Pinnacle Read online

  Pinnacle

  The Core Series, Book One

  Lynn Veevers

  Pinnacle

  by Lynn Veevers

  Published by Clean Reads

  www.cleanreads.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.

  PINNACLE

  Copyright © 2018 LYNN VEEVERS

  ISBN 978-1-62135-730-8

  Cover Art Designed by Cora Graphics

  For my son Andrew for listening to each chapter as I finished them.

  Your support helped carry Pinnacle to completion.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Untitled

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  About the Author

  Untitled

  Prologue

  She’d tried calling her father’s phone…no answer. She then tried her mother’s phone…no answer. Kaya’s parents had told her they’d be back by no later than nine that evening. It was ten. She cried when midnight rolled around, worried out of her mind. Two more hours passed and she cried more because the worry had turned into fear. They were never late. By the time two-thirty came, she started to expect the worst and called her father’s sister. Word traveled like wildfire through the tribe and every tracker they had drove to where they knew Kaya’s parents normally hunted. When someone knocked on the door at five-fifteen, she rushed to it, happy her parents had finally made it home.

  “Miss Hunt? Miss Kaya Hunt?” the officer asked.

  In that moment her whole world slowed, the officer’s words sounded like he was talking underwater, but she didn’t need to hear to know what he was saying. Officers never brought good news.

  “Miss Hunt, can you hear me?” the officer asked with sympathetic eyes.

  Kaya nodded her head indicating she’d heard him.

  “We need you to come and identify the bodies. Can you do that? You are the next of kin.”

  “Yes, just let me get my things,” Kaya answered.

  The officer stood waiting at the door as Kaya roamed around the room, collecting her things on autopilot. The drive to town to identify her parents was much the same way. Kaya imagined walking into a metal room with two slabs covered with white sheets, so she was confused when she was led into a room with comfortable chairs, a coffee table, and a few boxes of tissues. A man with a folder walked in just moments later and sat opposite of Kaya.

  “Hello Kaya, my name is Stephen Banks. I want to let you know I’m going to show you a few photographs to confirm that these folks are your parents. What you are about to see is disturbing, and I am so sorry that you have to go through this.”

  He slid two photographs face down across the table to Kaya. Her hands trembled as she reached for the photos. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and flipped the two pictures over. It took a moment to mentally prepare and then she opened her eyes. Her insides ran cold as she stared at the pictures. She turned away, unable to look any longer.

  “Kaya, are those your parents? Are they Dylan and Colleen Hunt?” Stephen asked gently.

  She nodded yes and started crying.

  “I am sorry, but I need you to actually say yes,” Stephen said softly.

  “Yes, they are my parents,” Kaya said through sobs.

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for your help. Is there anyone we can call for you?” Stephen asked as he handed her a handful of tissues.

  “My Aunt Diana. She lives in Oklahoma. She’s my mom’s twin sister,” she mumbled into the tissue.

  Half an hour later, Kaya’s cell buzzed and when she answered it, she could hear Aunt Diana trying hard not to cry.

  “Kaya, I am on my way to Seattle. I will be there with you in seven hours. Don’t you worry about a thing. I will take care of everything,” Diana said.

  “They’re gone, Aunt Di, they are gone. How can they be gone? Mom and I fought yesterday about me attending the last day of school today. I was still mad when she and Dad left. I didn’t get a chance to make things right with her again. Did she die thinking I hated her?” Kaya cried into the phone.

  “No, honey! She knew you loved her. I promise you she knew. I will be there soon. Everything is going to be OK. I’m going to bring you back to Oklahoma with me after the service. You are going to be OK.”

  1

  Better Late Than Never

  Three months later - Tangent, Oklahoma

  Engulfed in a cascade of euphoric emotion, Kaya was alone in her room. At seventeen, she’d made a rite of passage—the first kiss. She’d always heard about the first kiss being like fireworks, but that didn’t describe her experience at all. It had felt more like lightning streaking through her body; heated, raw, and with the seamless flow of a rising tide. She thought nothing could steal this moment of happiness, but Aunt Di screaming her name in alarm ripped Kaya out of her happy place. Her eyes flew open and, with one look down, fear swallowed her whole. Her heart pounded in her chest like a jackhammer destroying city asphalt. “Di, what’s going on? Help me get down!” Kaya screamed.

  Kaya found herself floating three feet above her bedroom floor. She didn’t know how she’d gotten into this particular jam but she was quickly losing her cool. She could feel the panic rising in her faster than sea water fills a sinking ship. Di had regained her composure and was leaning comfortably against the door frame, grinning like a fool.

  “This isn’t funny…squawk, squawk!”

  Kaya darted over her aunt’s head and Di had to duck to keep from getting hit. She slowly straightened and stared in shock as Kaya flew into wall after wall. Di knew Kaya would hurt herself seriously if she didn’t do something to help Kaya.

  “Kaya, you need to calm down,” Diana said to her telepathically.

  Kaya knew it was Di talking, only her mouth wasn’t moving. Di was just gazing at her niece in the way she did when using her gift. She held out her arm and Kaya flew over to perch on it.

  “Ouch, Kay, please loosen the talons. That’s my arm you’re tearing up,” Di complained out loud.

  Di walked to the bed and Kaya hopped onto the comforter. She stared at Kaya in wonder and thought about how they’d get out of this peculiar situation. Kaya had somehow turned into a red-tailed hawk. While Di appreciated the bird Kaya had become, with its earthy-brown tones and vibrant, red tail feathers, she preferred her niece’s Human Form.

  “Now listen, Kay, I’m going to try something. There are no guarantees it’ll work. It’s just a hunch.”

  Kaya felt the transformation take hold and was returned to her natural state. Di was gifted with telepathy, but only with animals. She could hear animals’ thoughts and they her’s. But her gift didn’t stop there. She could also bend animals to her will, but she rarely ever did. She had an unwavering respect for every living creature.

  “Yes, it worked! Whatever was going on with you right before I came up here flipped the switch
for your gift’s manifestation. The levitating I understand, but the transformation is out of my realm of expertise. It’s not a gift in our bloodline. You must’ve gotten that from your father’s side.”

  “Yeah, morphing is an ability, not a gift. Dad said that only men acquire the ability. I don’t understand how I am able to do it,” Kaya said, confused.

  “Well, you have crossed bloodlines and that could change the rules,” Di said thoughtfully.

  Kaya couldn’t stand still, but her aunt had become amazingly serene about the whole thing. Di went through this stage in her life when she was twelve, so she was fully aware of how Kaya felt. Manifestation was something every Natural Mystic underwent at some point during their adolescent years, Kaya’s had just come much later than most. So late, in fact, no one thought she was going to manifest at all.

  As she anxiously paced the room Kaya remembered her mother telling her once, how sometimes children born to Natural Mystic families didn’t manifest, especially if one of the parents was an “ordinary”, also called a Gnáth by Natural Mystics and others who were not ordinary. She knew that it was because of her Celtic lineage, that her mother had taken extreme care in teaching her the meanings of common used Gaelic words. “Gnáth is a Gaelic word meaning ordinary,” her mother had explained once when she was young, but that wasn’t the case with Kaya. Her father had belonged to a tribe of natives in Washington state. She remembered her father telling her that their supernatural abilities were more directly tied to the Earth, but they weren’t Natural Mystics.

  “How can you be so calm about this, Di?”

  Kaya gestured in a dismissive motion and Di went slamming into the wall on the other side of the bed. She made contact with so much force it had knocked the breath out of her.

  “Aunt Diana, are you OK? I didn’t mean to! I’m so sorry!”

  It wasn’t in Kaya’s nature to be aggressive, but then it wasn’t something she’d done intentionally. Still, she couldn’t help the guilt that crept over her.

  “Kay, calm down! This is normal. You just need to learn how to control your powers,” Diana said exasperated.

  Diana gingerly picked herself up and brushed herself off. She tried her best to not wince when she put weight on the leg that had hit the wall. The last thing Kaya needed was more guilt than she already had.

  “If I ever had any questions about you being your mama’s child, well, I don’t now! That was one of her gifts you just used, only with an extra kick. Colleen was manipulation-gifted, but wasn’t able to use it on people or animals. She was only capable of manipulating inanimate objects. It would appear you can! There’s no way it’s safe for you to go to school until you get this under control, especially with you being in an emotional whirlwind like you are.”

  Whirlwind was an understatement. To Kaya, it felt more like a typhoon had come crashing to shore and swept away everything she knew. In three short months, her parents were murdered, she’d moved from Washington to Oklahoma, and now she’d just manifested powers she’d thought were never going to come. If all that wasn’t enough, she’d also met a guy who challenged everything she thought she knew about her emotional side. Kenneth spiked a rampage of feelings so strong, she didn’t know what to do about it. She’d told herself staying friends was best because of her “unique” family. But she couldn’t help the powerful attraction they shared. She sat on her bed feeling depressed when her aunt took a seat next to her.

  “Kaya, honey, it’s going to be OK. You’ll get a hold on your powers, I promise. I’ll be here to help you until you have absolute control. It won’t take as long as you think.”

  “That’s not what’s bothering me, Aunt Di. I am officially a freak! Kenneth and I just started dating, and now I either have to lie to him or break up with him,” Kaya said, close to tears.

  “Oh, I don’t think it is going to go quite the way you think where Kenneth is concerned. While it is endearing that your relationship is placed first on your list of priorities, it needs to be bumped down to the second order of business. Getting your powers under control has to be top priority.”

  It was well into the middle of the night by the time Di and Kaya went to bed. Kaya had gotten an earful of the dos and don’ts. There was significant force behind her manipulation because Di had two nasty, muscle-deep bruises from when she hit the bedroom wall.

  When Kaya finally fell into bed exhausted, she experienced yet another first. She spent all her sleeping hours with her father teaching her how to control the morphing ability. It was surreal, but she’d felt it was him and not just a dream. Kaya was changing from form to form with ease, and it seemed there were no limits on the type of animal she could become. Kaya felt a stronger control over the ability when the phone ringing tore her from the slumbering lessons. She opened her eyes and was blinded by the rays of sun peeking through the blinds. She got out of bed and answered the phone with an irritated tone in her voice. It came out sounding incredibly rude.

  “Kays, are you OK? I dropped by this morning to pick you up and your aunt said you were sick and couldn’t go to school today. I got the distinct feeling she was not telling me the truth. I’m not going to call your aunt a liar, but that was exactly what she was doing. What’s going on?” Kenneth asked, clearly worried.

  Kaya let the nickname Kenneth liked using slide. She could see telling him “Kays” wasn’t her name was pointless. She sighed, dreading the inevitable.

  “I am just under the weather, Kenneth,” she lied and instantly felt ashamed.

  “What exactly is it you’ve caught?”

  Kenneth definitely knew she was fibbing, but calling her a liar was not an option. To his way of thinking, there had to be a good reason why she was being dishonest.

  When the only response he got was silence he tried a different approach.

  “Well, can I see you? Unless you’re contagious, and even then I’m not sure it would be enough to keep me away.”

  “I’m not sure that is a good idea, Kenneth.”

  Kaya wanted nothing more than to see him. The pull he had on her emotions was nerve-wracking, but she couldn’t help it. She was starting to tell him another day would be better when he cut her off.

  “Kays, please, I need to see you. I’m not going to take no for an answer.”

  Kaya found it hard to tell him no when he put it like that. She sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to budge until she agreed to see him, so she told him he could come over.

  “Great, cause I’m outside right now,” he said.

  She peered out the window and there he was, staring up at her. Kaya couldn’t believe how much she already cared about Kenneth. It was irritating. He was getting off his motorcycle and she ran downstairs to meet him at the door. If Kaya had any questions about how much she wanted to be with him, she didn’t anymore. That hurt in light of what had happened the night before. Kaya Hunt was no longer a normal seventeen-year-old girl. She opened the door before he could knock. Kenneth pulled her to him and didn’t let go for a long time. He smelled of fresh air from his ride over.

  “I missed you, Kays.”

  She could tell he had worried about her. She snuggled into him, drawing in the comfort he provided. She felt safe like this. He was bigger than other boys his age, by a lot. It wasn’t so much that he was a whole lot taller – he wasn’t – he was just a considerable amount broader.

  He stepped back from Kaya to look at her and all she could think about was kissing him again. She tore her gaze away, wondering what on earth was wrong with her.

  “By the way, Anissa told me to tell you she’ll call you tonight. You don’t look sick to me, Kays, but there is something different about you,” he said somberly.

  Anissa had been the first friend Kaya had made upon arriving in Tangent back in May. They saw a lot of each other because Josh was Anissa’s boyfriend and Kenneth’s best friend. Kenneth and Josh had known each other their whole lives. Where you saw one, you usually saw the other.

  “I wish I cou
ld tell you what’s going on with me, but I can’t. You wouldn’t understand, or worse, you wouldn’t believe me,” Kaya said.

  “Try me, Kays.”

  “I can’t, Kenneth. I’m sorry.”

  “Kays, you can tell me. You can tell me anything! Nothing you say can change how I feel about you,” he said, lifting her face to look him in the eye.

  She could just barely hear herself questioning the level they had already reached in such a short time. Was it insanity? Definitely. Or at least that was what the rational voice in her mind was saying. The rest of her wasn’t pulling any stops though. They definitely had a magnetizing hold on each other.

  “You say that now, but you don’t know what you’re talking about. I have secrets, Kenneth. These secrets are new to me, but old to my family.”

  “Everyone has secrets, Kays, even me. Some secrets are more outrageous than others. I have an outrageous secret and I’m ready to share it with you. It’s something you need to know if we’re going to be together. You want to be with me, right?” he asked uncertainly.

  Kaya sighed because he had to know by now he was more than just a passing infatuation. He was her first boyfriend after all. That said something, didn’t it?

  “You know I do or you wouldn’t be standing here right now,” Kaya told him.

  The yellow hue Kaya had seen in his eyes so many times before was back. She was starting to realize it only happened when Kenneth was in the heat of an emotion. She’d seen it when he’d been happy, sad, even mad. But she’d seen it the most when his thoughts toward her were passionate. The first time she’d seen it she had surprised him with a hug good-night and when she’d gone to pull away, he’d stopped her. His lips had been but a breath away and when she shifted her gaze from his lips to his eyes, they had an undeniable yellow tinge to them. She’d gasped in surprise and he knew that she’d seen it. That had been enough to kill the mood and extinguish the passion that had lit his eyes, replacing it with a worried expression. His reaction made Kaya feel like she was seeing things and so she left it alone. It had happened again and again since then, but she’d opted not to say anything about it because it clearly made him uncomfortable. That didn’t stop her from wondering though.