Synopsis:
When Seraphina was younger, she healed her best friend's injured hand. Terrified by the inexplicable cure, the girl shunned her. From that day on, Seraphina found herself without friends, a freak and an oddity. And so she obeyed her mother’s rule to refrain from using her innate ability, heeded her mother's warning that its use could land her in the local mental health facility alongside her aunt and grandmother.
But when sixteen-year-old Seraphina finds a mysterious, wounded boy hiding in the hollow in the woods behind her house, she can't hold out against the overpowering urge to help him. She is drawn to him each night, and as they come to know one another, their irresistible attraction blooms.
She longs to uncover his secrets — where he comes from and why he's hiding and how he came to be so wounded — and to share her own, though she knows it's forbidden. And while her healing touch seems to be helping him, it's hurting her. When the symptoms of psychosis — experienced by the women in her bloodline who used their powers — begin to plague Seraphina, she is faced with the unbearable choice of saving her sanity or the boy she’s come to love.
Excerpt
“I should go,” he said.
“Why?” I asked. “No one’s
even awake.”
“You are,” he said. “And… you
should stay away. This is a bad idea.” The worry in his face lit up in the moonlight.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” I
said.
“Not of you,” he said, shaking his head, “for you.” And then he backed away.
“Don’t run,” I begged. My
mind raced, wondering if somehow he knew about the pull to heal and how
dangerous it could be for me to give in to it. “I won’t do anything, I
promise.”
“What do you mean?” he asked,
looking confused.
I caught myself. “What did you mean — when you said you were afraid
for me?”
He looked away. “I’m not
someone you should be around.”
“Yeah, you are,” I said softly,
wondering if he was really other than what he seemed, and then wondering, too,
if he might be a sign of a psychotic break, a figment of my imagination.
“I’m evil,” he said, “like
prince of darkness kind of stuff. You should stay away. And… I shouldn’t be
here.” He stood to go.
I shivered. “I don’t
understand,” I said, moving closer to him even though it made my whole body
hurt. “Why shouldn’t you be here? How could you be evil?” My mind started
imagining all sorts of horrible things he might have done. I knew nothing about
him. He could be the axe murderer for all I knew.
“I never should’ve talked to
you,” he said.
“You’re not making any
sense,” I said. “Won’t you come back and hang out again?”
“Just… forget you ever met
me,” he replied. And then he loped off through the woods.
Author's Bio
Summer Stone loves immersing herself in the worlds that live inside her mind. When she's in the real world, she likes kicking back on the beach, exploring new places, reading (of course) and eating rich, gooey chocolate. She loves spending time with her husband and kids, which she does as much as she can. Summer writes young adult and women's fiction, both supernatural and contemporary, realistic and looks forward to sharing her novels with you!
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