#3

Title: Fire and Ice

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

Word Count: 88,000

Query:

With one simple touch, two teens discover a world of monsters and secret societies within the realms of humanity.

When sixteen-year-old Shelly accidentally runs into too-hot-for-his-own-good Kale, she discovers he ignites a fire within her—literally. After uncovering her fire power she starts receiving threatening text messages, and begins to see monsters that should be confined to fairy tales lurking in the real world.  After Shelly is kidnapped by a troll with questionable hygiene, she comes face to face with her mystery texter, Red, a woman determined to use Shelly for her own sadistic purposes. Of course Shelly’s not going to turn to the dark side if she can help it, but when Red threatens her family and friends, there’s no choice left.

Red’s first task for Shelly is to infiltrate the Circle of Elements, a secret society of people with powers just like Shelly’s, who protect the world from Travelers (those creepy things Shelly’s been seeing). Unfortunately, the only way for Shelly to get into the Circle is to get closer to Kale, the boy who started it all.  Working for Red is harder than Shelly anticipated, especially when her feelings for Kale start getting in the way. As Shelly delves deeper into the Circle she realizes if Red succeeds in destroying it, chaos will erupt as Travelers are set loose on humanity. Shelly’s the only one close enough to Red to stop her, but in doing so she’ll not only put her family at risk, but the life of the boy she’s fallen for.

First Page:

Shelly

 Honking cars blared around me. Yellow cabs dotted the street, the suffocating heat of bodies pressed together loomed as I stood at the crosswalk, waiting with the dozens of other pedestrians for the signal to change.

             

Unzipping my purse, I placed the sonogram picture in my hand back into the pocket, making sure the fragile surface was snug and safe. The memory of the Doctor’s visit was still fresh, the lingering remnants still holding to me after my session at the studio. Someone bumped against me as the crowd began to move.  

     

If a few months ago you told me my wish to be a big sister from over ten years ago was finally going to come true, I probably would have kept on walking. Ignoring an untruth is easier than calling it out for its blatant rudeness and punching it in the face. Or so my mom had taught me. 

The anxious feeling dropped into my chest, like an expectation of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Pulling my purse closer to my body I told myself just because my parents were having a miracle baby, it didn’t mean I was somehow unimportant, that my existence would be disregarded. It was ridiculous. But my palms were sweating and my stomach churned, and I found myself toeing the line of insecurity.

A gangly Santa Clause in a stained red suit stood in front of a department store, waving a bell. His crooked white beard flapped in the wind, revealing a smooth mass of skin beneath. I pulled out a bill from my jeans and dropped it into his bucket.

The strap of my purse was suddenly yanked, pulling me with it.

“Hey!” Dark glasses filled my vision.