Prologue
Sitting there holding her precious bundle, Kathy could hardly contain her joy. She’d done this three times previously but she’d never imagined that she would give birth to a little girl. She’d been certain it would be another boy. Her husband, Robert, kissed her forehead and beamed at her. The moment was perfect. But somewhere in the deepest depths of her mind panic was eating at her. She kept stifling it and shoving it down, determined not to let it interrupt her glow. She kissed her sleeping angel and smiled. The child, her precious daughter, slowly opened her eyes and cooed softly. Kathy stared into her perfect emerald green eyes and felt overwhelmed with emotion. As a single tear fell Kathy felt her child grow restless in her arms. Panic-stricken she turned to her husband for comfort only to find he too was frozen in fear. The little girl thrashed and cried out falling into her mother’s lap. Her fingers turned to claws and her bones began to shift as realization washed over Kathy. This child had inherited what her siblings had not. Shocked, Kathy and her husband looked down upon the child now growling and swiping at them. Kathy’s fears had materialized right before her, and she felt her husband put a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was at that moment that she silently vowed to this child that she would never allow her baby girl to experience the hurt and rejection she had. This was a secret that only she and Robert would ever know.
“Don’t worry, my love,” Kathy soothed her newborn, “I will never let you fall prey to them, my sweetheart. My Savannah.”
