Title: Legacy of Power: Season 1
Author: C.C. Bolick
Genre: YA Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Book Blurb:
Charlie Conners never imagined her mother was from another planet, or that she’d inherit a powerful legacy. As she faces her mother’s death, she learns of a gift that will make her an expert marksman. Torn between two worlds, Charlie is stunned to learn her mother escaped a life of servitude to start fresh on Earth. After soldiers travel across the galaxy to bring her mom home, Charlie’s only choice is to run. As long as no one knows about her power, they can’t take her away. As she’ll learn, standing on the sidelines isn’t easy. After saving the life of a government agent, Charlie’s power is discovered and she’s forced to take on a job to kill Earth’s most dangerous criminals. Can she learn to kill without giving up her soul?
Excerpt:
Mom watched her words sink in. She motioned for me to take the seat beside her on the bench, but I couldn’t move.
I mean what will happen since you’ve inherited my power.
For a moment, I stood in shock, turning the words over in my head as if I’d realized something vital to my existence. “How do you know I’ll have your power?”
“Keva has the power to see the future of people she touches.”
“Any people?”
“Will you please sit down?” Sighing, Mom leaned back against the bench and looked toward the sky. “I know this isn’t easy.”
Slowly, I sat next to her, but not close enough she could brush against me.
“That’s better,” Mom said. “Keva’s power doesn’t work on everyone. We didn’t know if she would get a read on you, but she was determined to try.”
“Why?”
“Don’t you want to know if you’re like me?”
“Like an alien?” Several repercussions for those words flowed through my head along with a laugh that escaped my lips.
“You don’t believe me.” She sighed again. “Maybe you don’t want to believe.”
I leaned back and stared at the clouds, unsure of what she saw above us. “I watched you teleport.”
“Sometimes you have to see the truth to believe.”
“It’s not that I don’t believe or I don’t want to believe. You can’t spring this truth on me and expect me to immediately accept. You say you’re from another planet, but nothing about what that means or how you got here.”
“On a spaceship. I thought we’d discussed how I arrived.”
“You mentioned a spaceship, but I haven’t seen it.” I leaned forward to stand. “What do you want from me?”
Her hand shot out and gripped my arm, but she didn’t have the strength to keep me in place. “I want you to try to teleport.”
Again, laughter caught me on the raw. I sank back onto the weathered wood. “You want me to teleport? You haven’t even explained how this power works.”
“That part is easy. All you do is think of another place. Close your eyes and picture yourself there.”
I closed my eyes and thought of the living room. No, Lorraine might see me. Maybe the kitchen or my bedroom. Maybe down by the lake, but I didn’t want to think of what existed under the surface of that murky water. With a sigh, I opened my eyes.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I can’t think of any place to go.”
Her chuckle was low and filled with the same warmth as the hand that gripped mine. “Only you, Charlie. Anyone else could think of a dozen places they’d rather be. Lorraine could probably name a hundred.”
“We never take vacations and I go nowhere but to school and the store downtown.”
“Your father and I have always avoided attention.”
“Now I know why.”
Mom turned to me and held out a hand. A gun appeared in her palm, which she offered to me. “Imagine this on the counter in our kitchen.”
My breath hitched as I stared at the gun. It was black like a pistol used in one of those TV police shows. I reached for the gun and gripped the cold metal in my palm. My finger twitched where it landed near the trigger, a surprisingly natural fit and lighter than I’d expected. Imagining I actually had the power to move an object with my mind felt uncomfortable. On the one hand, having this power would be exciting. On the other, soldiers may come for me like they did for Mom. “Is this the gun you used to shoot those men?”
“Don’t worry about them.” She held up a hand when I tried to speak. “I can hear the waver in your voice. Focus on moving the gun and nothing else.”
Concentrating, I focused on the gun, but the metal remained in my hand. “I don’t want to be like you. They may come for me next—”
Gently, she took the gun from my hand while pointing the barrel away from us. “You’re not ready and we have little time. Charlie, dear, you’ve got to put this fear out of your mind.”
“If you already know I can teleport, why worry now?” This conversation had moved from strange to ridiculous. How much did she think I could believe? “You could have showed me years ago, but you didn’t. Instead, you left me in the dark and suddenly it’s so important for me to try. Now that you’re out of time…” My voice cracked on the last word. Her sickness, along with this crazy business about soldiers with laser guns and alien powers, was too much.
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Giveaway: I’m one of the authors participating in the Spooky Halloween Bookish Giveaway and you can win an e-copy or print copy of winner’s choice of one of C. C. Bolick’s books.
Runs October 1 - 31 and is open internationally for many prizes. Winners will be drawn on November 1, 2021.
Author Biography:
C.C. Bolick grew up in south Alabama, where she’s happy to still reside. She’s an engineer by day and a writer by night—too bad she could never do one without the other.
Camping, fishing… she loves the outdoors and the warm Alabama weather. For years she thought up stories to write and finally started putting them on paper back in 2006. If you hear her talking with no one to answer, don’t think she’s crazy. Since talking through her stories works best, a library is her worst place to write… even though it’s her favorite!
C.C. loves to mix sci-fi and paranormal—throw in a little romance and adventure and you’ve got her kind of story. She’s written a dozen books including the Leftover Girl series, The Agency series, and The Fear Chronicles. Her serial, Legacy of Power, is a prequel to the other books.
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