Phoenix Rising: September 2012

My dear friend Jenna Kay has a new book to share with us....

There is a world invisible to Untouched eyes, where demons rule the shadows and prey on the innocents. Gracen Potts lives in this world. Her job is to serve and protect those who are oblivious to the monsters hiding from the light.

As a Silver Mortal Gracen has the power to send these demons back to Hell. With the Silver Eagle's blood running through her veins she feels like nothing can take her down. That is, until she meets a group of Night Vipers who have escaped the Viper clan.

Can Gracen keep doing her job of demon slaying and protect the rebel Vipers?

PROLOGUE:

I've always been a little different, leaning toward the weird and unusual side. From my long white hair and fair skin, to my almost clear blue eyes—weird, weird, weird. Not to mention my anti-social status and could care less attitude. But my weirdness level shot up to maximum proportions the day I turned thirteen. That was the day I saw a werewolf for the first time.

Now I say werewolf because it looked like something from the horror movies I'd watched and the paranormal books I'd read. Black beady eyes, tall, hairy, muscular body, sharp claws, long snout and teeth, pointy ears, resembling a large canine—you get the picture. Though later on I learned it had not been a werewolf at all, but a demon.

Demon. Yes, that's what I said. You see, up until that day I thought I was just your average looney, knowing and seeing nothing but what I saw in front of me. Everything had been school, boys, headaches, snotty girls, and tests—crappy school junk. Little did I know that I'd been born into a family who had been touched long ago by the supernatural.

The day I'd seen the werewolf demon I'd screamed bloody murder, pointing at it in fear. I'd almost peed my pants because of the terror that held my body hostage! Then confusion set in when my fellow classmates hadn't freaked out with me. I mean, come on! There was a freaking werewolf in the room. Though while I'd screamed “werewolf”, everyone in class had stared at me with wide eyes, thinking I was the freak of nature instead of the monstrous creature. It had dawned on me that I was the only one seeing the werewolf...and the werewolf knew it. He'd thrown his hairy head back, making a sound in between a laugh and a thunderous howl.

That was my last day at that school. I'd ran home to my grandmother, who had raised me from birth (per my mother's wishes) and told her everything. The werewolf, me screaming, my classmates staring at me like I was insane...everything.

To my utmost surprise she'd remained calm, which had completely flustered me, but looking back now I can see why she had stayed chill. She'd known that day had been a long time coming, though she'd left me out of the loop. I had not gotten angry with her, eventhough I'd had every right to be. I mean, how could I be mad at the grandmother who'd raised me because my mother had gone AWOL?

Anyway, Granny had gone into her room and returned with a hand held mirror.

“Tell me, Gracen,” she had whispered. “Tell me what you see.”

I can remember like it was yesterday. I remember seeing the marks for the first time. Silver claw marks to be more precise, that started on my temples and ran down my cheeks, though they were very faint. Later on I learned that those marks could only be seen by others after midnight...among other things.

That was when I learned of my supernatural heritage.

Many centuries ago a legend was born. It spoke of a Silver Eagle that flew the skies in search of the purest of hearts, looking for the right persons to change. The ones who would take and use its otherworldly powers to fight the evil forces of the night. It scratched the chosen humans and they became transformed. A fierce power burned through their veins, and at the stroke of midnight, every night, the claws marks from the eagle would surface, turning a metallic silver. Their eyes would also turn silver, making their vision strong and more precise, for after midnight they could see in the dark as if it were daytime, and they could see for miles as well. Their strength and agility increased to super hero level, giving them an edge to the evil walking the earth.

They became known as the Silver Mortals, humans marked by an unearthly force, their mission to protect humanity against the evil that inhabits the planet. Never heard of them? No, of course you haven't. No sane person would believe in a Silver Eagle that went around empowering people with gifts so they could fight in a supernatural war, the battle between good and evil. Angels and Demons.

To finish the legend, the Silver Eagle injected its power into the ones who had been chosen, or another term some have used, Touched. Generation after generation the bond has gotten stronger, the blood growing more and more potent to rid the world of the evil that is invisible to Untouched humans. Well, most humans, that is.

I say most humans, because I am human...and I'm also a Silver Mortal. I know how tohunt, fight, and kill demons, no matter what shape, form, or monster it portrays. I'm only sixteen but my name is getting out there, causing an uproar amongst a group of humans who have been touched by a more sinister entity.

Satan.

Just as a Silver Eagle came to earth to transform the purest of hearts, a Fallen Angel known as Botis was sent to earth, crawling out of the depths of Hell, to mark the humans with the blackest of hearts. These humans would use their powers to aid in the destruction of mankind. Hellbent on causing pain, finding enjoyment in watching others tormented and oppressed.

Botis, in the form of a huge black viper, would bite and inject the sinful man or woman with his diabolical venom, turning them into a Night Viper.

The Night Vipers are evil spirited humans, and they will stop at nothing to destroy my kind. They are humans teamed up with demons to create chaos and devastation in their wake. Like the Silver Mortals, they are spread all over the world, and they too bare their own signature mark—a coiled black viper that takes up one side of their face.

When my gift emerged I had to say goodbye to Granny and the cozy cottage we shared deep in the North Carolina mountains. I had to go live with someone who knew what I was going through, the person who had abandoned me when I was a baby—my mother, who is also a Silver Mortal, just like her father had been, and like every generation before us.

We live in a city full of both good and evil—New York City.Now if you were to see me walking down the street, you'd see a normal looking sixteen year old girl with horrible white hair and skin deathly pale. But people with supernatural eyes can see me for what I truly am...

A warrior.

As for the Silver Eagle who injected my ancestors centuries before, no one has seen, heard, or even knows where it came from. We only know that we have a job to do, and that we are counted on.

My name is Gracen Potts. Welcome to my world.