RISING
by
Sonya Weiss
Genre: Young Adult, SciFi Supernatural Romance
Pub
Date: May 9, 2017
When
sparks fly between a human and a Supernatural, the entire planet
could be at stake.
It’s
been ten years since the Great Extinction, when Supernaturals
threatened to destroy humanity. Now, in the sleepy town of Wayside,
Nevada, seventeen-year-old Cassie Grant’s life couldn’t be more
ordinary. Determined to get into an Ivy League college, her focus is
squarely on her studies. But suddenly everything changes when she
witnesses Jason Taylor, a cute and quiet loner, mysteriously save a
young boy from falling to his death.
Although
the Supernaturals ultimately retreated to their planet, three
families were left behind—including Jason’s. So far, they’ve
been successfully hiding in plain sight. But Jason knows that if
Cassie exposes him, all their lives will be in peril—especially
since Cassie’s father is the head of the Alien Eradication and
Defense Department. At first, befriending Cassie is Jason’s
survival tactic. But as they spend more time together, they begin to
fall in love. With the authorities closing in and a hidden threat
that could tear the very Earth apart, can Cassie and Jason keep each
other safe—or will their star-crossed romance start another
war?...
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CASSIE
I wiped off the mess I’d made of my
makeup for the second time, and stared at the pallor of my skin in the mirror.
The scar high on my cheekbone wasn’t as bad as the ones on my back, but it was
a visible reminder of the attack that gave me nightmares. Each time I’d jerk
myself out of sleep, I’d fallen right back into the disturbing images again. No
high IQ needed to guess why. At dinner Dad had talked in detail about the
destructive nature of aliens. As if I needed to be told.
His stories and warnings alone weren’t
the reason I didn’t like aliens. I knew firsthand that they killed, that they
left humans scarred. I didn’t blame my father for my injuries, but my mother
did. I pushed away the memory of what happened during that awful camping trip
in New Mexico. That night had forever changed all of us and made me look at
aliens differently.
Aliens were mysterious, powerful beings
who were hunted by the government but more often than not, we humans were the
prey. While there were a lot of pro-alien groups around that spouted on
websites and to anyone who’d listen that we had nothing to fear from these
“visiting creatures,” the scars on my body were living proof that was a lie.
A strange premonition swept over me and
I shivered, then tried again to reapply my makeup fast so I wouldn’t be late
for school. One more year, and then I was through.
I couldn’t wait to get out of Wayside,
Nevada, far away from my father, and his job as lead agent at the Alien
Eradication and Defense Department. I didn’t want to live with the reminder of
aliens at every conversation. I needed a clean slate, a place where I could
build good memories.
I wished we could go back to our lives before the Great Extinction.
That war between the humans and aliens
sucked the laughter out of our family like a tornado had spun through. Aliens
had killed my uncle during one of the battles. My father hadn’t been the same
since his brother’s death but he’d tried hard to keep himself together. But
then after me nearly dying during that camping trip because of an alien attack,
my father had unraveled in ways that baffled and sometimes even scared me.
I finished applying my makeup, checked
my arms and back in the mirror to make sure my scars were hidden, and gave my
face one final glance. Good enough. Grabbing my backpack, I made my way down
the stairs to the living room where Mom lay curled on the sofa beneath a blanket. She had the same shoulder-length black hair and
brown eyes I did, but where she was cover-model confident, not even photoshopping
could erase my self-consciousness. I was a little on the nerdy side so I’d
never been that confident, but after I was scarred, it had only gotten worse. I
didn’t wear sleeveless shirts anymore and I wouldn’t dream of ever wearing a
bikini again.
With a frustrated sigh, Mom sat up and
muted the television, silencing the anchor mid-report on the frequent
earthquakes striking our area. I stood behind the sofa and lip-read the closed
captioning for a few seconds.
“Anything new, or are they rehashing
yesterday’s news?”
“Not much new other than the United
States Geological Survey is monitoring the area. Nevada is the twenty-first
state hit with a wave of them.”
“That’s a lot of earthquakes.”
“There’s nothing to worry about,
Cassie. If there were, the USGS would inform the right people who would then
inform the public.”
I didn’t believe that. Because of Dad’s
job, I had insight into how the government hid things. The rash of unexplained
earthquakes made me edgy. “Where’s Dad?”
To my surprise her lips tightened, and
I wondered if there was trouble again in Alienville. “He slept at the office
last night.”
“Chasing little green men wore him
out?” I pushed my hands through my out of control hair to corral it into a
ponytail.
She tried to hide it, but a ghost of a
smile flitted across her lips, and for a second we were unified in the
knowledge Dad was acting weirder than usual. “You know your father.”
My stomach dropped. They’d been
fighting more lately and the fights were getting uglier. “Did he sleep at the
office because of his work or…”
“You should eat. I’ll make you
something.” She got up and went into the kitchen. Mom was a great cook, but she
never took the time anymore because she always had to leave the house before I
did. I didn’t know what she was still doing home.
After
taking the milk out of the refrigerator, she poured a glass, and then reached
for the box of pancake mix. When she pulled the eggs out and set them on the
counter, I said, “Mom? What’s going on?” Different what-ifs flitted through my
mind while I waited for her to answer. Dad was having an affair. Mom was sick.
Or Dad’s grouchy, could-never-be pleased mother was coming to visit. That last
one made me feel
sick. “Is Grandma coming for a visit?”
She glanced over her shoulder, shook
her head, and laughed as we shared a look of mutual thank-God relief. “Speaking
of aliens,” she muttered.
I laughed again. “Seriously, Mom. What
is it?” I covered her hand with mine to get her to stop trying to make
breakfast.
She hesitated, as if trying to decide
how to answer. “Your dad thinks there’s a connection between aliens and these
earthquakes.”
I rolled my eyes. Their power wasn’t
something to be underestimated, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think they could
control the Earth. “He thinks there’s a connection between global warming and
aliens, power outages and aliens, rising taxes and aliens.
When doesn’t he think things are related to aliens?”
She shook her head as if trying to
shake off the sudden heaviness blanketing both of us. “You don’t want
breakfast?”
I moved to the pantry and scored the
last chocolate chip granola bar from the box. “I don’t have time. The class
hike is today. I have to rush, or I’ll be late.”
“You’re wearing that?”
I glanced down at my jeans with the
myriad of artful cuts. “These are retro. Everyone’s wearing them.”
“I meant the T-shirt.”
I put a hand over the image of ET. I’d
unearthed the shirt at the secondhand store. “It’s a joke.”
“Make sure you change before your
father sees it. No use throwing gas on the fire.”
Dad was exactly the reason I’d bought the shirt,
and I didn’t care if he saw it. Yes, I was afraid of aliens, but I was tired of
my fear holding me hostage and I was trying to find my way back to the me I’d
once been. There were so many things I didn’t do anymore since that camping
trip because I was too afraid.
“Cassie?” Mom said.
“Fine, I’ll change before he sees it.”
“Are you riding in with Mark?” She
sounded hopeful, not yet knowing my status as the alien hunter’s daughter wiped
out my dating life once again.
“Um…no. Gotta run.”
Sonya
Weiss is a freelance writer, ghostwriter, and author, including the
Stealing the Heart series with Entangled Publishing. She's addicted
to great books, good movies, and Italian chocolates. She's passionate
about causes that support abused animals and children. Her parents
always supported her bringing stray animals home, although the Great
Dane rescue was a surprise.
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