“We will have coffee,” Livia said. It wasn’t a question. “I only need a few moments of your time.” She gestured toward the coffee truck at the corner of the busy intersection.
Santi nodded and followed. She’d found it was easier to listen to what they had to say, tell them she’d think about it and then lose their business cards.
She grew anxious, wondering how such a young woman could head a huge company like Soma. Not that Santi––or anyone outside of Soma––really knew what they did. There were rumors, of course. Frightening rumors, but it was still impressive to see a young woman in such a prominent position in the Immortal world.
“How many interviews have you had since you graduated?” Livia sipped her strong, dark coffee.
“More than I anticipated,” Santi admitted.
“Soma could be good to you, Santi. We are not the despicable corporation most of our kind believe us to be. We need young, educated agents like yourself. I don’t expect you to come to us blindly. But you have my card and if you are interested in learning more, call my assistant to schedule an appointment. I’ll be happy to tell you about Soma. Off the record, of course.”
With that, Livia turned and walked away, leaving Santi alone in the midst of the hustle and bustle of the busy Atlanta afternoon.
As she retreated back to her car, she slipped Livia’s card into her pocket ... just in case.
~~~
Finish Santi's short story in Emerge: The Volunteer, available now on Amazon
Emerge: The Edge (Book 1.5)
Alienated by everything that sets him apart,
Aidan McBrien suffers in silence.
He is the most powerful Immortal of his generation, but he chooses to live behind a mask to protect himself, even from those he loves. They can never know how much he struggles just to get through each day, overwhelmed by the pain and loss of everyone around him. As he fights a constant battle to control the gifts that threaten to push him over the edge, he dreads the day his world will look to him to fulfill a prophecy that he doesn’t even believe in.
As Aidan’s equal, Allie Carmichael endures the same isolation, but in complete ignorance of her true nature. When she meets Gavin, Allie sees a tiny glimmer of the life she wants to live, and the person she wants to be, but her instincts tell her it will never work.
Allie and Aidan have led parallel lives on opposite ends of the earth, but their paths are about to converge. With others making decisions for them, will they ever truly understand the immeasurable power they posses, or the prophecy that might not be about Aidan after all?
Emerge: The Judgment (Emerge Book 2)
The prophecy's about you, Red...
Allie Carmichael has been haunted
by those words for months.
After dropping a huge bombshell and then leaving her in limbo, Greggory McBrien still hasn't given her the answers she craves. The knowledge of her past and the absence of both Gregg and her father have left Allie an angry, twisted mess of emotions. She still feels an immeasurable amount of guilt for her mistakes that left her scarred for life and her friend, Quinn a captive of the Coalition. Allie finds herself constantly dancing on the edge of losing control of her power, too afraid to confide in anyone––even her handsome and broody best friend, Aidan.
A chance encounter at a dangerous nightclub reserved for Unproven Immortals, gives Allie and her friends the missing piece of the puzzle. If they have any hope of bringing Quinn home, they have to act quickly.
As Allie approaches her seventeenth birthday, the nightmares that only Aidan can keep at bay, return with a vengeance and she vows to finally face them on her own. But she struggles to understand what her clairvoyant gift is trying to tell her. When she finally begins to truly understand her gift, she fears it might be too late––and this time the price for her mistakes will be too high.
Last time she was afraid. This time she's angry.
About The Author
Melissa A. Craven (the “A” stands for Ann—in case you were wondering) was born near Atlanta, Georgia, but moved to Cleveland, Ohio at the age of seventeen. She still thinks of Cleveland as home, so it was only natural for Emerge to take place there.
Today, she’s back in Atlanta—for some reason she can’t seem to stay away from the ungodly heat that makes her long for things like “lake effect snow” and wind that will knock you flat.
Melissa decided a long time ago that the “life checklist” everyone else was clutching so tightly in their fists, just wasn’t for her. She does everything backwards because she’s weird like that.
She is an avid student of art and design, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of West Georgia in 2009. She worked as an interior designer for several years, but she’s always thought she might like to be a writer when she grows up.
In her spare time, if she has any, she enjoys shopping for derelict furniture she refinishes to exercise the interior design part of her brain.
Acknowledgments
Words cannot express how grateful I am to my family. I could not have done this without the love and support of my sister, Angela. A special thanks to my mother, Debby, who is the only one who will still talk to me about my book without rolling her eyes. And to my awesome dad, David, for giving me his very special gift of sarcasm. To all of my grandparents (I love you!)
To the one who shall remain nameless, thank you for your countless hours of acting as my sounding board. I literally could not have done this without you. To Jenny, thank you for your support and enthusiasm! To my beta readers, thank you for your valuable input. To Sandhya Semendy, I cannot thank you enough for your help getting Sasha’s experiences in the Chloa Valley just right. You provided an enormous amount of inspiration. To Alexandria Palama, thank you for giving Santi an authentic voice and just the right amount of Latina sass!
Chase Night, of Story Tamers, you are a tough critic, but the best editor I’ve worked with in a long time. Your feedback is always appreciated. And Robin Schroffel, thank you for your grammar expertise! And to Zoe Shtorm and Rachel Bostwick for the amazing cover art! To the wonderful indie author community, you offer the most amazing support system. I couldn’t do this without you. A big thank you to all my readers and fans. I hope you love Quinn and Sasha’s story as much as I do. Finally, I thank God for the constant reminder that I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Over the past years, circumstances always bring me back to writing—my favorite thing to do in the whole world.
Emerge: The Captive: (Book 3) Page 33
