The Preorder is LIVE 🎉 — Plus a Book Excerpt from The Prophecy of the Codex!
Happy Tuesday!
We’re only THREE WEEKS AWAY (😱) from the release of The Prophecy of the Codex (releasing 10/27/20), so to celebrate, I thought I’d do two things.
First, I put the preorder for the ebook up for sale! (If you want the paperback, I’ll have news on that when it’s live! Paperbacks don’t have the preorder option 😭) You can grab your copy below — I’ve already seen the interior of the book, and it’s so beautiful, y’all.
Second, you deserve a book excerpt! This is from such a fun part of the book. The Four has stepped away from the dig in Belize to work on their superpowers, which they haven’t really accessed much since they received their powers. It also hints at some of the central conflict in the story. 😈 I hope you enjoy it! Comment below and let me know what you think!
Kayla took the lead when they arrived. “Okay. With our telepathy down, we have to find another way to communicate in a fight.”
Mandy put her hands on her hips. “The Elders have powers, too, Kayla, and we don’t even know what they are. They probably know everything about what we can do, probably even more than we do! And we don’t even know everything Shani can do.”
“But they don’t have the element of surprise,” Grady jumped in. “Remember the Power of the Codex is stronger than the power of the Elders, even Shani. That’s how it was designed, right? That’s why they want it so badly.”
Kayla smiled at Grady and reached to squeeze his hand before she released it. “Grady’s right. We shouldn’t even need our powers if Na-um does what he says he’s going to do. This is just in case.” She smiled. “Plus, it feels good to stretch our powers. Trust us.” She looked over at Grady, her smile widening. He grinned back, nodding.
“Justin, would you like to start?”
Justin nodded at Kayla then started jumping up and down, shaking out his arms and bobbing his head from side to side. Kayla always thought he looked like a boxer getting ready to fight in the ring or a basketball player setting up for a free-throw shot. Then he abruptly stopped jumping and stood calmly, legs separated and arms slightly extended off to his sides. His eyes slid shut, and Kayla thought he looked a little like Holun when he was getting his visions.
After several quiet moments, Justin suddenly straightened his arms, palms down, and froze. Nothing happened. Justin opened one eye. “Anything?”
Mandy shook her head at him. “Nope, babe. Nothing.”
“Let me try it again.” Justin started jumping up and down once more, cycling through his warm up. He calmed himself then again abruptly straightened his arms toward the ground. This time, a spark flew from his hands and sizzled a tiny hole in the grass before fizzling out.
“That’s it?” Justin moaned.
Grady took a few steps toward him. “We suspected it would be difficult. We relied on our telepathy to make our powers work before, and we had just received the Power. Maybe the Power has dissipated over these past few months. We really have to start training regularly to keep our powers working well.”
Mandy nodded. “Definitely.”
Grady looked over at her as she spoke. “You wanna try next?”
Mandy shrugged. “I can, but my power tends to be more telepathic. It may be down with our common telepathy.”
Kayla spoke up. “Worth a try.” She stuffed her hands in her pockets and shrugged.
Mandy closed her eyes, stretched her arms out at her hips with her palms forward, and stood still for several moments. Then Kayla felt a wind at her back.
Mandy’s eyes opened. “Did something happen? I felt something . . .”
Kayla had a sudden thought. Was that . . . ? “I felt a wind that I didn’t feel before.”
“Wind?” Mandy asked.
“Yes. I think it was from you.”
“Really?” Mandy’s eyes were wide.
“Sure, baby!” Justin came over to her and put his arm around her. “I know it hasn’t worked this way before, but the symbol on your book was the symbol for air. Maybe this is your more active power.” Justin was smiling.
Mandy grinned right back. “Awesome!” Kayla always thought she sounded like Justin when she said that. “Let me try again.”
She closed her eyes a second time, and Kayla felt a strong wind come from behind her almost immediately. Soon it was so strong she had to brace herself against it.
Mandy opened her eyes and stared right at her friend, eyes wide. “Whoa.”
Justin was grinning beside her. “Awesome, babe!”
Mandy had her arms out in front of her, controlling the wind coming from behind Kayla. Then Mandy swept her hands up, and Kayla felt the wind travel upward, along her back, and disappear into the sky. The Four watched as the trees above fluttered, then waved, then violently shook as the wind passed by. Mandy swept her arms around the canopy above them, the wind obeying her every silent command. Kayla hadn’t seen their power work so smoothly since the cave, when they first received their powers. And this was Mandy’s first time.
“Are you sure you haven’t done this before, Mandy?” Grady asked from Kayla’s left.
Mandy chuckled. “Nope, never. Promise.” She somehow still held on, moving the invisible ball of wind up and down, over and back, around the clearing. All four sets of eyes kept following it.
Then Mandy brought the wind toward the ground. The grass shook violently as it settled into one place. Mandy drew in a deep breath then clapped her hands together. Instantly, the wind dispersed.
“Amazing,” Grady breathed from beside Kayla. She smiled to herself. Despite the struggle she was having recently connecting with him, Kayla really did love Grady. And realizing just how much she loved him made her heart ache. She frowned, and a pit formed in her stomach. She desperately missed him.
I hope you’re as excited as I am! Don’t forget to preorder today!
<3 Melissa