With Great Power-
Planet
Suraden is everything Earth should have been. It is unpolluted and
relatively
free from crime under the protection of the Calante, superheroes
charged
with the duty of serving from the age of ten on. There is no choice --
no exceptions to the laws that bind them. Those who do not serve are
traitors,
Grellan. When the Grellan kill Empathen, his son is drafted into
service
two years early to save him from a similar fate.
Twelve years later, Soulchaser is the best of the best. When he encounters a Grellan woman by the name of Starseeker, his carefully cultivated world falls apart. She offers everything he wants and only asks his trust in exchange. Soulchaser wants to trust her, but is she what she seems? What does Starseeker hope to gain? Are his powers right or his training? Trusting Starseeker will either win him his freedom or cost him his life.
Cover art created by Sam Pray
HEA-yes, VIOLENCE-moderate, LANGUAGE-moderate, SEX-highly sensual
To purchase With Great Power from UTM...in e-book...
Playing With Fire- When Firebrand/Jason is caught in the act of freeing a young cadet, he's determined to last long enough for the Grellan to free him. The Calante, however, are determined to break him and publicly execute him. When strong-arm tactics fail, they go to the one interrogator who uses more unconventional means, but can Tamra break Firebrand without losing her heart to him?
Jump Lover- Anthony has been watching Emma in his astral state, certain she'll have nothing to do with him. But, what happens when he learns that Emma knows he's watching, that she can sense his presence? And what happens when she decides that watching isn't enough?
Excerpt
of
With Great
Power
PROLOGUE
Memo
To: Mindteacher, Dean of
Discipline, Head
Trustee, Calante Academy, Central City
From: Visionchaser,
spokesman for the
trustees,
Calante Academy, Central City
Date: June 15, 2052
We heartily agree with your
analysis of the
situation. The trustees are unanimous in their decision. Soulchaser is
to be brought to the academy to begin his training tonight. We cannot
risk
a repeat of Empathen’s loss. Use whatever means you find necessary to
secure
the boy before the Grellan can strike again.
End trans.
* * *
Julien startled awake as his mother cried out in fury and frustration.
“You can’t,” she protested. “I have two more years. The law says—”
“You know he can’t stay here, Patrice,” a strange man insisted. “How will you protect him? He has Empathen’s powers and more. They know that.”
“Then take me, too.”
“You know I can’t do that. If you were an operative— I can’t let a human live inside the main complex. That’s why your quarters are outside the wall.”
“You won’t break that rule, but you’ll take him early?” she asked sarcastically.
The man sighed. “You would have to leave the main complex in two years. How would we explain it to him then? How would we explain you being there to the other cadets now? The jokes would start tonight. The mighty Empathen’s son needs his Mommy to come with him? Children can be very cruel, Patrice.”
Julien snuck to the bedroom door, daring to peek at the man from the academy — the operative they sent to try to take him from his mother. His heart pounded at the sight of the grim-faced old man. Julien looked to his mother’s tortured expression in dismay. She was considering it. Patrice was actually considering handing him over early.
Please, don’t agree. Don’t let him take me. Julien bit back a sob as he felt her wavering.
“He’s my son,” she managed through
trembling lips.
“He’s my only child.”
The old man took her hands. “You will lose him either way, Patrice. This way, you know he’s safe. If he stays here—” He let the threat hang between them.
She nodded. “You’ll bring Julien to see me? Promise me that much.”
He took her shoulders in his hands, nodding. “A guard detail will bring him once a month and accompany you where you wish to take him. You have my vow.”
“What— What is my son’s name?” she asked solemnly.
Julien shook his head in disbelief. His name— The name chosen for him when he was tested at the age of three would be spoken for the first time tonight, two years ahead of schedule.
“Soulchaser.”
Julien shivered. If they were really taking him to the academy, he’d heard his true name for the last time until he found a confidant. No one dared speak a power’s true name unless he or she was invited to do so, and his parents never would. That was the law.
The old man chuckled. “Come, Soulchaser. It is time to go.”
“That is not my name,” he replied stubbornly. “It will not be my name until I turn ten. That is the law.”
The door opened, and the man stared down at him, amusement curving his lips into a cruel smile. “Are you inviting me to use your true name?” he asked pointedly.
Julien felt his cheeks burn. He glared at the old man. “No. I don’t trust you.”
“That’s good. People should earn your trust.”
“That’s not what my father says,” Julien groused. “He says to trust your gut instincts about people.” I don’t trust you. But, Empathen was dead. Word had come to them that afternoon that his father had fallen in the line of duty.
The man’s smile disappeared. “Your father trusted the wrong person. That is how he died. You should remember that.”
Julien didn’t answer that. How could he argue that a power like Empathen should never have let a Grellan get close enough to kill him? Why would Empathen let down his guard?
“On your feet, Cadet Soulchaser.”
He cringed as he rose. I am not Soulchaser. I am Julien Cross. No matter what name I answer to, I will never forget who I am. He met the old man’s eyes. “What is your name — sir?”
“My name is Mindteacher, but almost no one calls me that, as you will soon learn.”
“They use your true name?” Julien asked dubiously. Surely not. There was too much power in knowing an operative’s true name. The law said—
“No. They call me ‘the old man.’ People have always called me ‘the old man,’ even when I wasn’t one.”
Julien scowled, unsurprised by that discovery.
“Say goodbye to your mother, Soulchaser. You will see her next month.” Mindteacher laid a hand on Julien’s shoulder.
Julien stilled, meeting the old man’s eyes as Mindteacher’s thoughts coursed into him like a waterfall. In the moment before he yanked his hand away, Julien learned a lot about Mindteacher.
The old man blamed Jake for his own death. Mindteacher thought of Empathen as Jake, though he didn’t trust Jake any more than Jake trusted Mindteacher. The old man knew everyone’s secrets. He was the academy Dean of Discipline and the Head Trustee. Julien laughed aloud as Mindteacher’s true name settled in his mind. Then the connection was gone.
Mindteacher motioned to the doorway. He waited for Julien to turn to it before he nodded to Patrice. “Next month,” he assured her.
A chill coursed along Julien’s nerves
and he grasped
his mother in a fierce hug, abruptly certain that he would never be
permitted
to see her again.
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