In Shadow Bound Jane found herself with both a real life boyfriend and best friend, but struggled with the weight of her family “gift.” As she learned more about her abilities the more she encountered the dark side of death–and what it does to the people you love.
On February 18th the Wraith Series comes to a gripping end.
Strong.
Loyal.
Independent.
These aren’t the words Jane ever expected to use to describe herself, but in the years since she first began seeing ghosts things have changed. A lot. Jane has spent the last two years losing one person after the other. Both dead and alive. But this year things will be different. She’s entering her freshman year of art school, rooming with her best friend Ava and has a new boyfriend. Oh, and she’s no longer afraid that she’s Shadow Bound with a direct connection to ghosts. In fact, she’s learned to use her abilities for her benefit.
Jane soon discovers she can’t walk away from her past. The wounds from her battle with Charlotte are deep and no matter what she tells herself, the break up with Connor weighs heavy on her heart. Balancing these emotions prove to be a weakness for her and Jane finds herself in a fight against the most dangerous spirits she’s encountered yet.
Grave Possession
The buzzing razor grazed over my ear, sending vibrations across my scalp, down to my jaw. Each pass felt like a weight being lifted.
Ava smiled from the chair next to mine, swiveling back and forth. When the next hunk of hair fell to the ground, she gave me a thumbs up. I smiled back nervously, hoping her encouragement was a good thing because I wasn’t facing the mirror and, really, why did I even think this was a good idea?
“It looks awesome,” Ava said the minute the razor snapped off. “Seriously.”
“It really does,” the stylist said. “Ready?”
“Yes,” I said. They couldn’t see my hands under the cape. They were latched to the arms of the chair, fighting off the panic, because holy crap, what had I done?
She spun my chair toward the mirror on the wall and I got the first look of my new hairstyle.
“Isn’t it amazing?” Ava asked. She stood and ran her fingers over the short-clipped hair over my ears. The rest of my hair had been pulled back in a ponytail, giving the appearance of a mohawk.
I turned my head back and forth to get the best view. I wanted something different and I got it. My hair had grown out over the last two years, since I’d cut it off in a fit of anxiety and panic. It now hung down past my shoulders to the middle of my back, but I wanted something new. Something to start off the next phase of my life.
“You look badass.” Ava’s face popped into the mirror. “Perfect for college.”
I broke into a grin, turning my head side to side, checking out the new look. The new me. “Freshman year is gonna rock.”
*
Phase two involved hot pink hair dye. Just a couple of streaks down the back. Ava left after the bleaching process, leaving me with four copies of People magazine and a lot of questions about who, exactly, picked the Sexiest Man Alive.
“Five minutes,” Suzie the hairdresser said, pulling the domed hair dryer over my head. She left me alone in the drying area, a room painted neon green. Everything had a sickly glow.
A shadow crossed the front window and I looked up in time to see the woman pass by again. It was her third attempt to come inside, but she obviously hadn’t gotten the hang of it yet. I lifted the dryer, ceasing the dull roar of air and said, “Suzie, do you mind if I step outside for some fresh air?”
“Hurry and be careful with the foils.”
“I will.”
I pushed open the glass door and found her waiting. A faint blue light radiated from the crown of her graying hair like a halo. Blue. Safe, but disappointing.
“Follow me,” I said to the woman, leading her around the side of the building. “I only have a minute. What’s the problem?”
She stepped forward and I held up my hand. “Don’t come any closer or I’ll leave and won’t help you. Just tell me what’s wrong.”
Helping the woman only took a couple of minutes now that I had a system.
- Always stay in public. It’s better to look crazy than dead.
- Almost all information can be found quickly on a smart phone. I no longer needed to go home to help these people pass over.
- Never make personal attachments to ghosts. I was no longer allowing them to hurt me emotionally or otherwise.
- Take my payment in full.
“You need to let go,” I told her. “It’s okay. The cancer finally won.”
“But I never got to see my grandbaby. Did my daughter have her? Is she okay?”
Ah. I glanced at my phone and went against my gut.
“Look, I never read the obituaries. It’s too depressing. But I’ll read the names of the survivors and you let me know if it’s there, okay?”
Hope lit in her faded eyes and she nodded.
“Survived by her two sons, Robert and James, and their wives—“
“It’s my daughter,” she repeated. I skipped ahead.
“One daughter, Karen, age 29, and her three granddaughters, Macy, Ariana and Bridget.”
“Bridget. That’s her.”
“Great,” I said, pushing the phone back in my pocket. “It’s time for you to move on.”
“Thank you.”
“Just one thing,” I said. “Take my hand.”
“What?” she asked, staring at my hand in confusion.
“Take it,” I said, thrusting it toward her.
Tentatively she placed her hand on mine and a surge of energy rushed through my limbs, filling the darkness and pushing the cold that had settled in my bones last year. The relief would be fleeting, but the small hit would hold me over until I could find something more substantial later.
I re-entered the salon and found Suzie waiting for me. She checked her watch. “Don’t blame me if your hair falls out,” she said.
“I won’t.” I settled into the swiveling chair, cheeks rosy in the mirror. “Let’s do this.”
Angel Lawson lives with her family in Atlanta and has a lifelong obsession with creating fiction from reality, either with paint or words. On a typical day you can find her writing, reading, plotting her escape from the zombie apocalypse and trying to get the glitter out from under her nails.
She is the author of five books, including the Wraith Series, Serial Summer, FanGirl, and Vigilant. She is the co-author of the New Adult Paranormal book, Odin’s Murder with Kira Gold. She has one other New Adult title, No Regrets, under the pen name Lila Atkinson.
*Grave Possession will be released on February 18th with a one week price of 2.99. This special price is for all of my great readers and supporters over the last three years! The price will go up (and stay) at 3.99 on February 25th.
Jade is a simple creature with complicated tastes. When she’s not immersed in her work, or in a tug-o-war love triangle, there are a few things that she loves to do. She’s a journalist at heart, but her true passion is listening to music.
In 2002 Jade was 15 years old. Having a social life was a no go, so music became her entertainment. Destiny’s Child, Beyonce, Greenday, and Justin Timberlake performed for her on the regular. Growing up in the heart of Miami, she was no stranger to the heavy bass beats of rappers like Trina, and Trick Daddy. Even though she had to sneak these explicit songs via her iPod earbuds, she spent countless nights in front of her mirror dancing to her local stars.
Notorious BIG was notably one of BK’s most revered rappers and became Jade’s favorite, his Sky’s the Limit is one of her all time favorites.
came as a hard blow to her already sensitive psyche. Besides her best friend Colleen and her then boyfriend/fiance Evan, music was what she used to cope. Faced with the challenges of raising her younger brother, starting college, and entering into her first serious relationship, all while mourning her loss, she needed an escape. She submerged herself in dark and meaningful songs with lyrics she could identify with, and party tunes that allowed her to dance her cares away.
Olivia Linden 