Fire's Touch (The Enlightened Species Book Three) Read Online Free PDF Page A

through on his soft, black curls, creating a halo effect.
    Cassie just grinned, closed the book, and looked at her defiantly. Johnny toddled over with his arms raised to Stacey, and she scooped him into her arms and spun around in circles till he giggled. “Cassie, leave.” Normally Cassie was the only person allowed to spend time with her and Johnny in the same room. Stacey actually preferred to have Cassie around, just in case, but today, Cassie had pissed her off. Pissed off made her more unstable. Better if Cassie was out of the room.
    With a sigh, Cassie shrugged and left. Stacey took Cassie’s vacated seat with Johnny on her lap, flooding him with her love through the maternal bond. He returned the feeling. A lump formed in her chest. Using her imagination, her wishes came to the surface of her mind, and she transferred them to Johnny telepathically.
    It was a beautiful sunny day beside the lake at her childhood estate. She and Johnny were having a picnic on the grass under the giant shade tree that Stacey had climbed as a kid. She tickled Johnny, making him giggle in his sweet way. Hand in hand, they walk to the shoreline. She handed him rocks and clapped proudly when he hurled them a few feet into the water.
    Johnny smiles as his eyes fluttered with drowsiness. “You hungry, sweet boy?” Stacey offered her wrist. Stacey focused on the lake image again as Johnny’s dentes punctured gently into her vein. She tried to tunnel the energy toward her imaginary water source. Control, control, control . Her head pounded with the effort. Beads of sweat rolled unchecked from her forehead, down her neck, between her breasts.
    Once he slept, he broke from her wrist. His lips, red from her blood, lifted in an adorable grin from whatever he dreamed of. Stacey let out a sigh of relief and resumed the visual feast of her son. Since full Elven young mature at a slower rate, Johnny was developmentally the same as a two-year-old human, though chronologically he was over four. That suited Stacey just fine—she wanted him to stay little for as long as possible. Unlike her, he was born with psychic ability and all of the other traits of the Volaticus species. He didn’t have language stills yet, but she could monitor his emotions all the time. Sometimes when he felt strongly, he would telepathically send her images. The mother/child bond filled her with gratitude, love, and joy. She flooded his psyche with her love for him again and marveled when he returned it even in repose.
    She’d already bloodlet an ample stock of her blood for Johnny. When her time became short, she created a telepathic bridge to Cassie, aware that all the Volaticus security would hear it as well.
    “Cassie, have Meg put Johnny down for a nap.”
    Johnny stirred from the sound of Stacey’s telepathic voice and then settled back down as Meg lifted his sleeping form from her lap. Though human, Meg had the heredity line in her palm denoting her ability to carry Elven/human offspring. Being Heredity human, Meg had been hunted but luckily not captured by rogues. The SOSC warriors intercepted the trappers, made Meg aware of the enlightened species, and placed her under their protection. Eventually Meg found herself living in the same community Stacey had. Meg didn’t like Stacey much, which was a point in the girl’s favor. However, she loved Johnny, and she had become friends with Cassie. When Stacey had purchased her property and moved, hiring Cassie to head up security for Johnny, Meg had come along and taken a nanny position.
    When Meg and Johnny were out of sight, Stacey released a breath and stood. Cassie waited just outside the door and matched her stride down the hallway to the foyer. Stacey ignored her. “So how long do I get the silent treatment this time?” Cassie smirked.
    A surge of energy through the energy weave surrounding the property heralded the SOSC warrior’s arrival. Stacey opened the front door to see her luggage being loaded into the