Resistance
(The Variant Series, #2)
Genre: YA
Fantasy
Synopsis: Alexandra Parker might be the most powerful Variant the world has ever
seen—but even that won’t get her out of finishing her junior year of high
school.
The challenge of keeping her abilities under
wraps during class is daunting enough, but throw one surly, sandy-haired Jumper
into the mix, and things can get downright complicated.
Declan’s new job? Watch over Alex while she’s at
school and do everything in his power to keep her from losing control. But as
sparks of every kind begin flying between Alex and her new bodyguard, she's
left feeling more unstable than ever.
When avoiding her abilities results in a
surprise visit from her parents’ killer, Alex’s worlds collide with a bang that
nearly levels Bay View High.
With her freedom now squarely in the Agency’s
crosshairs, Alex will be faced with the fight of her life… and a decision that
could forever alter the course of her destiny.
Sneak Peek
Kenzie
drummed her fingers idly on the top of her desk. Slouched in her seat, she
stared unblinking at the black hands of the clock mounted to the wall above the
whiteboard. All around the room, students waited in small groups for the bell to
release them and their weekend to begin.
Three
minutes until the final bell.
Three
minutes, and she’d be free.
Three
minutes, thought
Kenzie, and I’ll be on my way toward my next coffee fix.
That bell
really needed to hurry itself up.
She had
places to be.
Kenzie
sighed. The longer she went without a fix, the harder it was to silence the
thoughts emanating from the sea of humanity around her.
Caffeine
meant focus.
Focus
meant an easier time of keeping the walls up and the voices out.
She
wondered, briefly, what telepaths did before the discovery of
caffeinated beverages. The thought made her shudder. Control without stimulants
in the bloodstream was possible, of course. But it was far from a pleasant way
to go. Especially in populated areas.
Wham!
Kenzie
jolted upright, the sudden movement causing her desk to bang into the back of
the seat in front of her.
Something
had just slammed into her mental walls with enough force to send a stab of pain
through her temple.
What the
crap was that?
Around
the room, the steady flow of conversation dried up.
It wasn’t
just Kenzie. That pulse had hit everyone.
Even the
norms.
Kenzie
got slowly to her feet.
A funny
thing happens when norms experience Variant abilities firsthand. Instead of
seeing the supernatural for what it is, nine times out of ten, they will
translate their experience into something that better fits the rules of their
reality.
The
brilliant light of a jumper’s teleport becomes a camera flash, the telekinetic
movement of objects through the air gets blamed on a strong gust of wind, and
mental assaults are automatically translated into something external.
“Did you
hear that?” asked a freckle-faced blonde from across the aisle. “Sounded like a
sonic boom, or something.”
“Yeah! I heard
it, too!” said another. “Wonder what it was?”
She
supposed the better question was not what was it, but who was it?
The wave
came again, this time with twice the strength behind it. Kenzie grabbed for the
back of her seat to keep from losing her balance.
Fear.
The wave
wasn’t a thought, it was a distilled emotion. Someone, somewhere, was
absolutely terrified.
Judging
from the nervous expressions on the faces of the students around her, that fear
was not only being broadcast to the rest of the school, it was also creeping
its way into their subconscious.
Kenzie
sifted through the residue of the psychic onslaught in an attempt to identify
the source.
The
second she caught a glimpse of that all too familiar thought signature, she
cursed—loudly, to the surprise of the students standing stock-still beside
her—before sprinting toward the door.
Halfway
down the locker-lined hall the ground began to shudder, the floor practically
roiling beneath her feet.
Earthquake? she wondered.
But this
was Florida. Florida didn’t have earthquakes.
Declan
appeared at the other end of the hall, running in her direction.
“Where is
she?” called Kenzie.
Her
brother ducked through a swinging door just ahead of her.
The
girl’s bathroom?
Kenzie
followed him in.
“Oh my
god.”
Alex was
on her knees in a shallow sea of water, dripping wet, her hands clutching the
sides of her head.
Water
flooded the room. The porcelain sinks lining the wall lay shattered and in
pieces on the ground. A large, spherical indentation was blasted into the wall
behind Alex and what could only be burn marks scorched onto the ceiling
above.
As Kenzie
watched in amazement, strands of water began swirling around her friend,
encasing her in a glittering sphere of liquid before losing form and crashing
back down around her.
A shimmer
of light rippled across Alex’s body, distorting her appearance like a mirage on
desert sand.
“I
can’t…” Alex was sobbing. “There are too many, Declan. I can’t make them stop!”
Declan
edged as close to Alex as he dared, his expression grim.
Alex
finally lifted her head to look at them.
Kenzie
took an involuntary step backward. She had seen the way a jumper’s eyes changed
color, the brilliant violet light causing their eyes to glow brightly in the
moments before and after they teleported, but Alex’s normally gray eyes were
now shifting colors with every beat of her heart.
Jade.
Violet.
Ruby.
Azure.
Black.
Alex
collapsed.
The
rumbling in the floor intensified, sending Declan into action. He sloshed through
the water, reaching down to grip Alex under her arms.
“Get the
door,” he called over his shoulder.
Kenzie
held the door for Declan as he dragged Alex into the deserted hallway.
“Take my
arm,” he ordered, maintaining his hold on Alex. “Let’s go, Kenzie.”
Terrified
of being this close to Alex during a meltdown, but knowing her brother would
leave her behind if she didn’t act fast, Kenzie lurched forward and grabbed
Declan’s upper arm.
They
jumped with the sound of the final bell ringing in their ears.
MAKE SURE
TO ALSO CHECK OUT REVIVAL (The Variant Series, #1)!
Synopsis: Possessing the uncanny ability to fry a
television set from twenty paces can really wreck a girl’s social life.
If you’re looking for proof, just ask sixteen-year-old Alexandra Parker. After
catching her boyfriend in the arms of the prettiest girl in school, she made
the journey from social elite to social pariah in a haze of electricity and
exploding electronics. But finding herself at the bottom of Bay View High’s
social hierarchy was nothing compared to the shock of discovering who—and
what—she really is.
After being zapped out of a burning bookstore by the mysterious Declan—a hero
nearly as handsome as he is infuriating—Alex finds herself under the protection
of the powerful Grayson family. It’s through them that she learns the truth:
that the world she’s always known is nothing like it appears to be... and that
she has far more in common with them than she might want to believe.
Now, on the run from a fire-wielding hit man and a secretive government
organization, Alex must navigate a strange and treacherous new world filled
with superhuman mutants known as Variants. As she begins to unravel the many
secrets of her family’s past, she uncovers the real reason for her parents’
death twelve years earlier—and finds out that the threat to her family, and to
everyone she cares about, is still dangerously real.
Giveaway
**Must be 13 or older to
enter**
**1 winner will win a
SIGNED paperback copy of REVIVAL and RESISTANCE**
**3 winners will win an
ecopy of REVIVAL and RESISTANCE**
**Ends 4/21/2014 at
MIDNIGHT**
a Rafflecopter giveaway
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and
raised in Tampa, Florida, Jena Leigh spent ten years in the mountains of North
Carolina before returning home to the lightning capital of North America. A
shameless geek, she loves bad sci-fi movies, Skittles, writing cracktastic
e-mails to friends and taking shenanigan-filled road trips to faraway concerts.
She has a degree in English from Appalachian State University. REVIVAL is her
first novel.
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