About the Book
Alara Martin is fifteen, and she’s in a cell.
Stone under her, a chain on her wrist, and a grate that gives her one foot of corridor to look at. They feed her carefully, because she’s worth more to them alive. A year ago she had a mother who labeled the pantry shelves and a best friend who told her her bangs were dumb. Now she’s in Malent, where four warring color orders all want the same thing, and all of it is inside her.
She went looking for her real parents. She found one.
He told her three things, in order, in a pleasant voice. That he is her father. That her mother is dead and he is the reason. That she will stay in this cell until she understands.
He said the second one the way someone might admit to forgetting a name.
She asked him one question. Her mother’s name. He said later, when you understand.
On Earth, four kids who should be in school are trying to get her back. Freddy has the gem and the guilt, and his stutter comes back every time somebody asks him to say out loud what he did. Madison went hard around week two and stayed that way. Alex gives the orders now, in short sentences, because grief made him efficient. And Brian, who came to all of this late, turns out to have the only hands the gem will stay quiet for. None of them know how. They’re making it up a week at a time.
Alara will walk out of that room. Whatever she becomes in there walks out with her.
The Colors of Malent: DreamBound · StormBound · RiftBound (upcoming)
In the meantime
- Read Book 1: Dreambound
- Exlpore the series hub: The Colors of Malent
- To follow along for behind-the-scenes updates, join our newsletter