Lawked Flame

Lawked Flame

By

Erosa Knowles

Published by Sitting Bull Publications,
LLC

This is a work of fiction. Names, places,
characters and incidents are either the product of the author‘s
imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any
actual persons, living or dead, businesses, organizations, events
or locales is entirely coincidental. All trademarks, service marks,
registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the
property of their respective owners and are used herein for
identification purposes only. The publisher does not have any
control over or assume any responsibility for author or third-party
websites or their contents.

Lawked Flame

Copyright 2012 by Erosa Knowles

2012 All Rights Reserved

ISBN:
978-1-937334-15-4

First Edition Electronic February 2012

All rights reserved under the International
and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from Erosa Knowles.

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Lawked Flame

By

Erosa Knowles

Can a woman who has been
betrayed in the worst way by an ex-spouse learn to trust again?
Will she open her heart to a man who seems to be too good to be
true, meeting every requirement she has ever wanted or needed in a
partner? Alayna would. But it will take time. Time is the one thing
Khayden, Master Lawke, doesn’t have. His enemies are bent on
destroying his people and harming Earth in the process. The only
way to save both is for his Kee, Alayna, to unlock him, freeing his
powers and unbeknownst to her, her own. But first she has to
believe that there’s more to her current lover than she sees. It
will take a leap of faith to accept his pursuit and engage her
battered heart again. The attacks are speeding up, with an alarming
amount of casualties. Despite the fierce attraction, Alayna isn’t
sure she’s strong enough to lay bare her heart again, so soon.
Khayden is betting his life that she is strong enough to do that
and to handle his flame.
Lawke’s Flame by
Erosa Knowles a paranormal romance
.

A special thanks to Linda, Vicki and Karen,
for all your help. You ladies rock!

Chapter 1

“Damn it.” Alayna intended to explore the
area, not become stranded in the woods. A quick glance in the
direction she’d just traveled left her frustrated, the green and
brown overgrown brush hid the path she’d been certain she and her
brother, Johnny, had traveled a week ago. Could she have mistaken
one large boulder for another?
No,
she squelched that
thought. They’d turned at
that
boulder, the one with the
white flowers sticking out of it. Then they'd hiked, straight ahead
to the clearest pond of water she’d seen in years.

Straightening in her seat, she refocused on
her destination. “Okay, you can do this. The pond is directly
ahead. Just get out and walk a few feet, you’ll see something you
recognize.” Her words echoed in the silence of the Land Rover.
Swallowing around the meatball-sized lump of panic in her throat,
she gazed out the window.

Was it just last week she’d been enamored
with the beauty of the vibrant forest and smitten by the grandeur
of the majestic trees with their various fragrances and harmonious
colors? Her nephew, Greg, had frolicked in a clear pond of water
which they’d shared with a family of ducks and some other small
animals. He'd teased her about her lack of grace, she'd tripped and
fallen several times, while navigating the woods. Her fingers had
dug into the moist ground and she’d reveled in the coolness of the
earth. Life in Las Vegas didn’t often afford her the opportunity to
reconnect with nature, and she missed the beauty of real trees
draped in color and the smell of wild plants.

Now, what she saw outside her window
appeared malicious instead of majestic, a vicious tangle of tree
trunks with low-hanging branches ready to toss her to and fro
before ripping her apart. Leaves she’d remembered as bursting with
the brilliant fabric of fall’s oranges and golds now looked like
dull and listless hand-me-downs, lacking last week’s vigor.

Closing her eyes, she leaned against the
headrest, certain she’d missed something. The forest, her forest as
she’d begun to think of it, seemed sad. Dead almost. As if it was
weeping. She’d come here today to get away from her personal
demons, her sad thoughts, and despair, only to be surround by more
gloom.

“ I'm gonna cry if I don’t get this sucker
started and get out of here,” she murmured, and turned the key
again.

Nothing happened.

Fear inched up her spine, leaving an acrid
taste on the back of her tongue. She hit the steering wheel again,
pissed she couldn’t do more. A city girl lost in the woods in the
middle of the day had to be one of the most pathetic things she
could imagine. The sad vibes surrounding her were miniscule in
comparison to her situation.

Tapping her fingers against the leather
seat, she tried to think who she could call. “Triple A,” she
shouted, happy with a feasible solution. Grabbing her purse, she
rooted around the bottom until she latched onto her cell. Glancing
at the top of the device, her heart dropped along with her
mouth.

“What? Come on! No bars? You’ve got to be
kidding me.” Shaking the small gadget, Alayna was certain it’d come
on. “Please, please, I need you to work.” She winced at the thread
of desperation in her voice.

A loud clap of thunder rent the air.
Surprised, she ducked into the seat, hitting her head. Lightning
followed the loud sound. “No, no, no,” she groaned, glancing up
trying to see the sky through the canopy of trees. “It’s not
supposed to rain today, I checked.” Normally, she liked
thunderstorms; she always slept like a babe through the sounds.
Being stuck in the middle of the woods was bad enough, but with the
addition of thunder and lightning, her heart pounded and her
breathing was unsteady and shallow. Perspiration beaded her
forehead and her upper lip as she covered her ears against the boom
of nature.

“Okay, come on,” she pleaded with the Rover,
turning the key again and again between each new clap. “You need to
work, just a tiny spark. Something, anything.”She screamed and
jerked down into her seat at the next loud boom. Two seconds, that
was all there was between them. It had hit not far from her, and
each one seemed to draw closer.

“Shit.”

Chest heaving, she peeked out the window and
looked up at the dark sky. “Why didn’t I stay home? Why’d I have to
get all Lewis and Clark and go exploring?” Miserably, she looked at
her cell and then at the useless key. “Both not working, how messed
up is that?”

Then the downpour started, temperatures
seemed to drop a degree with each thunderclap, and the whistling
winds found every cranny in her car. Reaching into the backseat,
Alayna pulled up the blanket she’d brought along for her impromptu
picnic and covered herself as the rain pounded the top of the
vehicle.

In the midst of the storm she thought she
saw a flash of light, no, a blinking light in the forest. Rubbing
her eyes, she stared in the direction again and saw nothing but
darkness.

“Okay, you’re no Alice, so don’t even think
about following the blinking rabbit, I mean, light.” Covering her
eyes, she groaned at the cramp in her leg. “I’m delirious and
seeing things.”

Over the course of the next thirty minutes,
two things remained constant. The pounding of the rain on the roof
of the Rover and the flash of light through the trees.

###

Groaning, Alayna moved tortoise slow on the
collapsed seat she’d used for sleeping. She had no idea when the
rain had stopped, but she was glad the storm had passed. “Ow.” She
grimaced against the pain in her neck from sleeping at odd
angles.

“What time is it?” She chuckled at the
absurd question, wondering who she expected to answer as she
glanced at her cell, forgetting for a moment it had died during the
night.

“This is ridiculous, I’ve got to get out of
here.” Johnny was gonna be more than a little mad about his car,
but he could come get it later.

Covering her face with her palm, she
groaned, remembering her brother and his son had left for a
week-long vacation at Disney. That’s what'd started this impromptu
visit to the pond in the first place. She had to get his car or
truck or whatever he called it, home. Once she found a phone, she’d
get someone to tow it. Her mind wrestled with all types of
solutions to her main objective, getting home. For the umpteenth
time she turned the key, with little hope it would start this
time.

It didn’t.

Disappointment was too tame a label for how
she felt. But angry, scared, and frustrated were definitely in the
lineup.

She looked out the window where streams of
sunlight filtered through the forest, giving it an otherworldly
radiance. Every place the light touched glowed, even the puddles of
water near the truck. She wondered how much damage the soggy ground
would do to her leather boots. If she hadn’t desperately needed to
relieve herself, she would’ve watched the forest wake up and come
alive from last night’s slumber, from the safety of her car.

Opening the door, she pocketed the keys,
grabbed a wet nap from her picnic supplies, her cell, and stepped
out. The ground felt solid. Good. She released a pent-up breath,
moved to the side and relieved herself in a hurry. Her brother had
said there were all types of animals in the woods, so she kept a
constant vigil, certain at any moment some hungry beast would jump
out and devour her. After jumping back into the Rover, she pulled
out another wet nap and did a hasty clean-up. Her heart beat as
though she’d run a marathon, and she dropped her forehead to the
steering wheel while she calmed down.

As a real estate developer, she’d
experienced a lot of weird situations, been in some tough spots in
some crazy places, but nothing like this. Lost, alone with no
back-up. Worse, she knew better. Whenever she visited prospective
development sites, someone always knew where she was. Being a woman
in a male-dominated profession she was extra careful, but she’d
gotten lax yesterday. Now she paid the price of her folly and had
to buck up. If she planned on walking out of here to find help and
get home she needed to stop feeling sorry for herself; it got her
no closer to home. But the thought of leaving the safety of the
Rover sent a shaft of fear through her.

“What if it rains again? You’ll be stuck,”
she said, trying to build her courage. “You gotta do this if you
want to get home.”Turning, she picked through the things she’d take
and those she’d leave behind. She stuffed the leftover half of the
picnic sandwich she hadn’t eaten last night in her mouth. Her two
five-dollar bills, credit cards, and driver’s license went into her
back pocket. After grabbing her heavy coat, she put her cell and
charger in the pocket before sliding it on, and picked up the two
remaining bottles of water.

Opening the door, she stepped out. Glancing
around, she expected a horde of hungry animals any minute. “You can
do this, you’re made of strong stuff.” Thoughts of animals were
pushed aside, instead she tried to focus on the men and women she’d
supervised the past few years. They called her a ball-buster
because she didn’t play when it came down to business. They’d never
believe she was afraid to walk in the woods. The pep talked lasted
until she was three steps behind the Rover and the ground turned to
soft mud. Each step became a struggle to place one step ahead of
the other. Sweaty and frustrated over her slow progress she almost
decided to return to the truck until the ground hardened a little
further on.