Read Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1) Online
Authors: Cheryl Davis
Cora's Kismet (The Twin Destinies Saga Book 1)
Cora’s Kismet
Written by, Cheryl
Davis
ISBN Number:
978-1-304-49212-8
Edited by: Christina
Escue @ C.E. Editing, email:
[email protected]
Cover Art by: Cora
Graphics, email:
[email protected]
or website:
www.coragraphics.it
All rights reserved. No part of this publication
may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of
both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work
of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author
acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products
referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission.
The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or
sponsored by the trademark owners.
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my mom for instilling
in me a love of reading so deep that it has become an integral part of who I am
and will always be! You really gave me a precious gift by doing that!
Next comes all of the authors of books I’ve read in the
past, the present and will read in the future. Thank you for all of your hard
work and dedication to that work. There are entirely too many of you to name
but each of you are dear to my heart and have inspired me in my journey to
become an author myself. I’d also like to say thank you to all of the bloggers
and authors’ groups out there who have helped me get the word out about this
book! You all rock!
A special thank you goes to Chrissy Peebles, Erica Stevens,
Teresa Gabelman and Wanita May for all of your encouragement, advice and most
of all your friendship through this amazing journey! You all are amazing
authors yourselves and I truly appreciate you taking your time to answer my
many questions along the way.
To Cora Graphics, I have to tell you just how amazing you
are! You took my basic concept for the cover and made it so much more amazing
than I could have ever imagined! Thank you so much for your talent and vision!
I can’t wait to work with you again!
I don’t have the words to say just how much love I have for C.E.
Editing and how hard she has worked with me on making this book what it is
today. I know this book is as much her baby as it is mine at this point. Thank
you so much for everything that you’ve done!
My wonderful beta-readers, Christina Escue, Donna Bossert,
Michelle Williams, Raygan Taylor, Holly Collins, Denise Whelan, and Echo
Navarro-Dysart, you all have helped make me a better writer through your
critiques, questions and support! Thank you for taking your time to read my
book, even when it wasn’t at its best. Your feedback has been amazing and has
helped me immensely!
The most special thank you goes to my wonderful husband and
four fantastic kids! You all have been the most supportive from the very
beginning of this adventure. I love you all from the bottom of my heart and
this one’s for you!
Don’t ever give up on your dreams, even if you haven’t
figured out what they are yet!
This book is
dedicated to my best friend Gloria who I know is smiling down on us from
heaven. We’ll always miss you! Thank you for always believing in me, no matter
what!
Destiny Begins: The
Twin Destinies Saga Prequel Novella
Cora’s Kismet: The
Twin Destinies Saga Book One
Viola’s Risk: The
Twin Destinies Saga Book Two (Coming Soon)
“This is going to be such a great vacation!” Viola gushed to
Cora as she plopped down on the end of Cora’s bed.
Cora rolled her eyes and flopped back onto her bed. “What’s
going to be so great about it?” she asked, with grumpiness evident in her
voice. They had no exciting plans other than to get summer jobs and try to stay
away from their prison of a home as much of the time as they could.
“Come on! You’ll only stay miserable if you think about it
like that! There’s no school, so we can go have some fun!” Viola enthused,
ignoring her twin’s negative attitude. She didn’t understand why Cora always
had to be such a drag all of the time. She knew their living situation just plain
sucked but there was no reason to wallow in it all of the time like Cora seemed
to want to.
“Don’t forget we’ve gotta get summer jobs,” Cora said to
Viola, her impatience showing. “Or do you wanna stay in this freak show
forever?”
“Oh, I’ve already got my job in the bag!” Viola pronounced
puffing her chest out with pride, as she bounced up from her perch on the end
of Cora’s bed to her full 5’7” height, stretched her arms to the front and
back, then headed over to her side of the room and started digging through her
backpack looking for something.
“Really? What’s that?” Cora asked disbelieving. To Cora, Viola
never took anything serious and it drove her crazy.
“I saw this flyer on the way home yesterday and called the
number. It’s for some kind of sleep study program at the local community
college. They pay for you to sleep! Isn’t that great?” Viola gushed while still
digging through her pack.
“You’re not serious?” Cora asked sitting up to study her
sister with wide eyes.
“I’m one hundred percent serious! It’ll be great! There’s
still a few slots open if you wanna join me! In fact, when I told them I had a
twin, they were even more interested in getting me signed up! Plus, the pay is
pretty good!” Viola said as she kept digging. Her brow started to knit into a
frown, above her almond shaped hazel eyes, the longer it took to find what she
was looking for.
“You told them about me?” Cora asked caution threading her
voice as she pursed her full lips in consternation. She wasn’t sure how she
felt about that. She was used to Viola’s carefree attitude about life, but
after everything they’d been through, Cora just couldn’t trust as openly
anymore.
“Yeah, I didn’t see a problem with it,” Viola replied,
giving up her search and flopping back onto her own bed. She knew the tone in
Cora’s voice and knew she was in for a lecture any second now.
“Of course you wouldn’t!” Cora started. “Maybe you should
have thought about my feelings before you start telling strangers about…”
“Look, I’ve had enough!” Viola snapped, interrupting Cora,
“I don’t need one of your lectures right now. You know as well as I do they
could find out about you without me telling them anything! I don’t know why you
act like it’s some big secret! We look exactly alike!” Both girls were identical,
in every sense of the word, when it came to their physical appearance. They
each had long, deep chocolate brown hair that flowed around their shoulders and
down their backs in soft waves, all the way to their waists. They had bright,
almond shaped eyes framed by long, thick, dark lashes that never needed mascara
and high cheek bones on identical narrow, oval shaped faces. Both girls thought
their best feature of all was their full, soft lips. They were a make-up
artist’s dream. While Viola liked to accent her features with makeup, style her
hair in elaborate do’s and stand out from the crowd, Cora, on the other hand,
was all for keeping it simple with her hair in a ponytail, and lip gloss as the
only accent to her face.
“I know, I know!” Cora said throwing her hands up in the air
as she flopped back down. “It’s just I feel like people are only interested in
us because we’re twins and I don’t like it. Something feels off, and I don’t
know what it is. Do you know what I mean?”
“Sometimes, yeah, I do. It’s weird. There’s nothing we can do
about it so there’s no use letting it drag us down. We have six months before
we can get the heck out of this dump and away from Patrick and Anna Kilpatrick,
with all of their hatefulness and abuse. I think you should do this sleep study
with me! You can get another job if you want to, or if this doesn’t work for
you. Just give it a try! I wish you’d let your hair down once in a while and
have some fun! Live a little!” Viola replied being her normal dramatic self.
She knew how hard it was for Cora to trust anyone enough to relax and enjoy
herself. She probably wouldn’t do it until they were far away from here either.
“I know. I’m looking forward to leaving and never looking
back! Do you think this sleep study will help us reach that goal? I can’t stay
here much longer. I’m tired of always looking over my shoulder and watching
your back every second of every day and I know you feel the same way,” Cora
said, her voice hushed, not wanting anyone else to overhear, even though they were
home alone. It always felt as if they were being watched anymore. It was creepy
and gave her chills. For all she knew their room had been bugged, but she
didn’t want to open that can of worms.
“Yeah, I think the study is worth a try at least! I was trying
to find the copy of the flyer I brought home in my back pack, but I can’t find
it for some reason. I know I put it in here, and it’s like it vanished into
thin air,” Viola said with a little worry in her voice. “It almost feels like
someone’s been going through my stuff.”
“Is this the first time?” Cora sat up at full attention.
She’d been feeling the same way over the last few weeks. It gave her the creeps
and she shuddered just thinking about it.
“Not really. I’ve had this feeling that something isn’t
right, or noticed something missing, a few times now. Nothing important, so far,
which is why I haven’t said anything about it, until now,” Viola replied.
All of a sudden, Cora felt goose bumps rise on the back of
her neck. She got up, grabbed her keys and Viola’s hand, and headed for the
bedroom door.
“What?” Viola asked surprised.
“I think we need to get started on that job hunting,” Cora
said giving her sister a pointed look, she knew Viola would get, while still
pulling her out of the room. One of the great things about being a twin was
being able to communicate in a manner no one else understood. They could read
each other’s looks, or body language, without thought, and sometimes it was
just something they felt from each other, on a level most people could never
reach. She was using that to her advantage right now. Another great thing was
they trusted each other’s instincts without question. Viola knew Cora’s
instincts were telling her to get out now, and she wasn’t going to argue.
“Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Hold up, let me get my purse!
It’s in the closet so it’ll only take me a minute!” Viola pulled her hand free
from Cora’s and dashed back into the room they shared. There were more than
enough rooms in the house for each of them to have their own room, but neither
Cora, nor Viola, would agree to separate, at least not while they were living
with the Kilpatricks. The shared space ensured they always had the others’ back
when it was necessary, because they never knew when the horror would start up again.
They needed to watch out for each other because there was no one else in the
world that was going to look out for them. The thought saddened Cora, but there
was nothing to be done about it except to survive, and she was determined they
would both do that, no matter what the circumstances were.
After waiting in the hallway for much longer than was
necessary for Viola to retrieve her purse, tapping her foot with anxiety, she
knew something was wrong. She debated on going back to their room or trying to call
for help. Since she didn’t know what could be wrong, it was just a feeling in
the pit of her stomach after all, she opted to go check on Viola first, before
sounding any alarms.
Being more cautious than usual, Cora headed back toward
their room and froze in the doorway with a scream lodged in her throat at what
she saw.