Storm took in deep breaths, in and out as she stood at the door that would take her into her class. She needed to calm her nerves, but so far that was not helping. The only thing that made her smile as she heard the lecturer talk on the bones in the human body was that finally she was here, against all odds, despite what her step mother had done, despite what her family had made her go through. She had survived. She was here. She was in school. That bubbly feeling pushed her to open the door, pushed her chin up, and pushed her feet to walk into the class with all the confidence that she could muster; a confidence that didn’t even waver when the lecturer stopped speaking and turned to see the intruder. “You are a member of this class?” The old man with a white halo on his head asked, as he picked a register on the table probably to check her name. “What’s your name?” Storm inhaled deeply before giving her answer. “Storm Jackson.” She watched breathlessly as the man decked his

Storm pushed hard to clear away the debris and focus on what she knew of her past. Fire burned through her insides, spreading rapidly as something like poison worked its way through her system. Blood ran in rivers and light faded quickly. She heard voices calling, chanting, and felt someone reaching for her to try to hold her to earth. She found herself in a shadowy realm, banshees wailing, shadows flickering and reaching. Skeletons. Dark spiked teeth. Talons. Spiders and cockroaches. Snakes hissing. The skeletons are drawing closer and closer until…She closed her mind to her surroundings, to all shared pathways, so there was no chance anyone could be feeding her own fears. It had to be a hallucination brought on by a mage. No matter that she had stopped anything from entering her brain-something malicious was already present. Fire ringed her, crackling flames reaching greedily toward the sky and stretching like obscene tongues toward her. Out of the conflagration, handsome men

A trick. Storm was certain. She knew in her heart her life was over. There were too many to kill-but she would take as many with her as possible to rid the world of such dangerous and immoral creatures. The mage must have found a way to resurrect the dead. She whispered the information in her head, needing her friend to send a warning to the prince that armies of the dead would be once again rising against them."You are certain of this?""I have killed these in centuries long past, yet they surround me with their accusing eyes, beckoning to me as if I am one of them." She replied.From a great distance away, Lucy gasped, and for the first time sounded like her best friend. "You cannot choose to give your soul to them. We are so close, so close. I have found my mate. It is only a matter of time for you. You must hold out. I am coming to you."Storm snarled, throwing her head back to roar with rage."Imposter. You are not my best friend.""Storm! What are you saying? Of course I am

The jaguar roared, drawing Storm’s attention back to the danger closest to her. She forced a careless smile. "You have the taste of my blood in your mouth. And I have the taste of yours. You have information I seek. You tried to kill me and I owe you no quarter." The cat remained motionless, not a muscle moving, eyes focused intently on her. The jaguar people were as elusive and secretive as the great cats, and like their animal part-or because of it they preferred the dense rainforest near streams and riverbanks. They were rarely encountered and, most likely, were stealthy enough and too familiar with the rain forest to ever be seen unless they wished it. The men, like the animal, were heavily built and enormously strong. They had tremendous night vision and excellent hearing. They were good tree climbers and strong swimmers. Little was known of their society, although she knew they had bad tempers when aroused. Before she probed deep into the brain of the jaguar, the hunter took a

Storm woke up with a sense of dread churning in the pit of her stomach. She had just had a horrible dream, and the memory of it lingered like a dark cloud over her mind.As she lay in bed, trying to shake off the remnants of the dream, she felt a wave of panic wash over her. Her chest tightened, making it hard to breathe, and she struggled to control the rising panic that threatened to overwhelm her.The dream had been vivid and unsettling, filled with images that made no sense to her. She tried to piece together the fragments of the dream, to understand its meaning, but it felt like trying to grasp at smoke. Vampires, demons and what-nots. What was all that? What was the dream trying to convey to her?Her emotions were in turmoil, like a storm raging inside her. Fear, confusion, and a sense of foreboding mingled together, creating a tangled web of emotions that she couldn't untangle. She still remembered the words that she had exchanged with the jaguar man, Kon. For some reason, it w