Page 2 of Ashes to New

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 kickedit 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 wassupposed 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 fatherwants 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.