More
by
T.M. Franklin
Young
Adult Paranormal
Date
Published: October 4, 2012
Ava
Michaels used to think she was special. As a child, she fantasized about having
magical powers . . . making things happen. But Ava grew up and eventually
accepted the fact that her childish dreams were just that, and maybe a normal
life wasn't so bad after all.
Now
a young college student, Ava meets Caleb Foster, a brilliant and mysterious man
who’s supposed to help her pass physics, but in reality has another mission in
mind. What he shows Ava challenges her view of the world, shaking it to its
very core. Because Caleb isn't quite what he seems. In fact, he's not entirely
human, and he's not the only one.
Together,
the duo faces a threat from an ancient race bound to protect humans, but only
after protecting their own secrets—secrets they fear Ava may expose. Fighting
to survive, Ava soon learns she's not actually normal . . . she's not even just
special.
She's
a little bit more.
“Is
everything okay?” Ava asked.
Caleb
smiled, but didn’t look at her. “Sure.”
“You
seem . . . I don’t know . . . nervous?”
He
glanced at her briefly. “Just doing my job.”
Ava
snorted. “Your job is tutoring physics.”
“Call
this moonlighting.”
Ava
tucked her hands more deeply into her coat pockets as Caleb returned to his
steady surveillance. She started to say something more, but forgot it
immediately when Caleb stopped suddenly.
“Caleb?”
“Shhh
. . .” He stepped in front of her, his head tilted to the side.
“What
is it?”
He
touched a finger to his lips, his body impossibly still.
Ava
froze, pressed slightly against his back as she tried to peer over his
shoulder. He stretched his hand behind him, as if blocking her from something,
and his fingers curled slightly around her hip, stilling her movement.
A
prickle of awareness ran over her skin, stealing her breath. For a long moment,
the world seemed to slow around her, growing silent and still, and Ava closed
her eyes, unsure what she was searching for, but feeling her consciousness
reach out, calling out into the darkness.
Ava
gasped suddenly as a strong arm wrapped around her waist, sweeping her up in a
blur of motion. Her eyes flew open, trying to make sense of the whirling world
around her, and in the next instant, she found herself pressed against a wall,
Caleb’s back to her. Her fingers gripped his shoulders as she tried to regain
her balance and clear her head. A low voice chilled her blood.
“Get
out of the way, Foster.”
No.
Not him. Not again. Ava’s confusion gave way to outright fear. She shrank
behind Caleb’s back, as if hoping to disappear.
“Leave
her alone, Tiernan,” Caleb said, his voice deadly. “The Council gave me three
days.”
A
mocking laugh grated back at him. “Time’s up.”
“Not
until tomorrow.”
“Technicalities
aren’t going to change a thing,” Tiernan growled. “The Council’s fed up with
your stalling. I’m taking her now.”
“No,”
Caleb said, his voice a quiet but not subtle threat. “You’re not.” He grabbed
her again, so fast she didn’t even see him move. Once more, she found herself
fighting for breath, suddenly behind a tree and unsure of how she got there. A
moment later, Tiernan’s hulking frame appeared a few feet away.
“You
can’t outrun me, Caleb,” he said, shaking his head. “And you don’t dare risk a
shift.”
Another
blur of movement and Ava was face-to-face with a door.
“Go
inside,” Caleb urged. “I’ll draw him away.”
“What?”
Ava shook her head. “What’s happening? Where am I?”
“It’s
your dorm,” he hissed. “Hurry, before he—”
“Really,
Caleb?” Tiernan’s mocking voice interrupted him. “This is getting tiresome,
don’t you think?”
Caleb
turned, squaring his shoulders. “You’re not taking her.”
A
flash of red and blue lights drew their attention, and Ava breathed shakily at
the sight of a police car driving up the path.
Tiernan
glared at Caleb. “This isn’t over,” he said.
And
then he was gone.
Two
city cops stepped out of the car, hands resting on their weapons, one shining a
flashlight toward them. Caleb pulled Ava through the door into the dorm.
“What
are you doing?” Ava asked. “We need to tell them he was back.”
“Not
a good idea,” Caleb muttered. He grabbed her wrist, heading down the hallway,
but she yanked out of his grasp.
“Caleb,
what the hell’s going on?” she asked, stepping back warily from his angry gaze.
“How did you do that . . . move so fast? What happened out there?”
“We
don’t have time for this,” he snapped.
She
reached for the door, Caleb’s eyes following the movement. Her challenging gaze
focused on Caleb as she whipped the door open to run to the police and tell
them what had happened.
At
least that was her intent.
But
before she even turned the knob, Caleb had her across the hall, all but
carrying her around the corner.
She
gasped. “What . . . what are you?”
Caleb
frowned. “That’s not your concern.”
He
placed a hand on her forehead, and the world went black.
T.M.
Franklin writes stories of adventure, romance, & a little magic. A former
TV news producer, she decided making stuff up was more fun than reporting the
facts. Her first published novel, MORE, was born during National Novel Writing
month, a challenge to write a novel in thirty days. MORE was well-received,
being selected as a finalist in the 2013 Kindle Book Review Best Indie Book
Awards, as well as winning the Suspense/Thriller division of the Blogger Book
Fair Reader's Choice Awards. She's since written three additional novels and
several best-selling short stories...and there's always more on the way.
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