ARSON is the first book in a Young Adult Paranormal series. Book two, ASHES, is also available now. ARSON GABLE FEELS LIKE A FREAK. HE CAN CREATE FIRE. HE NEVER ASKED FOR IT. HE NEVER WANTED IT. BUT HE CAN'T SHUT IT OFF.Before now, three things were true: he both loved and despised his grandmother; his life was going nowhere; and he was alone. But when a strange girl--who feels more normal behind a mask than inside her own skin--moves in next door, Arson hopes to find something he's never had: purpose. After years of living in fear, he will be forced to confront his haunting past and embrace the unknown as he walks the fine line between boy and monster. Edgy, realistic, and breathtaking, Arson, the chilling chronicle of an isolated teenager with unimaginable ability, is set to ignite the hearts and minds of a new generation.
ASHES is a YA paranormal thrill-ride. Book 2 in the gripping Arson trilogy. MORE THAN THREE MONTHS HAVE PASSED SINCE ARSON AND EMERY WERE SUDDENLY TAKEN. TAKEN AND THEN SEPARATED. AND EXPERIMENTED ON.The minds running Salvation Asylum have abducted them for a dark purpose. A campaign has been set in motion to genetically alter mankind. Unknowingly, Arson has become the most vital instrument in this global scheme, initiated by a select group of brilliant scientists and cunning world leaders. Confused, trapped, and unable to fully manifest his abilities, Arson faces a new existence crawling with questions. Will he ever see Emery again? Is Grandma still alive? Can the fate of the human race really hang in the balance of one choice?
Nightmare and reality collide in Ashes, book two in the gripping ARSON trilogy. Love will be tested. Powers will shift. And the past will invade the here and now as Arson discovers a part of himself he has never before known and fights against his own shocking origins. Will this boy who once tempted fire be able to take on a fearful future? When the struggle intensifies and secrets come to light, will Arson be ready to accept the haunting revelation that there may be others out there, others like him?
Excerpt from Book 3 in the Arson series!
There has been a lot of anticipation
for the third book in the Arson series, and that makes me mucho
happy. I have been working on it for a while now, perfecting it,
making sure that it lives up to the coolness of Ashes. In this
except, we get a look into Arson’s mind, his mental landscape. It’s
a scary place, make no mistake. Here, the imagination is the limit.
Things, ideas, fears, loves, and dark creatures exist in this arena,
and all are searching for Arson. He is fragile. He is on the verge of
losing his grip. Arson’s mind is trapped, but possibly not for long
because Adam, another character with unique abilities, has entered
his mind in an effort to set him free.
Hope you dig it!
evega
Arson book 3 excerpt
The
patterns of his nightmare were a disease. Arson hated the hallways,
the rooms—they all had the same ruined look: identical flaking,
green-black walls and dead windows. His rage had spawned a reckless
trail of flames that wandered beyond and behind their cautious
footsteps. Faded lockers had hindered some of his harshest memories
from being exposed; nevertheless, he noticed a sequence of metal
cages had been pulled open, bent. Rust formed along the lockers’
twisted edges. A leak from the ceiling was now trickling down to
corrupt their feeble frames. It didn’t take long at all for things
to decay in this place, that much was obvious. Arson’s pulse
quickened at the sight of all the torn-open realms.
Adam
approached each step with a certain fearlessness Arson so desperately
wished he possessed. A steady pace that suggested he was looking for
something and was close to finding it. But all the silence was
driving Arson crazy. He had so many questions, questions about his
powers, about sliding, about why he was plagued to live memories that
weren’t his. If Adam could enter another’s subconscious, did he
too have to endure someone else’s intense past? Did he ever get
stuck inside of a nightmare like this?
Arson’s
eyes opened and shut rapidly, as if his body—or, the body of his
mind—knew that doing so was such a waste of time. He took a deep
breath. As much as he wanted to know the answers to all of his
questions, there was one mystery he needed solved first. It was the
one thing that mattered above all. He’d been distraught over it
since he got trapped in this distorted reality, since before Adam
showed up and made everything even more of a blur. Was Emery still
alive?
Why
hadn’t she broken through?
Why
hadn’t she crossed into this supernatural existence?
Why
hadn’t the vision of his escape been real? He’d held her against
his chest. He’d felt her skin on his skin. Emery was real, all of
it was. Arson knew that he mutilated every last one of the sick
fiends who had fed him lies and injected him with poisons. They all
turned to ash in a matter of minutes. He’d risen out of his coma
already and ended their scheme. In fact, he was there again now, his
body unleashing a torrent of wrath, power he barely could control.
With one breath, he’d watched a doctor become dust. Just by
thinking it, his father’s heart had incinerated. The asylum was
laid to waste, and Emery’s beautiful smile was first to welcome him
back to the real world. If he entertained this reality long enough,
maybe he’d smell her again, feel her hair slide across his
knuckles, and even sense his knees quiver as her warm breath tickled
his neck. He would never let her go.
“Cut
it out,” Adam said, nudging Arson’s ribs. “Do you want to get
out or stay in la-la land? If we plan on escaping, keep all that
sentimental garbage at bay. You need to be able to tell the
difference between what’s real and what isn’t. Your
“breakthrough” never actually happened. This place just made you
think it did. Get over it.”
“This
is my dream,” Arson snarled. “My mind created it. I can
control it.”
“Can
you?”
No
reply. Arson just kept walking.
“Some
people say you can control what happens in your dreams. I say maybe,
if you’re strong enough.”
“I
am. Look around you.”
Adam
studied the fiery shapes blazing around them. Colorful flowers that
bloomed into the bodies of creatures only a teenage mind could
fathom. Dragons and serpents and spiders blended together. An
intoxicating splash of sapphire, crimson, and golden light.
“Okay,
showoff. But starting fires doesn’t mean you can control everything
that happens here. There’s some stuff that goes way back. It’s
deep in your subconscious. I’ll bet you don’t even know half the
stuff that’s locked in here with us. Or even remember it. I’m
talking memories, ideas, bad dream kinda crap. It’s no wonder you
haven’t gotten out yet.”
Adam
spoke like a frustrated teacher. As they walked by another classroom,
Arson was instantly reminded of several teachers he hated. Maybe
Adam’s voice was theirs.
“It
makes sense if you just think about it for a second. Your mind is a
powerful computer. It’s capable of storing images you may have only
seen once, thoughts you probably didn’t even mean to think. You
read a book, and in that book a woman gets brutally murdered to
death. Your imagination takes a picture with the words that described
the action. That picture is now floating around in your brain,
forever. You hear a song and it makes you angry. Watch a movie and
you get excited because some couple is going at it on-screen. All of
those things—the lusts, the fears, confusion, hatred—it all lives
in here. A part of us can contain it only for so long, but when
you’re stuck, like this, all bets are off. There is no delete
button, no shut-off switch. You get the good with the bad.
Unfortunately, your mind seems to like letting out all the bad. Not
to mention, in here, you’re weaker.”
“You
make it seem like I’m powerless.”
Adam
stopped midstride and scratched his temple. His eye twitched when he
spoke. “You’re missing it, Arson. It’s not just about power.”
Adam snapped his fingers and his thumb lit like a candle. As the
flame crossed fingertips, a grin toyed with his mouth. “See? You
could be your own personal superhero in here if you wanted, but that
wouldn’t be enough. You still wouldn’t get out. Because that’s
not how it works.”
“I
know, the code and whatever.”
“Hey,
might wanna lose the attitude. I’m trying to help you. There is
a specific code that should be able to break you out. Maybe if you
got past yourself and started thinking about the future instead of
drowning in the past you might be able to help me find the locations
of these codes. And just maybe, we get out of here alive.”
Adam
quenched the fire in his palm and continued walking.
“Wait
a second. You mean it’s possible for me to die in here?”
Adam
abruptly replied, “I’ve seen some strange things in my years, but
like I said, this is different. All bets are off. Anything’s
possible.”
“But
if I die in here, maybe I just wake up.”
“You’re
in a coma, Arson. Your real-world body atrophies slowly, but it’s
happening. A day in here can wear on you out there. Given your weak
physical state, if you die in this place, I don’t think you’re
just gonna wake up. Besides, if you do, it’ll just keep going. More
experiments. More tests. It’ll never step until we end it. I can
help.”
A
tidal wave collided with Arson’s mind. He was close to drowning,
couldn’t breathe. His thoughts crashed into one another—a
jumbled, fearful mess. “But these are my thoughts—”
“Most
of them.”
“Right.
But they can kill me?”
“An
idea is more dangerous than a bullet. A memory can paralyze you. One
thought can destroy you. Think about it. It’s perfect in a sick
way, how the mind works. A nightmare of your own design. You’ve got
some freaky stuff in here.”
If
I could see your brain, I’m sure I’d be shocked too, Arson
thought.
“Maybe
you would be, maybe not,” Adam said.
“I
hate it that you can do that.”
“We’re
in your head, remember? For all intents and purposes, I am just
another memory. I slid into your mind and chose Danny’s shell
because he isn’t a threat. A lot of other things in this place
are.”
The
heat from the fire he created was starting to push into his pores.
Arson began to sweat. “If what you said is true, you know, about
the memories and the things trapped in here with us…why should I
trust you?”
“Maybe
you can’t.”
Arson
was anything but comfortable with that answer.
“But
right now, I’m here with you, trying to locate the codes that can
save your life. You’re no use to me stuck in here.”
“What
are you talking about?”
“What?”
Adam said.
“No
use to you?”
“Is
that what I said? I meant no use to us. To people like us.”
“There
are more?”
Adam
grinned. “Yes. And there are still more whose abilities have not
manifested, but in time they will. Listen to me, you are by far the
most unique. I need you, Arson. We need you. Your power, your mind.
There’s a darkness coming. Our kind needs someone like you on our
side.”
The
weight of everything was crushing. Arson had just wanted to be a
normal teenager with normal problems. He wanted to freak out about
which college to attend. He wanted to bicker with his girlfriend
about which movie to watch on a Friday night. But he wasn’t that
boy. He was a superfreak. He didn’t have the luxury of normalcy.
“Being
normal is overrated. I would’ve thought you’d grasped that by
now. And the scumbags who did this to you, they’re the freaks.
They’re the virus.” Adam pounded his palm against Arson’s chest
like a commander who was instilling the values of war into one of his
troops. “Never forget that that!”
Arson
nodded and followed Adam around the corner. A man with sharp ears
stood in the shadow, waiting with a knife.
“Great,”
Adam sighed.
“Isaac?”
Arson said, puzzled.
Adam
turned his head, but never took his eyes off the man hiding in the
shadows. “Well, on the bright side, at least you’re already
acquainted.”
Isaac’s
fingers choked a blade, some of his fingers daring the harsh edges to
take some skin. Slivers of blood snaked down the metal tip and leaked
onto the ash floor, where Arson swore Isaac’s body should have
been.
“I
killed him,” he said to Adam.
“Nothing’s
permanent. Haven’t you ever had the same dream twice?”
“What’s
the plan, fearless leader?” Arson said, his throat shaky with a
lack of confidence.
“Playtime,”
came Isaac’s intense whisper. His arm flinched, and he moved
closer. Arson tried to focus on the man’s shape, but every time he
did, the image would distort, like a bad television signal. Body
features got choppy, his clothes faded out then came back. But the
knife, and that sick glow in his father’s eyes, never left.
“I
killed you once, Isaac. I’ll do it again.”
“No
need for the threats, son. I’m here to help you, really. To save
you. To set you free.” Isaac’s lips peeled back to reveal a
horrible smile made of twisted, iron teeth. Black smudges lined the
corners of Isaac’s mouth and spots ran up his cheek. He looked
infected.
“Stay
away from us,” Arson ordered, his eyes expanding as new fire spread
to the walls.
“This
is how you see me, son. I am a fractured mess. You want me this way
so I can’t harm you, so the truth can’t harm you. You’ve made
me a villain. But I swear I’m nothing if not made of good
intentions. Father knows best.”
“You
are not my father. You’re a dead man. You abandoned me at birth.”
“But
I am here to walk you into your resurrection. Just one cut is all it
will take. I swear you will be free.”
“Don’t
buy it, Arson,” Adam said.
“But
what if this is a part of me? It came back. It didn’t want to stay
dead after all. What if it’s trying to save me from...” Arson
hesitated, “myself?”
“Are
you serious? The guy has a knife, and he looks pretty comfortable
with it. It’s not your father, Arson. This ghost will never be him.
You could make nice in here all you like, but it doesn’t change the
fact that the real Isaac Gable is a part of their system, the ones
who did this to you. The ones who put you here. You wouldn’t be in
this coma if it weren’t for them. He’s been with the order for a
long time. Bury him!”
Isaac
licked his teeth then his lips, and his eyes lit with anticipation.
He clenched his raw knuckles against the handle of the blade and
started running toward them. A wild flame raced out from the wall and
cut through the floor, singeing the man’s feet. As the shoes began
to melt, Arson heard his father scream. He wished he could capture
every blood-curdling cry, and he knew deep down, that if they didn’t
get out soon, he would hear the sounds again.
“It
won’t be that easy, boy.” Isaac still had the weapon. He lunged
out to strike. Arson glanced down at his feet, now blood-red, the
flesh near-devoured. Bone had replaced flesh. “Let me finish it,”
Isaac cooed. “Let me set you free. I set Kay free. Grandma’s free
now. Come here!”
Arson
didn’t move when Isaac leapt toward him. Adam stood motionless as a
bat-like flame swooped down from the ceiling and began to melt the
skin around Isaac’s neck. Arson should’ve closed his eyes, but he
couldn’t. Isaac’s smile turned a distorted kind of sad as pink
material dripped off his cheekbones. His clothing was wilting to
ashes, and Arson could see his beating heart, but as he blinked, the
screams played a sorrow chorus in his eardrums, like an orchestra
ascending to an otherworldly crescendo. And with a blink, Isaac was
gone, but a whisper drifted into the air one last time. “I set
Grandma free,” it said.
“You
hesitated,” Adam exhaled deeply, disappointed.
“He’s
gone. Isn’t that what matters?” Arson replied, the flames
cowering back to the walls and corners.
“No.
He was going to kill you, Arson. How could you even think for a
second that he was on your side?”
Arson
kept walking.
“What
if he’d gotten a little closer with that knife, huh? What if he
decided to end this nightmare? You’d be dead.”
“You
don’t know that for sure!” Arson shouted.
“I
know enough to be sure that death isn’t the best way out. It’s
far too dangerous.”
“Let
it go. The arson in me took over anyway, and it killed him.”
“I
killed him,” Adam said defiantly.
Arson
turned around.
“When
you hesitated, I sent those flames to do what you couldn’t. It’s
that weakness in you that held you back. It’ll be your undoing.”
“Don’t
do that again,” Arson ordered.
“What?
Save you? Make the choice you can’t? Please. If I hadn’t acted,
you’d be a bloody mess, and maybe the same goes for me. I’ve
never been inside someone’s head when they died. You may not
entirely care what happens to you in here, but I’m not ready to
quit just yet. So pull your head out of the sand, and start thinking
straight. Isaac’s not the only thing that’ll be looking for us.”
Arson’s
eyes wandered from Adam, the boy who looked so much like his
childhood friend. A friend who had misled him.
***Giveaway***
Grand Prize Includes:
Signed copy of Arson
Signed copy of Ashes
Custom Arson T-Shirt
E-books of Arson and Ashes (Nook or Kindle)
Custom Personalized letter from Estevan Vega telling you how classy you are ;)
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(US Only)
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