by Rena Rocford
I opened my mouth, but words failed me.
“Miss Takata, we need to get out of the open,” Mr. Jordan said. “Your recent activities will have gained you numerous enemies.” He held open the limo door, and I nodded.
“Wait,” Felix said, running the few steps from his father to me. He brushed a lock of hair out of my eyes, pushing it back over my ear. Lightning shocks jumped through my body where he touched my ear. My heart pounded in my throat at his nearness, and he leaned in. I met him half way, and the second our lips touched, reality exploded. Nothing existed beyond the two of us. The world spun like I was flying. My skin burned, and something rushed in my chest.
He broke off, and leaned back. “Come visit over spring break?”
“Yeah,” I said. It came out in a breathless sigh.
“Please, Miss Takata,” Jordan said, looking pointedly in the direction of the news vans. My eyes rose, but I didn’t see any cameras. Then again, Stein was a mage. Maybe the clouds reported to him. With one last look at Felix, I let myself be herded into the limo.
The inside was everything a limousine should be, and I was everything that should not be riding in one. I hadn’t bathed or slept in more than twenty-four hours, and I was covered in dust and grime from the factory floor.
Beth, John, my aunt, Steve, and Dr. Targyne climbed in before Mr. Jordan. Seats lined the inside, and on one seat, my backpack and jacket waited. Mr. Jordan sat down facing backwards and knocked on the wall nearest the driver. The car pulled away, and motorcycles kept pace around us.
Felix rode behind his father, wearing a black helmet. They waved once, then the pack gunned past us, eating up the pavement.
Beth wagged her eyebrows at me. I threw a rolled up t-shirt at her.
Mr. Jordan pinched the bridge of his nose, pushing up his fake glasses. “Ladies,” he said with the same long-suffering tone my mother used when she was tired or thinking about the bills. The glasses knocked his greased hair away from his ears, and a pointed ear popped up through the black hair.
“He’s an elf!” Beth squealed
Jordan sighed. “And if I am not entirely mistaken, Miss Whitlocke, you are half-troll,” he said calmly.
Beth’s mouth snapped shut.
Mr. Jordan turned to me. “Your father set up a fund to help keep you safe upon his death. I have activated it.”
“What does that mean?”
Aunt Agnes folded her arms. “It means you now have a pointy-eared shadow.” Then she leaned forward. “So what’s this I hear about my car?”
“I didn’t shoot at it.” I pointed at Dr. Targyne. “And where are the rest of your people?”
“Determined trolls are dangerous. The others were wounded. I continued on after I had seen to their safety.”
“You shot my car?” Agnes asked.
“I was under the impression your niece was a kidnapper,” Dr. Targyne said.
“It wasn’t her,” Steve said.
“I’m glad we’ve cleared that up,” Mr. Jordan said, blandly. “I’m certain we can reacquire your car.”
“So what happens next?” Beth asked. Everyone’s eyes suddenly turned to me.
Memories from my father took hold, and I saw warehouses and caves, all filled with people, giving their life to Kurt Stein. Other dragons and other trolls were out there. Thousands of Kin waited.
I blinked back the foreign memories. “We get the sword back, and we do it again.”
Turns out, a book is one part toil, five parts polish, and two parts luck, and this book was no exception.
Toil:
Thank you to my family. I never could have written any of this without your help and support. Thank you, Mom, for reading to me when I was young, and thank you again for reading everything I put under your nose later in life. Thank you, Dad, for never doubting, even if dragons, faeries, and spaceships weren’t things you enjoyed. Thank you Tracy and Ben for being supportive of your crazy little sister. Most importantly, thank you Heidi and Marillion. I know writing takes me away from you, but know that even when I’m typing, I am always thinking of you. Both of you turn up in ever story I write. You have made everything in my life possible.
Polish:
Along the way, I’ve thrown my works at many people, and some have been kind enough to send me feedback―others know to just send chocolate. Without their camaraderie, I wouldn’t be sane, and my writing wouldn’t be what it is today, so thank you Mason, Liz with Aliens, Liz with Zombies, Tara, Sara, Michelle, Meribeth, the League of Extraordinary Renas, the critiquers at Marathon and of course my many beta readers, especially Kelley Lynn who read an early version of this book and made significant improvements by offering her heartfelt feedback.
Luck:
Even with all that support, this book might not have happened. Without the help of Stacy Nash and the Aussie Owned and Read team, Kathleen Kubasiak might not have ever seen the pitch and asked for more. Lucky for me, Kathleen acquired my book, and from there an amazing team formed. Jessa Russo whipped my flabby words into shape; Merethe made sure my ts were crossed; Amalia Chitulescu made my amazing cover, and the whole Curiosity Quills team worked so hard: Thank you Lisa, Andrew, Eugene, Clare and Nikki. This book is so much more amazing than I ever could have dreamed. Thank you.
Like most mad scientists, Rena Rocford’s early works were largely met with scorn and mockery, but she bided her time. After all, what did her fellow kindergarteners know about literature? From that day forward, Rena kept her writing on the mythical back burner as she pursued more logical goals. Today, crayons. Tomorrow, the world. She moved on to essays and egg drops, followed by experiments in shady laboratories. She tried her hand at everything, learning from anyone who would teach her. She even moonlighted as a horseback riding instructor.
Admittedly, living as a muggle brought Rena some levels of success such as completing her master’s degree, but always the stories returned, calling her to the keyboard in the dark of night. Now, having built armies from words, Rena has set her sights on world domination, one book at a time.
From her secret base in the wine country, Rena has enlisted the help of her cats, her loyal dogs, and her family―who can be relied upon to hide the launch codes at a moment’s notice. You can find Rena at her blog, follow her on Twitter, or find her on Facebook.
Now that you have completed this book, we hope you will leave a review so that other readers may benefit from your perspective. Authors like Rena Rocford live and die by your reviews, after all!
Please visit http://curiosityquills.com/reader-survey/ to share your reading experience with the author of this book!
Darkness Watching, by Emma L. Adams
(http://j.mp/1aFHJv1)
Eighteen-year-old Ashlyn is one interview away from her future when she first sees the demons. She thinks she’s losing her mind, but the truth is far more frightening: she can see into the Darkworld, the home of spirits– and the darkness is staring back. At her new university in the small English village of Blackstone, she meets a hidden group of sorcerers and, for the first time, finds a place where she belongs. But her new life turns dark when she’s targeted by a killer. The demons want something from her, and not everyone is what they appear to be…
Dead Girl, by B.C. Johnson
(http://bit.ly/1riW4cG)
Lucy Day, 15 years old, is murdered on her very first date. Not one to take that kind of thing lying down, she awakens a day later with a seemingly human body and more than a little confusion. Lucy tries to return to her normal life, but the afterlife keeps getting in the way. Zack, her crush-maybe-boyfriend, isn’t exactly excited that she ditched him on their first date. Oh, and Abraham, Lucy’s personal Grim Reaper, begins hunting her, dead-set on righting the error that dropped her back into the spongy flesh of a living girl. Lucy must put her mangled life back together, escape re-death, and learn to control her burgeoning powers while staying one step ahead of Abraham. But when she learns the devastating price of coming back from the dead, Lucy is
forced to make the hardest decision of her re-life — can she really sacrifice her loved ones to stay out of the grave?
Five: Out of the Dark, by Holli Anderson
(http://bit.ly/1h26BqO)
Five teenagers who’ve recently discovered they have magical powers and are living in the Seattle underground feel it’s their responsibility to protect unsuspecting humans from otherworldly foes. Things are going well until Johnathan, their unofficial leader and the boy sixteen year old Paige is in love with, is bitten by a changeling. Page vows to find a cure, no matter the cost.
If that’s not enough, the Five are also gearing up to face their toughest and most dangerous enemy yet—a powerful and ruthless Warlock who will go to any means, including high school, to build his Dark Army.
Catch Me When I Fall, by Vicki Leigh
(http://j.mp/YDIKEN)
Seventeen-year-old Daniel Graham has spent two-hundred years guarding humans from the Nightmares that feed off people’s fears. Then he’s given an assignment to watch over sixteen-year-old Kayla Bartlett, a patient in a psychiatric ward. When the Nightmares take an unprecedented interest in her, a vicious attack forces Daniel to whisk her away to Rome where others like him can keep her safe. But when the Protectors are betrayed and Kayla is kidnapped, Daniel will risk everything to save her—even his immortality.
Appetizer:
Book Cover
Copyright & Publisher
Title Page
Main Course:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Dessert:
Acknowledgements
Closing
About the Author
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