Showing results by author "E. E. Holmes" in All Categories

Beyond the veil, the deep magic beckons... Since the earliest days of witchcraft, the source of power in Sedgwick Cove has remained a mystery. And for Wren Vesper, who only recently discovered her connection to a powerful family Coven, catching up on sixteen years of missed magical education has become her top priority. But just as she’s finding her footing, fate throws her a curveball: a mysterious young woman named Jess Ballard appears on her doorstep, grimoire in hand. Jess claims Wren’s grandmother, Asteria, wants her to have it.

Wren Vesper's life has changed dramatically in just a few short days. She and her mother have moved to their old family home in Sedgwick Cove, Maine. She discovered that she is, in fact, a witch. And rather than spending the start of her summer vacation hanging out with her friends, she spent it defeating an ancient and terrible Darkness hellbent on laying claim to her magic. Now all she wants is to have an uneventful summer, beginning her magical education and sunning herself at the beach.

Sixteen-year-old Wren Vesper is just like every other kid she knows: trying to survive high school and figure out what she wants to do with her life. But when news of her grandmother's death reaches her, she discovers she is not like everyone else, and that question about what to do with her life may no longer be hers to answer. Wren and her mother return to Sedgwick Cove, the tiny coastal Maine town where her mother grew up, and there she learns the truth about the family she barely knows: the Vespers aren't just a family: they're a coven.

Some cryptic words wake college student Jess Ballard from a terrifying dream into an even more terrifying reality. Jess’ life has never been what anyone would call easy; doing damage control in the wake of your nomadic, alcoholic mother doesn't exactly make for a storybook childhood. But now, her world has fallen apart just when it should be coming together: her mother gone—dead under mysterious circumstances; her life uprooted to stay with estranged relatives she’s never met; and there’s something odd about some of the people she’s been meeting at school: They’re dead.

Secrets lurk in these hallowed halls… Jess and Hannah Ballard’s time in Edinburgh has revealed a formidable new enemy in the form of Alasdair MacLeod, the vicious spirit of a former Caomhnóir whose deranged and dangerous experiments on other ghosts have led to chaos in the spirit world. While Hannah works to reverse the terrible and mysterious Collection Alasdair left behind in the city’s underground closes, Jess and Finn track Alasdair to Kingshurst University, where they suspect Alasdair first encountered the Necromancers.

Two sisters, haunted by more than their past... Just weeks after discovering each other’s existence, Jess and Hannah Ballard arrive at Fairhaven Hall, where they will learn the clandestine ways of the Durupinen, an ancient sect of women who control the Gateways between the worlds of the living and the dead. Though they are considered outcasts by most of their classmates, Jess and Hannah are determined to learn what they can to fulfill their responsibility to the many ghosts that haunt them. But danger, it seems, has followed them as closely as a shadow to their new home.

Jess and Hannah Ballard's determination to protect the Gateways brings them to Edinburgh's Old Town, where a strange phenomenon threatens to disturb the delicate balance between the worlds of the living and the dead. Spirits who wish to cross over are vanishing, and it is up to the Ballard sisters to discover why.

After a harrowing Tracker assignment in Scotland, Jess Ballard is finally home and ready to celebrate her twin sister Hannah’s long-awaited wedding—and with Milo at the helm, it promises to be the event of the Durupinen season. But even as they turn their attention to dress fittings, tastings, and last-minute preparations, a cloud looms over them. Tensions in the upper ranks of the Durupinen are coming to a boiling point, and it becomes clear that the wedding itself could well be the crucible in which it all comes to a head.

Imagine a London where magic is real...real, but feared. This is Eliza Braxton's London, and she has always accepted her place in it gladly. As one of the Riftborn, her magic has relegated her to the servant class, where she dutifully serves as the lady's maid in one of the most powerful households in the country. There, she uses her remarkable powers of persuasion to keep Elder Hallewell's rebellious daughter in the path to an arranged match of power and prosperity. Eliza has never questioned her loyalty...until now.

For Jess Ballard, the signs could not be clearer; if the Durupinen want to maintain their control over the Gateways to the spirit world, they will have to battle for them at the ancient Skye Priosún, where even now a rebellion is brewing, ready to burst the barriers of the ancient stronghold. It is a near-impossible proposition. The only chance the Durupinen have is to infiltrate the priosún from within-with nothing left to lose, Jess volunteers herself for the job.

As Jess Ballard is struggling to adjust to her new life in London without Finn Carey to watch over her, she has thrown herself into her role as a tracker, using her gift to communicate with and help as many spirits as she can. But just as she begins to settle into a new city, the city reveals a mystery too intriguing - and dangerous - to ignore. Something sinister is drawing restless spirits to a tiny old museum, luring them with a promise of salvation it cannot deliver upon.

In the wake of their terrifying escape from Fairhaven Hall, sisters Jess and Hannah Ballard find themselves on the run, pursued by the two most powerful groups in the history of the spirit world. On one side, the Durupinen, determined to capture the girls and prevent their role in an ancient prophecy that promises to destroy them and unleash the spirit hordes on the earth. On the other side, the Necromancers, ancient enemies of the Durupinen, hell-bent on bringing the same prophecy to fruition. When the girls are betrayed and one of them falls into the Necromancers’ hands, both face decisions with cataclysmic consequences.

It's been more than a year since Jess and Hannah Ballard fought to return the power of the Gateways where it rightfully belongs, and the Durupinen world is slowly adjusting to its altered relationship with the spirit world.

For hundreds of years, the Durupinen have carried the power of the Gateway in their bloodlines. Now, a dire warning from the past might mean that power must come to an end. Jess Ballard has often considered her gift a curse - but now it may truly become one, unless she can convince the leaders of the Durupinen world to restore the power of the Gateways where it rightly belongs. The Durupinen have always considered themselves a force for what is good in the world, but has the intoxication of power left them unable to distinguish between what is right and wrong?

It's been several years since Jess and Hannah Ballard foiled a cataclysmic prophecy that could have destroyed their fellow Durupinen, an ancient clan of women who allow spirits to cross between the worlds of the living and the dead. The girls swore, after the devastation and chaos they endured, they would never get caught up in the inner workings of the Durupinen again. They were wrong.

Once every five years, the Northern Clans of the Durupinen gather at Fairhaven Hall. There, at the ancient castle, surrounded by the very spirits they are bound to protect and serve, the clans settle disputes and shape the laws that govern the Gateways to the spirit world. For the first time, Jess and Hannah Ballard have to represent their clan. It is an awesome responsibility - a great honor...and they are sure it's going to be the most boring week of their lives.

Spurred by the injustices that nearly destroyed their family, Jess and Hannah Ballard are preparing to win back a seat on the powerful Durupinen Council. The odds are stacked against them, but that's never stopped them before. But as Hannah faces the harsh realities of political intrigue, Jess must face a frightening new reality of her own.

Edited by Jamie Ibson and Chris Kennedy, We Dare is a collection of 15 all-new stories that explores the use of augmented humanity in the near future. From getting a new personality loaded with the skills you need for a mission to nanobots that keep you from being killed to creating an indestructible tank, anything is possible!