Sixteen-year-old Raven Weir has a somewhat normal life until
she receives a mysterious necklace…a necklace others are willing to kill her to
get because it contains the key codes to Atlantis. Now she finds she’s the only
one standing between Atlantis and those who want to use the power hidden there
to take over the world.
And Zeus is at the head of that line.
On top of worrying about social acceptance at school, Raven
has to get control of her growing powers before she harms someone. And it
doesn’t help that the alpha Hellhound at school is attracted to her while
members of his pack are trying to kill her. And then there’s the whole
biological parent issue. Finding out you’re adopted is huge, but discovering
you’re actually the daughter of Medusa and Poseidon will definitely cause
problems.
Annie Rachel
Cole was born in Temple, Texas, and grew up in the small town of Buckholts.
Annie graduated from University of Houston—Clear Lake and has worked for the
past several years as both a high school English teacher and a junior high
Language Arts teacher. She currently teaches Communication Applications to 8th
graders. She enjoys reading, fishing, and playing Texas Hold’em poker. Annie
lives in New Braunfels with her husband, son, and two cats who think the world revolves around them.
Links
website: www.annierachelcole.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/
Excerpt
I
remember asking my mom why we had to move again. But she never gave me a
reason.
“This
is the last time we’ll move,” was all she told me as she wrapped the dishes and
put them into a cardboard box.
That
was five years, four houses, two apartments and six schools ago. But hey, who’s
counting?
--Raven Weir’s journal
Raven chewed on her bottom lip. She
hated the first day of school, even more so when it fell in the middle of the
school year like so many of her past first days had. But today was worse. Today
was her sixteenth birthday. In all the books and movies, sixteenth birthdays
were magical. Girls discovered they were princesses of lost countries, or
fairies with wings, or they had powers that no one else did. They didn’t start
new schools in the middle of the school year on their sixteenth birthdays.
“How about we go back home and I help
you unpack?” Raven asked her mom. She tried the birthday strategy last night,
but her mom shot that down really quick, telling her she’d already missed too
many days because of the move.
“There’s not much to do. Besides, you
might as well get this over with,” said Suzanne Weir. “Do you want me to go in
with you?”
Raven shook her head. It looked like she
wasn’t getting out of going to school today, but she didn’t need her mom
walking her in like she was a little kid. She stared at the students walking
toward the huge two story brick building and sighed.
“Are you okay?” asked her mom.
“Unicorns? For a mascot? Mom, are they
serious?”
“And what’s wrong with unicorns? They’re
cute.”
“That’s the problem. School mascots
shouldn’t be cute. They need to be tough and mean looking. Really! Pinewood
High, Home of the Fighting Unicorns. My new mascot is a unicorn? How pathetic
is that!”
“Does it really matter that much, or are
you just looking for something to stall the inevitable?” asked her mom. “What’s
really wrong?”
“Are you sure I can’t stay home? Just
for a couple more days. It is my birthday. My sixteenth birthday.” Raven
crossed her fingers, hoping maybe the birthday strategy would work this time.
“I just don’t think I should go to school today. My stomach feels funny,” she
added.
“You’re just having first day jitters.
Go have a great day. You’ll be fine. And Raven, happy birthday.”
“You’re no help,” mumbled Raven as she
got out of the car and slammed the door shut. “Just what I wanted, to be stared
at on my birthday.”
Suzanne waved, but Raven just stuck out
her tongue, even though it was a childish thing to do, but she was playing the
new kid on her birthday. So much for a date for the prom or anything else. At
least she had a chance for a date at her other school, but here? Not likely.
She was the new oddity, but more so because her dad taught here before he died.
Raven adjusted her book bag and stepped into the flow of students heading
toward the building.
At least she already had her schedule
and didn’t have to sit in the office waiting for it. One embarrassment off the
list of embarrassing first day stuff she’d have to endure. Raven glanced at
three girls standing just outside the glass doors. They were laughing and
hugging each other.
“Maybe…” but Raven shoved the thought to
the back of her mind as quick as she could. No use wishing for such things even
if it was her birthday. It wasn’t going to happen. She pulled the schedule out
of her back pocket as she entered the building. Biology in Room 212 was the
first class listed. Raven glanced at one of the doors on her right. Its number
started with a one. “So I’ve just got to find the stairs,” she told herself.
“Great, the new morning workout routine.”
“Hey, moron. Get out of the way.” A huge
dark headed guy shoved Raven, almost knocking her to the ground.
The girls from outside followed behind
the guy, still giggling and laughing, but now it was directed at her.
“Blue hair. So not in fashion and so
against the rules,” said one girl.
“Yeah, and it looks stupid. Not your
color at all,” said the tall blonde in the bunch. “Way too dark. What is it?
Some kind of Goth look?”
Before Raven could say anything, the guy
and girls disappeared in the crowd, leaving a trail of laughter behind them.
“Great. Just great,” she mumbled.
“Is there a problem?”
Raven looked up in the direction of the
voice. A tall woman in a dark pin-striped suit and black heels glared down at
her. The sharp angles of the woman’s face were emphasized by the severe bun she
had scrapped her chestnut hair into.
“Is there a problem?” The woman asked
again, but it no longer sounded like a question. Even though her voice was
still low and strong, there was a weird, powerful undercurrent that pushed and
twisted, as it wrapped itself around Raven.
Raven blinked and shook her head. “No.
No problem. Just looking for my classroom.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Here let me see that.” She snatched the class schedule out of Raven’s hand.
The woman studied the paper for several seconds. “Raven Weir,” she said as she
held the paper away from her with two fingers.
1 comment:
Thank you, Becky!
Post a Comment