a shitty day. When little sister had a bad feeling, everything got done the hard way.

  Kaylyn closed her eyes, reaching deep to muster enough energy to keep up and whispering a silent plea for Mr. Edwards to rush to the door and apologize for losing track of time.

  Her plea was answered by a crash somewhere on the second floor of the house.

  “Fuck,” she muttered, with little regard to who might hear it. An elderly couple glared in the direction of the two girls, probably convinced that they were planning to rob the old house. They may have been at the edge of town, but the historic district was always alive with sightseers and antiquers.

  “We’re not getting in through here, let’s try the back entrance.”

  Cole led the way around the building, to a door marked Employees Only. It stood slightly open, a rock being used as a doorstop. The bricks around the door reeked of cigarette smoke.

  “Nice to know his habit leaves an open path to the back room,” Cole said, pulling the door open.

  Silence fell around the sisters as they squeezed through the room. Between metal shelves that stretched to the ceiling and huge cardboard boxes, the pathway curled around in a pattern as confusing as the corn mazes they had visited as children.

  The wood above them creaked as someone walked over head. Kaylyn looked up, getting an eye full of dust as something stomped or fell abov
e her. She squinted and rubbed at her eye. Blinking away the last of the grimy filth, she noticed Cole had disappeared and rushed forward to catch up, but even after finding the entrance to the main room, her sister was nowhere to be seen.

  Following the wall, she came to a narrow flight of stairs. Cole was already halfway up, clinging to the wall as she climbed. Kaylyn had a flashback to the year they spent bringing in bail skips with their uncle, before they were recruited to Aicil. With all of her prior experience, the tightening in her chest told her that this was wrong.

  She slinked up the stairs and, catching up to Cole at the top, grabbed her sister’s wrist.

  “What?” Cole mouthed back.

  Kaylyn shook her head and made a hand motion, tapping her temple.

  Cole nodded and stepped to the other side of the door. Pushing the door open, she pressed her back against the wall to assess the situation in the room, then motioned for Kaylyn to have a look.

  It was another storage room, but this one was organized with a couple rows of metal shelves with artifacts, neatly organized and labeled. In the center of the room, Mr. Edwards—at least Kaylyn assumed it was Mr. Edwards, having never met the man—stood with his back to the door and his head hung over the table where a brown carved box sat. He jerked like someone had pulled him upright by the greying hair on top of his head.

  Kaylyn glanced back at her sister, whose face was twisted, one eyebrow dipped over her eye in a questioning expression.

  “I think that’s our box,” Kaylyn mouthed. And from the looks of it, he found something that changed his mind about handing it over.

  “We can’t just barge in. He’ll know we broke in,” Cole whispered.

  “Door was open, and he was expecting us.”

  A gust of air pulled past as Mr. Edwards swung open the door.

  Kaylyn’s back hit the wall on the other side of the hallway, leaving her feeling as if a bomb exploded in her chest. “What the hell—”

  Mr. Edwards stood at the threshold, staring at her without a hint of expression. Kaylyn didn’t move.

  Cole backed away from the doorway, holding her hands out in a defensive posture. “Mr. Edwards?”

  He didn’t acknowledge the disturbance, his gaze set on Kaylyn.

  “We’re here about the box,” Cole continued.

  “The box.” He said in a dry, toneless voice.

  “Yes, the box.” Cole said, taking a step closer to her sister. “You reported that something had been turned over to you that wouldn’t fit your collection, and spoke with Carlisle Palmer about turning it over to the Aicil Foundation for research.”

  “Your services are no longer required,” he said, tilting his head.

  Kaylyn felt a tickle in her forehead—Cole’s bad feeling was turning out to be an understatement. She pressed her body into the wall, and took a breath, hoping her voice would be steady enough to speak. “Can you tell us what happened?”

  “Your services are no longer required,” he repeated, turning on his heel and disappearing back into the room.

  Kaylyn kept her back against the wall, letting the twitching in her nerves subside.

  With a quick glance in Kaylyn’s direction, Cole slipped into the room, following Professor Zombie.

  “You signed a contract,” Cole said.

  Kaylyn pushed off the wall and stumbled into the room where her sister closed in on the unpredictable man. Bad idea, Cole.

  But it did leave an opening. Kaylyn crept around the room, hoping he wouldn’t notice much with Cole talking to him.

  “Look, Mr. Edwards,” Cole said.

  He slammed his hands down on the counter, on either side of the box, causing both girls to jump. Kaylyn tried to keep quiet, biting down on her thumbnail to suppress the effects of the adrenaline rush.

  “Why don’t you tell us about the box?” Cole said, her voice calm and steady despite the marionette-like stare of Mr. Edwards.

  “It’s my box.” He repeated.

  “Fine. Alright. It’s your box. I just want to know more about it, like the carvings. Do you know what they are?”

  Mr. Edwards cocked his head and squinted at the younger sister. “Carvings are something made by cutting wood. An object or design formed by cutting and shaping a material such as wood or stone—”

  Kaylyn had heard enough, but as soon as she took a step forward, Cole glared at her.

  “The guy has gone dark. His power ring has faded.” She kept her jaw clenched, wondering how much—if any—of the conversation the man actually understood. “Let’s just grab the jewels, and get out before his head explodes.”

  “There are no explosive devices in my head, Kaylyn.”

  She bit her lip, she certainly hadn’t offered her name. “Okay, Mr. Edwards—”

  “Gib.”

  “Sure….” She choked on her words as the man’s lips turned up into what she assumed was supposed to be a smile. “Gib, what’s going on here?”

  “You’re trying to take my box.”

  “Yeah,” Kaylyn nodded. This conversation was getting redundant fast. “We got that part. We’re quick like that, you know.”

  “I do know. You thought you could find my box and take it away. But, I won.”

  “So you did, Gib.” Cole took a step forward, but marionette-man hunkered over the box like it was his heir.

  Cole took another step. “Where’s Mr. Edwards?”

  “He took a vacation. He’s probably sipping Mai Tais on the shores of Maui right now.”

  “That’s a quick trip.”

  “Yes, anything is possible when you use your imagination. You two are particularly familiar with that, aren’t you? Losing yourselves in a slightly altered unreality.”

  Kaylyn shook her head and stumbled backward. For a dimwit, he definitely had down the creepy intuition and dictionary memorization.

  “The box is mine!” He pulled the box to his chest. “I told you. I never travel without my box. Now go away.”

  “What about the contract?” Cole asked, stepping an inch closer.

  “No!” He swung the box back to the table and grabbed Cole, forcing her toward the hallway. Cole pointed to the box, so Kaylyn ignored their altercation and grabbed it, unsure of what to do next, since the only exit was blocked. From the looks of this place, the windows wouldn't be operable, so she opted to duck behind a shelving unit, hoping that when marionette-man noticed his box gone, he’d panic and she could run out.

  “Alright sir, I get it,” Cole said, her voice grew higher, probably from the handful of hair Gib had grabbed. “We’ll have to call our boss.”

  “You can’t have my box.”

  Kaylyn watched through piles of artifacts on the shelves, and moved toward the front of the room until something tugged at her shirtsleeve. As she attempted to shift the box into one hand, and free her shirt from the rusty metal hook, part of the hook shifted, knocking an old wooden train to the floor. The noise reminded “Mr. Edwards” that there was a second girl he needed to worry about. He ran back to the center of the room and spotted Kaylyn through the shelves.

  Running toward the back of the room, she planned to loop around at the end of the unit and head toward the door, but he met her at the corner. He threw his body against her when she tried to duck past, shoving her sideways into the end of the shelving unit.

  Her back burned as she crashed to the floor while trinkets and cardboard boxes rained down around her.

  She tried to squirm away, but the old man pinned down her legs. Cole grabbed his shoulders from behind, giving Kaylyn enough leeway to free herself.

  “You can’t have my box!” he yelled, shoving his body backward against Cole and knocking her off balance.

  Just as Kaylyn crawled to her feet and grabbed the box, he lurched at her legs, pulling her to the floor again.

  Her face smacked the hardwood floor and the room flashed out of focus. She drew in a shaky breath, trying to regain her senses as everything went silent.

  Pushing hers
elf up, Kaylyn blinked away the specks of light that blocked her vision, and saw Mr. Edwards on the floor with Cole kneeling over him, and the box scattered in pieces a few feet beyond.

  “What—” Kaylyn winced at the strange sound of her own voice and the vibrations it sent through her sore cheekbone.

  “He collapsed when the box hit the floor.”

  Kaylyn stumbled closer, pushing at the wreckage of the box with the tip of her foot. “And Carlisle’s going to have my ass.”

  “We’ll be lucky if that’s all.” Cole crossed her arms over her chest, but kept her eyes downward, waiting for Mr. Edwards to stir.

  Kaylyn clenched her jaw, and stayed frozen in her place, staring at the broken vessel. Supernatural objects are unpredictable. Anything could have escaped. A connection could have been formed or broken. She could have released chaos on the town. But nothing happened.

  After a few seconds, Mr. Edwards opened his eyes. “Whe—” his gravelly voice died off. He didn’t seem sure what he should ask first as he glanced between the girls and rubbed the back of his head.

  “We heard banging noises when we arrived,” Cole said. “We found you, but it seems we were too late.”

  “Oh, dear, the box!” Mr. Edwards reached for one of the shards.

  “You really shouldn’t, sir.” Cole pulled his wrist back.

  He squinted at her and tilted his head.

  “I mean, we should really get you checked out. You took a hard blow to the head.” Cole stood and offered a hand to pull him up. “Kaylyn will take care of the box, and I’ll help you downstairs so we can call an ambulance. Then, we’ll need to get back and explain things to our boss.”

  Cole guided Mr. Edwards out of the room, leaving Kaylyn to deal with the mess.

  ”Seriously, Kaylyn. What’s going on?” Cole asked as she dropped the bag of shards into the trunk of her car.

  Kaylyn rubbed her hands against her thighs before opening the passenger door. “I’m having a bad day.”

  “You’ve been ‘having a bad day’ for weeks, and it’s getting worse. We may not be hunting down bounties, but you can’t do this job without your head in the game.” Cole leaned over the roof of the car. “I’ll cover you, you know I will, but you’ve got to get it together. Soon.”