Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three)

Fire's Touch

By: Wendy S Hales

TheEnlightenedSpeciesBook Three

Fire's Touch © 2012 Wendy S. Hales All rights reserved

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Editing by Alisa CarterThe Professional Editing Edge http://theproeditingedge.com

Formatting by Bob Houston eBook formatting http://about.me/BobHouston

ISBN: 978-1476025

Fire's Touch is available at: Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, KOBO and Smashwords

Chapter One 

The painful grip on Stacey's arm was the only thing that kept her from crumpling to the floor. She cried out. Rather than easing, the bastard gripped her upper arm tighter. Stacey was sure her arm would snap. 

Unfortunately, the steady stream of tears that welled into her eyes and tracked down her face did nothing to blur her vision. She saw the horrified expression on her mother's face as she was dragged violently into the room where a fanged monster, which looked like a man, had just ripped her father's throat out. Her mother's shell-shocked gaze slowly rose from the sight of Stacey's father's lifeless body. Oh, God ... please not my mother. She could barely hear her thoughts over her heartbeat pounding in her ears. The solid lump of terror in her throat kept the bile from heaving out, but did nothing for the foul taste in her mouth. Their eyes connected for just an instant. The "goodbye" in her mother's expression sucked the breath out of Stacey.  

A strong woman, her mother didn't beg. She visibly squared her shoulders proudly and asked in a clear, strong voice, "Why would you kill my husband and hold my maid hostage. Why! Money? We only have a few thousand dollars in the house." 

Until her mother said the word "maid," Stacey had forgotten all about the lessons pounded into her head her entire life. No matter what, never reveal who you are to a kidnapper. Stacey gave her mother a slight nod of understanding. 

One of the monsters grinned. "Get it."  

Stacey wondered if the men noticed her mother's hand shaking as she worked the lock on the safe in her father's private office. With her chin held high, she stepped back from the open safe. The one who had spoken loaded stacks of cash into his jacket, then reached over and snapped her mother's neck like a twig. The agony of loss overwhelmed Stacey and the room spun out of control. 

"Nooooo..." 

"...oooooo!" Stacey woke from the dream on a scream, launching from her steaming, sweat saturated sheets. A moment longer and her entire bed would have gone up in flames. Dawn peeked through her fogged windows, and she took a deep breath in an effort to slow down her heartbeat and get her raging emotions under control.