The Queen’s Gift by T.R. Allardice
Publication date: December 15th 2014
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Fifteen-year-old, late-bloomer Jean Elliott dreams of becoming a Genie like her mom. When her family relocates to Tokyo, Jean is forced to use sleight-of-hand tricks to fool everyone at school into believing that she’s a normal Preternatural or risk expulsion. When her power finally appears, it comes in the form of the Queen’s Gift–an unspeakable magic that strips power from all Preternaturals and heralds the arrival of the new queen.
After an absence of two hundred years, not everyone wants the monarchy to return and they’re willing to go to great lengths to keep the status quo. When buried secrets rip Jean’s family apart, she has a choice to make: Walk away and hope for the best or embrace the power that’s known to lead to madness in order to save her family.
Jean’s greatest dream has turned into her biggest nightmare and no matter how hard she tries, there’ll be no wishing the Queen’s Giftaway.
EXCERPT
The crowd thinned and a pale boy with long, greasy brown
hair, drunkenly stumbled toward us. He swayed on his feet, teetering like a
twirling nickel on the verge of toppling. His glowing red eyes clashed with his
alabaster skin.
“He doesn’t look well.”
She shrugged. “Stefan’s a Vampire. I’m sure he’s fine.”
I didn’t think so, but I kept my mouth shut. I’d already
upset her once. I didn’t want to do it again.
When we got closer, the vamp’s eyes rolled back in his head,
leaving them zombie white. He crumbled to the marble floor in a heap of pale
flesh. His face hit last with a loud splat.
Blood gushed out, forming a puddle. The smell of wet pennies
filled the air. My stomach flopped and I moved back. No way was I going to hurl
on my first day of school. “What’s wrong with him?”
Karen glanced at Stefan, boredom plainly scribbled on her
face. No one else paid any attention to him other than to step over his thin
body. Several people tracked his blood down the hall without breaking in
conversation.
This place wasn’t a school. I’d landed in a house of
horrors. “Shouldn’t we call for help?” My voice squeaked.
Karen’s nostrils flared and her stomach growled as she
leered at the blood. “It happens all the time with leeches. You’ll get used to it.” She forced her gaze away. “Stefan
must’ve forgot to get his iron shot from the school nurse this morning. Mr.
Bastock should be along shortly to clean him off the floor.”
What was she talking about? He wasn’t a spilled soda. The
guy needed help, not a thorough scrubbing. I hoped the man coming was some kind
of doctor. The small puddle of blood turned into a crimson lake within seconds.
How much blood could he lose before it would be too much?
Karen’s stomach gurgled, then roared. Several students
scrambled out of the way. I froze, afraid to move. Only prey ran.
“Excuse me.” She hurriedly wiped her face with the back of
her hand, but in her haste she’d missed a speckle of drool clinging to the side
of her mouth.
My stomach clenched tighter and I nearly lost my breakfast.
“Who’s Mr. Bastock?” I asked to take my mind off barfing.
“He’s our janitor,” she said. “He comes from a long line of
South African dung beetles. He loves cleaning up crap, literally.” She looked
past me. “Here he is now.”
A lanky man with four spindly arms, a bulbous nose, and
jet-black hair scurried forward, pulling a squeaky, three-wheeled cart behind
him. The cart held a bucket of clear water, along with a few cleaning supplies.
A mop poked out of the bucket. Its handle slid side-to-side, leaving a trail of
water on the floor behind him.
Mr. Bastock stared at Stefan, tsked, then rolled him into a
ball and plucked him off the floor as if he weighed no more than a Cheeto. He
tossed Stefan over the cart like a dirty rag and picked up one of the cleaners.
He sprayed the contents on the floor, then grabbed the mop, wrung it out, and
began to scrub. Within seconds, the floor was spotless and a lingering
antiseptic smell was the only indication that anything had occurred.
He took a moment to admire his work, then stowed his
equipment before wheeling the limp vamp off toward the elevators.
“Told you,” Karen said. “I would’ve thought you’d be used to
leech strangeness by now. Stefan Franks can’t be the first one you’ve seen
faint.”
I watched the elevator doors open and close, then took a
deep breath and met her gaze. “We didn’t have a lot of Vampires at my last
school.” It was the truth, sort of. Truth was, we didn’t have any.
Outside of books, Vampires didn’t exist in Common
schools.
Mom said she’d kept me in human schools because she wanted
me to learn about Commons firsthand, but I think the real reason was because
she didn’t want me to feel different. And I hadn’t. I’d never had to worry
about slip-ups, Preter social interactions, or anything...until now.
That didn’t mean I was entirely sheltered. Mom insisted that
I read a lot of books. My academic knowledge of Preters was sound, but nothing
beat experience.
“No Vampires?” Karen burst out laughing.
The sound startled me. It was the second scariest sound a
Ghoul made. According to the textbooks, chewing was first.
“You must’ve gone to a small school.”
I nodded. Silent lies were still lies.
“I hope you’re not expecting the vamps to sparkle or explode
into flames in the sunlight. If so, you’re going to be really
disappointed. About the only thing that happens to a leech in sunlight is they
break out in hives. So not attractive.” She sobered, then added, “But I
wouldn’t hook up with one, if I were you. They do still bite.”
“Thanks for the tip.”
AUTHOR BIO
T.R. Allardice writes young adult, new adult, and humorous horror stories. Most of what she writes incorporates several genres. The content won't always be 'safe'. What's the fun in that? She is a member of the Horror Writer's Association, Novelist Inc. and the Author's Guild. She has thirty-one books published under another pen name. To find out more about her upcoming work, go to:www.trallardice.com
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