Excerpt of Scions:Perception by Patrice Michelle

Unedited excerpt from SCIONS:PERCEPTION
(releases November 1, 2008)

Chapter One

“I can see the headlines now: Martial arts expert taken out
by bald tires,” Abby mumbled, sighing in relief once her
Jeep finally slid to a stop on the icy driveway less than
an inch from her friend Kaitlyn McKinney’s garage door.
Cutting the engine, she rolled her head from one shoulder
to the other. Her nerves were frazzled from trying to keep
her car on the sleet-covered roads between Manhattan and
the suburbs. The weather had become steadily worse the
farther she traveled from the city. Still, even the “worse
ice storm of the decade” wouldn’t make her go back to her
apartment. Thanks to the fact that her roommate had hooked
up with Abby’s ex-boyfriend, Abby had immediately called
Kaitlyn and had never been more thankful for her friend’s
offer of a place to stay while she looked for another
apartment.

“You’re welcome to use my house. You know where I keep the
spare key. Since you’ll be getting to my house late in the
evening, I’ll call my neighbor across the street to let her
know you’re coming. In her advanced years, Mrs Donohue gets
overly worried when she sees strange cars parked in a
neighbor’s driveway overnight.”

As she stared at the ice-covered, empty house, Abby wished
Kaitlyn was home now but appreciated the fact that she
wanted to spend as much time in the mountains with her new
partner, Landon.

Pulling her red jacket’s hood over her head and zipping the
jersey material closed, Abby climbed out of the car.
Frozen leaves and pine needles crunched under her shoes as
she entered the dense woods beside the house. Other than
the sound of sleet pinging on the icy ground, the woods
were eerily quiet as she made her way across the sparkling
ground to the circular seating area. Abby started to lift
the knee-high garden gnome statue when something large
blurred through the woods ahead of her. She gasped and let
the gnome fall back into place. Pushing her hood back, she
tried to track the shadow that had now disappeared. Had she
seen black fur?

“Who’s there?” she whispered into the woods. Even though
the thick layer of ice gave off a bright glow, lighting up
the woods, a cold shiver trickled down her spine as visions
of grisly bears formed in her mind’s-eye. Nothing but an
icy wonderland greeted her. Bears? In the suburbs?

Get a grip, Ab! You’re going on four hours of sleep. Your
imagination is taking over. Shaking off the sensation she
was being watched, Abby focused on her task and lifted the
gnome once more. Only, the space where the key should’ve
been was empty. Damn it! Setting the gnome back down, she
considered calling Kaitlyn to ask if she’d changed the
key’s hiding place. But it was after eleven and she was
freezing her ass off, getting wetter by the minute in the
thin sweat jacket. Plus, she did have another way to get
into the house.

After spending a good ten minutes searching her car for her
lock-picking kit, her hand finally landed on the kit tucked
under her driver’s seat. Palming the kit, she grabbed her
overnight bag and locked the car.

Thankful for the front porch’s overhang to keep the heavy
sleet at bay, Abby slid the tools into the door’s lock and
went to work. A few seconds later, she smiled when she felt
the tumblers slip into place, unlocking the door. “Like
riding a bike,” she murmured and quickly put the tools and
the case away in her overnight bag.

But her confidence was short lived. The moment she entered
the house, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her inside.
Shutting the front door, the person cupped her throat and
shoved her against the wood. “What the hell are you
doing?” The man’s deadly snarl made the hairs on the back
of her neck stand on end as they stood facing each other in
the dimly lit entryway.

Heart thudding, Abby dropped her bag and she instinctively
grabbed the man’s wrist. Her attacker’s wide-shouldered
silhouette towered over her, and for a split-second, she
thought she saw a bright green glow where his eyes should
be. She blinked to clear her vision. Nothing glowed in the
darkness shrouding his face, but she sure as hell felt his
dangerous vise hold around her neck. He wasn’t choking
her, but he definitely had her pinned in place with a steel
lock.

His speed briefly stunned her, but this burglar had picked
the wrong chick to try and intimidate. “I really don’t
want to deal with this tonight.” Abby spoke calmly, despite
her racing pulse.

“Huh?” the guy started to say when she twisted his wrist
and yanked his fingers from her throat. His other hand
came up in a blur so fast she would’ve missed it if she’d
been waiting for it, but Abby acted on instinct, blocking
his grab for her shoulder. At the same time, she kicked
him hard in the groin. He bent forward, grunting in pain,
and she swept her leg around, hammering the back of his
thigh and then his calf with her foot as she swept his leg
out from under him.

When he landed on his back on the wood floor, she gripped
his hand in a painful lock and growled her answer to his
question. “I was invited! If you move even one inch while I
call the police, I’ll finish what I started and you won’t
walk straight for a week. Got it?”

Abby didn’t expect an answer. He had to have lost his
breath when he landed on his back. A low chuckle rumbled
up from the floor a split second before the man pulled from
her hold, grabbing her wrist. The room suddenly spun and
she found herself flat on her back on the area hall rug,
lying in the pool of dim light coming from somewhere
upstairs.

His well-muscled chest rested on top of hers, smelling of
soap and covered with water droplets, as if the man had
just come from a shower. Jean-covered hips and hard legs
locked hers in place underneath him, while he pulled her
arms above her head. He peered at her, the hall’s darkness
shrouding his face. “Considering the fact I used a key and
you picked the lock, I think you’ll understand my doubts
that you were invited.”

“A key that you stole from its hiding spot!” she shot
back, right before she jerked a hand free and brought her
fist down toward the side of his neck. Anticipating he’d
shift his weight to avoid her hit, Abby jerked her hips
free the moment he moved and then kneed him hard in his
side.

The man grunted from the impact, and she thought she heard
a rib crack, but she wasn’t giving up her advantage. This
time she aimed for his jaw. His big hand encircled her
fist in a crushing hold, and she cried out in pain when he
slammed their hands to the floor and rolled back over her.

“Damn, you’re a scrapper. Hold still, little thief.”

Indignant heat crept across her cheeks. No one had so
effectively beat her like this in years. “I’m not the thief
here—” Her words died off when his face came into view.
Most of his hair was pulled back, but several ink-black
pieces had fallen loose to brush against his angular jaw.
A stainless steel barbell boldly pierced through the inch
long scar along the outer edge of his dark eyebrow. The
piercing added a rebellious edge to his mid-thirties
appearance, intentionally drawing attention to the
imperfection as if to say, “Hell yeah, I’ve got a scar.
What of it?”

“She protests too much.” His eyebrows slashed downward and
crystal blue eyes skimmed her body.

Everywhere he looked, she burned. Why did his skin feel so
much warmer than hers? Apparently her excursion in the
woods had left her colder than she realized. “How did you
know where to find the key?”

“I was told, but even if I hadn’t been, I could’ve found it
easily enough.” For a brief second, he closed his eyes and
inhaled before his penetrating gaze zeroed in on her face
and narrowed slightly. “Oh, you are a thief, sweetness.
Every last inch of you.”

The man had the sexiest drawl. It wasn’t Southern per se,
but he spoke in a laidback speech pattern very different
from most New Yorkers’ hyper-speak. Yet beyond the calm,
still-water-runs-deep persona he exuded, something else had
set her libido into a tailspin. When he spoke, the dim
light caught on another glint of metal. He had a tongue
piercing, and she had a feeling the intense man holding her
down knew exactly how to use it.