Shadowed Magic (The Enlightened Species Novella)

By

Wendy S. Hales

The
Enlightened
Species
Novella

AMAZON KINDLE EDITION

PUBLISHED BY

Wendy S. Hales

www.wendyshales.com

Shadowed Magic © 2012 Wendy S. Hales

All rights reserved

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

Cover Design by
Kelli Ann Morgan

www.inspirecreativeservices.com/

Formatting by Bob Houston eBook Formatting

http://about.me/BobHouston

ISBN: 978-1476011622

This book is for my best friend, my hero, my sister: Patty.

It
’
s
not
avoiding
it
’
s
overcoming
adversity
that
defines
our
character.

Thank you for teaching me that.

A huge thank you to: my mother who spent hours with me bouncing ideas and reading Shadowed Magic to her. I love you.

To my husband and children, you makes everyday better by simply being in it.

To Clancy, thank you for all your help.

A special thank you to the readers of The Enlightened Species who love the characters as much as I do.

“I'm outa here. Some of us have to work in the morning.” Aymee rose from her seat. The music boomed with a salsa beat. It should have drowned out her voice but since her friends all had hypersensitive hearing, she knew they heard her.

“You want me to walk you out?” Her best friend Jess asked. Funny how different thing were now. Once upon a time Aymee thought
everyone
was human. Now she knew she was the only human in her group of friends. They'd all be looking fabulous and young while she'd be pushing a walker and looking for her teeth.

Jerika and Irsu were Volaticus Elven, Jess and Umbrae were Volaticus human/Elven hybrids called Hulven, and Greycia was an Aquatie. Since the Volaticus could fly and the Aquatie could swim it made Aymee's vacations far more interesting … not that she had time for vacations.

This was the first time her friends had gotten together in months. Jerika was busy with the Mesa PD, Irsu led a warrior unit for the Symbiosis of Species Council, Jess and Umbrae were both newly bloodmated, and Umbrae had recently become a new mother. Tonight had been a celebration of Greycia finally getting transferred from the human integration course in Australia to the one here in Mesa. It was also a chance to get Umbrae out of the house for the night. Aymee couldn't fathom having one kid let alone quadruplets.

“Naw, I'm good. I'll just say goodnight to Greycia and get my ass home,” Aymee answered.

Searching the dance floor, she caught sight of the beautiful Aquatie female grinding against some guy. Not so long ago Aymee would have been doing the same thing. Now her heart wasn't in it. Well heart was a loose term since she never actually invested love into any of the sexual partners she used to keep around for shits and giggles.

Jess grinned and nodded. “Alright, call me tomorrow.”

Aymee had a black belt in mixed martial arts, so it wasn't as if she couldn't take care of herself. A fact Jess knew well. She injected herself between Greycia and her potential grunt-fest recipient on the dance floor long enough to say goodbye and made her way out the door of the club. Her keys clutched in her hand, the cool desert night air chilled her skin after the heat of the condensed bodies inside. The comparative silence after the ear splitting music calmed her. She used to spend almost every night in places like this. Endlessly searching for some guy to make her feel whole if only for a single night. The futile effort had lost its appeal.

“You going home alone tonight, Aymee?” One of the door bouncers asked, his grin full of invitation.
Been
there,
done
that
, though he was obviously offering her a second helping if she wanted it.

Aymee gave him her 'come hither if you dare’ smile, pivoted and walked off with a heavy sway of her hips. Her swishy miniskirt bounced against the back of her legs to gift him a peek of the bottom curve of her ass with every step. The slut-stroll ceased as she turned the corner out of his view to take the heavy steps of the hollowness she actually felt inside. The game held zero appeal to her anymore. It had been more than a year since she'd been with anyone, yet she didn't miss it at all.

Distracted in her thoughts, Aymee didn't notice the four men step out of the alley she'd just passed. “Hey, baby. Where you going?” One of them called out to her as the others chuckled and encouraged the designated voice of the group. Aymee ignored them and continued walking. Four against one weren't good odds no matter how much training she had.