Table of Contents
EMERGE: The Judgment
Praise for the Emerge Series
Copyright
Also by Melissa A. Craven
Dedication
Plato: The Symposium
Emerge Family Tree
Emerge Family Tree
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
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
EPILOGUE
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Acknowledgments
About The Author
EMERGE
The Judgment
Book 2
Melissa A. Craven
Midnight Hour Studio
Atlanta
PRAISE FOR THE EMERGE SERIES
2016 RONE Award Winner – Best Book Cover
2015 Dante Rossetti YA Awards Finalist
2015 International Book Awards Finalist
2015 USA Best Book Awards Finalist
An unhurried but engrossing start for a potentially riveting paranormal series. ~ Kirkus Reviews ~
Melissa A. Craven is fantastic at world building and creating strong origin stories for her characters. This is one Indie book that should be on every YA shelf. ~ YA Books Central ~
This story has a good message for young readers, especially young girls. Craven did a nice job of packaging that message into a fun, paranormal action story that readers can get excited about, with a romance that will get them talking, too. ~ Readers' Favorite ~
The Awakening grabbed my attention within the first few pages and refused to let go until the very end. ~ Readers’ Favorite ~
Young Adult Fantasy has been pumped out like never before, but Craven has skillfully developed an Urban Fantasy set in a real life, believable context. I can almost believe this ancient race of Immortals actually lives among us. ~ Hub Pages Reviewer ~
Never once did I stop and think, this kind of reminds me of (whichever book insert here). Get this book. It’s amazing. Warning though... you might get obsessed. ~ The Book Goddess ~
Allie was a breath of fresh air when it came to heroines. She was totally badass. ~ Literary-ly Obsessed ~
Emerge: The Awakening is a story that begins as a single snowflake and ends in an avalanche. Melissa A. Craven has put together a story that unfolds and unfolds and unfolds again, revealing characters of unusual depth. ~ Amazon Reviewer ~
From the first page to the last, Melissa A. Craven has a talent for keeping her reader’s attention as she reveals Allie’s story, layer by interesting layer. And when you get to the last page, you are left wanting more! ~ Amazon Reviewer ~
The immortal characters in Emerge all have a special gift, but so does the author. Craven’s is a superpower that we can all benefit from: storytelling. ~ Amazon Reviewer ~
EMERGE: The Judgment
© December 15, 2016
By: Melissa A. Craven
Midnight Hour Studio INC
Atlanta, Georgia
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For more information contact: [email protected] or visit the author’s website at www.melissaacraven.com
Book cover design by: Zoe Shtorm
ASIN: B01MEEP81V
First Midnight Hour Studio Edition: December 15, 2016
ALSO BY MELISSA A. CRAVEN
Emerge Series:
Emerge: The Awakening (Book 1)
Emerge: The Edge (Book 1.5)
Emerge: The Volunteer (An Emerge Short Story, Available as part of the Anthology, That Moment When…)
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For Jenny
Some friendships are fleeting
Others last a lifetime
Happy Friend-iversary!
(Get out of my brain!)
~~~
“—If there were only some way of contriving that a state or an army should be made up of lovers and their beloved, they would be the very best governors of their own city, abstaining from all dishonor, and emulating one another in honor; and when fighting at each other’s side, although a mere handful, they would overcome the world. For what lover would not choose rather to be seen by all mankind than by his beloved, either when abandoning his post or throwing away his arms? He would be ready to die a thousand deaths rather than endure this. Or who would desert his beloved or fail him in the hour of danger. The veriest coward would become an inspired hero, equal to the bravest, at such a time; Love would inspire him.”
—Plato, The Symposium
~~~
CHAPTER
ONE
The Prophecy’s about you, Red.…
Those words had haunted Allie all summer. For four long months, they’d echoed through her mind, setting her heart racing and her blood boiling. Everything she thought she knew about herself was a lie … again.
“You two do know there’s a cozy little inside shelter on this tugboat?” Aidan called across the ferryboat deck.
Allie watched the choppy waves of Lake Erie bobbing up and down along the horizon. She hadn’t noticed the thunder or the rain. Neither had Sasha. Allie glanced at her friend on the bench beside her, lost in her own thoughts. They hadn’t seen much of each other in the last few months. Sasha had a rough summer working for the Senate and refused to talk about it since her return.
Neither girl felt quite like themselves after the horrible events the night of the Springtime Ball. Allie had to live with the gravity of her mistakes—her hesitations that led to Quinn’s capture by the Coalition and so many months on the move. She’d almost cost her and her friends the home they loved. And Sasha … just wasn’t Sasha without Quinn.
“Come on, you two.” Aidan stood over them, his blue-black hair growing darker in the rain. “You’re looking a little crazy out here in this drizzle. Let’s get inside where it’s dry. We’re almost home.” He grabbed Allie’s hand, urging her to release her clenched fist. “Stop doing that.”
Allie relaxed her hands and winced at the sight of blood on her palms. The tiny crescent-moon cuts were already healing and the rain washed away the blood. She stood, smoothing her palms over her jeans.
“Sasha? You coming?” Aidan asked.
“Leave her alone.” Allie turned and left them to their thoughts.
She caught a glimpse of Kelleys Island looming on the horizon and her spirits lifted. After so much time abroad, hiding out in Agra first and then later among the remote Portuguese islands of the Azores, she was eager to get home, now that Gregg finally deemed it safe enough to return.
Home. A strange concept for Allie. After a lifetime of moving from one place to the next with her mortal family, Kelleys Island was part of her now, and she was happy to be back. And she felt guilty for being happy when it looked as though Quinn might never come home.
“Don’t feel bad because you’re happy to be back, Lex,” Aidan said, sitting beside her inside the covered shelter.
“I have to work on my facial expressions if I’m that easy to read.” She still had him blocked. It took a monumental effort to achieve it, but there were things she just wasn’t ready to share with Aidan. When you had a telepathic connection with your best friend, privacy and secrets were a luxury.
“I don't like the way you've shut me out. But I can still get a sense of what's going through your mind, even if I don't know exactly what you're thinking.”
“I was beginning to think we’d never see this place again,” Allie said. She couldn’t wait to get to her tower bedroom for some much-needed peace and quiet. She’d spent the summer surrounded by people nearly every minute of every day. And now she was returning to an empty house, while her parents lingered for a few more days in Bali with her older sister, Joss, and her new fiancé.
“Beach date tonight? Or sleep?” She was looking forward to relaxing in her own bed for a change, but the dreams—she could do without the dreams.
“Sleep. Definitely sleep.” Aidan rubbed his bleary eyes.
Allie nodded. He’d spent the last few days in the Azores soaking up as much fun with Naomi as he possibly could and it had left Allie just as exhausted.
“Yours or mine?” She knew she couldn’t last another night without sleeping and when she gave in, the dreams would come. She needed Aidan to keep her sleep restful. When they were together, the dreams no longer tormented them. It was like putting a Band-Aid on an open wound, but it was the only thing that worked.
“Meet me in the underground later. We'll spend the night in my studio,” Aidan said.
“I’m allowed to enter your most sacred domain?” She arched her brow in surprise. Aidan shared just about everything with her, but his music studio and his private room in the underground were off-limits.
“We share a brain and a bed, so why not?”
“I’ll meet you there around one.” She was anxious to see Vince. Her mortal boyfriend had spent several weeks with her in the Azores and it was just the distraction she needed. Like always, it was easy being with him in their no-pressure relationship. But just before Chloe’s Awakening, Naeemah sent him home. After a hot and heavy summer together, Allie hadn’t seen her boyfriend in nearly a month.
After Vince leaves?
“Stop doing that!”
I can’t help it. I hear what I hear. Remember, I’m not the one trying to block you. What the hell happened in that room, Allie?
Allie threw up her strongest mental walls against Aidan, visualizing everything she didn’t want him to know sealed up in a big box with chains around it and a sign that said, “Don’t open till Christmas—especially if your name is Aidan.”
“I hate that damned box, Allie. It’s like I’m haunted by some perversion of my very own Pandora’s box. It’s always there, but we never talk about it.”
“Then do us both a favor and ignore it.” She would tell him when she was ready, but for now, she couldn’t face it. Not until she got some answers. But Aidan’s father had disappeared months ago, right after his startling revelations about her biological parents. When she saw him next.… Greggory McBrien had never seen anger in all of his two-thousand-plus years, but he was about to. He had to come home eventually.
“Lex, you’re so angry. All the time. You try to stuff it all in that box, but you can’t hide it from me. Not for long, anyway. That box is going to explode, and when it does, it’s going to be messy. But I’m here whenever you’re ready to crack that baby open.”
“Aidan, please. Change the subject.” She was dangerously close to losing her temper and that made it even more difficult to control the power swarming inside her.
“Come find me in the underground when Vince leaves. We both need a good sleep tonight.”
Allie nodded as she leaned back against the bench. The cool lake breeze smelled like home. She absently smoothed her hair over her right shoulder to hide the scar that ran along her jawline to her throat and down her shoulder. The scar was a side effect of her gunshot wound—a memento of the night she escaped her captors. Immortals didn’t react well to the magnetic poisoning from Coalition bullets, but the scar was a massive improvement from just a few months ago. It faded as her wound slowly healed, but the thin rope of tissue still throbbed and ached. It was just one more thing she’d struggled with over the last months.
“Don't let it define you, Lex,” Aidan said softly. “It's just a scar.”
“I know.”
“Mortals can't see it and to us, these scars are a badge of honor,” he reminded her.
She'd spent the summer learning to influence the way the mortal world saw her—an ability most Immortals her age didn’t need to learn yet. But it was important that she blend in, only allowing them to see what she wanted them to see. Even so, it didn’t matter who could see the scars and who couldn’t. She knew they were there.
~~~
CHAPTER
TWO
The Prophecy’s about you, Red. Gregg’s earth-shattering declaration echoed through Allie’s mind like a song stuck on repeat. She couldn’t escape it.
She leaped from the Adirondack chair to pace the length of her rooftop deck, as if she could somehow outrun her thoughts. Frustrated, she leaned against the parapet overlooking the lake, but she didn’t see the last rays of the beautiful sunset. Her thoughts were in turmoil, crashing from one thing to another. Her biological parents and that stupid prophecy.
She’d always known her father, Ashar, as Navid. He’d been part of her life since before she could remember, but only as a family friend. He was a telepath, like her, but she couldn’t seem to reach him now. The last she’d heard from him was a warning to keep his existence a secret since their world believed he and her mother were dead.
“What am I supposed to do with that?” She shouted into the wind, her voice dying on the breeze. How was she supposed to deal with such a revelation? Gregg and Navid had completely abandoned her after that horrible night and she had no one to confide in. She knew she could trust Aidan with the knowledge, but she was afraid he would look at her differently when he knew who she really was. How would he react when he knew she was technically … royalty?
Allie turned and fled down the steps to the beach just below her tower. This was the point when she usually threw herself into some sort of distraction to avoid that ridiculous word. It didn’t mean anything anymore. Maybe ten thousand years ago when her ancestors ruled Indriell she would have been seen as royal, but not now. Surely people wouldn’t think of her as First Princess of Indriell millennia after the kingdom collapsed?
She waded into the shallow waters of Lake Erie and let the waves lap at her knees. The water was always cool here, even in summer. The air still smelled odd to her with the absence of the salty ocean breeze she missed, but this place was home now and she loved it.
She heard the footsteps echoing behind her and her anger flashed hot and sudden as memories of that night came back to haunt her. Strong arms captured her from behind and she reacted instantly with an elbow to her assailant’s ribs.
“Jeez, Allie! What was that?” Vince groaned as he backed away.
She whirled around, stumbling out of the shallow water to his side. “Crap—Vin, are you
okay?” Her words came out in a tumble. She could have broken bones if she’d given it all she had.
“I’m good.” He laughed, rubbing his tender ribs. “I should know better than to sneak up on someone who was recently mugged and completely traumatized by it. Not my smartest move.”
Allie winced at the reminder that his memories of that night were gone and replaced with false ones that simplified everything to a run-of-the-mill mugging.
“How about this move?” He smiled as he took her in his arms. “Hey, you.”
“Hi.” She gave him a shy smile, enjoying the way his mere presence chased all thoughts of the prophecy far from her mind. She sensed his resistance to her touch, more than she had in a long time. The distance over the last month had sent them back to square one. He was aware of the strength of her power, like most mortals, but he never let it affect their relationship.
“I missed the crap out of you.” He squeezed her tight, shrugging off the last of his hesitation in the way that made her fall for him nearly a year ago.
“Let’s go swimming like we did in Ponta Delgada.” Allie tugged him toward the water’s edge.
He shrugged as he lifted his shirt over his head. Their clothes littered the beach and he grabbed her hand as they ran into the chilly lake together. They swam into the deeper waters, until the shore began to slope down into a rocky ledge and Allie could feel the tug of the strong current just beyond them.
“That’s far enough.” Vince pulled her back against his bare chest. “Don’t want you to get swept away.”
“I missed you.” She turned in his arms. His smile and the ease of their relationship was like a balm to her tormented mind. And then her eyes drifted to the scar on his chest.
“How’re you doing lately?” She frowned, remembering how close she had come to losing him. It was her fault he was shot and he didn't even know it. Having Allie for a girlfriend came with a price, and if he really understood what that price was, she didn't think he would be willing to pay it.
Emerge: The Judgment: (Book 2) Page 1