DARWIN'S CHILDREN
Darwin's Children
(Book 1 in Series)
(Book 1 in Series)
by Natasha Larry
Fantasy / Young-Adult
Fantasy / Young-Adult
A black teen in a small Tennessee town finds more than the usual
challenges growing up as she tries to master her telekinesis and help a kindred
spirit.
Book
Blurb:
Life
can get pretty complicated for any seventeen-year-old girl, but for a
home-schooled telepathic black girl trying to survive in a prestigious private
school in small-town Jonesborough, Tennessee, it can be maddening – especially
when her telepathic father keeps eavesdropping on her thoughts!
Jaycie
Lerner’s family isn’t the usual mom-dad-kid setup. Jaycie’s mom’s MIA, but
Allison, her personal live-in ‘trainer,’ is more than a mom, with her own
special abilities, like being able to lift cars and run incredibly fast. And
Jaycie’s godfather John is more than persuasive – he can literally convince
anyone to do anything.
As
far as the rest of the world’s concerned, Jaycie’s on the outside looking in.
The townsfolk love Jaycie’s pediatrician father, but she doesn’t fit in with
‘normal’ kids, and she doesn’t really want to. Most of her free time is spent
training to keep her telekinetic and telepathic powers under control. But
there’s one thing she can’t control – and that’s her feelings, especially when
her best friend Matt is nearby. If only he knew what she was truly capable
of...
Everything
seems to be status quo for Jaycie until she receives a cryptic message from a
stranger and meets a very unusual girl new to Jonesborough. Then all hell
breaks loose!
DARWIN'S CHILDREN
BY
NATASHA LARRY
Book Excerpt
PROLOGUE
From the
other side of the glass, Mason Lerner watched Haylee Mitchell circle the
monster like an aerial hunter while Sasha Gray stood like a statue, waiting.
The revulsion Haylee felt was visible in the air around her. Mason had to stop
himself from going in there and killing the man himself – his perverted and
cowardly thoughts were sickening.
Mason
watched Haylee’s mouth move. Her eyes were cold and unforgiving. She leaned
over the man who’d stolen her very soul and whispered something that filled his
face and thoughts with terror. Then silence filled the room. Mason could tell
that Haylee had said everything she needed to say. He stuck his head in and met
her eyes. There was something there he couldn’t place ... something that
worried him. “Haylee,” he entreated, trying to keep the emotion out of his
voice. “I don’t think...”
Haylee
glared him to silence. He already knew she wanted to be there in the room when
it happened. He hesitated until he saw the need in her mind. She had to do this
her way. It was her battle to fight.
He
nodded to Sasha Gray and retreated from the room, closing the door behind her.
He watched her move with an unsettling grace, like an undead ballerina preparing
for the hunt. Her alien blue eyes flashed with thirst.
Sasha
gave Haylee one last questioning look. Haylee nodded, and Sasha went to her
victim. It looked as if the vampire was simply giving him an intimate kiss, but
Mason could hear her razor-sharp teeth ripping the flesh away from his neck.
Mason had deliberately shut himself off from the man’s mind, but he could still
see the utter agony in his eyes. Being burned alive by his own daughter would
have been a serene death compared to this. Mason knew the pain accompanying a
vampire’s bite was so incomprehensible that the living world held no equivalent
to it. No one had even given voice to it. It was the physical equivalent to
Haylee’s internal pain. Possibly even worse.
The
man’s face twisted in agony and, despite his psychic defense, Mason still heard
a whisper of the scream inside his head that never escaped his lips. His body
offered no relief. The pain was trapped inside. He couldn’t go into shock or
pass out. He felt every ounce of his blood being sucked out of him. His organs
gave out, one by one, and he quickly went mad from the pain.
The dying man looked up at
Haylee smiling down at him sadistically. As his body fell to the floor with a
dull thud, he finally understood Haylee’s pain. His body was drained, and his
life was over.
CHAPTER 1
Edenvale
Academy
Jaycie Lerner sat on a high
stool at the marble counter that stood in the middle of the modern kitchen. Her
elbows rested on the counter’s cool surface as she glumly shoved small
spoonfuls of cereal into her mouth.
“Hey, kiddo.”
She looked up when her
father’s rich, resonate voice filled the kitchen. Wearing his favorite Calvin
Kline khakis paired with a plain white button-down shirt tucked in, he stood
six-foot-two, with his dark, kinky hair shaved very close to his scalp. His
deep dark brown eyes were the same shade as Jaycie’s.
“I thought you were gone
already,” she answered in a moody monotone.
He poured himself a cup of
black coffee. “Having a bad day already, bonehead?” he asked, trying
unsuccessfully to keep the sarcastic grin off of his face.
“I don’t understand why you’re
still insisting on this school thing,” she objected, suddenly angry.
“Well, then, it’s a good thing
you’re not the one doing the parenting around here.” He filled up a silver
thermos with black coffee for his short ride to work.
Jaycie narrowed her eyes and
frowned petulantly. “I’ve been home schooled since I was eight. Why would you
throw me into high school now? Last
year was horrible!”
“Learning some social skills
won’t kill you,” he told her, his expression serious.
Jaycie rolled her eyes and
snorted. “It’s unnecessary.”
“Edenvale is the best school
in the South. It’s one of the best schools in the country. You should feel honored to attend. All of their graduates
go on to Ivy League schools.”
Jaycie rolled her eyes again.
He’d told her this so many times, all she heard now when he gave her this
speech was unintelligible mumbling that sounded just like all the adult characters
in the Charlie Brown cartoons. She huffed. “You know I won’t have any problems
getting into a good school, Dad.”
As soon as she told him this,
she felt a familiar tingling at the back of her neck, followed by a warm pinch
that radiated down her spine. She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. He met
her glare with perfect composure as he warned her in a stern voice. “The phone
will be next.”
“What?” Jaycie asked
innocently.
“If you decide to skip school
today. I would change that plan, if you want your truck back.”
“It’s not fair when you do
that,” Jaycie whined, turning her head away from him dramatically. This was her
way of telling her father how indignant she felt about his intrusive behavior.
For a teenage girl, it could be a real pain having a telepath for a father.
“Oh, I’m sorry, baby.” His
tone made it very clear he didn’t mean it. As he made his way to the back door,
he said, “I have to get to work now. Remember, tonight we’re going out to
dinner to celebrate Allison’s birthday.”
Jaycie’s mood improved
slightly at the reminder.
“She’s been wanting to go to
Five Corners Grill,” he said.
“Really? Did she tell you that, or did you rudely read it
in her thoughts?” Jaycie scowled at her father in reprimand.
He winked at her with
infuriating calm. “Gotta get going, kiddo – I’ve got some early patient
appointments this morning. And keep in mind that I have no qualms about calling
your teachers this afternoon, to make sure you were in class.”
With this last comment, he was
out the door, leaving Jaycie alone with her annoyance and a soggy bowl of
cereal.
Unnatural Law Blurb
by Natasha
Larry
Fantasy / Young-Adult
Book 2 Darwin’s Children Series
Seventeen-year-old
Jaycie Lerner’s psycho-kinetic power surge is over, and her astounding powers
are under control for the time being – sort of. As she struggles to maintain
her humanity in the face of the awesome terror and responsibility of her
abilities, she also yearns for the chance at a normal life – and a relationship
with Matt Carter, the best friend she had to leave behind. But Matt’s got a few
tricks up his sleeve, and he’s not about to give up on his feelings for Jaycie.
As Jaycie and
her family grapple with the day-to-day routine of trying to keep their world
together, Jaycie’s mother figure, Allison Young, endures a personal crisis of
her own. The superhuman blonde possesses the physical equivalent of Jaycie’s
awesome psychic power.
So evolved, at
ninety-two she still looks twenty. But what good is extended life when everyone
else around her is so fragile? With no one to share her unusual life, she’s a uniquely
lonely woman yearning for the romantic love she sees all around her. But in a
dream she gets her wish – and it quickly turns to a nightmare for everyone else
in her life. The memory of a rose is all she can hold onto in the storm of
obsession that nearly sweeps her away.
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