YA Novel Escaping the Dashia Now Available
Discovering who you are can be dangerous—even deadly.
Twyla’s been living in hiding on Earth, hoping to leave her past behind. But when her mother, Madam Cassiopeia DeConnett finds her and kidnaps Twyla back to the Paraxous Star Cluster, she expects her daughter to take her rightful place within in the family business. The DeConnetts are Dashia—a group of genetically-engineered telepaths who use their powers to control some and ruin others. Their criminal organization is rich, powerful, and spans The Cluster.
When escape seems impossible, Twyla considers suicide. Then she meets Dovain, another prisoner, and their friendship blossoms into something more. Together, can they figure out how to free themselves? Can she trust herself enough to risk loving him? If she does, will that love save her, or lead to her destruction?
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Sneak Peek of Chapter 1
Eight years after coming to Earth, I sat at the kitchen table in our apartment pretending to do my schoolwork while actually sneaking in some video game time. My only worry was how to beat my new Zombies V Vampires game without my mom catching me. If she caught me playing instead of researching my history essay, I’d lose video game privileges for a week.
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Every time she glanced over, I clicked my laptop screen back to my essay. As she bustled about the kitchen making dinner, Mom hummed her favorite eighties tunes. Though a bit past middle-age, she was beautiful. She had huge, soft brown eyes, long raven-black hair, high cheekbones and a brick-red tan. Laugh-lines made up her only wrinkles.
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Dad came in and took a whiff of the roast cooking in the crock-pot. “That smells delicious.” He gave Mom a hug and turned to me. I’d switched to a site on the United Nations for research. “How’s your schoolwork going?” he asked with enough humor in his voice to make me think I’d been caught.
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The doorbell rang and Dad went to answer it, giving me a wink on his way out. I bowed my head. No more games for me today.
I heard the front door open. The voice of my real father, Colonel Ebon Milett, came from the living room. “I’ve come for my daughter.”