Ashes to New Read online

  Ashes to New

  an Angel Fire Rock Romance Prequel

  Ellie Masters

  JEM Publishing

  Click here to visit Ellie’s Website (www.elliemasters.com) where you can view excerpts, teasers, and links to her other books.

  Ashes to New:

  an Angel Fire Rock Romance Prequel

  Copyright © 2016 by Ellie Masters

  All rights reserved.

  This copy is intended for the original purchaser of this book ONLY. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, transmitted, or distributed in any printed, mechanical, or electronic form without prior written permission from Ellie Masters or JEM Publishing, LLC except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. This book 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 person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to the seller and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  ISBN: 978-0-9978450-4-4

  Image/art disclaimer: Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.

  Editor: Jovana Shirley, Unforeseen Editing, www.unforeseenediting.com

  Cover Artist: Ellie Masters

  Images: stock.adobe.com

  Interior Design/Formatting: Ellie Masters

  Published in the United States of America

  JEM Publishing, LLC

  This is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or existing locations, the names, characters, businesses, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Foreword

  To My Readers

  Also by Ellie Masters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Sneak Peak at Heart’s Insanity

  Please consider leaving a review

  Also by Ellie Masters

  About the Author

  Connect with Ellie Masters

  Final Thoughts

  Acknowledgments

  THE END

  Foreword

  * * *

  Warning

  This book contains scenes of abuse and adult language which might be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country where you made your purchase. Please store your books wisely and where they cannot be accessed by underage readers. This story is a story of surviving abuse. As such, it may present triggers to some individuals. I have taken care to protect the reader as much as possible, but triggers may still be present for some. Heed this warning, and enter with your eyes and heart open.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to my one and only, my amazing and wonderful husband. Without your care and support, my writing would not have made it this far. You make me whole every day.

  I love you that much, which means from the beginning to the end and every point in between.

  Thank you, my dearest love, my heart and soul, for putting up with me, for believing in me, and for loving me as I brought these characters from my mind to the page.

  To My Readers

  This book is a work of fiction. It does not exist in the real world and should not be construed as reality. As in most fiction, I’ve taken liberties. I’d like to dedicate this book to all survivors of abuse. Your story is uniquely yours, and your path through it is one only you have walked. I applaud your strength and pray you find you way to a brighter day.

  Love,

  Ellie

  Also by Ellie Masters

  Sign up to Ellie’s Newsletter and get a free gift. https://elliemasters.com/FreeBook

  The Angel Fire Rock Romance Series

  each book in this series can be read as a standalone and is about a different couple with an HEA.

  Ashes to New (prequel)

  Heart’s Insanity (book 1)

  Heart’s Desire (book 2)

  Heart’s Collide (book 3)

  Hearts Divided (book 4)

  Romantic Suspense

  Reap What You Sow

  Twist of Fate

  The Starling

  Redemption

  HOT READS

  Changing Roles Series:

  Book 1: Command

  Book 2: Control

  Book 3: Collar

  Off Duty

  Nondisclosure

  Down the Rabbit Hole

  Becoming His Series

  Book 1: The Ballet

  Book 2: Learning to Breathe

  Book 3: Becoming His

  Sweet Contemporary Romance

  Finding Peace

  ~AND~

  Science Fiction

  Ellie Masters writing as L.A. Warren

  Vendel Rising: a Science Fiction Serialized Novel

  (January 2019)

  Chapter One

  WITH A HEAVY sigh, Elsbeth followed her fellow students into the embrace of summer. To them, it represented freedom, but for Elsbeth, the endless days would be nothing but a stretch of time to endure.

  The halls of Carl Sandburg High School were filled with the shouts and raucous cheers of her classmates. A generalized mayhem celebrated the end of another year of school. Students emptied lockers of books, folders, and laptops. Old spiral-bound notebooks, along with mounds of papers no one cared about anymore, filled trash cans lining the halls.

  While Elsbeth’s classmates rushed to say their good-byes, she walked in a cocoon of silence, gripping the contents of her locker tight to her chest, as she kept her gaze set three feet forward, avoiding any and all eye contact with her peers.

  But she couldn’t avoid all attention.

  Mr. Peterson leaned against the doorframe leading into his chemistry lab. He was talking with Scott Masterson, a junior, like Elsbeth. Scott was wildly popular, a jock with a brain, who got straight A’s and was working toward a football scholarship, the ticket to his future. She envied him for his freedom to pursue his goals.

  “You’d better behave this summer.” Mr. Peterson’s voice was stern but caring. “We need our star player to make it to State next year.”

  “Yes, sir,” Scott said, combing his fingers through the mop of bangs covering his forehead. He noticed her then. “Hey, Elz,” he called out. “Got plans for tonight? A bunch of us are going to the movies. You want to come?”

  Scott had been trying to get her to go on a date for the better half of the last semester. She’d always been too busy—not a complete lie, but other things filled her evenings and weekends. It simply wasn’t cheering or band or volleyball team or dating.

  With a shake of her head, she declined…again. “Sorry, but I’ve got plans, and my foster father isn’t keen on the whole dating scene.”

  “Ah, it doesn’t have to be a date. It’s just a bunch of us hanging out.”

  Hugging her books, she stamped down the wave of anxiety building in her chest. “I’m sorry. I’d love to, but…” But she simply couldn’t.

  The hopefulness of his expr
ession fell. “Maybe another time?”

  She gave a fractional nod. “Sounds good.”

  Moving to the center of the crowded hall, she made a move to escape the awkward exchange, but Mr. Peterson stopped her in her tracks.

  “Elsbeth.” His words hit her in the chest and stopped the trudge of her feet.

  “Yes, Mr. Peterson?”

  The softness of his gaze tunneled straight to her heart, destabilizing her shields.

  “You weren’t going to leave without saying good-bye to your favorite chemistry teacher, were you?” Mr. Peterson spread his arms out wide, welcoming her into his personal space.

  Elsbeth curled her lower lip inward, biting hard. While she adored Mr. Peterson and he was, without a doubt, her favorite teacher, to be that close to a man had her insides churning. But, with his arms outstretched, she couldn’t refuse, not without raising eyebrows—or worse.

  “Be safe this summer.” He folded her into the briefest and most platonic of hugs. “Do you have anything special planned? Did you enroll in that summer program at the university I mentioned?”

  The observership? No. Definitely not on the allowed list of summer activities.

  She loved how he encouraged her and adored him even more for slipping the list of colleges with undergraduate pre-med programs inside her lab notebook. He was the one who’d told her about the highly competitive six-year medical school programs as well.

  “Good-bye, Mr. Peterson,” she said.

  He finally released her. Perfect timing, too, since her breathing had already accelerated.

  She glanced at the clock hanging over the doors leading outside as it counted down her fate. Less than an hour remained. She should stay and linger within the halls to memorize every detail. Those images would serve her well in the months to come, but staying meant risking unwanted conversation.

  Although she remained a frustrating mystery to her peers, she didn’t care. She had brushed off the advances of boys and kept those rare girls interested in befriending the geek girl an arm’s length away for years. Friends were liabilities. A pretty girl, Elsbeth made certain she remained too school for cool. Her brain would determine her future, not her standing within the social hierarchy of an average high school.

  Chapter Two

  HOME.

  THE WORD CONJURED many images. A home should be a place of light. A place of love. A place of sanctuary and hope. Home was where weary souls rested their heads as day deepened to night and slumber brought peaceful dreams. Home was a place to recharge and recuperate from the toils of a difficult day.

  Elsbeth’s home was located at a crossroads where reason fled and insanity took root.

  The Tudor monstrosity, which the state foster care system assigned as her place of residence, dominated the middle of a three-lot spread at the end of a long cul-de-sac. The owner had purchased the lots on either side for the privilege of setting his home apart. Not that Clark Preston needed more space. It was the status that came with the message. He had not only wealth, but the power to flaunt it.

  Despite everything the house embodied, Elsbeth looked forward to coming home for only one reason.

  Her foster brother, Forest, was bouncing a soccer ball from knee to knee, his tall, lanky form a mess of spindly limbs too long for his growing frame. She called him her little Beanpole for good reason, but this last year, he’d truly started to sprout into the nickname. An odd bird, he had a quirky personality that hid a brilliant mind. She wasn’t the only one with too few friends.

  Forest glanced up, his shock of blond hair glowing in the afternoon sun. He let the ball drop where he kicked it back and forth in a blinding array of footwork. “Hey, Elz.” He stopped his fancy footwork. The ball rolled a few short feet away until it came to a stop against the azaleas. He turned his gaze upon her, an old soul looking out from behind the palest blue she’d ever seen. “Guess it’s officially summertime.”

  With a deep breath, she clutched her schoolbooks against her chest. Yes, it was summer, but she had the classics to keep her company. Melville, Shakespeare, and Austen would smooth out the dark times ahead.

  “What are you doing outside?”

  Forest was more of a computer geek than a jock. He was happiest with the glow of a Retina display lighting his room and stimulating his mind. Her foster brother didn’t play video games. He made them. Self-taught in the language of code, Forest would tinker and create his escape while she read herself into one.

  Forest jerked a thumb toward the house. “He called the maids,” he said with a grimace. “We’re having company.”

  Her stomach turned in knots. “Tonight?”

  “Yeah, told me to let the maids in and then said to stay out of their way.”

  “Did he say who was coming?” Please don’t let it be the slobbery fat judge.

  With a shake of his head, Forest retrieved the ball and then drew her into a hug. He was tall enough for her to rest her head against his bony chest. When Forest had first entered her life five years ago, he’d been shorter than her, small and fragile. He was slowly becoming a man.

  She leaned into his embrace, shaking.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Elz, we’ll get through it. We always do.”

  A tear leaked from the corner of her eye. She brushed it away. “But you know what he’s like with company.” She was supposed to be strong for Forest, but the mention of visitors on the first night of summer had her trembling.

  Pressing his lips against her forehead, he tugged her in tight. “It’s a moment in time, my sweet Elz, but only a moment, and like everything else, it will pass.”

  Clark Preston was a demon she understood. She’d learned how to survive his trials and tests, but when he invited others to share in his appetites, her coping skills would struggle to keep up with the demands he placed upon her. And, while it would be easiest to lose herself within the insanity, she had Forest to protect—and one other.

  Still naive, Forest believed in the possibility of a brighter future. He would be eighteen soon, and she would follow a few weeks later. Freedom beckoned, but first, she would have to endure senior year. She worried what would happen when faced with the possibility of graduation and a man who would refuse to let them go.

  An accident had stolen her parents and separated her from a baby brother. Clark Preston held the knowledge of what happened to her brother. He used that power to command her obedience. Forest had lost his family to something much worse. Somewhere within their tragedies, they had found each other. Forest’s resilience astounded her because he believed they would be delivered from the evil that filled their lives. Even when she’d held him on that very first night, when he’d been broken, battered, and left bleeding on the basement floor, Forest had believed. She hadn’t had the heart to tell him the truth.

  Neither of them would be escaping this hell.

  The front door opened, and two cleaning ladies exited.

  The older one walked over, her black-and-white maid uniform impressively immaculate after her labors. “We’re all done,” she said. “We couldn’t get into the basement to clean. If your father wants us to clean down there next time, he’ll need to remove the lock.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Forest said with a gulp, his grip around Elsbeth’s shoulders tightening. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

  The women secured their gear in the cleaning van and pulled out of the driveway, waving as they drove off.

  With a sigh, Elsbeth walled off her mind from what her body would soon face. That’s the only way she survived. Forest said it all the time. It’s just a body, Elz. It’s not you. And she would believe that. To do otherwise meant facing insanity.

  “Come on, Beanpole.”

  It was half past four. Clark Preston would be home within the hour.

  “We have to prepare.”

  Forest followed Elsbeth inside.

  The house had been dusted and polished to perfection. The marble floor of the foyer gleamed in the light from the chandelier
. To the left, the wooden floor of the library glistened with fresh polish, and the line of Persian rugs leading down the main hall had been vacuumed and aligned to form a straight path.

  A grimace pulled at Elsbeth’s face as she stepped around the first rug in line. In less than an hour, she’d be kneeling in that spot.

  Forest rushed ahead, heading to his bedroom in the back of the house. “Come, I want to show you a new game.”

  Hugging her books tight, Elsbeth picked her way down the hall. “I don’t have time.” Indeed, she would barely make it back to the foyer.

  “It’ll only take a second,” Forest urged.

  The eagerness in his eyes pulled at her heart, but with company coming over, she couldn’t afford to make a mistake.

  “I promise, I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

  Forest understood even if he didn’t like the answer. The oddity of his mind would allow him to switch on and off with much greater ease than she’d ever accomplished. For that small gift, she envied him. She would need all of the remaining time to get in the right headspace to make it through the night.