Irene and the Witch Read online

  She looked at her own hands. The only thing that kept her in this shape now was habit. She was energy—pure and simple—and if she tried hard enough she could cast herself into some other shape. She could be a tree, if she wanted to, or she could be the universe.

  You will be everything and you will be nothing.

  Madame Majicka’s words from a lifetime ago floated up to her from the recesses of memory. The psychic had known. She’d denied knowing anything about the afterlife, but Irene had suspected the woman knew more than she let on. And Irene had been right. Madame Majicka had predicted this moment. Irene hadn’t understood then; she didn’t know how one could be both a thing and the exact opposite of that thing. Now she did.

  In this moment, she recognized that she knew everything, and she knew nothing. Everything was connected, and it was separate. She could be anything, go anywhere. She had vast power—could kill with a touch if she chose—which made her powerless, because now she was too afraid to use that power. She could see everything, down to the atom, which made it impossible to actually see anything at all. When you could see the individual atoms of a tree, could see the life force moving through it like a glittering, golden river, then the tree itself became irrelevant.

  This was farewell, then, to her hopes, her dreams. She would never again return to the land of the living. Irene Dunphy, as she has once existed, was dead—truly dead. It was time to accept that. She put her hand on the crystal ball and let herself flow back to the land of the dead.

  Andras was waiting when she returned—this time in corporeal form. He rested his sword tip on the ground, his hands crossed on the pommel his feet set wide apart—a soldier relaxed but at the ready. She smiled inwardly; Andras knew something was wrong, but he wouldn’t press her. He’d let her share in her own time. He was telling her, without words, that he was here to help, ready to fight whatever danger might await. Whatever the future held, they would face it together.

  If You Liked This Story...

  Irene and the Witch is a stand-alone excerpt of the fourth book in the Afterlife series. If you liked this book, see how Irene’s adventures started in...

  Hereafter (Afterlife #1)

  By Terri Bruce

  Why let a little thing like dying get in the way of a good time?

  Thirty-six-year-old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost, where the food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the sex...well, let’s just say “don’t bother.” To make matters worse, the only person who can see her—courtesy of a book he found in his school library—is a fourteen-year-old boy genius obsessed with the afterlife.

  Unfortunately, what waits in the Great Beyond isn’t much better. Stuck between the boring life of a ghost in this world and the terrifying prospect of three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment in the next, Irene sets out to find a third option—preferably one that involves not being dead anymore.

  "5 out of 5 stars...What a book. Wow! To sum it up - witty, sarcastic, funny, smart, and a good book to curl up and read until you're too sleepy to see the words." ~Caterina, Amazon Review

  "So many paranormal's have been done over and over. The same 'ol thing. Hereafter is a rejuvenation of the genre. Something different! Finally!" ~Mary, The Sweet Bookshelf

  “5 out of 5...This book is so good that I can't wait to make time to reread it. I highly recommend it. Not what I expected, in fact much much more. Do yourself a favour, and go out and get it-now.” ~Mallory, Mallory Heart Reviews

  Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback, E-Book, and Audio Book!

  About the Author

  Terri Bruce is the author of the paranormal / contemporary fantasy “Afterlife” series, which includes Hereafter (Afterlife #1) and Thereafter (Afterlife #2), and numerous short stories in various anthologies. She has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces strange, hard-to-classify fantasy and science fiction stories from beautiful Downeast ME, where she lives with her husband and various cats.

  Keep up to date with all the latest news and sign up to be notified of new releases in the Afterlife Series at:

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  http://www.terribruce.net

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  Also by Terri Bruce

  The Afterlife Series

  Hereafter (Afterlife #1)

  Thereafter (Afterlife #2)

  Whereafter (Afterlife #3)

  Irene and the Witch (Afterlife #3.5)

  Whenafter (Afterlife #4) (May 2018)

  Neverafter (Afterlife #5) (forthcoming)

  Ever After (Afterlife #6) (forthcoming)

  Short Stories

  The Tower

  The Wishing Well

  Welcome to OASIS

  Death and the Horse

  My Lover Like Night

  The Lady and the Unicorn

  The Afterlife Series by Terri Bruce

  Hereafter (Afterlife #1)

  By Terri Bruce

  Why let a little thing like dying get in the way of a good time?

  Thirty-six-year-old Irene Dunphy didn't plan on dying any time soon, but that’s exactly what happens when she makes the mistake of getting behind the wheel after a night bar-hopping with friends. She finds herself stranded on earth as a ghost, where the food has no taste, the alcohol doesn’t get you drunk, and the sex...well, let’s just say “don’t bother.” To make matters worse, the only person who can see her—courtesy of a book he found in his school library—is a fourteen-year-old boy genius obsessed with the afterlife.

  Unfortunately, what waits in the Great Beyond isn’t much better. Stuck between the boring life of a ghost in this world and the terrifying prospect of three-headed hell hounds, final judgment, and eternal torment in the next, Irene sets out to find a third option—preferably one that involves not being dead anymore.

  "5 out of 5 stars...What a book. Wow! To sum it up - witty, sarcastic, funny, smart, and a good book to curl up and read until you're too sleepy to see the words." ~Caterina, Amazon Review

  "So many paranormal's have been done over and over. The same 'ol thing. Hereafter is a rejuvenation of the genre. Something different! Finally!" ~Mary, The Sweet Bookshelf

  “5 out of 5...This book is so good that I can't wait to make time to reread it. I highly recommend it. Not what I expected, in fact much much more. Do yourself a favour, and go out and get it-now.” ~Mallory, Mallory Heart Reviews

  Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback, E-Book, and Audio Book!

  Thereafter (Afterlife #2)

  By Terri Bruce

  When recently-deceased Irene Dunphy decided to “follow the light,” she thought she’d end up in Heaven or Hell and her journey would be over.

  Boy, was she wrong.

  She soon finds that “the other side” isn’t a final destination but a kind of purgatory where billion
s of spirits are stuck, with no way to move forward or back. Even worse, deranged phantoms known as “Hungry Ghosts” stalk the dead, intent on destroying them. The only way out is for Irene to forget her life on earth—including the boy who risked everything to help her cross over—which she’s not about to do.

  As Irene desperately searches for an alternative, help unexpectedly comes in the unlikeliest of forms: a twelfth-century Spanish knight and a nineteenth-century American cowboy. Even more surprising, one offers a chance for redemption; the other, love. Unfortunately, she won’t be able to have either if she can’t find a way to escape the hellish limbo where they’re all trapped.

  “5 Stars... Terri Bruce's dark afterlife fantasy, Thereafter, is thought-provoking and intense... While wholly original in its own right, Bruce's story reminded me somewhat of Philip Jose Farmer's landmark Riverworld Series, and that's a good thing... Thereafter is well-written and compelling, and I found it hard to put down until I had read the last page. It's recommended reading.” ~Reader’s Favorite Review

  Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback and E-Book!

  Whereafter (Afterlife #3)

  By Terri Bruce

  How far would you go to get your life back?

  Stuck in the afterlife on an island encircled by fire and hunted by shadows bent on trapping them there forever, Irene and Andras struggle to hold onto the last vestiges of their physical selves, without which they can never return to the land of the living. But it’s not just external forces they’ll have to fight as the pair grow to realize they have different goals. Irene still clings to the hope that she can somehow return to her old life—the one she had before she died—while Andras would be only too glad to embrace oblivion.

  Meanwhile, Jonah, worried about Irene, desperately searches for a way to cross over to the other side, even if doing so means his death. His crossing over, however, is the one thing that could destroy Irene’s chances of returning home.

  Too many obstacles, too many people to save, and the thing Irene most desperately wants—to return to her old life—seems farther away than ever. Only one thing is clear: moving on will require making a terrible sacrifice.

  Available Now Wherever Books Are Sold in Paperback and E-Book!

  Whenafter (Afterlife #4)

  By Terri Bruce

  In The Afterlife, Nothing Is As It Seems...

  Just as she’s found the doorway from the Great Beyond back to the land of the living, Irene Dunphy’s plan to return home as a guardian angel is derailed by a surprise attack from an old enemy.

  Swept into the afterlife plane inhabited by the Nephilim, Irene is forced to call in a favor from the mysterious Samyel—the Nephilim who used her to bring him to the afterlife and then promptly abandoned her. He’s her only hope of survival and escape—if he can be trusted to deliver on past promises.

  Coming 2018!

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