Gabriella Hewitt - Out of the Shadows

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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writers imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Samhain Publishing, Ltd.

11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B

Cincinnati OH 45249

Out of the Shadows

Copyright 2011 by Gabriella Hewitt

ISBN: 978-1-60928-512-8

Edited by Mary Hamilton

Cover by Scott Carpenter

All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: August 2011

www.samhainpublishing.com

Dedication

I want to thank the following people: My editor Mary Hamilton, who started my year off with a bang by contracting Out of the Shadows, and who wielded her editorial pen with precision, helping me refine this story to be the strongest it could be. Samhain Art Director Scott Carpenters talent deserves more than this humble tribute. He took a simple art form I filled out and came up with this amazing cover that simply rocks. Ive also put together a book trailer and I absolutely couldnt have done it without music men Jeff Erdmann and Rick Horvath for bringing forth the sound of the Aztecs; photographer Sylvester Zawadski for capturing my images; and the team at Ghost Writer Extraordinaire (GWE) for putting the final package together and spreading the word.

Chapter One

The ache in his soul grew with each step.

His muscles bunched and released as his legs chewed up the distance. He barely felt the scorching desert sand beneath the pads of his paws. His canine nose held the scent of the enemy, unerringly tracking the demon through the sweltering heat and vast expanse of the Arizona desert.

Buried deep inside, Toms let his wolf spirit take control. His animal spirit loved the chase, relished the moments when it was set free.

A demon had taken possession of a humans body and had perpetrated ever-increasing horrors on unsuspecting mortals until his actions had caught the attention of Huitzilopochtli, the Aztec sun god. Toms had been ordered to take down the demon and drag him back to the netherworld. After that, he would scout out this piece of land to determine why demons kept targeting it.

Basically, another mission that would play out like all the othersassuming he survived.

His wolf suddenly halted, head up, body alert. Toms sought the link between man and beast to determine what had caught the animals attention.

A scent flowed in, light and crisp, like the air after a rain shower. It overrode the demons acrid, sulfuric smell.

Toms forced his wolf spirit to pivot, employing all his senses to lock on to the elusive scent.

His heart stuttered. Could it possibly be? Was his spirit mate finally within reach?

Alarmed, his wolf spirit tried to call to him, to take control and order him to resume the chase. Toms ignored the wolf, his entire focus bent on locating the source of that scent. It called to him in a way he couldnt define, other than it touched a part of his soul hed long thought dead. His head whipped left, right, his nostrils flaring, inhaling the odors of the desert. He could feel his wolf pulling at him, determined that they continue on to take down the demon. It was their primary mission.

At least it had been until that scent caught his attention. Hope flared within Toms. A spirit mate would be his salvation.

His wolf growled, making its feelings clear. His human spirit struggled to override the animal spirit, a battle within one body between two powerful wills.

Was it happening? Had he finally lost the fight just when his spirit mate was so close? Would he spend the rest of eternity lost within the form of his wolf, his humanity subordinate to the will of the beast?

A harsh, painful cry erupted from within Toms.

His wolf echoed the sound with a long howl.

His warriors heart beat strong, his determination resolute. Toms gave one final tug, applying all his willpower, and then they were running flat-out, heading towards the vast unknown and an uncertain fate.

A wolfs howl pierced the desert silence, causing the animals to stir restlessly in their stalls. Wolves had been reintroduced into Arizona, but she had yet to see or hear one so close to her ranch. Was it an omen?

Carolina paused in her chores to stare out the open barn door into the gathering darkness.

For a moment, she let herself get caught up in the long, solitary note. It felt like the cry of a kindred spirit. She knew loneliness intimately. Only her loneliness did not come from the vast miles of the sun-parched Sonoran desert that surrounded her, but out of the necessity to protect her goddess, her lands secret. As one of the few amongst her people to become a guardian, her choices were limited.

The one occasion shed invested herself in another, hed betrayed her. Shed foolishly placed her hope and trust in Billy and shed paid a horrendous price. Her desire to find someone to share the workload, her joy and sadness, and the burden of her secretjust as her parents had donehad blinded her to the trap shed walked into. By the time she understood what was happening, it was too late. Her parents were dead.

Her heart weighed heavy in her chest as if it had happened recently and not five years ago. The memory of her parents lingered too close to the surface today. This had been their land, their dream, and now it was hers to fight for. Shed vowed never to fail them again. Above her own needs came the higher purpose of protecting her goddess at all costs.

Her mare, Mariposa, snorted and reared up, pulling Carolina from her thoughts. The animals had been growing edgier with each passing minute. They sensed the evil that blew in with the warm desert breeze. She berated herself for not paying more attention to them.

Goose bumps prickled her skin. Her tattoo, a gift from the goddess, began a slow burn on her shoulder, a sure sign that evil was approaching. She felt the heat radiating through the fabric of her denim shirt. The last time shed experienced the odd sensation, her world had fallen apart.

Cautiously, she turned her head, seeking the source.

Her breath came out in a gasp.

Less than ten feet away sat a magnificent gray wolf, watching her. Waiting.

He detected no fear in the cihuatl , the woman. Surprise, wariness, yes, but not fear. How unexpected.

Even more unexpected was the crisp, refreshing scent of water that hed caught out in the desert, surrounding her. He tested the air, his olfactory senses lingering over the fragrance, noting it smelled as pure now as it did then. His wolf remained alert, uninterested in the woman before it. Once more they were in complete disagreement.

Everything about the cihuatl interested Toms.

She wore jeans long faded to a soft blue from years of use, topped with a denim shirt, the long sleeves rolled up to her elbows. When shed turned, hed noted her lean, fit body, the smooth play of her muscles beneath the cloth. Shed pulled her long, dark hair back in a single braid that lay over her shoulder down to the slope of her breast. Her chestnut eyes watched him guardedly.

I dont know if youre the reason my skin is on fire, but you need to leave.

Her words floated across the distance.

His wolf pricked its ears up. Toms did the same.

She stared at him with such seriousness that Toms was entranced. She should be afraid of him, at least edging away to put distance between them. Yet, whether shed realized it or not, shed taken two steps closer.