Three friends' search for answers about magic has a price, and the Queen will make them pay. ******** First 6 chapters only! Get the full book for FREE at JarrodKing.com/subscribe ******** Slade Maxwell is a noble and a senior in college who's expected to graduate and be next in his family to work for the queen. His desperation to escape that path leaves him unprepared for class, but when his classmate, a chiseled warrior by the name of Douglassaire Hart, asks their professor about an ancient sword called the Djed Key, Slade pays close attention. The sword is a mythical relic that's said to have brought magic to the world, and its secrets could be Slade's ticket out. He joins up with Douglassaire, wondering what else he knows. And, should he open himself to the warrior, will his feelings be returned? Slade's best friend, Gisela Benitez, who is still reeling from her mother's mysterious death, harbors a secret crush on Slade that draws her into his quest with Douglassaire. What the three of them find out leads them to a bloodthirsty magician, possession by spirits, and a vengeful queen who will stop at nothing to find the Djed Key for herself. What starts as a journey of self-discovery soon becomes a race against time. Will they be able to save their world or will the queen start a war that could bring her to ultimate power?

At Jackson Easton Prep, Derik Jackson is the kind of Black boy adults brag about. Valedictorian. College‑ready. Always polite, always careful. He knows exactly how he's supposed to move through the world-don't linger, don't talk back, don't give anyone a reason to see him as dangerous. Then a routine stop at a discount store ends with reality...tilting. The lights hum too loud. The air tastes like metal. For a heartbeat, the world bends around him-and something bends back. An unseen star over his house flares white‑hot. A wrong‑shaped figure behind glass whispers, Found you. And a presence slides into his thoughts like a blade made of light. Lumin is not human. Lumin remembers a network of shared minds stretching between stars-and the moment the U.S. government cut one of those minds out and locked it under white lights. Lumin remembers Derik's baby hands reaching for the glass. As Derik's powers spike from awkward glitches to city‑wide surges, two truths slam together: There is no clean line between being Black, queer, and alien. He has always been "other." The people who built the facility don't want a person back. They want their weapon. With his sister Hana staging the world's gayest graduation party in the backyard and federal eyes turning toward his neighborhood, Derik has to decide what kind of myth he's willing to become. Government asset. Grinning superhero. Silent victim. Or something entirely his own.

"AH!!!"I screamed "I DONT HAVE ANY PROBLEM PLEASE!"I said "I'm not gonna hurt you."He said His voice sounded fake. It didn't seem like his actual voice. "But listen. You better not tell anyone."He said I was lost in for words again. Me and his eyes connected once again. This time I saw his features slightly. His hair was big, poofy, and curly and it almost covered his eyes. His lips were big and plump. His eyes were still his best features. "Got it?"He said I shook my head yes and he shook his head at me before turning around and running. He pushed off the ground and began running up the walls. What in the Spider-Man? Little did Keyshawn know that his classmate was under that mask.