Excerpt 1.
“What is the matter?” he asked.

“There’s so much here, but nothing I am looking for!”

“Let’s take a break. Go for a walk, clear your head. We can talk about what you’ve read or talk about nothing. You decide.”

She nodded and rose from her chair, heading for the door. Suleima didn’t venture far, content to sit on the porch, looking out into the woods beyond her house. Gage sat next to her, their legs touching, his arm behind her, sitting silently. After yawning, she laid her head on his shoulder. He tilted his head down to touch hers and held her hand.

They hadn’t had time to define what was happening between the two of them. She knew she enjoyed his company and wanted to spend more time with him. But things had been so chaotic since the two of them met. Gage’s friendship and strength were things she was beginning to rely on, and it was scary and wonderful at the same time. She thought he felt the same. It was usually Gage who initiated the first touch, and it had never gone beyond holding hands or sitting close. She certainly didn’t want to jeopardize their friendship, and danger was never far in all of their time together, it seemed. 

Suleima drifted off to sleep like that.

She was sitting in her house again, going over and over the journals lying on the table. There was nothing. Nothing. Nothing! What good was all of this journaling and documenting of EVERYTHING, if it wasn’t going to be helpful to her situation?

Damnit, Erist!

Suddenly, she felt weightless and woke with a start. She was in Gage’s arms as he jumped the railing of the porch and took off in a full sprint into the yard beyond. “What happened?” she cried out.

The growl in his voice raised the hairs on the back of her neck. “I don’t know!” He set her on her feet and put himself between her and her home. “Don’t move. I’m going to shift. Stay right here!”

“Gage, my wards….”

“Shtay heree!” Gage’s words were a guttural growl and his elongating jaw distorted his words. 

She shifted her weight, and his growl sounded again. “Okay, I’ll wait for you.” She raised her arms in surrender. “My wards are in place and intact. Whatever you heard is not a danger.”

He growled once more, and she sensed him pulling from the pack to speed his shift. 

Her next move was to sit and patiently wait him out. 

A few minutes later, Gage shook out his fur and turned to her.

“Can I go now?” she asked.

Gage showed her his large, white fangs.

“I’m telling you, nothing got past my wards.”

He grumbled next to her and kept his own body between her and her home, but he allowed her to follow. 

Walking up to the porch, Suleima saw nothing out of the ordinary. She approached the door, but Gage put himself in the doorway and wouldn’t move. Despite his grumblings, she leaned into the doorway above him to survey her home. Tea dripped from her ceiling onto the table and floor below. Her tea kettle seemed to have…exploded. 

“What the…?” She again tried to push past Gage, but he was immovable. “I need to go in and clean up this mess. I don’t sense anyone else in the area. But I do need to look and find out what happened.”

He planted himself in the center of the doorway and refused to budge, sitting in the way as if he were bored.

“Fine!” She stomped her foot and sat on the railing of the house. “Go satisfy this neanderthal need to clear the house, while the little weakling woman sits on the porch and waits alone for the boogeyman to come while you are inside. And watch where you step. I don’t want to clean blood off my floor as well.” She waved her hand dismissively at him.

 

Excerpt 2.
She screamed in frustration. 

A jet of water pierced the ward as Dynasira sank to the ground. 

Suleima scanned the forest with her senses. No one else approached. The ward shattered like glass. She could access the earth again. Vines grew quickly, winding around Sumar’s arms and legs to keep him in place, and she grabbed Dynasira beneath both arms. Using her magic to help her, she pulled Dynasira onto the beach. Dynasira was breathing again, but unconscious all the same. 

Suleima took a moment to give Dynasira a burst of healing energy. She kept a constant scan of the area surrounding her as she pulled Dynasira around the house. By the time they reached the front, Dynasira was able to stand, leaning on Suleima as they headed down the lane to the waiting truck.

As soon as Dynasira was in the truck, Suleima released the magic holding Sumar in place. She did one final scan of the area, started the engine, and pulled out as quickly as her old truck would go. 

Dynasira was silent for the first few minutes of the trip then turned to Suleima. “What the hell happened back there?”

“I’m not sure. There is something over that house. Some cloud. It’s not Sumar’s magic. Or not only his magic. I couldn’t find anyone else. But I felt Kylin’s magic with Sumar’s. That’s impossible! But I felt her magic in that obsidian. Somehow, some way, she’s still around, or at least her magic is, and someone is using it.”

“Sumar was a robot. He kept repeating himself like he was programmed to read a script.” 

“Only a few creatures can do that.” 

“But you know of some?”

“A vampire,” Suleima answered solemnly.

“Wait, what?” Dynasira looked at her as if she was crazy. “Vampires were eliminated long ago. And thank the elements for that! I cannot imagine what Dirrin would have been capable of with vampires at his side!”

“The blood vampires were eliminated almost a century ago. Energy vampires still exist. The fae created them. They feed off the energy and power of others to live. A side effect of feeding, they can cloud their prey’s mind. I didn’t realize they could control the being, but I’ve never really done much research on them because there were so few.”

Suleima’s heart was still pounding at the thought of the danger her friend had been in. “I’m eternally grateful for the spear of water you called. I couldn’t break through the ward or the spell that was choking you.” 

“I didn’t call any water spear. You know my magic doesn’t work like that. I spit water in dragon form. I can’t call it or manipulate it. Certainly not while looking human!” 

“Then who…” Suleima trailed off. “I didn’t sense anyone else.”

“I think it was you, Sul.”

Excerpt 3.
Gage abruptly stopped and bared his teeth. Suleima laid a hand on his ruff and reached out with her senses. There was something out in the woods beyond her vision. It was tiny, barely a flicker in her senses. It seemed to flit from tree to tree, staying well hidden from view, especially in the waning light. 

It bounced from tree to tree, slowly making its way closer. Suleima bent down to whisper in his ear, “I need to see what this is about. Please don’t frighten it away.” Although still baring his teeth, Gage at least stopped growling.

Making as little movement as possible, Suleima pulled at her power over air, forming a shield around herself and Gage. 

It was just a few trees away now. The tension nearly poured from Gage in waves.

As it moved to the closest tree, Suleima saw what the creature was–a pixie. The tiny creature seemed to give off its own light source. It had a sparkle to it and was a shade of light green which allowed it to blend in with the foliage and light around the forest. Its iridescent wings fluttered quickly, like a hummingbird’s wings, allowing it to dart quickly from one place to the next. It fluttered in their direction, stopping a hairsbreadth from the shield. It stuck out a tiny finger, and Suleima startled as the shield popped like a balloon and dissipated as if it had never been, followed by a tinny giggle.

Suleima tightened her hold on Gage’s ruff as the pixie invaded the space her shield had protected. The pixie floated in front of her nose. It held out its hand, palm up, and pointed to Suleima.

Suleima copied the movement and the pixie landed on Suleima’s hand, sitting cross-legged in the center of her palm. 

“Whew!” she said in a high-pitched voice Suleima was surprised she could hear. “That was a trek. You move fast!”

Suleima eyed the pixie warily. “You were trying to catch up with us? Why?”

“I am Zia,” she said, saluting Suleima, “Zenisa sent me. She believes I can provide you some insight when it comes to fae and their ways and habits.” The pixie tilted her head, analyzing Suleima before speaking again. “You have a great strength in earth magic. Your connection to it calls to me. It is very strong, similar to my own. But I see what Mistress Zenisa was talking about.” The pixie rubbed her little hands together. “This is going to be fun!”

The pixie jumped off of Suleima’s hand, her wings beating furiously as she slowly dropped to land on the end of Gage’s snout. “Ooh, a puppy!” 

Gage growled and snapped his teeth, barely missing the pixie as she flew just out of his reach. 

“Grumpy puppy,” Zia said.

“Please do not antagonize the Alpha Wolf,” Suleima told the pixie as it landed on her shoulder, “He does not appreciate it, and neither do I.”

The pixie nodded seriously. “Understood.” She saluted Gage and turned, saluting Suleima, then began bouncing on the balls of her tiny feet. “Where to next? I have never been off the mountain!”

“First, we go to the truck, then we return to Amber Mountain,” Suleima explained as they started walking again, the pixie parked comfortably on Suleima’s shoulder and incessantly talked, asking questions about anything and everything.