Rare glimpses of birds are the only reminder of the freedoms Rain Hawkins once had. Now segregated into a mixed-race zone within the United Zones of the Authority, under tyrannical rule of President Nicks, Rain is forced to endure the bleak conditions set upon her.
The possibility of a way out arises when Rain discovers an organized resistance called The Freedom Front, and learns that she, along with many other multi-racial people, has special abilities.
Prismatic excerpt:
“We have to go now, my young ones. We can’t let
them take this away from us. So be quiet, be brave, leave as you normally do,
and come back next week on Wednesday instead. Oh, and most importantly, keep
hope alive, young ones. Remember the trials of Nelson Mandela this week.
Imagine what he overcame on his quest for freedom. Peace be with you.”
“Peace be with you,
Takara,” we said in unison.
Takara hobbled up the
steps, leaning on her cane until she disappeared from our view, and we stood up
to follow her. Daktari, Zi, and I would all buy some canned peas or corn with
the small amount of money we had to take home to our parents. Our parents
didn’t know about the meetings we went to, but they didn’t see anything wrong with
us helping shop at the market, especially Mom since she was afraid of
everything. Also, they knew we hated to stay cooped up in the small apartment
and we wouldn’t be forced to work the hours they worked until our eighteenth
birthdays.
“I’m picking out the
vegetable today, Rain. I refuse to eat green beans again,” said Daktari, before
jogging up the steps.
Zi followed him a few
seconds later, and I started to go after her, afraid to look at Jabari again,
but Jabari grabbed my hand as I started up the steps. “Rain, wait a second.”
I turned around, staring
into his eyes now that I was nearly level with them from my spot on the step
above him. I wondered if he could hear the drumming of my heart. “Yes?” I
asked, my voice unusually small.
“I have to see you
again.” He said it like it was a necessity. Like I was a medicine that he had
to have or he would get sick. His hand felt strong and comforting.
“Okay,” I heard my voice
agree readily. “I’ll see you here next Wednesday?” It was more of a prayer than
a question. I had to see him too, but I wasn’t sure why I needed to see him so
bad. Standing so close, I could practically feel his breath on my face. I felt
like a force beyond us was pulling me towards him. I wanted to lean all of the
way into him and forget about the world.
“No, sooner. Friday. How
about I run with you?”
“Okay,” I heard my
suddenly small voice agree way too quickly. I really didn’t even know him,
after all. And my parents certainly wouldn’t be thrilled about me running with
a guy I hardly knew. I withdrew my hand from his, afraid he would feel my pulse
quickening and make this even more awkward, assuming that were possible.
“I’ll be waiting a block
up from your house when you leave to run. Seven-thirty sound good?”
“Yeah. But you don’t know
where I live,” I commented.
He grabbed my hand
again. “I wanted to make sure the Droid Dogs didn’t hurt you the other night,
so I followed you home.”
I stared into his eyes,
speechless. He had followed me home? He was worried about me? I tried to
swallow and relieve my dry throat. “Okay, see you Friday.” I didn’t want to,
but I knew it was time to go. I had to walk out of the store with Daktari and
Zi in case the Droid Dogs were watching from up the block.
“Rain, try and stay out
of trouble before Friday, okay?” A smile spread across his gorgeous face and he
chuckled.
“I don’t exactly look
for trouble, you know,” I said, a little defensively.
He squeezed my hand
before I could grab it away from his. “I know. Trouble finds you. You have a
lot of spirit. Takara is right about you.”
I was starting to turn
away from him, but I stopped short. “What do you mean?”
“Tell you on Friday,
Rainchild.” He smiled easily. And my heart sped up again.
“Goodbye, Jabari. It was
nice to meet you.”
“Don’t say goodbye like
we won’t meet again. The Authority wants us to be scared. It’s how they control
us so easily. Look forward to tomorrows. Otherwise, they’ve already won. I’ll
see you Friday.”
“Friday,” I said softly,
finally prying myself away from him and up the steps. He was right. That was
the same sort of thing I told Daktari all of the time, but of course, my family
and I were determined to make each farewell important in case it was the last.
My mom had already given up hope of a better tomorrow and if we weren’t
careful, we could end up just like her. Jabari was right.
I was going to see him
on Friday. My stomach flipped. I tried not to let the smile spread across my
face. Zi was waiting for me at the cash register.
“Sweet peas and two
baked potatoes, Rain...How’s that for success?” asked Daktari.
“You found two potatoes?
Wow, we’re going to be eating good tonight, Daktari.”
“Yeah, but I need the
rest of your money to get the potatoes. I only have twenty dollars. The prices
have gone up again,” he said, holding out his palm to me.
I fished five dollars
with Elizabeth Nicks’s face on them out of my pocket and handed them to
Zachary.
“Tell your parents I said
hello, kids,” he said as he handed us our groceries. Zi had gotten a can of
mixed vegetables.
“We will. Thanks, Zachary,” said Daktari.
“Stay safe out there, kids,” he said as we left.
Once outside, Daktari talked the short walk home about the sweet
peas and potatoes my
family was going to have for dinner. Zi eyed me suspiciously. “I didn’t see you
walking around the store, Rain. Something on your mind?”
“No, nothing,” I said
quickly.
Everything, I thought.
Jabari needed to see me again. He grabbed my hand and held it. Twice. It felt
like a gravitational force was pulling me towards him. My stomach felt like it
had butterflies in it, and I became crazy around him. My heart betrayed my
private thoughts with its ridiculously loud hammering when he was close. He was
going to meet me the day after tomorrow to run with me. He had followed me
home. He was worried about me...
“Rain? Hello? Where are you?” asked Zi.
“Huh?”
“I said, I’ll see you in the morning, I guess. You going on a run tonight?” Zi
asked. We were standing at the steps to our building. I had walked home in a
complete daze.
“Oh yeah, want to run
with me?”
“I’d rather let the
Droid Dogs chew on my foot, thank you very much.”
I laughed, rolling my
eyes at Zi. “I’m telling you, girl, it’s liberating. Running is the best way to
relieve stress. It makes me feel good,” I said, smiling.
“I think the reason you
feel good right now has nothing to do with running, girl.”
My
face flushed red, and Zi winked at me.
“What’s she talking about?” asked Daktari. “Oh yeah, you’re excited about the
potatoes we’re having for dinner, right?”
“Yes, Daktari,” I said, ignoring Zi’s laughter. “Potatoes, I’m excited about
those potatoes.”
Excerpt compliments of Winter Goose Publishing
Determined to overcome her situation, Rain sets out on a mission with the resistance that will fill her life with wonder, romance, and the undying hope for a better world.Still enslaved in a mixed-race zone within the United Zones of the Authority,
Rain Hawkins is part of a secret resistance preparing to take on the tyrannical President Nicks before plans to kill the mixed zones across UZTA are executed. When unsettling dreams and a mysterious voice begin to haunt the dark nights, Rain fears someone more powerful than she has discovered the resistance and their secret abilities. With a known Authority spy on her heels, and her boyfriend, Jabari, suddenly acting strange,
Rain doesn’t know who to trust and if the voices calling to her are friend or foe. As conditions across all of the zones get worse and the stakes rise, Rain embarks on a quest for answers that will put the people she cares about most in more danger or take them one step closer to the truth and their eventual freedom.
Opalescent excerpt:
The voices of Zi,
Daktari, Cole, and Marcello echoed softly down the corridor from our
underground meeting place, but I was too anxious to join them. Waiting in the
shadows, specks of light casting a soft glow into the corridor from the solar
lights Cole had lit for TFF’s meeting, I stood beside the iron ladder,
desperate for the hatch to open and Jabari to climb down. Once he was safe
inside of the storm shelter with me, the bulk of my anxiety would fade away, if
only for a while. When I had seen him a block behind me, moments ago out in the
street, my nerves and senses had shot into overdrive. I had forced my feet to
keep trekking so I could enter the hideout as usual, as we all did to protect
our secret. The mere sight of him and the knowledge that his eyes were on me as
I walked ahead, had caused its usual effect of craziness on my mind and body.
Once inside our hideout, Marcello had jumped into his account of what he had
seen outside of the market, giving my friends all of the gory details of the
spiders he had seen crawling away from Darryl and the aftermath of what I had
done. But I couldn’t listen. I had fled back to the tunnel entrance to wait for
Jabari.
I needed to get the
tightness in my chest to go away, and Jabari was the cure. The past two weeks
had been challenging at home. Keeping our relationship a secret from my mother,
who adamantly refused to allow me to see Jabari, meant trying not to smile
constantly around the apartment as if I were a teenager in love, especially
after my nightly run with him. Not that Mom would have noticed. Before, reading
one of the few antique books we had managed to bring to the zone with us would
have comforted her and was how she coped with life, but lately, she rarely
turned a page. She sat staring blankly for hours sometimes, only moving a
little when Dad got home from his late shift at the hover manufacturing plant.
I wasn’t sure how, but Daktari and I needed to figure out a way to get her to
snap out of her depression. She was moments away from slipping away for good. I
could feel it.
The slight sound of
metal scraping across metal just above me and light peeking in stirred me from
my thoughts, and hope swelled in my chest as Jabari closed the entrance and
climbed soundlessly down the ladder. Through the dim light I studied his light
brown skin, short black hair and long limbs. I recalled the first time his dark
brown eyes had studied me from across the street, and tried not to sigh at the
memory. The guy was so handsome it made me self-conscious, even in the shadows.
I imagined pinching myself to see if this was real. Was he really mine?
As he stepped off of the
ladder and turned to me, he looked deep in thought with his brows crunched
together, but his face relaxed when he saw me waiting for him. “Rain.”
My heart melted when he
spoke my name, the relief and longing clear in his tone, and took two steps
towards me, picking me up effortlessly, his super strength one of his
abilities. He really was mine.
“Finally,” I murmured
into his neck, wrapping my arms around him. My feet dangled off the ground
since he was over six-foot-three. He was hugging me tighter than usual, but I
didn’t mind. The uneasiness faded away. In his arms, the world felt good again.
He slowly released his hold on me and lowered my feet to the floor.
I felt his breath on the
tip of my nose as he leaned down to me. “It’s only been eighteen hours since we
ran last night, but it felt like an eternity.”
“Tell me about it,” I
whispered back, my arms resting comfortably around his waist now.
“My girlfriend, the brown recluse whisperer.
That was…”
“Creepy?” I volunteered.
“I was going to say
fierce. You are fierce, Rain.”
“We had better get in there. I’m sure they are
waiting on us…” I said, shy all of a sudden from his compliment.
“May I kiss you, Rain?”
The shyness was gone in an instant. Funny how he had such an
effect on me. “Is this the Indy Mixed Zone?”
He chuckled before
closing the two inches between us and brushing his lips to mine. My mind fell
into a tailspin, and I wondered if I was really spinning. The chaotic worries I
had been obsessing about in my mind, spun away, one by one, with the room
around me. Mom, Daktari, Maha, Darryl, our death sentence… And then it was just
me and Jabari, the gentle strength of his mouth dissolving the dark world of my
existence.
Someone coughed at the other end of the corridor. “Hola,
people…It’s not like we don’t have important things to do.”
Jabari’s lips broke away
from mine, and we turned our heads towards Marcello. He swept one hand through
his cheek-length black hair off of his face and continued ranting. “It’s just a
revolution. You know, six teenagers save the world before our execution
in seven months? You guys just take your time and kiss. No big deal. Romance
rules. Revolutions drool . . . Vive el Amor!” His hands shot up in a V-shape at
his final proclamation, using the native tongue of his Mexican father, and
dropped again as he turned away to enter our storm shelter meeting space.
Even in his rant he
appeared handsome. He was multi-racial like us and not quite as tall as Jabari,
but still over six feet and was naturally muscular. But I would sooner turn
myself into Metro Prison for conspiracy than admit that to Marcello, our
resident flirt and ladies man.
Jabari took my hand
firmly in his, and through the shadows I could see his mouth curving into a
perfect grin. “Shall we?”
I couldn’t help but
smile back. “After you, leader of the revolution.”
Excerpt compliments of Winter Goose Publishing
In the wake of an interrogation led by the UZTA’s dictator, President Nicks, Rain Hawkins and her friends must deal with the consequences of their defiance as the countdown continues towards the execution of the mixed-zone citizens across the United Zones of The Authority. The Freedom Front faces new challenges as Rain’s cousin, Calista, prepares for her impending relocation to the pure zone, and Rain sets out to solve the mystery surrounding her mother’s torment while being followed by an officer of the Elizabeth Guard. As she uses her abilities to dodge The Authority and follows the strange clues from her dreams, Rain is determined to persevere, to secure the future she and Jabari have been fighting for, and to earn The Freedom Front’s ultimate goal of liberation.
Chatoyant excerpt:
Droid Dogs growled
throughout the crowd, “Everyone back home!” one ordered.
Daktari and Jabari pulled Takara to her feet, handing her the
wooden cane she used for walking. Takara tapped the cane lightly on the street.
“Think I’ll keep it. Might come in handy someday if I need to defend myself.”
She winked at me as I rose to my feet.
I stared dumbstruck at
her, searching for words. She had almost died, and now she was joking around,
acting like everything was normal. Takara leaned closer. “Peace be with you,
children. Now go. The droids are coming…”
“Meet you at home, Rain,” Daktari kissed the top of my head and
took off, guiding Zi beside him.
One by one, The Freedom
Front dispersed, but I stood frozen, taking in the frenzied scene. In the
aftermath of our ruler’s first in-person visit to our zone in over four years,
people were panicking, crying, and running in all directions. The madness began
to blur around me as my thoughts took a turbulent turn of their own. Where did
the great horned owl come from? Did Nata know that her plan to kill Takara
hadn’t worked out? Would she come back if she knew? And how in the world did we
stand a chance against her when she had just demonstrated how easily she
controls people? I couldn’t resist her powers.
A strong hand clutched
mine, yanking me into the maze of people. My feet followed in autopilot, but my
mind raced on.
Jabari’s voice sounded
irritated, lugging me from my worries. “What were you thinking? I can’t believe
you ran to the fountain, Rain. She could have killed you.”
As he guided me through
the crowd, I realized for the first time how terrified he must have been when I
took off to help Takara. Sadness lingered in his brown eyes. We had been
talking about our future plans together when I had taken off, leaving him in
the dust. Some soul mate I was turning out to be. I had chosen to help Takara
over playing it safe. Basically, I had chosen to help her and by doing so, had
chosen her over Jabari, Daktari, and my family for that matter. What would they
all be going through right now if I hadn’t made it out alive? “I’m sorry. I
freaked out.”
“How am I supposed to
keep you safe? Why do you have to be the hero all the time? You can’t save
everyone, Rain.”
Irritation rushed
through me at his last statement. Wasn’t that the point? To try to save everyone?
Especially the people who couldn’t stand up for themselves? “It was Takara. I’m
sorry if you don’t understand, Jabari. And I know it was rash, but we’ve got
bigger problems. Nata controlled me and Takara. She’s powerful. How are we
supposed to beat her? And then there’s her,” I finished, gesturing
across the street.
Jabari’s gaze settled on
Aleela, the spy. She wasn’t much taller than Zi, scrawny like the rest of us,
and her wavy black hair fell to her shoulders. Her eyes were huge, filled with
horror, as she hurried past us in the opposite direction. Jabari said she had
changed, but she had just told Nata that Takara was the one who probably freed
her prisoner.
Jabari halted
mid-stride, grabbing my shoulder so I would face him. His expression softened.
“I promise, she won’t be a problem for us anymore. She caved under Nata’s power
and gave Takara’s name up, but she’s on our side now, Rain. I’m sure of it. And
I’m sorry if I sound upset.” His eyes clouded with emotions. “I was scared. I am
scared. I can’t lose you.” He brushed a lock of my curls from my face and
rested his hand on my neck. My pulse sped up in its usual manner from his
touch. “I know I can’t control you, but please, be more careful, will you?”
Emotions rolled through
me as he gazed into my eyes. Forgiving Jabari for the weeks of agony he put me
through while I thought he was falling for Aleela hadn’t been easy, but I’d
done it. But the idea of trusting Aleela after her role in Takara’s
interrogation made my stomach burn. I had just seen Nata in action, so I knew
he was right about Aleela not having a choice. But still. Was I the only one
who was angry with her? And he was asking me to trust her? To just let it go?
And he wanted me to be more careful. But if Aleela hadn’t betrayed us, I never
would have had to risk my life in the first place. As I struggled to say what
Jabari wanted to hear, I noticed an Elizabeth Guard staring at us and heading
in our direction. Human officers were few and far between in our zone, and it
was rare to see one outside of Metro Prison or their headquarters at the Town
Hall. Of course, he was likely hanging around the entire time Nata had been in
our zone. Uneasiness filled me anew…Any interest a human guard had in me and
Jabari was not good. We needed to disappear and fast.
“I promise to be more
careful. Don’t look now, but there is a guard watching us,” I blurted.
Jabari shot a look over
his shoulder.
“Hey, I said not to look,” I scolded.
Jabari clutched my hand,
starting to jog again. “I’m not taking any chances with you and your safety
anymore. And he is watching us, you’re right. Let’s lose him on the next
corner. If he shows up again, we’ll know we’ve got problems. Maybe he’s just
trying to clear the streets and restore order. But if he is a problem, he’s our
problem, you understand? We’re in this together, Rain.”
“Okay,” I mumbled.
As we jogged, the
tension dissolved a little, and Jabari looked down at me. “We’re going to
survive this, soul mate. I promise.” He smiled at me encouragingly, and I
wanted to pretend he had made me feel reassured.
“I hope you’re right,
Jabari…”
But even as we put more
distance between us and our pursuer, doubts filled my head. Nata had left our
zone without the traitor she sought in custody. She had scared the people here,
sure. But would she be back to continue the interrogation? Did this guard have
something to do with it? Or was he following us for another reason completely?
And was he following Jabari and me? Jabari alone? Or just me?
Excerpt compliments of
Winter Goose Publishing
Sarah Elle Emm is
the author of the HARMONY
RUN SERIES, a young-adult fantasy and dystopian series,
released in May 2012 by Winter Goose Publishing. (PRISMATIC, May 2012, OPALESCENT,
February 2013, CHATOYANT, September 2014, NACREOUS set
for release August 2015) Her debut fiction novel, MARRYING MISSY,
an Amazon Best Seller in marriage, was published by Bird Brain Publishing in
October 2011. Sarah is a graduate of The University of Evansville, she has
lived and worked in Mexico, Germany, England, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and has
traveled extensively beyond. Her love of journal writing, travel, and
multicultural experience have all influenced her novels. Sarah lives in Naples,
Florida with her husband, Chef and Restaurateur Charles
Mereday, and
their two daughters. When she’s not walking the plank of her daughters’
imaginary pirate ship or snapping photos of Southwest Florida scenery, she is
writing.
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Airicka Phoenix lives in a world where unicorns, fairies and mermaids run amok through her home on a daily basis. When she’s not chasing after pixies and rounding up imps, also known as her four children, she can be found conjuring up evil villains, bad-ass heroines and swoon-worthy heroes to play with.
Airicka is singlehandedly responsible for her greatly anticipated collections, The Touch Saga, The Lost Girl Duology, The Regeneration Series, Games of Fire & Betraying Innocence. She also writes mature paranormal & contemporary romance under the dark guise of Morgana Phoenix. To date, she is responsible for The Sons of Judgment Saga, In The Dark Series, Forever His Baby & Bye-Bye Baby.
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