Exhausted with life, Dakota tries to end his -- only to be saved at the last moment by his friend Terrell, who then drags him into a world of magic and intrigue that's always been right there, hidden beneath the surface.<br><br>Powerful magic users are steadily pulling the planet into a violent war, and evil forces will stop at nothing to take the talismans possessed by Dakota and his newfound family. Dakota soon finds himself deeply in over his head ... with love, with family, with fighting for all their lives.

The Pyre Starter

Terrell backed into him as he made a hasty retreat. He clawed at the air and the walls as he darted toward the front door. Dakota heard him retching outside. He wanted to go and comfort him, but something halted his movements. A realization. Despite the shapelessness of the pile of burned flesh that constituted Terrell’s immediate family, he only counted three bodies. Two boys in their teens and a grown woman. No child. No little girl. If she’d been killed, she wasn’t here.


Covering his nose with a kitchen towel in a halfhearted attempt to block out the smell, he drew his gun—the borrowed .22-caliber pistol Eddie gave him to protect the ranch—from the holster on his hip and held it out in front of him. His hand shook violently. He knew he should hold the weapon with two hands, but he didn’t want to drop the cloth from his face.


Chapter 69