Shadow of Time (a YA Paranormal Romance novel)

Chapter 1

"Come on, car. Just a few more miles."

Hannah Darson sighed so hard she blew the strands of dark-blonde hair from her face that had slipped out of her ponytail. She tightly gripped the steering wheel of the old, gray Datsun, trying to relax her tense shoulders. Not to mention the rest of her body – she could almost feel the frown on her lightly tanned face settle in on her forehead permanently.

Hmm. She was probably just too tired to unwind, having been on the road since early morning, driving from Las Cruces to her mother's log cabin close to Lake Powell. All this driving was beginning to get the better of her – she was completely drained. And hungry. Even more importantly, she was anxious – she was practically out of fuel. And out of options. She hadn't passed any gas stations for a while.

Hannah shot a nervous glance at the fuel gauge on her dashboard. It had been in the red for some time now. The route through Navajo Nation hadn't exactly taken her through densely populated areas. And still the empty road stretched out ahead.  Come on. Local people had to get gas somewhere too, right? Had she missed something?

The road curved to the left, and suddenly Hannah spotted a small gas station next to the exit to Glen Canyon Dam. Hallelujah! Danger of getting stranded without fuel averted.

"Whoohoo!" she shouted at the top of her voice, gunning her Datsun to the entrance of the station. Nothing would rain on her parade now. Summer had started, her first year of teaching – which she'd survived without lethal damage – was over, and she was going to spend July and August here, in Arizona. Ben, her younger brother, was already waiting for her at the log cabin in St. Mary's Port. She'd missed the place. The last time she'd stayed in their cozy little cabin was four years ago, when she'd still been together with Greg.

Her ex-boyfriend liked the buzz of the big city, and he had never really warmed up to this place. Well, in the end, she hadn't liked him enough to stay with him either.  She was a girl with a feel for village life, about to enjoy the peace and quiet of St. Mary's Port once more. Endless days on the beach and sipping drinks in the shade of umbrellas lined up on the deck of the local restaurant were awaiting her. Plus, there would be countless trips to the Navajo reservation. Lake Powell was bordering on Navajo Nation, so it was a given to explore the reservation again. She and Ben even had childhood friends there.

Humming happily to herself, Hannah parked her car next to gas pump number two. "It's raining men!" she sang-shouted, blaring along to the song on her car stereo.

The guy standing next to pump number three was just done getting gas for his motorbike. He looked sideways and his mouth curled up in a smile. The Datsun's roof was down, so he'd caught her shouting her lungs out.

Hannah bit her lip. Damn. Her neighbor turned out to be a total hottie. She shot him a look that lasted a tad too long, then blushed, rummaging through her bag to find her money and pretend she'd already forgotten about him. As if.

Furtively, she looked him over again as he was strolling off to pay, helmet in one hand and sunglasses on. Yup, this was typically her – scaring off the local hunk by being a total retard. She rolled her eyes at herself.

The motorcycle driver was clearly a Navajo from the reservation. His red-brown skin was dark and offset by the white of his sleeveless shirt. He had a small hair braid on one side, a turquoise bead and a red feather decorating the bottom. That feather had to be the symbol for one of the local clans. Her once-best-friend on the reservation, Emily Begay, also belonged to the Feather Clan. Emily should be about twenty-one by now, just like Ben. Hopefully she'd run into Em this summer.