Rowan - The Golden Orchid Part 2 (The Rowan Series)

By Richard Rowley

Rowan -The Golden Orchid Part 2. The second part in the series of thrilling and exciting novels featuring Rowan Odell and her lover Clay Devereaux. With the power of the paranormal, fantasy, witchcraft and of course romance you can follow witch Rowan as she develops her powers and craft.

Rowan Odell doggedly pursues her goal of becoming an ATF Special Agent just like Clay Devereaux, the special man in her life. As she seems to be in all things, she is good at her new profession, and soon Rowan and Clay are hot on the trail of a hometown Savannah man with a proclivity for breaking U.S. Firearms laws. The pursuit and capture of this criminal opens the eyes of the seemingly star crossed couple...and what they learn from it changes the course of their lives.

Can Rowan and Clay solve the drug running, money laundering riddle of murder, lies and greed? Will Rowan keep her inherited witchcraft powers? Will she be cast from the 'cirlce' for good? Will their love last all the ATF can throw at them?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Richard Rowley
• Release date: Jun 19, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476137230

Richard Rowley

R Rowley is a born again writer, based in the heart of England. If my fingers want to write I let them, thus giving me my trademark eclectic style and broad range of titles.

Book preview

Rowan - The Golden Orchid

(Part 2)

By R Rowley

Smashwords Edition

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Copyright R Rowley 2012. All Rights Reserved

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Resources

CHAPTER 1

Rowan Odell was frustrated. She had fallen deeply in love with Clay Devereaux, and had become fascinated with his work. She had started the process to apply for a job as an ATF agent, so that they could work together. As soon as her Aunt Agatha had learned of her decision, Esmeralda, the most senior witch of the Circle of the Golden Orchid had been called back to their house for another conversation. My darling child, Esmeralda said, you simply cannot pursue this. Admirable and honorable as this profession is, you cannot be a Special Agent and a witch simultaneously…it’s not possible.

Rowan was not a child, and she knew Aunt Agatha well enough to know that she was being told the truth. She put her considerable intellect to work to see what she had missed. The two wise witches, preferring that she deduce why her dream was not possible, sat quietly sipping their tea while Rowan thought. The Witches’ Rede! she said abruptly.

An it harm no one, do as ye will, the two witches intoned seriously. You cannot enter the Circle of the Golden Orchid if you carry a gun, Agatha said, the very fact that you have to carry one is a testament to the fact that you may have to use it. Should you use a weapon to harm someone, even in defense of the helpless or yourself, you would be shunned, she said sadly. The Rede is our strictest rule, and there is no way around it.

Rowan sat speechless, her mind racing. What if I didn’t need a gun? Rowan asked.

Silly girl, you have to carry a gun, you couldn’t be a Special Agent without carrying a gun, said Agatha. Esmeralda sat up straight, knowing the question was not asked lightly.

"I didn’t say I wouldn’t carry a gun, I said ‘what if I don’t need a gun?’ Rowan asked. I’m a witch!"

Esmeralda spoke before Agatha could retort. You mean you would use magic to keep from harming anyone? Rowan nodded. I don’t know, Esmeralda said, the Council is pretty adamant about keeping magic away from the prying eyes of mortals. She thought a moment, And how do you propose to justify imprisoning a mortal? Does that not harm him?

I wouldn’t be imprisoning him Esmeralda, only a Court of his peers can do that, or a Judge. I would simply be sending him before someone else for judgment.

Agatha and Esmeralda communed with each other wordlessly. Agatha looked agitated, but Esmeralda evidently got her way. "I cannot answer this on my own authority child it will have to go before the Council of Witches at Samhain (All Hallows Eve). Rowan nodded her acquiescence and thanked Esmeralda for her wisdom and her time.

I have to tell you Rowan, I’m very concerned about you. I understand that you are in love with the mortal, but we as witches are not bound to the moral codes of mortals. Not being married is not a hindrance to intimacy for us, and you would do well to think on that before you marry a mortal. There is much to think about, and I wish I was younger so that I could tell you of the sacrifices in a way that means something to you. We are not immortal, but we live for a very long time in mortal years…he will not. You will stay young and fresh far after he is gone from the mortal plane, and he will wither and die before your eyes, Esmeralda said sadly, remembering past loves of her own.

….

At Samhain, the Council gathered and agreed that Rowan