Page 96 of Anathema Codex

I can see it in his eyes.

The disgust, the disdain… the jealousy.

I’ll do everything I can to protect her from all of the evil in the world.

Including my own father.

The Zealot

Past lives are in the past for a reason.

I’ve been blessed with so much more than I used to be, and I can only hope that I can do the same for everyone that comes to my home in the desert.

A place where only love and light shine—where the terrible things I used to do and be were left to rot in the proverbial rearview mirror.

He doesn’t like that I don’t remember him or his friend. He seems to think that I’m lying to him. I do recall some of the trauma but not all of it and I never want to again.

Maybe he’ll learn to forgive and forget.

Maybe he won’t.

Either way, I’ll lead him to the light and show him that he can be so much more than what he is, and in the end, he’ll thank me for it.

The Deviant

Blondes and junkies have always been my no-go’s.

Everyone has something that makes their skin crawl, and those are mine.

Granted, things could be worse when it comes down to it, but I’ve seen more than enough. After I came home, I saw the disappointment in his eyes—and felt it like a kick to the face when he accused me of being the one thing I never have been.

Back out to the holy land I go to get some answers. I don’t understand how someone can be so happy living a lie and forget the past as quickly as she did.

I promised him that I’d bring her back and I will.

All’s well that ends well, right?

Guess it depends on who’s ending you’re looking at.

* * *

Text copyright © 2020 Yolanda Olson & Jennifer Bene

All Rights Reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

ISBN (e-book): 978-1-946722-72-0

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-946722-73-7

Cover design by Dez Purington, http://prettyininkcreations.com/

ONE

A Promise Broken

---