Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle)

Changer’s Blood
(Book two of the
Balancer’s Soul
cycle)

Published by H. LeeMorgan at Smashwords

Copyright 2012 H. Lee Morgan

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ISBN
978-1-4761-8587-3

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Clandestine and Exposed

As
Kara angrily thrust
her
silver longbow next to the
positioned
log
,
that
rested alongside
the fire
pit
,
she
sat down
feeling the most resentment
she’s
ever experienced in
her
entire life
. The campfire
continued
giving off just enough light for
her
to see the three figures that
stirred and
caused these ang
ry feeling to swell up inside her
until all surged beyond her threshold
.
Her
irritation
was understandable
with current circumstances
, but no less heartbreaking. Her
heart
wouldn’t cease
thundering and even t
hough the dramatic situation had
ca
l
m
ed
, she
could
n’t
begin to b
e carefree at this very point in
her
life
.
The people
Kara
loved more than anything
in this world
carried secrets so huge
that they could tell no one and didn’t even think she
could handle it.
T
oo late now, she’s already seen
far
too much to pass this
night
off as a
conjured fantasy
from her vivid imagination.

This situation
i
s completely unfair.

Not too long ago
Kara
sat calmly before the warm and com
forting fire while leaning on her
boyfriend
’
s shoulder
. The silence was so comforting
and his warmth
made all feel
perfect
.
Mark
has
always given off
a quiet and relaxed personality that
she
adore
d
because
her
own
personality is the exact
opposite.
Kara
love
s
keeping him on his toes and for some reason h
e hasn’t been scared off like her
previous boyfriends.
He was such a steadfast friend to her and her brother. Sometimes he’d joke and play like any other person his age, but other times he gave her the impression of
ageless
maturity beyond his appearance.
He’
s slightly taller than
she is, but not as tall as her
brother.
Mark
has jet b
l
ack
,
spiky hair that feels
a little
different
than most other guys
,
it’s coarser
to the touch
yet still feels silky,
and his silver eyes are to die for.
It is like they’ve seen everything there is to see
in life
, but couldn’t find anything boring
.
Kara
know
s
beyond a hint of doubt that
h
e likes
her
more than a friend
, but
she
had a nagging
feeling that either he’s hiding
been
something or he
is such a good actor that he truly
doesn’t care for
her
like
she
do
es
with him.
It just must have been her
mind
getting carr
i
ed
away,
which isn’t un
usual.

Sitting a
cross from
them,
on the other side of the campfire
,
sat
Kara’s big
brother
an
d
her
new
sister-in-law
,
Sarah.

Her
new sister moved here several months ago and turned
Kara’s
family upside down. The first time
Kara recalled seeing her
she was running away from her father
,
Mr. Branderson
,
as
her b
rother
pulled
her
home in a wagon
that
he built for
her
on
her
thirteenth birthday. S
arah
ran into the woods and
Connor
looked
sick with
worr
y
that she
had ended up
lost
in the woods. S
o he tracked her down on the darkest of nights and brought her back safely. Not too long after meeting her for the first time
Kara
knew
nearly immediately
that Sarah and
her b
rother were
meant to be together.
They
just
seemed to fit perfectly, like two long lost puzzle pieces
.
Even
Kara
could tell that fate had brought these two lovers together.

And while
her b
rother
had
left to go
track her down Mark came over and k
ept
Kara
company
.
D
uring that time
Kara
fell in love with Mark
,
after spending some quality time alone with him
.
They
’ve known each other for
many
years, but that
night
had been
the first time that they
really had a chance to be alone
without any outside interference or disturbances
. Usually
her b
rother and Mark would hang out and do guy things.
That night was theirs.

Her
big brother is just that, he’s
Big
. Everyone at school made fun of him because of
his large size
, but he let them
do it
because he
doesn’t like hurting people. Connor
is nineteen years old
,
six foot two and weighs
over
two hundred and forty pounds, but he hasn’t any fat that
she
could ever tell.
He’s
layered and knotted with
solid muscle
that made him look like the perfect male specimen
.
He trained
nearly day
in and out everyday by either running or camping. There wasn’t anyone in the school t
hat could outrun or out muscle her
big brother.
But he always
seemed
alone
,
until Mark became his only friend. Even with a friend there was always a piece of him that always seemed to be missing,
a companion.

That was
,
until he met Sarah.

Several years ago Connor
had been
in a terrible accident that left him scarred for
the rest of his
life. He was working at
their grandfather’s
forge
,
working with hot metal.
Kara’s g
randdaddy
, David,
uses ink to quench his metal
s
and on
that
day he quenched a
large
crossbeam
,
in black ink
,
and hooked it
up
on the cooling rack. Somehow the still hot metal almost fell on
their g
randdaddy, but
her b
rother
was there and
pushed him out of the way
,
just in time
. Unfortunately the crossbeam landed in the center of
her b
rother’s
sternum
and seared the black ink into
the flesh of
his chest
and cracking several ribs
;
making a big black X tattoo
that nothing could remove
. Each line starts at
each of his shoulders, crosses
at the center of his sternum and wrap
s
around
each of his ribs.
The design seared perfectly onto his chest, making his physical attributes stand out even more.
The weight and heat from the crossbeam cracked almost every one of his ribs as it conformed to his chest and the pain from the heat made him go unconscious.
He lost a year from school
and
because of it
he had to graduate
with her
class.

Connor
hid his chest like a deformity, but it only makes him look even
stronger
and dangerous
;
in a good way. One day towards the end of the school year
,
he vanished for a month and when he
returned
he showed everyone the home he made for
him and
Sarah. It was a beautiful place
and one
that
Kara
will never forget
because she felt jealous and wanted one of her own
.

And a week or so after graduating
Connor
married Sarah in the same place that he found her
in the woods
and Kara
suspect
that
it was where they
first
fell
madly
in love. Sarah’s father did the ceremony
, making it
both
short and beautiful
.
T
he way it should be
.
When they sealed their
vows with a kiss everyone became
overjoyed
for them
.

The most fun person in Sarah’s family is her older sister Jillian. They look
somewhat
the same, but with only a few differences.
Jillian and
Kara
get along so well because
they
have the same outgoing personalities.
She
like
Jillian’s
quick
wit
and she likes
Kara’s
bluntness.

After a traumatic incident during
the
graduation
ceremony
a student named Mathew used a
stun gun on
her
brother while
Mr. V.,
a
n unforgivable
science teacher
,
held Sarah
hostage
in a headlock.
Kara’s
brother
miraculously
stood
after
getting kicked and
stunned
once
he looked at his wife
and saw that she was in danger
.
She’s
never seen
her b
rother look so murderous
before and the blood that poured down his face made his entire
out
look that much more threatening
.
He knocked out Mr. V.
with a punch to the gut
after Sarah free
d
herself
. W
hile
this happened Kara
made Mathew go unconscious with a single
strike
to the back of his head.