Excerpt from 'The Road to Narrow Gate' (Chapter 10; East & Everly, Fire)

            Once in his room East brushed his teeth and donned his regular pajamas of cotton shorts and t-shirt. Just as he threw back the covers on his bed, he heard a female’s voice cry out, and immediately recognized whose it was.

Barefoot, he hurried out of his bedroom and down the hall. The door was cracked and he pushed the door all the way open. Still asleep, Everly wailed again, flailing this way and that. East ran to her bedside and touched her arm softly.

“Everly?” When he said her name once more and she still did not awaken, but continued to thrash about, he called out more loudly and grabbed her shoulders to shake her. “Everly!”

Her eyes shot open, and she looked up to see East staring down at her worriedly. Her breathing like she had just run several blocks, and a look of confusion on her face, she whimpered his name, “East?”

“It’s okay,” he told her gently, rubbing her shoulder. “That must have been a horrible dream.”

She sat up, worry written on her face. “I...I’m so sorry—I woke you up, didn’t I?”

“No, no…I was still awake actually—on my way to bed.”

“Oh,” she replied, looking relieved. “Well, sorry for disturbing you. And thank you for saving me from that nightmare.”

“Yeah, sure,” he said, looking concerned. “What was that awful dream about anyway?”

She swallowed. “The…fire,” she muttered with some difficulty.

East felt instant regret. Of course she was having a nightmare about her parents and twin sister dying, you idiot! “I’m sorry, Everly. That was thoughtless of me.”

She shook her head, but he could see the tears that had already reached the edges of her eyes, threatening to fall. Reaching out, he pulled her into an embrace, stroking her hair.

With her head on his shoulder, she wept for a couple minutes. When she drew away from him, he looked down at her longingly, and before he could stop himself, bent down and kissed her delicately on the lips. It was brief, but it was fire.

He sat back again, his expression just as stunned as hers. He gathered himself and before exiting her room managed a ‘goodnight, Everly.’

The Road to Narrow Gate

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Excerpt from 'The Light of Xander' (Chapter 20; Fun Between Friends)

            “Now that’s a fire,” Sloane said, smiling down at Xander, who had finally gotten the smoking kindling to blaze.

Xander stood proudly, stuck his chest out, and spoke in his manliest voice. “Why thank you. What do we have to roast over this magnificent campfire that was created with such masculine hands of skillfulness?”

They all laughed and Greer rolled her eyes. “We have weenies, oh marvelous campfire maker.”

Xander stood with fists on his hips, flexing his chest muscles and biceps. “Well then, go thither for yonder stick, fair maiden, and then come forth so that I may roast thine weenie to a golden brown.”

They were all laughing heartily now. It felt so good to escape the seriousness of their new, and sometimes scary world for a few moments of silliness.

Greer grabbed a nearby stick and handed it to Xander. He brushed off the dirt and burned the end of it over the fire. Smiling down at her mischievously, he skewered the hot dog. She grinned up at him, trying not to be hypnotized by the dancing firelight in his eyes.

Sloane loaded up four more sticks he had found with hot dogs, and passed them around.

Xander continued with his shenanigans. “Would thou likest mustard on thine seared frankfurter? Verily we have no baked rolls to wrap about this peculiar animal flesh.”

Caris shook her head and chuckled as she watched Xander’s antics. When had he become so likable? Thoughts of high school flooded her mind as she recalled how they had been at many of the same social functions, and back then she had always held him in high regard—but for the wrong reasons. For the past couple months she had loathed him, but now, she had definitely gained a new and healthy brotherly affection for him, as he had grown leaps and bounds; but then, so had she. Maybe that’s why high school seemed like a hundred years ago even though it had been only days behind them.

Caris glanced at Greer. She knew her new friend was hopelessly in love with Xander, and hoped that Xander would recognize the spectacular woman Greer was, and snatch her up before someone else did. She studied Xander again. Mara had been correct, of course—Xander was exceptionally, and almost unfairly handsome. If Greer won him, there was a good chance she’d have to spend the rest of her days battling other girls to the death for his affection.

Caris’s eyes wandered over to Sloane. It was weird to see him without his glasses—but nice. She still could not believe that he hadn’t defended Delilah. And she had felt so much relief when he had told her that he hadn’t gone out with that awful girl, and that she wasn’t his type. And now Delilah was gone and she was still here! It comforted Caris to be near Sloane, although she couldn’t figure out why. She’d had crushes on guys before, but none of them had made her feel comforted when they were near.

As she stared at him, the lovely fog had rolled in again. How come she couldn’t see how wonderful he was before? Caris suddenly had a revelation: When she was in the darkness, she was blind to all the truly beautiful things around her, and all the ugly things looked beautiful; but now that she was in the Light, she could see the beauty she had missed, and the ugly things for what they really were. How had she been blind for so long? A tear trickled down her face, and she wiped it away before anyone would notice, but the gesture hadn’t escaped Dr. Shyla, who sat next to her.

He smiled at her, and patted her hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

The statement could have been taken a number of ways, but Caris knew what he’d meant. He was glad that she had come into the Light. So was she.

The Light of Xander

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Excerpt from 'The League of Ascenders, Journey of the Fledglings' (Chapter 44; Noah & Mina, How did we get here?)

          Noah awoke to find himself in strange surroundings. He blinked and the room came into focus. He was a bit disoriented, but he felt surprisingly good. As he tried to stretch, he found that his arms were pinned. When he looked down, his breath caught. Mina lay sleeping in his arms!

          He touched her auburn hair that had fallen free from the braid she’d had it in the night before. It fell gloriously all around her in waves. 

          How had this happened? He struggled to remember but could not. He found that he didn’t really care. And part of him didn’t want to wake her, but wanted to stay like that forever. 

          He couldn’t help himself—he wrapped his arms all the way around her and hugged her lovingly. It felt so good to finally hold her. He breathed in deeply and could smell the sweet scent of her hair; cherishing the moment, because he thought she might wake up at any time and slap him. 

          Sure enough, she began to stir in his arms. He sighed and let her go reluctantly. Her eyes were still closed, and he smiled as she stretched and squirmed around trying to wake up. He propped his head up on one hand and continued to watch her silently. 

          After a few moments, she finally opened her eyes, and looked directly at him. Mina smiled and then her smile slowly faded, her eyebrows drawing together in concern. And then when awareness dawned completely, her eyes widened in panic. 

          How in the world had she come to be lying next to Noah! She sat up quickly and crawled to the far side of her couch. “How…what…”

          “Yes, I know.” Noah was grinning and cringing at the same time. “But just in case you’re about to hit me—I did not do this…I don’t think so anyway,” he said, suddenly unsure, and he, also, was trying to figure out how they came to be there in that way. He hadn’t much cared before, because waking up with Mina in his arms suited him just fine. But now he was curious. He thought back to the night before.

          Her mind traveled back to the night before as well, and they must have figured it out at the same time, as realization dawned in both their expressions.

          “You were hurt,” she remembered.

          “Yes.” And as he recalled everything that had taken place, he said, “Oooh, that was painful.” He looked down at his arm where the bear had bitten him, and saw only healthy skin.

          “Yes it was…I mean…that was so awful; I felt like I could feel your pain just watching you.”

          “But you healed me…again. Thank you,” he said, smiling at her.

          She flushed as usual. “Oh…uh…you’re welcome. But it’s funny, I don’t remember coming in here. My last memory was of seeing you bitten by that grizzly. I must have…passed out or something. Weird.”

The League of Ascenders, Journey of the Fledglings

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Excerpt from 'The Light of Xander' (Chapter 10; Xander, Be Silent and Listen)

         “Xander,” a strange voice called out.

Xander’s eyelids were so heavy that he could hardly bear to open them.

“Xander,” the voice said again.

After several tries, he forced his eyes open, blinked a few times, and then waited for his eyes to get used to the light in the room. How could it be morning already? The smell of rain invaded his nostrils as his eyes came into focus. He sprang up, hitting his head on his headboard.

The strange man that he had twice encountered was sitting on his dresser!

“Do not be afraid,” the man calmly advised.

“Get out!” Xander bellowed, reaching for the baseball bat he kept under his bed.

“Are you looking for this?” the strange man asked, holding up a bat.

Xander looked up at him and then at his bat, and the man read his mind and knew that Xander was thinking of what to do next. 

"You have no need to fear; I will not harm you, but there are those that move about that will try."

Xander ran for the door, only the door shut before he could reach it. As he grasped the handle, he could not open it and swore in frustration, turning to see the man still sitting on his dresser, as if he was waiting for something.

Xander hurried across the room and grabbed the heavy lamp that stood on his night stand, only to find that it was stuck in its place as well.

“Who are you?” Xander asked finally—not prepared to ask instead, ‘what are you?’

“Sit down,” the stranger ordered. When Xander did not move to sit, the stranger repeated himself—his voice commanding this time. “Sit down!”

Xander sat down on his bed, slowly. “Did you…do something to my parents?”

"Your parents are unharmed. Please be calm; I must speak to you."

"Oh yeah—I know—I'm called right?" he spat derisively. "Well, something tells me that whatever you've called me for is not for me, so unless you have a fat college scholarship that’s farther away than the other side of the planet, then I don't want any part of it! So you can just cross me off of your list and call someone else for the job, all right!”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.”

“I don’t care how simple it is or isn’t—you can exit the way you came!"

When the man did not move, Xander tried again, “I said…”

“Silence!” the stranger raged.

Xander’s body suddenly went rigid as though it had been turned to stone, causing him to fall back onto his bed in a statue-like manner. His eyes and his mind were the only things he had any control of.

The man hopped down from the dresser and walked over to where Xander was lying. He put one foot up onto the bed beside him, and leaned down to stare Xander intensely in the eye. "I have no patience for your foolishness, human! You have had every chance to receive His word, yet you still reject Him! Choosing instead to go your own selfish way and walk in your weak and irrational flesh! Wake up! He has loved you your entire, ungrateful life! With every luxury at your whim that you unwisely think are treasures! Open your eyes and see! Open your ears and hear! You are lucky it is not up to me, or I would take this cup from you—for you do not deserve it!"

Xander looked up at the wild-eyed stranger, fearful in a way that he’d never felt in his life, and he was suddenly grateful he was not in control of his bowels at that moment.

The stranger backed away, finally, and turned and walked across the room, standing with his back to Xander. He spoke calmly again. “My name is Griff. I am sent to guide and guard you. Your kind would call me a guardian angel. You are called, however, you may refuse the call if that is your wish.”

The stranger turned to look at Xander again. “I hear your thoughts, cold human. You will not be permitted to make your choice until you have heard the truth. If, after you have heard the truth, your choice is to refuse the call, you will be placed back onto the path which you previously chose for yourself. If, however, you accept the call, then you will walk His path from now on.”

Xander’s thoughts ran wild. 

“One last thing for now: For the truth, find Greer McLean. Then be silent and listen.” He looked at Xander fixedly. “If you do not—I’ll come back and we can do this again.”

        Xander could only blink.