Tristan (The Ruins of Emblem #1) Read online

  TRISTAN

  The Ruins of Emblem #1

  CORA BRENT

  TRISTAN

  (The Ruins of Emblem)

  By Cora Brent

  © 2019

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Also By Cora Brent

  Author Info

  About this book

  1. Cadence

  2. Tristan

  3. Cadence

  4. Tristan

  5. Cadence

  6. Tristan

  7. Cadence

  8. Tristan

  9. Cadence

  10. Tristan

  11. Cadence

  12. Tristan

  13. Cadence

  14. Tristan

  15. Cadence

  16. Tristan

  17. Cadence

  18. Tristan

  19. Cadence

  20. Tristan

  21. Cadence

  22. Tristan

  23. Cadence

  24. Tristan

  Epilogue

  Coming soon…

  Gentry Series

  Contact me

  Also By Cora Brent

  AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE

  Gentry Boys Box Set Books 1-4

  GENTRY BOYS (Books 1-4)

  Gentry Boys Series

  DRAW (Saylor and Cord)

  RISK (Creed and Truly)

  GAME (Chase and Stephanie)

  FALL (Deck and Jenny)

  HOLD

  CROSS (A Novella)

  WALK (Stone and Evie)

  EDGE (Conway and Roslyn)

  SNOW (A Christmas Story)

  Gentry Generations

  STRIKE (Cami and Dalton)

  TURN (Cassie and Curtis)

  KEEP (A Novella)

  TEST (Derek and Paige)

  Worked Up

  FIRED

  NAILED

  IN THIS LIFE

  HICKEY

  Please respect the work of this author. No part of this book may be reproduced or copied without permission. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Any similarity to events or situations is also coincidental.

  The publisher and author acknowledge the trademark status and trademark ownership of all trademarks and locations mentioned in this book. Trademarks and locations are not sponsored or endorsed by trademark owners.

  © 2019 by Cora Brent

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Design: Wicked by Design

  Cover Photo: Eric David Battershell

  Created with Vellum

  Author Info

  DON’T MISS A THING!!!

  Sign up for my newsletter and get early news on releases, cover reveals and special giveaways…

  CORA BRENT'S NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

  I always love hearing from readers so contact me at: [email protected].

  Check out what’s happening on Facebook:

  www.facebook.com/CoraBrentAuthor

  Join my exclusive reader Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/CoraBrentsBookCorner

  Add future releases to your TBR list:

  https://www.goodreads.com/CoraBrent

  Get your hands on the latest hot new releases:

  Amazon Author Page

  About this book

  TRISTAN (Ruins of Emblem #1)

  No one dreamed of moving here.

  They dreamed of escaping.

  The struggling desert prison town had been my family’s home for generations. Now Emblem’s very name is like a curse to them.

  But by the time I finished college I had big plans.

  Plans to move to Emblem. Plans to teach at Emblem High. Plans to see past the crime and poverty that the town was infamous for. Plans to make a difference in the lives of the kids who lived there.

  Tristan Mulligan never figured into my plans at all.

  He was a small time criminal and former gang member with a bad attitude who mocked everything I cared about and provoked me at every turn.

  I knew better than to start something with him.

  I did it anyway.

  Tristan might shatter my heart. He might destroy my future. And there’s something dangerously explosive about us when we’re together.

  You can warn me about him all you want.

  Everyone else has.

  I haven’t listened yet.

  Whether I’m ready to admit it or not, I’m already his…

  Chapter One

  Cadence

  Anyone who knows me would agree that normally I tend to be about as bashful and self-conscious as a bull.

  But somewhere around the fifth skeptical “You’re the teacher???” greeting my confidence wavered.

  Just a little.

  Not a lot.

  Enough for me to snap a selfie between classes and send it to Cami, the sister who told the truth even if the truth was ruthless. Cami was the only person who could be counted on in a situation like this. My other sister, Cassie, would rather sit on a tack than hurt anyone’s feelings. My mother was as relentlessly positive as the best of mothers. And my father had zero interest in anyone’s wardrobe choices.

  Not Cami. Although new motherhood had mellowed her a little she’d have no trouble telling me if the plain white top, long gray skirt and turquoise flats made me look less impressive than I ought to. She answered almost immediately.

  Your outfit is fine. You can’t help your face.

  What’s wrong with my face??

  Nothing my beautiful baby sister.

  You are unhelpful.

  Love you. Go teach people things.

  She capped off the conversation by sending me a picture of my angelic little niece. Annabeth was smiling with a mouthful of milk.

  “You’re the teacher?” The voice was doubtful, the face it belonged to layered with poorly applied makeup that had melted a little after navigating the stifling hallways of Emblem High.

  “Yes, I am the teacher,” I greeted the girl with a smile. “I’m Ms. Gentry. Welcome to eleventh grade English.”

  The girl yawned. “Can we eat in here?”

  “I’d rather you didn’t.”

  She rolled her eyes at me and took a seat in the back. The other students enrolled in this class had begun to wander in by now. Some of them stared at me, others didn’t look up from their phones to acknowledge external life forces, and a few of the boys chuckled, nudging one another.

  Perhaps they can smell fear.

  For months I’d been making plans for the first day of school. I had everything I wanted to say down pat for each of my classes. I introduced myself. I promised a year of exciting educational challenges. I recited the rules of my classroom and my expectations. I expressed a sincere hope that they were as excited to be here as I was to teach them. I sounded as doggedly cheerful and encouraging as if I were narrating a self-help seminar.

  “Are there any questions so far?” I asked, wondering if there was anyone in the room who had paid the slightest attention to my chirpy monologue.

  A girl in the third row looked up from applying a set of press on nails and called out a question without raising her hand. “Are you related to Landon?”

  “Landon who?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Landon Gentry.”

  “Does he go to school here?”

  “Yeah, he goes to school here. Why else would I ask? Is he your cousin or something?”

  “Uh, I don’t know. Maybe.”

  She gave me a funny look and returned to her nails.

  I wasn’t aware of any high school age cousins in the area. But my family had deep roots in Emblem and
the town wasn’t all that big. In all likelihood anyone around here with this last name was connected to me in some way.

  I cleared my throat and picked up a stack of bright yellow paper. Each piece had been printed with a template I’d found online and then carefully cut into rectangles the size of dollar bills. I placed one on each student’s desk.

  “These are the Positivity Passes I was talking about. I’ll start you each off with one. Anytime I notice that you’ve done something exemplary – whether it’s making a good contribution to a class discussion or turning in an outstanding assignment or simply being kind to your peers – you will receive one of these. And guess what?” I paused dramatically. “Once you’ve collected a few you’ll be able to cash them for rewards. Like one of these Emblem High bookmarks over here. I have folders to choose from too. Five Positivity Passes earns you a No Homework pass for the day. The list of reward possibilities is tacked to the bulletin board by the door.”

  It had sounded like such a good idea in my head. It had still sounded like a good idea as I sat up late at night and dutifully cut out all of those rectangles. My classroom would be the brightest spot in the entire school, jam packed with good cheer, from the inspirational quotes that had been carefully hung on the walls to the giant sunshine accented scholastic calendar. Studies showed that kids were more likely to meet academic challenges when their surroundings were visually pleasant. And if you gave them goals to strive for they would inevitably respond.

  But now the kids were staring at the Positivity Passes as if they were strange insects and I wondered if I was somehow on the wrong track.

  “Why does it smell weird in here?” one boy inquired.

  “It’s the essential oil diffuser.”

  “Stinks like candy canes.”

  I smiled. “Peppermint. It helps with alertness and concentration.”

  A stone faced glare. “I fucking hate candy canes.”

  I had no response.

  Mercifully, the bell rang.

  “See you tomorrow!” I called to the kids as they rushed for the door. “Get your syllabus signed by a parent or guardian and you’ll earn one Positivity Pass.” They might not have heard me. No one looked back.

  Lunch was hastily eaten at my desk during my free period as I scanned the student rosters for the afternoon classes. Maybe I was becoming paranoid but as the day progressed each new set of faces seemed to be even less friendly than the last ones.

  A brawl threatened to erupt in the last class of the day when two boys in the back began hassling each other. Other kids chimed in, taking sides and roaring for blood. No one listened to my shrill pleas for peace and when one of the boys stood up to made a grab for the other I panicked, racing for the intercom on the wall to call for help. I didn’t know what would have happened next if the dismissal bell hadn’t rung, heralding a mass exodus. However I did hear a very pointed promise of “Fuck you up later,” as the kids collectively ran for the door.

  Within seconds I was alone. I pinched the skin between my brows as a stress headache threatened to erupt.

  “So you made it through the day,” said a voice from the doorway.

  The woman had black hair threaded with hints of gray and her face was tired but her dark eyes were lit with laughter. She took a seat at a desk in the front row. “You appear to be less addled than I was following my first day of teaching. Thirty seconds after the last bell I was crying in my car and wondering if it was too late to become a dentist instead.”

  I smiled. I liked her already. “Since you’re still here I guess it was too late.”

  “All for the best.” She shrugged. “I actually have chronic nightmares about teeth. I’m Aura Campo, head of the math department.”

  “Cadence Gentry, clueless new English teacher.”

  “I was hoping to run into you before today. I remember your parents. Actually I only knew your mother personally. Saylor was in a lot of my classes in high school. I knew Cord, your father, only by reputation. Your uncles too. Everyone knew who the Gentry triplets were. But I didn’t cross paths with them often.”

  “From what I heard my dad and his brothers were too busy raising hell to devote themselves to academics.”

  She laughed. “That description fits my memory.”

  “Well, things worked out pretty well for them once they left Emblem.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” She clucked her tongue. “I’m afraid this town has even less nowadays to offer its young people. A dream job around here consists of a position in the state prison down the road. And unfortunately a fair number of our graduates wind up on the wrong side of the electrified fences. People who have ambitions don’t tend to hang around Emblem forever.”

  “But you stayed.” I hoped my curiosity didn’t come across as insulting.

  She raised an eyebrow. “And you came back.”

  “Not really. I’ve never lived here and my parents weren’t in the habit of visiting very often.”

  “But you must still have family in town? Even now there are always one or two Gentry kids walking the hallways.”

  “Everyone I know from my father’s family lives in the Phoenix area now. But my grandfather is here, my mother’s father. In fact I’m living with him at the moment because my apartment lease fell through.”

  “The Castle Garden Apartments?”

  “That’s right.”

  “I heard they went into foreclosure.”

  “They did.” I made a face. “I just wish they would have let me know before I showed up with a U-Haul on the day I was supposed to sign my lease. Luckily my grandfather offered me the use of my mother’s old bedroom. He refuses to take any rent but I’ll keep working on him.”

  Aura stared at me intently while I spoke. I wondered what she was thinking, what she saw. My sister Cami resembled our mother while Cassie took after our father’s side. My hair was too dark to be considered blonde, but it also wasn’t the rich shade of chestnut brown Cami had inherited from our mother. My eyes were the same shade of blue that was shared by a variety of Gentrys but my nose and chin had been plucked straight from my mother’s delicate profile. I was a thorough amalgam of Saylor and Cord Gentry.

  Aura smiled. “I’ve been very nosy. Don’t hold it against me. It’s an annual tradition to go for a drink at the Dirty Cactus after surviving the endurance event known as the first day of school.”

  “Is that an invitation?”

  “Yes. You may have to show your ID though,” she mused. “You look like you could be a student.”

  I groaned. “I might have been told that once or twice today. And I would love to. My dad has mentioned that bar. I guess it’s been around for a long time.”

  “Decades,” Aura confirmed. “My own parents met there. It’s practically a historic landmark. It’s changed ownership a number of times but the name stays the same.”

  “Dirty Cactus certainly has a distinctive ring to it.” I retrieved my handbag from the bottom drawer of my desk. It felt lighter than it should have. A quick look inside solved the mystery.

  “Shit!” I exclaimed. “My wallet’s gone.”

  Aura grimace and rose from her seat. “You might want to lock up your belongings in one of the teachers’ lounge lockers. Every once in a while the district promises to hire a few more security guards but with all the state cutbacks I don’t really see that happening.” She shrugged. “I’m sorry.”

  I couldn’t believe someone had been bold enough to snatch my wallet right out of my desk. I’d eaten lunch sitting right here and only ran out once to dash to the rest room. At least my phone remained in the back pocket and my keys were still where I’d left them in the side compartment.

  “I’ve never been robbed in my life,” I grumbled.

  “An inauspicious welcome to Emblem High to be sure,” agreed Aura, already backing out of the room. A group of boys racing through the hall nearly collided with her. “But I think you’ll feel better after a drink and some friendly commiseration. You know
where it is, right?”

  “Yes. But I guess now I need to worry about getting a drink since I have no ID and apparently I look like a teenager.”

  “You have your teacher badge. Plus I know the owners. So we’ll meet up in a little while?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Aura disappeared but her voice came floating back. “No vaping in the hallway! And Chester, I’m pretty sure those tools hanging out of your backpack aren’t yours. Why don’t you go put them back in the auto shop room before I can’t pretend that I didn’t see you?”

  I didn’t hear an answer from Chester, the would-be tool bandit. I reached into my purse and found small consolation in the fact that the wallet thief hadn’t been interested in my pack of cinnamon gum. I popped a piece into my mouth and took a look around my classroom. My decorating efforts could only achieve so much. The walls were a dingy shade of beige that might have been closer to cream once, several floor tiles were missing and the wall cracks were wide enough for a swarm of bark scorpions to crawl through. This school district had far fewer resources than the one where I’d completed my student teaching. It was certainly poorer than the high school I’d attended myself in the not too distant past. There were no interactive white boards and the dated computer lab equipment was far from adequate. Plus, in spite of the the fact that it was August in the desert, the air conditioning inside the building left a lot to be desired.

  No one understood why I’d chosen to take a job at Emblem High School. The assumption was that I’d wind up teaching at one of the many large high schools in the Phoenix area, perhaps alongside my Uncle Chase. There was nothing wrong with that. But I’d dreamed of being here in Emblem, in the neglected prison town where my parents had grown up. Somehow I felt sure I was needed here, that I could accomplish something. I didn’t yet know if I was correct. But my stubbornness was legendary. Typically I didn’t quit on an idea once I became attached to it.

  After placing a quick call to my bank to cancel my cards and ask for replacements to be overnighted I snatched up my mostly empty purse, gathering my papers and carefully outlined lesson plans. I had plenty of work to do but it could wait until I relaxed with a drink or two and made a few local friends. The thought cheered me. Right now my grandfather was my only friend in town.