Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Preface
Preface
Chapter1
Introducing Chrystal
Chapter 2
Introducing Hannah and George
Eamon's building
Chapter 3
Hunting with Eamon
Chapter 4
Girls day
food court
Chrystal finds out about Savannah
Chapter 5
The Bledigs
Chapter 6
Thalia
Siphons come to Greenhaven
Humans found dead
Chapter 7
Michael
Skin changing
Dwarves
Arc History
Chapter 8
Tutoring
Chapter 9
Being hunted
Harry gets a car
Chapter 10
geting ready for school
vigil
Eamon's plan
Chapter 11
Samuel the Kite
Henry agrees
Chapter 12
The Trap!
Healing Lanie
Chapter 13
Prom Date?
Mom Dance Off
Chapter 14
Johnna's advice
The Date
Chapter 15
Prom primping
Prom
Chapter 16
training
graduation
Chapter 17
Morphling/Kite
Chapter 18
Double Date
Chapter 19
Last Day
Zombie Class
Celebration
Chapter20
Jen
Chapter 21
The attack
Mountains
Chapter 22
Morphling Army
Author Bio
Jasmine is an American Author in her
Illuminated Embers
Jasmine Flowerday
Copyright © 2018 Jasmine Flowerday
All rights reserved.
ISBN-13: 978-1983611841
ISBN-10: 1983611840
Dedication:
I want to thank my family for the support and love that you have shown me.
A special thank you to:
My mom, who was there to say what I needed to hear.
My sister, Adrianne, for giving me daily words of encouragement.
Justin Hilts, for his wonderful cover art.
My fantastic editor, Kathy Locatelli.
I love you all!
Message to my boys:
Hunter and McKinnon,
I am so blessed to watch you both turn into the incredible men that you are destined to become.
Remember to love life, look for the silver lining in situations, and never forget that--
Magic is Everywhere...
Preface
Five years ago, Savannah and her mother, Lanie, were attacked by evil beings. Narrowly escaping a brutal death while their home burned to the ground, they went into hiding.
Being a Kite, Lanie was used to being able to use her powers of energy manipulation for even the most mundane chores. Living among the Humans, otherwise known as Twitchies, she had learned to subdue her abilities so that they wouldn't draw attention. Her neighbors always wondered how she got her garden to look like it was always Spring. That was the extent of the suspicion. Life had been peaceful, fun, and nice before the monsters came. Her sister, Sylvia, helped her run a local greenhouse. Her sister-in-law, Thea, helped her get Savannah's powers under control.
While Sylvia was a Kite, like Lanie, Thea was a Morphling. She had the ability to turn into any living thing, so long as she made contact with it. Her brother and Lanie's husband, Kane, was murdered before Savannah was born. With no known reason as to why Kane was killed, Lanie asked Thea to stop changing outside the home.
Lanie was desperate to find a way to keep everyone from knowing that her daughter, Savannah, was half Morphling. In the Arc, where the Supernatural races co-existed, Kites were forbidden to take a Morphling as a mate. Kites were the self-proclaimed protectors of Humans, and thanks to the other ancient races not wanting to bother, they decided to organize the Arc. They put themselves in charge and created order and trading, helping each race find a place and purpose to help each other. This is how they created Arc Sanctum, the center of the Arc. It is where the central government and trade buildings are. Through the power that they hold in Arc Sanctum, the Kites keep order during interracial dealings.
Wizards, one of the ancient races, lived in the mountains. Most of them worked on their experiments or studies. Long ago, Fallon, a Wizard obsessed with souls, did a deadly experiment that cost the world millions of lives over time. He created Siphons! They are horrible creatures with red eyes that feed on the souls of the living. Communication with them was limited and destruction was impossible. This made them terrifying. Sometimes, it would seem that they would sleep for decades before waking up starving.
To gain Intel about the Siphons, the Wizards created the Morphlings by experimenting with various Supernatural blood. It is said that the main ingredients were Fae and Werewolf blood, though blood from other shifting races was probably used as well. Over time, almost every Wizard had their own Morphling as an assistant or personal spy. After the created race grew enough, the Wizards pushed for their personal rights within the Arc and allowed them to settle in different places all over the world.
Some of the other races had trouble accepting the Morphlings, especially the Kites. Almost everyone had experienced loss at the claws of Fallon's monstrous creations. Knowing that Morphlings were created to be spies didn't help the other races with the trust factor. The Morphlings were often treated as though they were not real humanoids and didn't deserve to be treated as equals.
Savannah surprised everyone when she destroyed the two Siphons that attacked Lanie and herself. They were the first to ever survive a Siphon attack. Some believed that they must be dead, and some gave Savannah the nickname of the Siphon Slayer. The nickname spread mostly through the Vampire culture as they were the only race that seemed to be able to communicate at all with the Siphons.
She was only ten when she earned this name. Her mother spirited her away to a cabin in the woods. Lanie has always suffered from visions. When this happens, she is often unaware of her surroundings and is unable to remember them when they are over. Sylvia and Thea often helped contain her and figure out what the visions were about. Without their assistance, it was all left to Savannah to help her mother. They also had to learn how to live without using their powers, since Kite magic left a traceable residue that other Supernaturals could see.
When Sylvia and Thea found the burning rubble, they fled back to the Arc for safety. Over time, they realized that the Siphons were after the Kites, and it had nothing to do with the Morphlings.
The mother-daughter duo tried gardening like the Twitchies. They tried learning from survival books and gardening books that Savannah would borrow from the library, without their knowledge. Ultimately, they ended up relying on Savannah's thieving abilities. Sometimes, she was successful in hunting. She even learned how to make candles from beeswax to sell.
This is how she met Samuel. He had been ditching school with Jen, who was a Nix. They were walking through the local Farmer's Market in Greenhaven when he saw her vibrant green hair. She was selling candles and peacock feathers. He just knew that she was a Kite. Hearing stories about the Kites and the fact that he had never met one made him want to get to know her. He noticed that she was dressed in rags and "accidentally" left Jen's
new outfit, which she was making him carry, for the mysterious Kite. After he talked Jen into going home, he went back to the Farmer's Market and followed her to the library. When she left in a hurry, he followed her trail into the woods and watched her take care of her mother.
He came back the next morning and confronted the two Kites, just to find out that Savannah was also half Morphling. Seeing how they were living made him want to help. He had been "borrowing" an apartment from a Vampire called Eamon when he felt the need to get away from his family. Eamon hadn't been to this property in a long time, and Samuel decided to offer it to Savannah and Lanie. While he was showing the apartment to Savannah, Lanie disappeared.
While trying to find evidence of what happened at the cabin, she got a surprise visit from her grandmother, Lemaria Embers. After a tense greeting, which left Samuel a little more than dazed, Lemaria told her that she had come when her Lanie had sent her a distress signal. Lemaria was shocked when she learned of Savannah's true heritage and warned her not to come back to the Arc, for her own safety. After arguing with her granddaughter over how to save Lanie, Lemaria flew away with her bright pink hair trailing behind her. With Samuel's assistance, Savannah deduced that her mother had been taken by a rogue pack of Werewolves.
Samuel leaned on his best friend, Harry, who was a Werewolf, to help them find Lanie. When the trio went back to the cabin, they were surprised to find a battle between Vampires and Werewolves. Before they could get out of there, they were attacked by a pair of Siphons. Savannah was somehow able to defeat them again, and the Werewolves led them back to her mother.
After retrieving Lanie, the teenagers took her back to the apartment where they were planning to rest. That is when Eamon, the Vampire, showed up. When he realized what was going on, he decided to help. Lanie was an old friend of his from the Arc, and he was fascinated with the Siphon Slayer. When he got news that all of the Siphons were hunting for Savannah, he decided that he needed to protect her at all costs. He knew that she was the answer to the Siphon problem!
Chapter1
Savannah Embers sat in a classroom at Greenhaven High School, staring out one of three windows along the left side of the wall. Mrs. Primm was reading a book at her desk at the front of the room. This was her period off, and she only had one student.
Outside the classroom, it was a beautiful day of seventy-five degrees with a lovely breeze. Savannah's mind started to wander to all of the things that she would have been doing on a day like today if it weren't for recent events. She could be hunting with her new bow, singing to her bees, or maybe making candles with her mother.
Savannah was grateful for her new life. In many ways, she was freer, she didn't have to worry about her mother as much, and she could take a shower every day. It was nice to be able to clean herself where the fish and other animals didn't pee. In other ways, she felt more stifled and caged. Being independent for so long, it was frustrating for her to be treated like a child. A non-leaking roof over their heads, school, and three-square meals seemed to make everyone forget what she had gone through to keep her mother and herself alive for the last five years. Tugging on the uncomfortable button-up shirt that Eamon had picked out for her, she tried to remind herself that it was a good thing to wear fresh clothes every day. He had bought both her and her mother new wardrobes. Unfortunately, he didn't let Savannah pick her own clothes. Eamon had insisted that blouses, suspenders, and plaid skirts were the way to go. His research? Television.
Even going to school had more drawbacks than she had anticipated. All of the rooms had a stagnant, stale smell about them. She longed to crack a window and let the breeze in that she watched floating through the trees. Samuel was two whole grades above her, though in a few weeks they would find out if that changed. He had ditched a lot of school and may not make it to his Senior year, next year. As much as she wanted him to be closer to her grade, she needed him to do well. His parents already had forbid them seeing each other outside school. If that lasted through the summer, she wasn't sure that she could keep her sanity. To top it off, she was the only one who wore plaid skirts and button up blouses.
Samuel and Harry were her only friends. They had recently helped her find her mother, who had gone missing when a rogue pack of Werewolves had tried to "save" her. Harry was graduating at the end of the month, and she knew that his folks hadn't been quite as strict as Samuel's. But Savannah had never actually spent time alone with Harry before, and this new life was a little scary. Harry did have a girlfriend, Chrystal, who Savannah thought was nice, but she didn't really know her yet, either. There was also a woman, named Tyana who she was fond of, but they were more business partners. Though Savannah didn't really need the money anymore, she still liked to sell her wares at the market with Tyana and her son.
Eamon, her mother's old Vampire friend, had gone to great lengths to procure appropriate government paperwork from Arc Sanctum. He had even managed fake transcripts for the school. According to the transcripts, she was from New York. She didn't know the first thing about New York, but he assured her that it wouldn't be an issue.
Savannah turned her attention back to her desk. She tapped her number two pencil nervously and stared at the questions on the page. She was supposed to be taking yet another test. They couldn't seem to figure out what to do with her. In some areas, her testing was off the charts. In others, she was severely behind. Her love of the library had helped a bit, but her education was self-taught. Hiding in a cabin from horrible monsters for a good portion of your youth tends to do that. Savannah looked up at the clock; only eleven minutes before the lunch bell rang. Skimming through the pages, she answered what she could and left the rest blank. Pulling her now brown hair back into a ponytail, she grabbed the test and her new book bag and went to the front of the classroom.
Mrs. Primm was so involved with her book, "The Times Square Mystery", that she hadn't realized that her student had moved.
"Mrs. Primm?" Savannah said, trying to get her attention. It was five minutes until the bell, and if she was let out a little early, she might have a chance at a decent spot in the lunch line. Otherwise, she would end up at the back again. Samuel ushered her in front of him on her first day, and the other kids were mad at her for cutting the line. He tried every day since, but the last thing she needed was more enemies. She had enough outside the school.
"Ahhhh!" the teacher screamed, almost falling out of her chair. Breathless, Mrs. Primm struggled to regain her balance. "Joleen! Don't sneak up on people like that! You about gave me a heart attack!"
Joleen Thomson was the name that Eamon had given her to use. She still had a little trouble remembering to answer to it, but she was getting better. The real trick was getting Samuel and Harry to remember it in public. Samuel had screwed up twice in the first day and once on the second day. Harry had mostly come up with "Savjo". Lucky for Savannah, no one had seemed to notice her much.
"I'm done with the test, Mrs. Primm," Savannah said. She hoped that the teacher wouldn't check it right away.
"Are you?" asked Mrs. Primm, quirking her eyebrow. As a teacher, she knew that she should put her mystery novel down and check Joleen's work. After all, the girl had turned in a couple of incomplete tests already. But the end of the year was coming, and she had Summer Break Fever, along with everyone else. It was hard for her to take this girl seriously. Who moves so late in the year? But, the school had to comply. Normally, they would go off of transcripts, but they were sketchy at best. The classes that it said she had taken were too generic. Most high schools don't have a class called Science 101 or Math 101. She knew that Principal Haymer had also been suspicious. When he had called the New York school to verify the paperwork, they had suggested testing the girl, to make sure Savannah would assimilate well. Mrs. Primm had wanted to stick her in freshman classes, but the principal had insisted. So, here she was, giving up her extra period to supervise placement testing.
Savannah put on her best version of an innocent face, complete with a smile
. She wasn't sure what it looked like, as she didn't spend too much time in front of mirrors. But it must have come off pretty good, because Mrs. Primm waved her off.
Tugging her pack a little higher on her shoulder, Savannah left the room before the teacher could change her mind. She took a right and quickly walked down the corridor towards the cafeteria. The odd combination of food smells told her that she was headed in the right direction. It smelled like a mixture of old ranch, ketchup, and canned corn. The hall opened up into a large circular room. Kiosks and lunch ladies, who were still setting up for the oncoming horde, lined the semi-circle on the right, while the round lunch tables filled the rest of the cafeteria.
Taking her lunch money out of her back pocket, she grabbed a tray and was the first in line. She grabbed an orange juice, salad, fresh fruit, and mashed potatoes, before walking towards the table she usually shared with the boys.
The annoying high pitch of the lunch bell reverberated throughout the school. Samuel and Harry kept trying to tell her that the bell would become her most favorite sound in the world, but she didn't see it happening anytime soon. A few seconds later, hundreds of high school kids swarmed the lunch room. On a nice day like today, some would go outside and sit on the grass. She knew the boys would be up for it, but she wanted to catch their eye before walking out. Every lunch period, they would try to come up with an idea to get the boys ungrounded. So far nothing was working, but last night she decided to bring it up with her mother and Eamon. Her mother wasn't sure what to do, but Eamon had a pretty good idea. How well it would work depended on exactly how behind Samuel was on his studies.
Scanning the crowd, Savannah accidentally made eye contact with Jen, the most popular girl in school. Everyone always seemed to flock to Jen and were always willing to do her bidding. Her clothes were always top of the line and hugged her in all the right ways. A few weeks ago, Samuel had arranged it for Savannah to have a small piece of Jen's wardrobe, without her knowledge. Today, she was wearing a floral silk skirt that floated a couple of inches below her bottom, a silver silk blouse, jeweled silver sandals, and accessories to match. Her chestnut hair was styled to look as if she had just walked out of a salon.
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