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The Ultimate Sacrifice Book One of the Gifted Teens Series Copyright © 2011 by Talia Jager. All rights reserved. First iBook Edition: 2013 Editor: Christine LePorte Cover and Formatting: Streetlight Graphics ISBN: 978-0-9836164-3-6 This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment of the original purchaser only. This eBook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this eBook and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Apple.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental. DEDICATION This book is dedicated to Kasslyn. PROLOGUE MIRA IRA, YOU CAN’T LET HER kill anyone. Do you understand?” he asked. “M “Yes.” I nodded. “Ever!” “I’ve got it!” “She’ll be in grave danger if she does…we all will.” CHAPTER ONE KASSIA ANA STOOD IN FRONT OF me, her hands waving frantically in my face. My gift had taken over, and I could no longer hear her screaming. Jana had never J liked me and she tried everything to piss me off. She wasn’t even a student at our school, but she had dated a few of the boys here. Although she was one of the increasing number of normal humans aware of us, she had no idea what my gift was, and that I could easily drop her to her knees in pain. I narrowed my eyes and focused on her. She suddenly stopped yelling at me and began to rub her temples. I could feel my temperature rise as the anger continued to build in me. A small smile flickered across my face as I felt her pain building. “Stop!” Mira yelled and jumped in between Jana and me. “She’s not worth it! Don’t let her push your buttons!” I mashed my lips. Pity that my best friend was immune to my gift. Nobody knew why this was. It wasn’t her only talent; she was also a compeller. She could tell someone what to do and that person would do it. There had been many times I wished I could have had her gift instead of mine. All I had to do was wish someone to be in pain and within a minute, they were. When I saw the concern in Mira’s eyes, I let up. She let out a sigh of relief and turned to Jana. “Go home, Jana. You were never here.” Jana turned and slowly began to pace away in a daze with a confused look on her face. “Sorry,” I muttered, ashamed that I let my gift get the best of me again. “You know how annoying this is getting? You need better self-control.” “You sound like my counselor.” “Maybe I should be.” I felt like smacking her, but she’d just smack me back, and she hit harder than I did. We got in the car and took the two-lane road back to campus, which was nestled in the mountains in northern California. I glanced out the window at the towering trees on both sides of us. The moon had just peeked over the tops of the trees, lighting the way home. After twenty minutes, the trees thinned out and before us stood Glendale Institute, one of two “gifted” schools in the country. Glendale was made up of a cluster of buildings enclosed by lush forests. We parked in the parking lot and hiked up toward the courtyard. Directly across from the parking lot was a training field. As we entered the courtyard, there were dorms on our left and right, one for girls, one for boys. Straight ahead were the faculty quarters, dining hall, and learning center. Each L-shaped dorm had two wings. The longer side housed the high school– aged students, and the shorter side was for the middle school students. When we walked into the room we shared, Mira told me, “Go to bed.” “You don’t need to mother me.” “Well, someone does and since nobody else is stepping up to the plate, I kind of have to.” “What’s your deal?” Her eyes narrowed. “I happened to be with someone when you went all mental.” Oh. That’s what this was about. “You met a guy?” “Yeah, a cute one, and you had to go and ruin it.” She sighed. “I rushed out of there so fast when Noe called I didn’t get his number.” Guilt washed over me. “I’m sorry, Mira.” Her face relaxed a little. “I know.” “I didn’t mean to get so mad. She just…infuriates me.” I got angry just thinking about the little tramp. “You have to learn how to ignore some things.” I stuck out my tongue. “Pbbbbbt.” “Do you know what could happen if you actually hurt someone?” she asked, raising her voice. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail. “I’d feel good?” “No, Kassia. You’d get in trouble. They’d punish you. And then they’d punish me for not stopping you.” “Okay, okay, I’ll try to do better.” “You said that last time.” “Oh yeah. But that guy deserved it!” She guffawed. “Yeah, he did.” She broke into a grin and we both collapsed on the floor laughing. I watched Mira as she slept, wishing I could sleep like she did. The nightmares usually woke me up. At first, it was only once in a while, but now it was every night. Mira’s long, ash-blonde hair was spread all over her pillow. Her thin lips twitched now and then. She was my protector, although I think she spent most of her time protecting other people from me. Sometimes I felt like I was broken. I had this rare gift, but instead of using it to do good, I used it for the wrong reasons. There have only been ten of us documented in history. Ten mind-blowers. Some were locked up because nobody could control them. Others were killed for the same reason. A few were able to control their gifts. And then there was me. I had Mira. All of the students here at Glendale Institute had gifts. Some gifts—like mine —were only supposed to be used in emergencies. However, with my short temper, I don’t think the gods planned that one out real well. How then did Mira get to me so fast? Noe. She was a predictor and could see things that hadn’t happened yet. Mira said Noe had called and tipped her off. Although we had driven to the town center together, we went our separate ways when we got there. We needed to be quick so we’d be back to Glendale before curfew. As dawn approached and the sky brightened with yellows and oranges, I snuck back into bed, quietly pulled the covers up over my head, and pretended to be asleep. One minute later, the alarm clock went off. I heard Mira groan and hit the nightstand as her hand searched for the off button. Finally, the alarm stopped. “Kassia, time to get up.” She shook my arm. I moaned. “Okay.” “We can get to the bathroom before anyone else if you hurry.” Slowly, I emerged from under the covers, rubbed my eyes, and yawned. It was some of my best acting yet. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Mira shot me a look and then smiled. We headed down to the bathroom we shared with the two other girls in the hall. I went straight to one of the showers and turned the water up hot. A few minutes later, Mira called out for me. “Did you fall asleep in there?” “No, I fell in the drain.” “Funny,” she said, her voice droll. I sighed and turned the shower off. I towel-dried my hair and body and slipped on my T-shirt and shorts again. Then I brushed my teeth. The rest I could do in our room. As we were leaving, Noe and Auralee walked in. “Hey, Kassia, did you leave some hot water for the rest of us?” Auralee asked. She always looked beautiful no matter what time of day it was. Her strawberry blonde, pixie-like haircut required no styling at all. I laughed. “Of course, but Mira didn’t.” Mira scowled at me. “Oh, lighten up.” I elbowed her. “Not before noon,” she mumbled. Back in our room, I unwrapped my hair and stood in front of the mirror for a long time. Same old dark auburn hair, glaring white skin. At least I didn’t have pimples. They wouldn’t dare show themselves. “Were you expecting something different?” Mira asked, standing next to me. I was about half an inch taller, and a few pounds heavier. “No.” I couldn’t tell her about my nightmares, about how sometimes I’d change into something awful in them. She’d worry too much. Besides, they were just nightmares. I fumbled around the dresser for my eye shadow and lipstick—a light purple that brought out my eyes. Mira chose green eye shadow and a light pink lipstick. “Purple again?” She rolled her eyes.

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