Aradia Awakens Read online

  ARADIA AWAKENS

  by

  Tish Thawer

  * * * * *

  Aradia Awakens

  ~Book One in The Ovialell Series~

  Published by Amber Leaf Publishing

  Copyright 2012 by Tish Thawer

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved

  www.amberleafpublishing.com

  www.tishthawer.com

  Cover design by Regina Wamba of Mae I Design and Photography

  Cover image of woman: © 2010 Bigstock.com/Coka (Paid stock)

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any use of name brands herein is done so under the Fair Use Act.

  Licensing Note: This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only, and may not be resold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Table of Contents

  Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Epilogue

  Glossary

  Acknowledgements

  To my family: You are my constant source of inspiration. I love you.

  To Cortney, my spiritual sister: Thank you for always having my back. And to Karen: Thank you for your time and input, it was needed and very much appreciated.

  To my amazing cover artist, Regina Rasmussen Wamba: I couldn't ask for anyone better. Thank you for all you do.

  And a special thanks to my spirit guides for bringing me closer to Aradia, and giving me the inspiration and encouragement to tell my fantasy version of her story.

  * * * * *

  PROLOGUE

  Flaky buttery crust, the rich taste of chocolate, the feel of smooth crème against her tongue. Mmm…delicious.

  These were the thoughts currently plaguing Aryiah's mind. Pie was her escape. It was her go-to dessert for bad days, break-ups, and fights with her best friend. But instead of being able to indulge in her favorite feel good dessert, she was currently sitting in the Goddess' upper throne room, holding the book that announced to all of Ovialell who she truly was.

  As she gazed at the hordes of unfamiliar faces, her stomach tightened and her entire body started to shake. Maybe she wasn’t ready to "take her rightful place," as everyone kept putting it. The desire to run away from this entire scene threatened to overwhelm her, but just then, a strong hand settled on her shoulder.

  My mate, she thought. His touch alone was enough to calm her nerves. The only problem was, his nearness also stirred the wolf she was now able to become.

  "My love, I am barely in control right now."

  He chuckled quietly, then sent his thoughts into her mind. I'm sorry to have rustled your wolf, but listening to your musings about chocolate crème pie and the thought of you licking it from my chest has left me ravenous. I think I'll be reminding you of the idea later.

  A smile spread across Aryiah's face. With this sexy man beside her, she knew she could face anything...even her destiny.

  Aryiah stood and lifted the now glowing book above her head and the crowd went wild.

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER ONE

  Aryiah snapped her cell phone shut as she and Devin climbed the stairs of her favorite library in her hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

  "Who was that?" asked Devin.

  "Who do you think?" She cast a speculative look at her best friend. "My mother of course. Telling me how fabulous her latest trip to Spain was going."

  Devin laughed. "Why don't you ever go with her? She's filthy rich and travels the world, while all you ever do is travel from your apartment to work. Why not live a little and join her for once?"

  Aryiah paused and looked back at Devin after passing through the rotating doors. "You know me better than that," she stated with a hint of sadness in her voice.

  After her dad's death, her mother traipsed around the world on the money she'd inherited. All the while, Aryiah's childhood consisted of major amounts of time spent alone and with strangers tutoring her throughout the years.

  As a teenager, Aryiah had spent hours in this very library researching how to communicate with ghosts, desperately hoping to reconnect with her dead father.

  Shaking her head, she tried to escape the thoughts of her past as she climbed the stairs. Once she reached the top, Aryiah turned left and came to a stop in front of the massive wooden arch that led to the occult section of the library. The archway was finely crafted, displaying detailed carvings of metaphysical symbols throughout. As she entered the room, the time she'd spent here as a teenager came rushing back to her. It smelled the same; a light musty aroma drifted from the old manuscripts as a fine layer of dust shimmered in the rays of light that filtered in through the high windows.

  "So, what exactly are we looking for?" asked Devin, pulling Aryiah from her thoughts.

  It'd been second nature to invite Devin on this little research trip. After meeting in college, the two of them were joined at the hip. Devin had always been the smartass, wild child of the pair with her flaming red hair, killer body, and great sense of humor, while Aryiah remained the grounded, down-to-earth one. They'd been through so much together, including two weddings. Aryiah was Devin's maid-of-honor, and Devin hers when each of them had gotten married. Now, two divorces later, they were a couple of single women in their early thirties currently standing in the occult section of the library about to research the Wiccan religion.

  "Well, I don’t know exactly, but recently I had a really strange dream and when I woke up, the only thing I could remember was the word Wicca. You know I researched this stuff in my past, and with the weird things that have happened to me over the years...I don't know, I just feel like it's time that I dove back into it."

  With a raised eyebrow and a hint of skepticism in her voice Devin said, "Okay...so do you just want me to start reading and tell you stuff I find interesting, or should I look up the word superpowers?" Devin giggled at her smartass remark.

  Aryiah's lashes brushed her cheeks as she purposely held her blink for a few extra seconds. While she loved her best friend dearly, Devin's smartass comments were not what she needed right now. Aryiah's dream had truly felt like a wakeup call, one that left her wanting to pick up where she'd left off in her Wiccan studies all t
hose years ago. But as much as she wanted to include Devin in this, she knew those who didn't understand the supernatural would have a hard time relating to how serious this subject was to her.

  Aryiah smiled, then shook her head and pointed towards the exit. "Never mind. Why don’t you go browse for something you'd enjoy reading instead. I'm sure they have a few Kama Sutra books in the sex section, and that way you can bone up for your date tonight."

  Devin stuck out her tongue and flipped her hair off her shoulders as she followed Aryiah between the tall bookcases. "Maybe, I'll just write my own damn book. With my experience...you know it'd be a best seller." Devin waggled her eyebrows.

  Aryiah laughed and rolled her eyes. "Yes of course, oh Master of the Ménage."

  They both laughed out loud as they wove their way deeper into the back corner of the section. Suddenly Aryiah stopped and looked over her shoulder with a quick snap of her head. "Hey, did you see that?"

  "See what?" Devin asked, looking around from left to right.

  "I thought I just saw a woman walking down that aisle."

  "Oh shit, are you seeing ghosts again?" Devin's teasing tone came through loud and clear, but Aryiah wasn't kidding. The section had been empty when they came in, but now with the "appearance" of this woman, her senses were on high alert. Turning down the aisle she quickly realized no one was there. Huh, maybe I am losing it. But after a few steps in, Aryiah came to a stop in front of a shelf and tilted her head. There were six books lying on their sides as if they'd been laid out on purpose, effectively separating them from the upright ones. She looked at their spines and immediately felt drawn to the texts'. Not wanting to give Devin a chance to razz her about her selections, she quickly stuffed the books in her bag.

  "Okay. These should do it," she said to Devin, then turned and headed to the checkout.

  "Hey, are you okay?" Devin asked.

  "Yes, I'm fine," Aryiah replied as she picked up her pace. Once they reached the counter, Aryiah set her books out for the attendant to scan, then noticed that Devin was squinting at her with an I don't believe you kind of expression. She quickly looked away, then turned to thank the attendant. Aryiah gasped as she caught the gaze of the beautiful librarian who had just helped her.

  The woman was definitely older than her, but model gorgeous. She was taller than average, maybe 5’9". Her long dark hair shimmered like silk and waved and curled in just the right places. Her sapphire eyes sparkled against the silver silk blouse she had tucked into slate gray pants. Her silver chain belt caught Aryiah's eye, it had a cluster of small charms hanging from clasp made up of a moon, a stars, and a pentacle. Aryiah felt as though time had stopped as her head began to spin.

  "Holy shit," Devin blurted. "You guys could be twins. Wow! You’re certainly not what I expected a librarian to look like. You look more like the sexy ones you see in the movies with their hair up and glasses on before they whip them off and...never mind."

  The lady ignored Devin and spoke directly to Aryiah, "Whoa, honey, are you okay? You're looking a little woozy."

  Aryiah shook her head and focused her attention on the woman. "I’m fine, thank you. You just caught me off guard. I know they say everyone has a twin, but…um, I'm fine. Thank you again."

  "My pleasure, and Aryiah, I have another book I think you might enjoy."

  Aryiah froze. She wasn't fine. First of all, looking at this woman felt as if she was staring into her own future, and now she was calling her by name and showing an interest in her reading material. No...she wasn't fine, she was completely weirded out.

  "Um...how do you know my name," Aryiah asked.

  The librarian smiled a knowing smile and said, "You're library card, of course."

  "Ah, of course." Aryiah nodded in acceptance of the woman's response. "As for the extra book, thank you, but I think I have plenty to get me started."

  The woman said nothing but stared deep into her eyes. The dizziness Aryiah was experiencing increased as she heard a faint whisper..."You are mine, we have little time, come to me, when you’re ready to see."

  The last thing Aryiah saw was the floor rising up to meet her as she fainted.

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER TWO

  Aryiah woke on a small chaise in the corner of the library.

  "What the hell was that?" Devin was staring down at her with obvious concern. "You scared the crap out of me."

  "I don’t know," Aryiah said, leaning up on her elbows, "I thought I heard something and then…"

  "Well, here. Drink this water. The librarian helped me get you over here and then brought this for you."

  Aryiah’s head snapped up. That was it; the librarian––something about that woman was why she fainted. She took the water, sipping slowly while she looked around for the woman who truly could be her twin.

  "Where did she go?" Aryiah asked, trying for the most casual tone she could muster.

  "I don’t know, she left the water and disappeared. Maybe she has to report to somebody that her crazy doppelganger, with a bunch of Wiccan books, just freaked out and fainted in her section."

  Aryiah looked up at Devin with a hurt expression on her face.

  "Just because I want to study the craft of the wise, the wheel of the year, and the earth-based pagan traditions that most of today’s religions are based on, does NOT mean that I’m crazy!"

  Devin just gaped at her as Aryiah sat there feeling truly upset. Not at Devin, but because for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out where all of those words had come from.

  "What are you talking about? What wheel, and craft of the who?" Devin looked confused and concerned.

  Aryiah felt shaken and stupid because she didn’t know how to answer. The day was getting stranger and stranger by the minute, and right now all she wanted to do was get the hell out of here.

  She sat up and gathered her bag. "Just forget it. Let’s go. I have to get ready for work."

  The two made their way to the front of the library and down the stairs to the exit. The whole time Aryiah kept an eye out for the librarian but didn't see her. She felt a sense of relief, but also something else...a sense of disappointment, or loss, perhaps? How weird is that? She didn’t even know that woman and had never seen her before. But besides the fact they looked so much alike, Aryiah couldn’t shake the feeling that the woman was somehow important to her.

  Stopping at the front door, Aryiah turned around to take one last look. She didn’t see anyone other than the middle school kids on their field trip, milling around and looking bored. She closed her eyes, leaned her head back, and took a deep breath. As she exhaled, she looked up at the ceiling and noticed a beautiful domed sky light, and immediately became aware of a beautiful white dove, backlit by the mid-morning sun. It was sitting on the ledge of the skylight, looking straight at her with the most brilliant blue eyes.

  Aryiah started feeling dizzy again. What the hell is happening to me?

  Devin must have noticed her starting to sway, because she grabbed her elbow and took her bag. "Come on. Let’s get you out of here. I knew overexerting your brain was gonna be a bad idea." Devin laughed nervously then started through the rotating doors.

  Aryiah smiled and started to follow her best friend, but sucked in a shocked breath as she took one last look at the skylight and noticed the dove was gone.

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER THREE

  Aryiah was still shaken as they made the trip home from the library. Devin suggested they stop to grab a bite to eat, swearing it would make her feel better.

  She was right. Aryiah was definitely starting to calm down as she sat there nibbling on her blueberry muffin and sipping her herbal tea. She listened to Devin talk about what she was going to wear on her date, where they planned to go, and just how she was planning her attack. At that, Aryiah laughed, because attack was exactly the right description for Devin’s seduction tactics.

  "When are you going to stop sleeping around and settle down again?" she asked Devin.

>   "Maybe when you do, minus the sleeping around part," Devin answered with a raised brow.

  Aryiah hadn't been seriously interested in anyone since her divorce from Pete. She truly never expected to get divorced, though now that she was, she couldn’t be happier.

  She and Pete married young and moved from Colorado to Texas for his job. Texas is where he started to change.

  He became very involved in a church that was not of their denomination and started behaving strangely and criticizing her for not being "religious enough."

  Aryiah grew up Methodist and attended church regularly. She had, what she thought, was a good relationship with God. She just didn’t think she needed to go to a building and listen to someone speak about something she could read about herself, or give that person her money or her car like Pete had.

  Seriously, he gave away their car as a donation to the church without even talking to her. Things went downhill from there. Luckily Pete moved them back to Colorado before the end.

  The breaking point came when she woke up and he was standing over her with a strange look on his face then raised his arm, pointed at her and said, "I see witches rising out of you."

  She'd sat up to grab his arms to try and shake him awake, but he just jerked away from her and said, "I want a divorce," then walked out of the room. It was then she realized he was awake.

  She remembered feeling surprised, but not the overwhelming sadness one would expect. Instead, she felt nervous. Nervous of what it meant and how her life was about to change. Similar to the feeling she was having now.