by Melissa West
“We have to go, Ari,” Vill says to me. “We have to go. I promised him.” I shake my head frantically, but before I can say a word, a force hits the door I’m standing against, knocking me forward. Vill races to me, grabs me around the waist, and yanks me through the the port, leaving everything behind.
“No!” I scream, and then a strange sensation rushes over me, beginning at my head and spiraling to my feet, over and over again, until finally I’m being tugged forward, and I fall onto my hands and knees into a bed of leaves.
Coughing hard, I scramble up to standing. “No! Jackson!” I start forward, when the sound of a gun cocking from behind me stops me cold.
“Weapons down,” someone shouts. I turn slowly and feel my stomach drop. Cybil and the others are all on the ground, cuffed. Vill is unconscious beside me. And there are Operatives on all sides, all heavily armed, all preparing to shoot.
“I’m Ari Alexander,” I say. “I have been working with my father, Commander Alexander, and Lawrence Cartier to take down Zeus and bring the humans home. I am not a threat. We are not a threat.”
“Weapon down!” the Operative in front of me shouts again.
“You don’t understand, I’m—”
“We know who you are,” he says, aligning the laser on his gun with my chest.
This can’t be happening. “I’m not sure who gave you your orders, but if you could just—”
“I gave the order.”
My insides sour as the voice registers in my mind. Law.
Lawrence steps around the Operative, dressed in Operative gear himself. “I gave the order,” he repeats. “Now drop your weapon.” He pulls a gun, and I feel like I’ve stepped into a nightmare. Law doesn’t handle guns.
This isn’t right. This isn’t real. It can’t be. This can’t be.
I hear the safety click off, and the world around me stops. “Law…what are you doing?”
“Drop your weapon!”
“Law—”
He fires, I feel a sharp pain in my gut…and then everything goes dark.
Acknowledgments
Thanks be to God, above all.
I am eternally grateful to my super editor, Liz Pelletier, who is both brilliant and hilarious. Thank you for loving this book even before it deserved to be loved. Thank you to Stacy Abrams, who made me laugh continuously during her edits. I will never forget, “Is he NAKED?!?!”
Thanks to Heather Riccio for being such an amazing publicist.
Thank you to my wonderful family—Jason, Rylie, and Lainey. I am so blessed to have you. Thank you to my parents, David and Pam, who support me through this craziness called writing even when I have doubts. Thank you to my extended family and friends for loving this series and pushing for its success. I feel sure I would not be where I am in this journey without you.
Thank you to my writing friends with Entangled—Tara Fuller, Rachel Harris, Lisa Burstein, Chloe Jacobs, among others. Thank you for always offering advice and support. I feel so lucky to call you friends.
And finally, thank you to the readers and bloggers who have shown so much love and enthusiasm for this series. Your e-mails and notes are the reason I write. Thank you.
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Everlast by Andria Buchanan
When Allie has the chance to work with her friends and some of the popular kids on an English project, she jumps at the chance to be noticed. And her plan would have worked out just fine…if they hadn’t been sucked into a magical realm through a dusty old book of fairy tales in the middle of the library. Now, Allie and her classmates are stuck in Nerissette, a world where karma rules and your social status is determined by what you deserve. Which makes a misfit like Allie the Crown Princess, and her archrival the scullery maid.
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You’d think getting sent to a rehabilitation camp after being arrested on prom night would be the worst thing that happened to Cassie Wick. You’d be wrong. Chronicled in Cassie’s diary over the course of her 30-day rehab, Cassie’s story is one of hope, redemption, and the power of love.
Table of Contents
Cover
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Acknowledgments
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