The Black Masquerade (Koven Chronicles Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  About the Author

  The Black Masquerade

  Koven Chronicles Book Two

  Copyright © 2018 Andrea Pearson

  Book design and layout copyright © 2018 Andrea Pearson

  Cover copyright © 2018 Andrea Pearson

  Series by Andrea Pearson:

  Kilenya Chronicles

  Kilenya Stories

  Mosaic Chronicles

  Koven Chronicles

  Ranch City Academy Series

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction, and the views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author. Likewise, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are represented fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  To

  Dana Rich

  Chapter One

  I double-checked that I had everything I needed before pushing my shopping cart into the line of the local grocery store. Great—it was a long one. Just my luck. The job I’d finished only thirty minutes earlier had taken eight hours, and of course I’d procrastinated shopping and had zero food in my house of the edible variety. I grimaced when I thought of the leftover lasagna. It had started growing hair the last time I’d checked.

  My stomach growled as if in response to my lack of food, and in an attempt to distract myself, I selected the book app on my phone and settled in to read. Maybe they’d open another register and things would go faster than expected.

  I’d only been reading for a moment when the person in line behind me tapped me on the shoulder. I turned, expecting to see someone I knew (that was happening all the time these days), but instead I was met by a middle-aged woman dressed in clothes from the seventies—burnt umber polyester pants and an olive green top. Little blossoms of burnt umber orange decorated the green shirt.

  “Hi,” I said, smiling.

  The woman’s eyes softened as she returned my smile. “You’re prettier than I thought you would be.”

  I blinked. How was I supposed to respond to that? It’s not every day you receive a compliment and an insult in one. “Do I know you?”

  The woman shook her head. “No, not really. I, of course, know you.”

  The wistful expression on her face was odd—I couldn’t quite catch the reason behind it. It wasn’t until then that I noticed she’d actually poked me with a pencil. Weird.

  “Lizzie,” she said, “Angelo’s really upset. He might pay you a visit later, but I’m hoping that with my coming, he won’t see the need.”

  I tilted my head. “Angelo? I don’t know an Angelo.”

  She gave me a knowing look. “Believe me, it’s better we keep it that way.” She took a breath, released it slowly, then became businesslike. “We need you to return the effigy. As soon as you can.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek, surveying her. “Effigy?” How had she heard of it? From what I knew, only my best friend, Nicole, our mutual friend Alexander, and I were aware of the disgusting thing that had been created to distract evil demons from me.

  “Yes. Your friend took it from us years and years ago. And we need it back.”

  I felt my face go slack. She was a ghost. That explained a lot. I couldn’t help but wonder what her story was—when she’d died, how she’d ended up at the manor in England where Nicole had borrowed the effigy. She didn’t have an accent, but that didn’t really say anything—for all I knew, ghosts could sound exactly how they wanted to.

  I’d known I’d need to return the effigy—I’d just hoped I’d have more time to learn how to use the Shade Amulet first. “I’ll get it back to you as soon as I can. I promise.”

  In fact, before I even left the parking lot, I’d be buying tickets to Alaska. I had no idea how to find the effigy without help from someone more knowledgeable than me, and preventing future visits from ghosts—especially from any who were upset—was pretty high on my list. Lucky for me, I had access to several people more knowledgeable than me through Mount Koven.

  The woman nodded. “Good. I’ll pass the word along. Hopefully, he won’t find it necessary to come see you.”

  I could join her in that hope. This surprise visit hadn’t been bad. So far, at least. She looked like a healthy, living, breathing person. But I knew that outward appearances could be misleading, especially when dealing with the dead.

  “Are you coming?” the cashier asked.

  I turned to look. Somehow, all the customers who had been in line ahead of me had already been helped. I glanced back. The woman was gone, and an impatient elderly man waited.

  “Yes, sorry.” I hurried to put my items on the turntable.

  Once outside, I settled on the bench near the door and browsed the site where I usually purchased tickets. When should I go? If what the lady had said was accurate, and there wasn’t a reason not to believe her, as soon as possible would be a good idea. But I had paperwork to finish up from the job I’d just completed, and getting some sleep was also high on my list.

  I purchased the first ticket for the following morning, wincing at the cost. I’d need to figure something out if traveling to Alaska would be happening regularly. With a sigh, I put my phone away, stashed my groceries in the car, then headed home.

  Good thing I didn’t have any jobs for the week—it would take several days to get to the knowledge base stored under Mount Koven. But maybe I’d be lucky this time. Maybe things would go faster than the last time I’d been up there.

  I was just pulling into my driveway when a man appeared on my porch from nowhere. I jumped, even though I’d been half expecting another visitor. The man disappeared, then appeared again right outside my car door. I rolled the window down a crack.

  “Angelo?” I asked.

  He glowered at me, his eyes black and filled with rage. “You’ve had the amulet for weeks now,” he said, remarkably calm given the expression on his face, “and yet the effigy still hasn’t been returned.”

  I swallowed. This man was intense. “I know. I’m doing the best I can. My flight to Alaska leaves first thing in the morning. I’ll find out where the effigy is soon after landing. Unless you already know. . .?”

  Angelo’s frown deepened. “Even if I did
, I would expect you to know as well. The fact that you don’t is disappointing.”

  Not exactly an answer to my question, but I wasn’t about to point that out. “Okay. I promise, it’ll be back soon.”

  “Very well. You have four days. If it’s not in our possession by then, we’ll turn it on you.”

  Could they do that? I wasn’t sure. In this world, practically anything was possible. Either way, it was better not to mess with their deadline.

  Angelo disappeared after I agreed, and I slumped in my seat, trying to let go of the stress his sudden appearance had given me.

  Something crashed inside my house. What the heck? I jumped out of my car and dashed up the front steps. The door was locked, and I lost precious seconds unlocking it and pushing my way in.

  Chapter 2

  Black, greasy-smelling smoke billowed from the kitchen, clinging to the ceiling in the hallway, gathering before escaping into the living room.

  Crap, crap, crap.

  I raced into the kitchen, dismayed to see flames rolling up the walls from my stove. That stupid ghost!

  Jumping across the small room, I grabbed the baking soda from the back of my stove—I might be a Fire Arete, but I still have sense enough to keep supplies on hand—and dumped it all over the flames. It only killed a quarter of the fire. I dashed to the sink and turned on the water. My job is to stop flame before it starts. This one was well on its way to becoming a roaring fire, though, and without help, fighting it physically as well as magically would be impossible. Stupid Angelo.

  Someone gasped, and I whirled, seeing Mrs. Russell, my elderly neighbor, standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

  “Oh, dear!” she said. She grabbed my arm, her grip surprisingly strong. “Sit down. You fight with magic. I’ll take over with water and towels.”

  I dropped into a chair at the table and closed my eyes, reaching out magically. I had to draw enough of my powers to myself before I could even begin. Hopefully, someday I’d be able to use magic without having to gather it first.

  That day still hadn’t come, though.

  While Mrs. Russell fought the fire, I concentrated on not letting any of it spread, killing it as it raced outward. My brain quickly tired, and I tried to control the resulting panic.

  This was so much harder than anything I’d ever done. Maybe it was because it was my house, my life. I’d never fought fire in such a personal way before, and it was hard to control my emotions. That definitely made it more difficult to stop the flames.

  That stupid ghost.

  I know, I needed a new adjective. Jerk. Still not creative enough, but the task at hand was taking all my concentration.

  Sirens blared outside, and I realized someone had called the fire department. Firemen rushed in just as Mrs. Russell and I were getting the flames under control.

  “Lizzie,” a familiar voice said. “You’re the last person I expected to ever have a fire.”

  I looked at Chief O’Hare and gave him a shaky smile. “It was a surprise to me too.”

  While the firemen inspected the rest of the place, I told Chief and Mrs. Russell what had happened. I didn’t give them too many details—not many people knew about my amulet and the ability it gave me to see ghosts—but they took my visitor in stride when I said he had threatened me and then set the kitchen on fire. It was a testament to just how weird things had gotten recently.

  “Did he say what he wanted?” Mrs. Russell asked.

  That stupid—no, that insensate ghost. I tried to control the urge to smile. Insensate. A perfect word for Angelo, and in more ways than one. My tenth-grade English teacher would have been so proud. “Yes, and I’m going to take care of it as soon as I can.”

  Chief frowned. “What exactly do you mean when you say, ‘take care of it’? I don’t like the way that sounds.”

  He’d been my self-appointed protector for several years now. I knew he’d been the same with the previous Fire Impeder, but that didn’t cheapen his devotion. With me living so far from family and friends, it was nice to have someone checking in on me. He and his wife invited me over for dinner regularly, and I did the same for them. Speaking of which, it was my turn. I’d make sure to have them over as soon as this whole effigy thing had been taken care of.

  “It’s a long story,” I said, “but it involves the visitors we had a couple of weeks ago.”

  He frowned. “You mean—?” He glanced at Mrs. Russell, probably not sure how much he could say in front of the woman.

  Mrs. Russell obviously caught the hint and bent over, placing a kiss on my forehead. “Take care of yourself, you hear? Mr. Russell and I would be very lonely if anything happened to our favorite neighbor.”

  I promised I would, and the elderly woman left.

  Chief sank into the seat across from me, clasping his hands on the table. “You haven’t told me everything that’s been going on recently.”

  I rested my elbow on the table and leaned my head on my hand. “I know. I’ve been meaning to talk to you, but I haven’t had the opportunity.”

  “How about we take that opportunity now?”

  I nodded. The groceries I bought were all ones that would keep—I didn’t need to worry about them spoiling.

  Taking a deep breath, I started filling Chief O’Hare in on what had been happening, including the prophecy that surrounded me and the hounds I was to hunt. I told him that some of the hounds were bad and some were good, and that the prophecy said I was the only one who could actually get rid of any of them completely.

  I told him about the effigy Nicole and her friend had created that was drawing the hounds away from me until I was able to defend myself.

  “And how are you supposed to do that?” he asked. “From what it sounds like, these hounds are not something anyone should be dealing with.”

  “I totally agree.” I pulled the Shade Amulet necklace from where I kept it tucked inside my shirt and removed it before handing it to him. “This is what I’m using.”

  “Jewelry?” he asked skeptically, ignoring the firemen who were still finishing in the kitchen and were talking over our conversation.

  “It’s an amulet that was created by shades. It helps me kill the hounds when they’re within reach.”

  “What exactly is a shade?”

  I wasn’t surprised he didn’t know—not everyone was familiar with the word. “Technically, it’s a ghost.”

  “And you have to go to Alaska to get information about where this effigy is.”

  I nodded. “Yes. I’ve already got a flight arranged for tomorrow morning. I’m also planning on getting info about where the hounds and fire vampires are.”

  “I still can’t believe those attacks were from vampires.”

  “Neither can I.”

  The last couple of weeks had been insane. Not only had wild dogs (they weren’t really dogs, but the general population didn’t know that) been killing people, but vampires too. And not just any regular vampires, but fire vampires. They drained their victims of blood before burning them to a crisp. It wasn’t awesome.

  “And how is this place in Alaska supposed to give you information?”

  I’d already explained all this, but it was a lot to take in. “It’s a place where all information is stored. I’ve only been there once, but it’s pretty impressive. Thousands of shades wander a massive room. They each represent a part or several parts of human knowledge. When I go, I’ll be talking to a specific shade for each piece of information I need.”

  A fireman approached and cleared his throat. “I hate to interrupt, but we’ve got everything under control here. We aren’t sure what started everything, but we’re positive the fire won’t be starting up again.”

  I looked at my kitchen, dismayed at the damage done by fire, smoke, and water. “Thank you—I appreciate it.” I’d make sure to send a card to the department.

  My experience with fires taught me that if something wasn’t properly taken care of, the flames could start up again, and wit
hout warning. I’d seen it happen multiple times—firefighters would get everything under control, even watching for several hours before leaving, but the wind would change direction a little, unseen embers would smolder, and the fires would start up again. Even experienced firefighters had that happen to them occasionally.

  From the looks of it, my walls would need to be ripped out and the insulation and several of the two-by-fours would need replacing. This was going to be expensive.

  Chief must’ve seen where my thoughts had gone because he placed a hand over one of mine. “Insurance will cover it.”

  He kept his hand there until I looked at him. He obviously had something else to say.

  “Lizzie, I’m not letting you go up there alone. It’s too dangerous.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, trying not to chafe at his overprotectiveness. “I was alone last time, and it was perfectly fine.”

  He shook his head, folding his arms. “You said these hounds used to be guardians of knowledge.”

  “Only the bad ones used to be. The good ones still act as guardians.”

  “That means all of them know where the entrance to this place is, right?”

  I nodded, seeing where he was going. “Yes, but it doesn’t matter—”

  “I’m going with you.”

  I’d been about to mention the ghosts who would warn me if danger approached, but he totally derailed me. “That’s not necessary, Chief.” For crying out loud, I wasn’t helpless.

  “You never know what’ll happen. Just because it was safe last time doesn’t mean it’ll be safe this time.”

  I knew he was right, but still, I chafed. Besides, I hated making him leave work. “You’ve got too much to do.”

  He shook his head. “Delegation is one of the benefits of being chief. I’ll be fine, and so will my officers while I’m gone.”

  I sighed in resignation. I wouldn’t likely convince him to stay behind. Experience told me he was nearly as stubborn as me and would buy a ticket, then follow me regardless of what I said. Besides, if I was honest with myself, the company would be welcome. Last time hadn’t exactly been a walk through the park—even with no danger befalling me.