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Faith Hunter, NYT best-selling author and dear friend, invited me to join a select few to write stories set in her “Rogue Mage” world.

Well, folks, the story is done, and the anthology is coming out next week!

Warm kudos to my fellow authors and, if you are so inclined, to my future readers!

My story, “Epena’s Epiphany,” follows a young woman, living on Moloka’i with her grandmother and aunties, struggling under the rule of the dark seraph who killed her parents. When he almost kills her little cousin, Epena vows to end his reign. But can she defeat such a powerful, supernatural being?

Here’s an excerpt:

“Her breath grew ragged as Epena ran toward the school. Smoke curled from the clustered buildings, but there was no sign of ’Ana’ana, the Dark seraph who ruled the islands. He’d destroyed and moved on, like he always did.

When she saw the splintered remains of the kindergarten, she stopped, feeling her knees go weak. Emergency workers pulled injured children from beneath the building’s collapsed roof.

The uninjured students gathered in a small crowd, chaperoned by teachers.

Epena ran to one of them. The woman’s face was pale and haggard. A stray tendril of raven hair hung from an otherwise severe bun.

“Akamu?” Epena gasped, searching her face. The teacher only stared back at her, wide-eyed.

Epena turned to the small group of children. “Akamu,” she pleaded, “has anybody seen him?”

One little girl, dirty, with a torn dress, pulled a thumb from her mouth and pointed to the ruined kindergarten building.

Epena sprinted to the wreckage. An EMT grabbed her arm. “Sorry, miss. It’s not safe.”

“My cousin is in there,” she snapped, yanking her arm free.

Stretchers lay on the ground behind a low wall. White sheets shrouded three tiny, still forms.

She fell to her knees, her strength draining away. Her shaking finger pointed at the stretchers. “Is he . . .”

The EMT glanced to where she pointed. “What was he wearing?”

“I don’t remember.” He’d squatted in the dirt road, pointing at her kakau designs. What had he worn? “White shorts and an aqua shirt, big collar.”

The EMT glanced over at the stretchers again and shook his head. “He’s not there. He must still be inside, or on the way to the hospital.”

The roof rested at a steep angle. It was hard to imagine anybody had survived.

But then another emergency worker came from behind the building, and Epena gasped. Akamu walked beside him, looking like a clay figurine, coated in chalky dust. Blood stained his white shorts, and he held his left arm tucked against his chest, inside his shirt. Tears had carved runnels through the dust on his face.

When he saw Epena, he ran to her.

Still on her knees, she opened her arms and absorbed the impact of his little body.”

I hope you like it!

Here’s a link to Faith’s news:

http://www.faithhunter.net/wp/blog/

UPDATE:  And, for those interested, here are links to pre-order: