I was 17 when the fire killed my family.
My name is Amaris “Raven” Davenport, I was 17 when a fire started at our small house in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. My family, my mother, father, younger brother and sister were killed. Except me. I was miraculously saved by some unorthodox force, and I have burn scars on my shoulders from whatever dragged me out of the burning skeleton of my house.
After the accident something in me changed, my hair changed from light brown to jet black hair overnight, my pale green eyes turned turned a sparkling golden color, and I've been seeing shadows who danced across my walls at any time of day, I never told anyone because I didn't want to be sent to the looney bin, but then I was sent to Johannesburg, Russia to live with my Aunt Irene and Aunt Yulia who are both nuns.
The first night in Russia I had a dream of flaxen haired women sitting in front of a pond the color of blue jay, dressed in a royally large ball gown the color of a golden coin, her face was the color of sand and her smile broken, her eyes spoke of pain and dread but had a twinge hope; she was beautiful in a depressing way . She whispered over and over "They're coming for you" before a shadow the color of ink cloaked around her body, pulling her backwards into the pond behind her making a silent wave before I woke up.
~
Amaris is troubled by her past and present, worried about her future she carries on each day more cautious than the next until she meets Guryon “Lion” Halifax. Asher seems to know more about her than she thought, but he has his dark secrets too. Could he be the one to figure out who or what Amaris really is and finally put an end to all the background noise in Amaris' life?
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]