Leon knows January is trouble. She has magical hair with a mind of its own—and powerful enemies on her trail. When they track her down, Leon is caught up in her fight to survive. But January's past is unraveling—and it's threatening to destroy everything. Is she ready for the truth about who she really is? And can she and Leon survive the fallout? 

14+ due to adult situations

 

Excerpt:

Fourteen years ago

She could kill him.

The thought had briefly flitted across her mind before, when he first mentioned his plan for the twelve babies, but she had stuffed it down and buried it. After all, Ted knew what he was doing. That’s what she’d always told herself. But now, with her fists clenched, and her heart pounding, now she really wanted to end this man’s life.

The only light in the laboratory came from the director’s office. He sat back in his chair, feet on the desk, while the young woman stood in front of him. Tears were shining in her eyes.

The man was smirking. “I put you in charge of this project because I thought you would do a good job as leader. Don’t tell me my faith in you was misplaced.”

The woman glared back at him. How had she ever thought this man was someone to look up to? Her voice shook with anger. “You lied to me, Ted. You looked me in the eye and you lied to me.”

Ted shrugged. “I bent the truth a little.”

“When I think about what the parents of those babies went through … what you put them through!” Jennifer looked down the floor, trying to blink the tears away. “And I helped you! I thought we were doing the right thing here!”

Ted jumped to his feet and came towards her. She took an involuntary step back, acutely aware of the height difference, of the fact that this man suddenly seemed transformed from friendly to threatening in the space of a second. “We are doing the right thing,” he snapped. “Years from now, they’ll revere us as heroes. We’ll be the people who changed the scientific world as we know it!” He clasped her hands, and his grip was clammy and cold. “We’re doing something revolutionary, Jen. Unfortunately, that comes at a price.” He let her hands go, as quickly as he’d taken them, and his face changed. A darkness came over his eyes. “The question is, are you willing to pay the price? Or do I need to let you go?”

A lump rose in Jennifer’s throat, making every breath a struggle. The hairs on the back of her neck rose as Ted went back to his desk and opened the drawers. He took out a gun as casually as if it were a pen and meticulously cleaned it. “Well, Jen?” He looked up at her with a snakelike smile. “Are you with me? Or against me?”

Jennifer couldn’t keep the tension out of her voice when she said, “I’m with you, of course I'm with you.”

Ted’s smile widened. “Good. Glad to hear it. Now get back down to the lab and do your job. We’ve already lost five specimens. I’m not keen to lose any more.”

“Of course, sir.”

“And, Jen?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Next time you have any moral quandaries, keep them to yourself. Science is no place for the fainthearted.” He flashed her a wide grin and replaced the gun in his desk.

Jennifer walked out of his office, closing the door as loudly as she dared to. She wished she was brave enough to slam it. Her heart was pounding, pulses beating in her fingertips. When she got back to her lab, her tears fell properly.

Seven babies lay in cots, their brilliant eyes following her everywhere she went. All of them had wires attached to their heads. All of them were no more than a year old. And, if Jennifer’s plan succeeded, all of them would be free by this time tomorrow.

She leaned over the cot of the eldest baby, a little girl with a thick head of hair. “I’m not standing by while you get treated like guinea pigs,” Jennifer whispered, fiercely. “Not anymore.”

Jennifer had lied to Ted. She wasn’t on his side. She would never be on his side again.