Arabesque: A Wings Companion

Full Synopsis

***SPOILER WARNING!!*** This section is a synopsis and includes spoilers and teasers for the first half or so of this book. If you want to skip it, please do.:)

***

***

***

***

"Oh, Rowen doesn't talk. She's better than the rest of us."

Rowen felt hot and cold at the same time at the insult. Not because of it, exactly, but because Meghan had said it in front of her brother. Her brother who was looking at Rowen like she deserved it. Something about him, about those brown eyes darker than any faerie could ever have, made her toss her hair and let her not-of-this-world brogue roll out extra heavy.

"I doon talk because people laugh at may accent. 'Tis nothing aboot being better. Doon need to spake to dance. But, aye, there ye're right. As far as dancin' goes, I am better'n the rest of ye."

And she turned, straight and tall, with that natural grace Miss Jane had praised in front of everyone, and walked away, knowing without looking that his eyes followed her all the way down the hall.

Rowen de Dahlia has spent her entire life in Avalon as the orphaned kin of the great Tamani de Rhoslyn. From her earliest memories of her mother being killed in front of her, to the new freedoms of her revolutionized world, her life has been one change after another. And though everyone in her beautiful world talks about how wonderful the changes are, to Rowen, they've been anything but. As the Summer faerie daughter of Spring faerie parents, Rowen used to be special. The highest ranked faerie in her family; destined for greatness. But now, with the caste system obliterated, Rowen is nothing but another faerie. An average dancer in her class despite the hours upon hours of extra work she puts in.

After yet another festival honoring what feels like everyone except her, Rowen makes herself invisible and follows Tamani and Laurel through the gate into the human world, determined that a shot at anonymity is her only chance to really make something of herself. Tam and Laurel are hesitant to allow her to stay once they discover her, but when she threatens to run away and do it on her own, Tamani agrees to teach her how to survive, and both realize just how easy it will be for a summer faerie who can manipulate everything people see.

Determined to be the kind of dancer she could never be in Avalon, Rowen auditions and is accepted into the Scazio Ballet Academy, a school that guarantees you a shot at the San Francisco Ballet Company. There are a lot of tricks she could play as a Summer faerie, but Rowen is determined that in this one thing, she's going to succeed without magic, or not at all. To her surprise, her natural faerie grace gives her an edge and, though she still has to work as hard as ever, she's one of the top dancers in the Academy.

The other being Meghan, one of the few scholarship students; and everyone knows it. But everyone also knows that Meghan is the best elite ballerina in the school, a title she has zero intention of giving up. Meghan doesn't think much of this new, foreign usurper and her rivalry with Rowen grows more than a little heated. But there's something intriguing about Meghan. She has a very handsome twin brother. Rowen certainly knows better than to fraternize with the enemy, but there's something about Shawn that keeps her hanging around Meghan after class—even if just to swap insults.

Despite his attraction, Shawn is sure the girl he considers to be a spoiled, rich ballerina could never handle his world, inconveniently located on the wrong side of the tracks. Rowen is equally sure Shawn is too street-smart and cynical to ever believe what she is, and where she comes from. But maybe those very qualities will make it easier to hide her true nature. After all, she's not looking for happily-ever-after, just an adventure. Chemistry overcomes qualms and soon the two are spending every moment possible together . . . behind Meghan's back.

As auditions for the biggest performance of the year loom and the girls' rivalry gets fiercer, Rowen almost misses the warning signs that danger is getting closer. A new kind of faerie—changed through evolution and isolation from Avalon for thousands of years—emerges. And unlike Klea, they're not interested in Avalon. They'll settle for the rest of the world, thank you very much.

Suddenly, Rowen possibly losing the lead role and Meghan finding out about her and Shawn is very, very low on Rowen's priority list. And surviving? That comes right after making sure everyone else in her newly-embraced human world lives to see tomorrow.

In Arabesque the world of Wings meets Center Stage in a new story about how to be spectacular . . . when you're already supernatural.