CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AMBUSH

PRESENT

KATARINA:

"Hey, Amy," I greeted. "How're you doing?"

She glanced up from the table, but didn't answer. I sat down beside her. "You look exhausted." She looked away, her eyes downcast. The look on her face concerned me. "Are you okay? You've been dead these past few days..."

She nodded mutely. I wasn't convinced. I reached across the table and placed my hand over hers. "Are you sure? Where's Donny been all day?"

"I don't know," she answered, looking away. Her voice held a cold, almost angry edge to it. "I haven't seen him."

That was odd. I thought back to the last time I'd seen him. He'd seemed perfectly fine. Then again, so had Amy. And she was definately not fine right now. I wondered what had gone down between the two of them. "Is there anything I can do?" I offered.

She raised her eyes slowly to mine. The look of sadness and pain in her eyes was plainly evident. "Do you think...?" she started hesitantly. She looked away again and swallowed hard. "You think you can take Salome out for a while? Just... to the park or something?"

I nodded, immediately agreeing. Whatever had happened, she needed somet time to work it out. "Sure," I answered. "It's kinda late for the park, but Raph and I'll take her to the mall or something."

She nodded slightly, staring down at the floor. "You sure you're okay?" I asked.

"M'fine," she whispered. "Just... need to talk to Donatello."

"Raph could go find him," I offered. I knew he wouldn't have any objection to that. Not if he got a good look at Amy.

She shook her head. "No, just... take Salome. Please."

I forced a smile and rubbed the back of her hand gently. "Okay. No problem."

"Thank you."

I stood up and turned into the living room, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Salome! Wanna go to the mall?"

It took all of about five seconds for the little girl to sprint into the room. "Yes! Yes! I wanna go!"

"Go get your shoes on."

"Alright!" she cried as she ran to the entrance in search of the ever-disappearing shoes.

Raphael walked into the room at just the right moment. "Hey, Raph, wanna come with us?"

"No."

I circled behind him, stopping him as he reached for the handle on the refridgerator. "Oh, come on," I grinned, circling my arms around him. "I didn't even tell you where we're going."

"Unless it involves beer or whipped cream, I'm not interested," he answered, leaning forward to look in the fridge in spite of the fact that I was hanging on his neck. He lifted me clear off the floor on his back and didn't seem to even notice as he grabbed a bottle.

"It might," I laughed. "Later."

He straightened again and my feet met the floor. "Then ask me later," he replied.

I let him open the beer, then snatched it from his hands. "Why thank you!" I cried. "You're so kind."

He shot me a questioning look as I raised it to my lips and took a long drink. A smile crept across his lips. "Aw... now you can't drive," he grinned. "Friends don't let friends drive drunk, you know."

I smiled back. "Guess I'll have to let you drive."

He snatched the bottle back. "Gimme that," he mumbled, pulling me toward him for a long, lingering kiss.

I ran my hands down his sides to the top of his thighs, trailing my fingers lightly over the lower regions of his plastron. "Please?" I asked.

He pulled away from me, determined. "Nope. Not gonna happen, baby."

I smiled as I watched him go and leaned sideways against the refrigerator. "Name your price, stud," I called after him.

He paused and turned back to me. "Anything, huh?" he grinned evilly. I nodded once, dramatically, and I knew I had him. "Within reason?" he assumed.

"Or without reason," I shrugged.

"Sex," he answered automatically, but quickly reconsidered. "No, wait, I'd get that anyway."

I crossed my arms over my chest, shooting him a pathetic look. "Keep it up and you might not," I warned.

"How 'bout a big screen TV?" he suggested, grinning.

"You said sex first," I reminded him.

"Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?"

"So it's a deal?" I pressed.

"Three times," he bargained.

I nodded. "Okay."

"In a row."

I nodded again. "Sure. But I get to pick the other two guys."

He smiled back at me and I immediately knew that the comeback hadn't hit its mark. "Do they have to be guys?"

I grabbed the paper towels off the counter and threw them at him.

RAPHAEL:

We walked slowly and I made an effort to take small steps, keeping my legs mostly hidden under the long jacket. "I still can't believe you talked me into this," I mumbled under my breath.

Kat put both hands on my shoulder and kissed my cheek. "Remember how much you said you love me?"

"Too many people here," I mumbled, my eyes darting. I was nervous, being in such a well-lit and crowded place. I didn't like being anywhere where my freedom of movement was limited, and in a crowd like this, there was no getting away if I needed to. It made me more nervous than I cared to admit.

Her arms slipped through mine, locking in the space created by the way my hands were buried in the pockets. A few feet in front of us, Salome skipped along happily. Kat stopped suddenly. "Sal, hold up," I called. The little girl froze in mid-step, then jumped up and spun in a half circle to face us.

I looked to Katarina and she nodded toward the store next to us. "Wanna go in there?"

I glanced over, and laughed. "With Salome?"

"She's female," Kat grinned. "And she's five. She likes lace and pretty stuff." I cast a questioning glance at the woman hanging on my arm. "Come on, Raph, there's nothing particularly kinky in Victoria's Secret."

I rolled my eyes and she shoved me toward the door, unlatching from my arm. Salome ran up beside her and clasped her hand. "What's this store, Kitty?"

"Clothes," Kat answered. "Sort of. Let's go look."

I was careful to keep my head down and hidden from the cameras as I stayed close to the two of them. I was uneasy, but it wasn't what I would call embarrassment. The fact that I was in a lingerie store had nothing to do with it. It was the bright lights. As we walked further back and the brightness from the hallway wasn't flooding in, I relaxed just slightly. Just being in the shadows, even if you could still see clearly, helped me to relax.

"What do you think, Salome?"

The little girl giggled. "It's pretty."

"Raph?"

I raised my eyes, and envisioned Kat in the sexy, red cami. It wasn't really a cami. It was see-through and lace and only actually came together at the top before it split apart, but I didn't know what else to call it. I smiled. "Pretty," I agreed, smiling slyly. She turned it around and giggled at the panties that went with it. Thong. She didn't wear those. My eyes drifted to the rack to her side. "I like the black better, though."

She picked it up and glanced back and forth between the two. "Really? You usually like the red."

I scanned the area for onlookers and stepped up behind her, slipping my arms around her waist. She turned into the rack, hiding my hands from plain view. "Why don'tcha get them both?" I whispered.

She put them back and playfully smacked the side of my face. "You wish," she laughed.

Salome tugged on her arm. "Kat, look at that!"

Our heads turned as the little girl skipped over to a mannequin wearing white, feathered angel wings. I smiled and nipped at Katarina's ear. "I wanna see you wear those, baby," I teased in a low whisper.

"Not on your life, stud," she muttered back.

"Can I get those, Kat?" Salome begged.

The fact that they seemed to be attached to a lacy bra didn't phase the kid. But then, if it did, we'd have a problem, having already brought her in here to drink in all her little eyes could take. "How about we find something at the toy store, Sal," Kat suggested

"How about the dollar store?"

I smiled and shook my head as I watched her grab Kat's hand and try to pull her from the store. My own hands went back to my pockets and I followed, watching the world around me carefully as I walked back into the spotlight. I watched closely, through the wide hallway and the dollar store, keeping a close eye on where the cameras were at. Finally, we left. I was relieved to be back in the darkness when we stepped outside.

"Too much socializing for one day?" Kat joked as Salome slipped her hand into mine.

"Wouldn't mind the people if there weren't so many lights," I mumbled back. "Or vice versa."

Salome ran forward, still holding my hand and Kat's. She jerked back as she reached as far as she could, and then swung behind us. "Well, shopping's not really my thing, either," Kat reminded me. That was pretty evident by the fact that she hadn't bought anything in the two hours we'd been there. "But Amy needed some time and I wasn't really sure where to go at this time of night. I don't wanna take her to the park after sunset, ya know?"

The little girl ran forward again and I lifted her off the ground by her arm. She giggled and shrieked. "Could've gone to the apartment," I reminded her.

"There's nothing for Salome to do there," she justified.

"Are you gonna move out, Kitty?" Salome asked as her feet met the ground again.

"No, not exactly," Kat answered.

"Not officially anyway," I added.

"Figure I'll furnish it with cheap stuff," Kat mumbled to me. "We can use it as a safe house if we need it."

I shot her a questioning look. "Is that what this is about?"

"What?" she asked, as if she didn't know.

"Mel?"

She rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "No. It's not about that. But it would've been nice to have. And I guess it gives me a place to retreat when I'm ready to kill her."

I grinned and looked forward again. "We need a permanent, verifiable address in order for Salome to go to school," she explained. I nodded as I remembered and we walked through the parking lot to Kat's car.

Suddenly, she froze. I stopped with her, noting the look on her face. My eyes darted over the surrounding area, scanning for movement, but I saw nothing. "What?" I asked quietly. Salome looked up at her expectantly.

Kat remained tense for a moment, then glanced at me. "Did you hear that?"

I looked around again. If it had put her on alert, it was more than rustling leaves. Especially since she hadn't blown it off yet. I felt eyes on me and tensed as my sixth sense awakened and I let go of Salome's hand, turning slowly. I saw nothing, but I knew we were being watched, and not just by the security cameras. "No, but I sure as hell feel it," I whispered.

She tensed and reached behind her, her fingers brushing lightly over the extendable staff she'd begun carrying with her when Mel moved in. "Cameras," I reminded her, my eyes darting over the shadows. I still couldn't see a thing, but I knew they were there.

"I got 'em," she whispered back, pulling Salome behind her.

"Not yet."

"I know."

"Kitty, what's wrong?"

I could feel the approach, and the shadows began to move. There were a lot of them. Kat backed up against an unfamiliar car and I stayed close, my hands ready to draw my weapons at any given moment. I heard the car door open. "Get inside and lock the doors," Kat whispered to Salome. "And stay down."

The little girl obeyed without question and Kat slammed the door closed behind her, then stepped up behind me. One hand went to her belt behind her, and she retrieved her staff. The other slipped into her pocket and found a handful of shurieken.

"There's two of them," I whispered. "See 'em?"

"Three," she corrected. "There's one behind us, too."

"Got enough?"

"Four."

"Go."

The shadows became bodies and they surrounded us. Kat spun and released one of the shaken at the camera behind us, then turned and flung two more at the others. Her aim was perfect and the cameras stopped moving as the black disks embedded in their circuts. I shed the coat and hat and crossed my arms in front of me, pulling my weapons in one fluid movement. Kat's staff snapped open and she held it behind her, one arm out in front of her as if she were going to grapple with her opponent.

I stood waiting, one arm loosely at my side and the other slightly bent and holding the sai backward. I was ready on all sides, for whichever one of them was going to attack first. "Kiara," one of them, apparently the leader, greeted. "What a pleasant surprise."

"You don't sound very surprised," she growled back. "Or very pleased to see me."

"In truth, I am not surprised," he answered. "You have some unfinished business to take care of."

Her eyes narrowed into slits. "Fuck you."

The foot soldier sighed deeply. "Very well. I didn't really expect you to come quietly."

I slipped into a back stance as we were attacked, throwing my weight to my right leg. Three of them, none armed. They came at me all at once. I caught one fist between the blades of my crossed sai. Another man was stopped when my foot connected with his stomach, and I ducked from the third. I spun, nearly snapping the wrist of the one who'd attacked from directly in front of me, and kicked. The one to the side lost his balance and fell into the other, giving me a precious few seconds to reorganize my thoughts. I instinctively checked on Kat, but I guess it was no real surprise that she was holding her own. I braced for the next attack as it came at me from the side.

KATARINA:

I shifted my weight to my front leg and used the forward momentum to carry the attack through, bringing the staff up and flipping the foot soldier onto his back. I just barely had time to block an attack coming from my right, pulling the staff close to my body and bracing. His kick connected with the metal rather than my ribs, and I brought the staff down again, parallel to the ground. I spun it expertly and held it over my other hip as I was rushed again.

Beyond my two attackers, I could see their leader, whoever he was, watching closely. It was not Satsugai, but I was not sure why. Normally, he led my father's missions just as Tatsu had done in the past. Who was this? My attention was diverted as my next opponents approached. I swept my staff at his shins, pulling toward me as hard as I could, and ducked, turning the other way now to catch the other attacker. I began to rise again, using that force to bring the staff up between his legs. He was down. I spun and kicked at the first, who was already off balance, and he fell.

Someone was behind me. And in front of me, too. I didn't have time to turn. I slipped my hands into place on the staff, spacing them shoulder-width apart, and blocked a sweeping kick behind me, aimed for my right leg. Then I threw my weight forward to my front leg and brought the staff's tip to the figure's solar plexus. He doubled in pain and a simple kick was all I needed to push him back. I spun to the figure behind me, pivoting from a horse-stance, and struck his side. I jabbed the end of the staff into his stomach and spun into a forward fighting position again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw several figures approach the car Salome was locked in. I knew they'd get in, given enough time, whether the doors were locked or not.

I was in a left forward stance, basic hold, and I was being attacked again. Raph was not far away, and I was sure he noticed the car, but he was more preoccupied than I was at the moment. The car was my problem. I let go with my right hand for long enough to reposition in a palm hold, both hands gripping the same way as I stepped forward. I swept the rear section of the staff forward and down, then up as it connected with the foot soldier's legs. I turned my wrist as the sweep completed and pushed the weapon back, down past my left shoulder, and stepped fluidly into the right forward stance.

I spun and darted to the car, using the staff as more or less of a pole vault as I crashed forcefully into one of the foot soldiers. The window on the opposite side of the car shattered. Damn. Too late. And I couldn't get around the car fast enough. "Get out!" I yelled at Salome.

She struggled with the lock and finally the door swung open. She jumped out onto the pavement and slammed it behind her. "Stay behind me," I ordered as I stood ready, the staff at my side, parallel to my body. Two more of them were coming from the front, and three behind. Damn it! I couldn't take them from both sides and protect Salome at the same time.

"Raph!"

He spun. I didn't have to see him move to know that he would. I forced myself to forget the threat behind me, and the little girl who was clinging to my leg, prohibiting my movement. I brought my left hand up, palm forward, and gripped the staff, then pulled it forward and down. I felt a rush of wind as Raphael vaulted over the back of the car and behind me, and I was careful to avoid him as I pushed the staff back over my right shoulder and brought it down in an overhead strike, dropping the shaft's forward section down and behind me to the left. My right hand brought the staff down hard on my opponent's collarbone. I turned my wrist and changed my grip, then moved fluidly into a sweep.

I froze, holding my stance as I waited for another attack. None came. I looked up slowly, cautious about relying too much on my eyes, and saw no movement. Those who were still standing had retreated, along with thier leader. I breathed hard, still braced for battle, and made sure the area was secure before I relaxed my muscles and turned to Salome. She was staring up at me with wide, terrified eyes. Raphael was still braced. I watched him for a moment, not sure if he could be feeling something I didn't. But he relaxed as he looked around, and turned to us. "You hurt?" he asked Salome.

She shook her head furiously. And Raphael's eyes raised to mine. "You?"

"No."

He slipped his weapons back into his belt. "Let's get outta here before the cavalry shows up."

LEONARDO:

The look on Raph's face as he walked into the lair told me what had happened. The look on Salome's face said more. Mel and I both looked up from the couch; Mikey stood. "What happened?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

The cold, hard stare didn't fade as he rested a hand on Salome's shoulder. "Take her outta here, will you Mike?"

That wasn't a request.

Kat and Raph both watched the little girl leave with Michaelangelo, and I watched them. As soon as her bedroom door had closed, Katarina vaulted over the back of the couch, took two steps to where Melanie was sitting, grabbed her shirt, and yanked her up. I watched in shocked surprise as she threw her to the wall, holding her by one shoulder. Raphael stepped in close and Kat grabbed one of the sai off his belt and held it to Mel's throat. She tensed, her eyes flickering nervously down at the weapon.

"What else did you tell him?" Kat hissed.

"Tell who?" Mel asked.

"When you came here, my father thought I was dead. Now he wants to see me and I want to know what else you told him or I'll slit your throat here and now."

AMY:

I heard yelling in the living room, and sat up slowly, brushing the tears from my eyes. "We just got jumped by a few dozen foot soldiers, Leo!" she yelled, not turning to face me. "If they'd taken Salome, you'd have a big problem on your hands right now!"

I gathered my robe around me and stood, then walked to the door. The room flooded with bright light as I pulled it open. "You're outta your league, Leonardo," Raph warned, his voice cold. "Just stay out of it."

My eyes darted to Kat. She had Raphael's weapon to Melanie's throat and she twisted it hard, digging into the soft flesh on her neck. "What did you tell him?" she hissed.

"I haven't spoken to Shredder in years, Kat, and that's the truth," Mel gasped.

Kat turned and threw her to the ground, then spun to Leonardo and raised the weapon to point at him. I remained still, watching the scene, not wanting to get involved. I looked around for Salome, but didn't see her. "Get. Her. Out. Of here. Now!" Kat hissed. "And keep an eye on Salome until you do because they know we have her."

She shoved the sai back at Raphael and spun toward the door. "Where are you going?" Leo called after her.

She turned back and glared at him, fury dancing in her eyes. "I'm not coming back until you get rid of her, Leo. So you two work it out."

Leo sighed, then looked to Raph. "What happened?" he demanded. I stepped forward, echoing his question in my mind, and he turned to glance briefly at me.

He turned back to Raphael and neither one of them spoke for a long moment. "We were jumped," Raph finally offered. "By foot soldiers. A lot of them."

I felt every muscle in my body tense. I had heard of these foot soldiers from Donatello. They weren't exactly friends of the family. "Oh my god! Is Salome okay?"

Raph nodded. "She's fine. But the fact that they came after us, and they wanted Kiara... Somebody's told them."

"I'm telling you," Mel cried in her defense, "I have not talked to Saki in years!"

I didn't care how they knew whatever it was they knew. All I cared about was my little girl. I turned away from their argument and walked to the closed door of her room. I cracked it open and peeked inside as Mike pulled her nightshirt down over her head. She crawled underneath the blankets without a word and he perched on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. She nodded, but didn't speak. "You're not hurt, are you?" Her head moved from side to side, her eyes trained on him.

He stroked her hair gently, a sympathetic expression on his face. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

She took a few breaths. "We were walking to the car... and these bad people came out. And they had masks and all black. And... Kitty told me to get in this car, but it wasn't hers. And then she and Raphael were fighting them and they came and tried to open the door but I locked it before when Kitty told me to. And then they broked the window and came inside and I got out and Kitty told me to stay behind her..."

There was a slight pause. "That must've been really scary, huh?" Michaelangelo's voice was quiet and calm. I knew from his tone that she was not hurt. I chose to remain out of sight, just listening.

"Do you think they'll come here?"

I saw his shadow move, his hand reaching toward her cheek and brushing lightly with the backs of his fingers. "No, Salome, they won't come here. They don't know where we live."

"Would they come here if they knew?"

"Don't you worry about that, Salome," he whispered reassuringly. "We won't let anything bad happen to you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

There was a long pause and I considered stepping inside the room. I might have if she hadn't spoke first. "Mikey?"

"Yeah, Salome?"

"Do you ever get scared?"

"Everbody gets scared sometimes."

"Even brave people?"

"Even brave people," he assured.

She hesitated for a minute. "Well... don't tell Mama... but I was really scared tonight."

I couldn't help but smile faintly, tears stinging my eyes. God, she was a brave little kid. "That's okay," he whispered. "It's okay to be scared. But why don't you want me to tell Mama?"

"Mama wants me to be brave."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you can't ever be scared."

I leaned my head against the wall, glad for the advice Mike was giving her. "She always tells me not to worry about grown up stuff. Just to worry 'bout kid stuff. But sometimes it's hard."

"Sometimes it is hard not to worry. But Salome?"

"Yeah?"

"You're safe here. None of us would ever let anything happen to you, ya know that?"

"I know."

I stepped forward, opening the door slowly, and watched as he leaned down and kissed her forehead. She smiled up at him, then at me as our eyes met. "Hi, Mama."

I hugged my arms over my chest and smiled back at her. Mike looked over his shoulder at me. "Hello, Salome," I whispered. "Are you okay?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "I'm alright, Mama."

"Okay."

I stepped toward the bed and Mike stood up. Salome reached up and hugged me as I kissed her forehead. I felt Michaelangelo's hand come to rest on the small of my back as I bent down, and his arm circled my waist when I stood. Somehow, the gesture didn't intimidate me in the least. I knew he meant no harm by it. He'd never threaten me. "Get some sleep, honey," I whispered to Salome.

She smiled up at me. "I'll try."

"See you in the morning."

"Leave the door open?"

I nodded. "Okay."

I turned and Mike switched hands, following me along my right side. He ushered me out the door and had Salome blow out the light. I watched from the hallway as he pulled the door closed partway and then looked up at me. "She's okay," he assured me, his voice quiet.

I nodded. "I know. I heard. But I'm still scared." "They won't come here," I promised. "They've tried it before and they've failed. Besides, they don't even know where we are."

Somehow, that fact in and of itself wasn't very comforting. "Neither did my father," I whispered.

"And we didn't let him hurt you, either, did we?" he challenged, a smile creeping over his face.

I bowed my head slightly and my eyes slid closed. His hand came up and brushed my hair back, behind my ear. Raphael was gone now, and Mel and Leo spoke in hushed tones at the other end of the room. "Amy, are you okay?" he asked quietly.

I managed a slight nod and held myself tighter, clutching my arms across my chest. "Yeah."

"You sure?"

No, I wasn't sure. I was confused. And heartbroken. And angry. Very angry. But I had no idea how to show it. Even in the brief moments that I saw him, I couldn't bring myself to talk about what I'd seen. It hurt, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know the truth, even though I knew it would eat me alive until I did. "I just... need to..." I started, but I couldn't finish. I knew exactly what I needed to do. But I didn't want to do it. I almost wished I hadn't seen it, that I didn't know what I did. Why would you do that, Donny? "God, I don't know."

I felt his eyes on me, studying me closely. "Something going on with you and Donny?" he guessed. "I noticed he's been gone a lot these past few days."

He had been gone. All of a sudden, he was gone all the time. I wondered if he was avoiding me. Could he know? Did he do it on purpose? There were so much easier ways to terminate our relationship if that's what he wanted. Anger sparked inside of me again. Damn it.

"Anything I can do?" Mike asked.

I shook my head.

"Will you let me know if there is?"

I nodded slightly, but kept my eyes down. He pulled me into a hug and kissed my forehead. For just a moment, I felt safe. I cringed at the thought as he pulled away. "Go get some sleep, Amy," he advised. "It'll be better in the morning."

"Yeah," I whispered, unconvinced. Sure it will...

MICHAELANGELO:

It took me almost two hours to find him. He wasn't in any place I would've thought to look. I couldn't even guess how much ground I'd covered when I found him on a rooftop on the west end, watching a building with little apparent interest. It was after one in the morning.

I didn't make any particular effort to remain quiet as I approached him. He turned when I was a few yards away and straightened. "Mike," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing, bro," I answered coldly. "You know what time it is?"

He sat down on the ledge, leaning on his weapon. "After midnight, I know that much."

I sighed deeply. "Donny, what the hell are you doin' out here?" I asked. "And what's goin' on with you and Amy?"

He blinked a few times, seemingly startled by the question. "Nothing," he answered, his tone reflecting his expression.

"Well, that nothing's got Amy a little worried, in case you haven't noticed," I informed him, crossing my arms over my chest. "How long's it been since you've been home, Don?"

"I came home this morning," he answered. "I had to..." He glanced down at the street and immediately fell silent. I watched him, wondering what he saw that was so intreguing. After a moment of silence, he looked back to me. "I let her know I was okay."

I glared briefly at him. "Well, congratulations, you're okay," I mumbled. "She's not."

"What do you mean, she's not?" he challenged.

"She is so not herself, Donny!" I cried. "Did you notice that? I mean, are you guys fighting or something? Are you avoiding her?"

He shook his head. "Not intentionally. I've just been busy."

"Busy doing what?" I demanded. "Where are we and why are we here?"

"I'm looking for someone," he sighed.

"Who?"

"A kid," he answered. "A kid who's in a lot of trouble."

"Did you tell Amy that? 'Cause she's got no idea where you're at or what you're doin' and I hate to think of what could be going through her head at this point."

He turned and stared at me for a long time. Finally, he sighed. "Yeah, I know. Okay. You're right." He glanced back down at the building and sighed. "I'll tell her. Thanks."

I glared at him. He wasn't planning on moving anytime soon. I waited for him to say something more, but he didn't. Frustrated, I turned and walked away.

Okay, so guys? I don't like threatening. I really don't. But you've gotta understand that I'm at a total standstill in the next book to this series until I find out what kinds of things are significant to the reader, esp from this chapter out. The second book overlaps with this one, and there's WAY too much to address ALL the problems/issues that come up. I've gotta pick and choose, and I've gotta know what the readers think is important. This is a series I would NOT attempt to write in a normal style, where you write it and send it off, and see it in print a few years later and THEN start to get feedback. I wouldn't even make an attempt. It's too complicated. And if that turns out being the case, and what actually ends up happening is that I don't get feedback until the end of this book, when the second one should be halfway DONE already, you might have a sorry surprise when it never gets done.

I know it sounds like I'm whining. I know it sounds like I'm threatening, but I'm perfectly serious. I'm prepared to drop the Kiara series. I'll finish out this book whether I get the feedback or not. But my muses have moved on to other stories. And if I can't find a way to bring them back, this story dies with this book. Cliffhanger and all. Sorry, guys. But I understand my time is limited. And I'm not gonna write if it doesn't interest you.