Of Gaea (Of Legacies #1)
Victoria Escobar
Published: 20th March, 2013
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age: Young Adult
From: Girls *Heart* Books Tour
Summary:
Her choice will change the world.
She hated the wheelchair. Hated the way it made her feel less than what she was. Most of all she hated not being able to do all the things she used to. Ari had been a track and field star, an archery champion and an Eskrima pro. Now she was confined to a wheelchair slowly dying inside from its restraints.
Medical science wasn’t working. The tests, the drugs, the therapies were all useless and a waste of time. She was tired of wasting her time; she was tired of failure. It was time to look away from the obvious and try something unconventional.
Nothing was ever free and that included miracles. Abruptly, Ari finds herself tangled in a web of lies, questioning everything she’s ever known as truth. Never had she believed she’d be thrown headfirst into a world of good and evil, magic and Gods.
Trapped in the middle of a war she had never known existed both parties demanded her allegiance. Ari was a catalyst that could change all the rules of the Earth. But when the time comes to make a choice will she be strong enough to know right from wrong?
Excerpt
“I’m twenty years old.” Leonidas said quietly. “And I am destined to die before my next birthday. You understand why I have no enthusiasm for hurrying that along.”
“Come on.” Sasha grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and drew Ari back. “He’s not worth your anger.”
“Can I at least have the runes? I’ll get someone else to help, but I need the other runes.” Ari begged. Pride was no longer an option. Her one chance was slipping through her fingers. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn’t just give up. “Please. You may not care at all, and I really don’t care if you do or not. But, please, don’t condemn me to this wheelchair for the rest of my life. Please?”
“Sasha.” Leonidas slowly righted himself. He wanted to ignore her pain. Wanted to pretend it didn’t matter. His ghosts, however, wouldn’t let him. His words were slow and resigned. “You’ll need to pick her up. Her chair cannot go where we need to go. Put it there,” he gestured next to the archway, “out of the walkway and follow me.”
Sasha parked the wheelchair and carefully slid his arms under Ari. He was always very careful with her. Spun glass, was what she reminded him of, though, recently that glass was lined with steel. He waited for Ari to grab her notebooks and nod at him in confirmation before righting slowly and letting her adjust comfortably once upright.
Leonidas watched bemused, but said nothing. It wasn’t his place to say anything, and if he had it would no doubt have met with defensiveness from Ari. While he wasn’t above being argumentative, he wanted them out. It hurt to look at them for too long. Their unit was too solid and it pained him.
Leonidas had been right about the wheelchair. The hall behind the curtain was barely wide enough for them to walk. There was no way a wheelchair could have been navigated through. All the doors were closed so Ari could only guess at what was behind them.
At the end of the hall, Leonidas pushed on a tile in the wall. The panel slid open to reveal an elevator. It was just as brightly lit as the main gallery which made the ride down a little more tolerable. Ari had no idea how far down they went before the elevator dinged to a stop.
When the doors opened there were books as far as the eyes could see. They disappeared into the shadows. There were no windows and the lights were dim. Several of them flickered, dangerously close to blowing out. It made the entire room look like something out of a horror movie.
“Charming.” Sasha quipped. “Do you keep your coffin down here, too?”
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