I wasn’t sure if it was fair to post an excerpt so soon since the book won’t be out, probably, until the end of June. But I just couldn’t help myself *grins wickedly*

Thirty minutes later, the scanner came to life, a voice shouting out information and orders. Finn pulled on his clothes from the day before and started out the door, pulling his hair into a band to get it out of the way. He jumped into his Jeep and took off down the winding mountain road as fast as he dared. When he got to the fire, he saw there were two houses involved, and it looked like the whole fire department was trying to contain this one.

Since the other fires had been so hot they couldn’t put them out, it looked like the first thing on the firefighters’ agenda was to saturate the surrounding houses and lawns to make sure the fire didn’t spread. Finn watched helplessly as the men and one tiny woman fought to hold the blazes back. He wanted so badly to help, but what could he do? Fire wizards could only take back their own fires. They weren’t able to do a thing about fires started by others.

He rushed to one of the firefighters who was working with a hose, and asked, “Were there any people in the fire?”

“Entire families in both. We couldn’t get them out.”

That’s when he saw her. The woman who was constantly on his mind. She was sitting in the grass sobbing, and her boss was trying to console her, but it didn’t seem to be doing any good. He knew what had happened…she had rushed in to try to save the people in the houses and wasn’t able to. Could she possibly be what he was beginning to suspect she was? A female? He shook his head. The council would have known.

Suddenly, she locked eyes with him, and a strange thrill went through his body. Why was she affecting him like this? She jumped up and started toward him, and he quickly disappeared into the shadows, his breath coming fast. He couldn’t let her see him. He knew she suspected him of being an arsonist. Finn knew they had a tendency to stay around and watch the fire they set, and she had seen him at every fire. He should have been more careful.

He was finally able to get to his car and drive off before she found him. From now on, he needed to keep himself hidden from this observant woman. He was hoping there wouldn’t be another opportunity for her to see him, but he knew if the council couldn’t find the rogue wizard soon, there would be another fire. And another. He wouldn’t stop. It was worse than being an arsonist. Fire wizards could get high on starting fires if they weren’t careful. The feeling of power surging through them was addictive, and that’s why they were trained to control themselves and their feelings at an early age. Sometimes, although it was rare, the training didn’t take. Or the control eroded. From what Finn knew of their history, this hadn’t happened in a very long time. He hoped the council could get this taken care of and fast.