Birthrightby Jessica Ruddick
Genre: YA Supernatural
Release Date: March 20th 2017
Summary from Goodreads:
How do you live with yourself when you decide who dies?
Ava Parks would have killed for an iPod for her sixteenth birthday. Anything would have been better than coming into her birthright of being a seeker for the Grim Reaper, an arrangement made by her fallen angel ancestor in exchange for his re-admittance to heaven. And she isn’t just any seeker—she finds souls that have the potential for becoming angels and sentences them to death. A year and two souls into her role as a seeker with her conscience overflowing with guilt, Ava comes up with a plan to thwart the system. When it goes awry, she is forced to submit the name of a classmate, Cole Fowler, an ornery, rough around the edges guy who always seems to come to her rescue, whether she likes it or not. Her feelings for Cole prompt her to intervene, and she saves him from death, upsetting the Grim Reaper’s agenda.
While Ava schemes to find a way to save Cole, she learns he has some secrets of his own. She lets him believe he is protecting her, and not the other way around, until a final showdown with the Grim Reaper forces Ava to make choices Cole may never forgive.
Birthright can be purchased at
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Excerpt:
As soon as I opened the front door, the hair on the back of
my neck stood up and a tingle ran down my spine. The scent of cinnamon filled
my nostrils. It was like having those little candy Red Hots shoved up my nose.
Dread in the form of a knot settled in the base of my stomach.
Xavier.
Xavier was…I wasn’t sure what he was. Was he the descendant
of a fallen angel like me? Was he an angel himself? Or was he something else,
something more sinister?
He certainly looked it. He certainly acted it. He exuded
evil.
He was lounging on our couch, his arms spread out over the
back of it and his right ankle propped on his left knee. His black hair was
slicked back, and he’d grown a goatee since the last time I’d seen him. As
usual, he was dressed in a black suit with a red tie, what I mentally referred
to as his “villain suit.”
I couldn’t believe he was the same man who used to read me
bedtime stories and tuck me in when my mom had to work nights.
A smile stretched across his face and his black beady eyes
watched me enter the room. The only thing that could possibly make him more
snakelike was if a thin red forked tongue flitted out of his mouth.
I’d be less surprised than if a hippo flounced around my
living room in a pink tutu in true Fantasia
style.
My mom sat stiffly on a chair across from him. It was our
home, but Xavier was in control here. Her eyes met mine, and she shrugged her
shoulders slightly. She had no idea why he was here either. We hadn’t expected
him for at least a couple more months.
“Welcome home, Ava,” Xavier said. “Why don’t you have a
seat?”
“No, thanks. I’ll stand.”
He chuckled. “Suit yourself.”
Xavier took a moment to inspect his cuticles, as if he
weren’t in the middle of our living room, as if we weren’t waiting for him to say
whatever it was he came to say so he would leave again. I’d say he was
oblivious to the effect he had on us, but that wouldn’t be true. He knew, and
he relished it.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “What do you want?”
He raised his eyebrows. “Is that any way to treat a guest in
your home?” He looked at my mother. “You should really teach her better
manners.”
I laughed bitterly. “Calling yourself a guest implies that
you’re wanted here.”
“Ava,” my mom said, her tone sharp.
Xavier just threw his head back and laughed. “No, Mary, let
the little vixen spew her venom. I like it. It’s honest. Honesty is underrated
in society today, don’t you agree?”
I glared at him.
“I have your next assignment.”
My glare faltered as I fought to keep the air moving in and
out of my lungs. An assignment from Xavier meant the blood of an innocent would
be on my hands again.
When I said I worked for the
Grim Reaper, that was oversimplifying it a bit. There’s actually more than one.
Think about it—with all the people who die every day in the world, how could
there possibly be just one?
The particular Grim Reaper I worked for was special, though.
He collected souls that were worthy of being angels. It was my job as a seeker
to find those souls.
How’s that for an after school job?
“Forgive me, Xavier, but isn’t it a little soon?” my mom
said quietly. “She hasn’t even had a chance to get settled in her new school.”
He glanced at her before returning his attention to me. “She
can handle it. Besides, it’s time.”
“But her last assignment was just last month!” my mom
protested. “Are you sure—”
“I’m very sure.”
I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. The knot
of dread in my stomach exploded, seeping into the rest of my body. I breathed
deeply, desperately trying to keep control. The last thing I wanted was to lose
it in front of Xavier.
“How long do I have?”
“Two weeks.”
Two weeks. I had two weeks to put a plan into motion that
would change lives irrevocably.
My classmates’ faces popped into my mind. I hadn’t bothered
getting to know anyone or even learning names. I told myself it was easier that
way, easier being a relative term.
But did any of them have a white aura? When I was at school,
I always blocked them out. Otherwise, the barrage of auras became a colorful
assault on my senses. School was difficult enough as it was. I didn’t need the
added distraction. Moving around so much had left gaps in my education, so even
though I was pretty smart, I perpetually struggled to maintain decent grades.
Why I even bothered anymore was a mystery, though. I would probably end up a
waitress just like my mother. It was hard to develop a career or even think
about college with our transient lifestyle.
About the Author
Jessica
lives in Virginia with her college-sweetheart husband, two rambunctious sons,
and two rowdy but lovable rescue dogs. Since her house is overflowing with
testosterone, it’s a good thing she has a healthy appreciation for Marvel
movies, Nerf guns, and football.
Author
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