The Lost Heir (Book I)- The Violet City

Isabella Foxworthy

The Lost Heir by A.V. Arden (Allison Whitmore writing with her writing partners Virginia and Grace. We hope you enjoy the story!)

Note: If you like visuals, you might enjoy watching the trailer above if your device allows it. ;) Otherwise, happy, happy reading! We hope you love Isabella, Seth, Micah, Cleo and Xander as much as we do...And that you enjoy the ride.

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Fire licked the walls and formed a canopy above her head. Numb. Trapped. Their screaming burned in her ears as the earth shook and near-death coated her skin. The fire whipped around her, close but not touching, never touching. It was almost as if she wielded some sort of power over the flames, but that couldn't be. She heard her mother and father's screams over and over as they were engulfed by the blaze. She was helpless to save them. Suddenly, the screams stopped. Terror climbed into her throat as a shadow moved toward her. She tried to breathe but couldn't. The room grew darker as her body weakened.

"Come on. I've got you," the man said as her knees buckled and she grabbed his shirt. "I've got you, Diadem child. You're safe." The trembling in the ground stopped but the fire continued.

Enveloped in a warmth different from the conflagration, eight-year-old Isabella Foxworthy collapsed. Encrypted in the man's arms, her terror melted into tranquility as she was taken from the house into the cool night. Her eyes opened to an oddly purple sky and she noticed a light glowing around them, not unlike the vicious flames of the fire. Red as deep as blood, and an empty blackness filled the room. A foreboding fear encircled her heart. Then her savior mumbled something and the light turned to a silvery blue.

"Give her to me," another man said.

"I can watch over her."

"Give her to me," the other man said. "She needs to be at the hotel with her grandmother."

She felt a gentle caress on her cheek and a rush of coolness pour through her body. "Then I'll take her."

Isabella reached up to touch the man's hand, but he was gone. "Where's my mother?"

"Hush. I'll take you to your nano," said the one who carried her.

Then as the violet sky turned blue again, and as the approaching fire engines howled in her ears, the man carried her up the narrow road to the Foxworthy Hotel.

Los Angeles, CA - Present Day

"FREAK!"

As sunlight and darkness fought for occupation in the sky, nearly-sixteen-year-old, Isabella Foxworthy clutched her backpack as she approached Sunset Boulevard en route to the city bus stop a few blocks down the famous street with an insatiable need to get home FAST. Classes at St. Agnes High School had gotten out an hour earlier that day, but she'd stayed behind with a couple other girls to work out with their capoeira instructor – dancing, flipping and kicking, totally fun for her. She was getting good at it, too. But today, she had to catch Betty before she took off on her vacation.

Isabella shifted her eyes down to her smart phone. 3:52. Awesome. She still had time to make it.

"WEIRDO!"

Two voices filled her ears as she got closer to her destination. One like the roar of a lion, the other—a baboon, maybe? Against her better judgment, she continued down the street, past a hippie clothing store and Mel's Drive-In restaurant. 3:54.