Welcome to my stop on the Indigo Awakening blog tour hosted by YA Bound. Click HERE to see the rest of the blog tour schedule!
In Indigo Awakening (Book #1 in my “The Hunted” series for Harlequin Teen)—there is a love triangle that is layers deep. I’m a sucker for love triangles, but I wanted the one in Indigo Awakening to be a little more than a girl’s attraction to two very different boys. At the apex of this triangle is a very strong girl, Kendra Walker, the leader of an underground movement of Indigo children and feelings run high when beliefs and ideologies are tested.
Lucas Darby is psychic and becomes mentally linked to a girl he hears in his head after he escapes from a mental hospital. Kendra thinks she has made contact with another lost Indigo, but after she realizes that Lucas is a powerful Crystal child, she sees the future she always dreamed would be possible. And for Lucas to connect with the “hive mind” for the first time, the link is intoxicating and seductive. Kendra is older than Lucas, but for him their connection is as intimate as making love for the first time. It changes everything for both of them. Since Lucas is evolving into a Crystal child, the next evolution of mankind, Kendra is motivated to be with him so she can be a part of a new, more powerful movement. She is a modern day Joan of Arc on a mission to save the Indigos, but someone else is her rock when it comes to protecting her Indigo children.
Another boy, Rafael Santana, has helped Kendra build a safe underground oasis for the homeless Indigos. Rafe has feelings for Kendra that he’s never shared with her, but he’s also driven to protect Benny, a 10-year old boy he loves like a little brother. This conflict will drive how he reacts when Kendra’s Indigo revolution threatens the home he wants for Benny. After she focuses her attention on Lucas, Rafe becomes jealous, but in his quiet way he deals with it until the conflict between the Indigos and the Believers blows up, the fanatical church zealots who hunt Indigo kids to stop the next evolution of man. Rafael’s love for Benny collides with his loyalty for Kendra and changes everything.
Kendra must choose how far she is willing to go to save her Indigo family—the one she has and the one she’s dreamed about. Lucas, the powerful Crystal child, represents the future she had always hoped for, but Rafael is the heart and soul of the past she started with him—the boy who made her dream possible.
Excerpt – Indigo Awakening (Kendra and Lucas)
Kendra reached for Lucas’s hand and laced her fingers in his. The minute she touched his skin with hers, she felt a surge of energy up her arm and through her body. That had come from him too, not her.
"Do you feel that?" she asked him. When he only shook his head, Kendra squeezed his fingers and said, "You will. Your body is weak now, but you have no idea what you're capable of."
"All my life, teachers and doctors acted like what I am is…wrong. Like I'm defective and it's my fault," he told her. "But hearing you inside me, it feels like I can finally breathe on my own. I don't know how to explain it."
"That's just it. Here, you don't have to explain anything. You belong…with us, Lucas."
A smile tugged at his lips for only a second before he shut his eyes. She knew the comfort of being with her kind and he would too when he got better. Connecting to the hive mind for the first time had been a powerful and profound spiritual awakening that had given her life purpose. Kendra made it her mission to share that experience and nurture the lives of those like her. She found it hard to define the intimacy of the act, even to another of her kind. That connection had to be felt by each Indigo soul.
From the first moment she linked to Lucas's essence and experienced the breadth of his life force, she knew he was different. She'd never felt anything like him before. Kendra had been right to risk everything for him.
He was their future.
She blew out the candle and let him be. When his breathing changed and she knew he was asleep, she rested her head on his chest and shut her eyes, listening to the gentle pulse of his heart.
Kendra didn't let go of his hand. She needed the connection more than he did.
Excerpt – Indigo Awakening (Kendra and Rafael)
Kendra understood Rafael more than he would ever know. It killed her that he wouldn't let her in. She couldn't feel him. She had no idea what he was thinking. This boy who wanted a family so much he'd built one, she understood that need—and he knew her, too. She didn't have to link to his mind to see that she had lost him. She couldn't handle that, especially not now.
"Don't make me go through this without you."
He barely glanced over his shoulder.
"You've got Lucas. The others. You don't need me."
"You're wrong." She felt the sting of tears. "God, you are so wrong."
She had to look into his eyes to show him what was in her heart. She reached for his hand and when he turned, Kendra wrapped her arms around him. At first, Rafael didn't react. He didn't hold her, but she didn't care. She held him tight until something happened.
When Rafael caressed her, he felt good against her and she drew from the strength he always had for her, but when he lowered his lips to kiss her, she felt her body stiffen against him. Yet she didn't stop him. A part of her let go. A part of her wanted this to happen. She kissed him back and her body wanted more.
"Oh, God, I can't do this. I shouldn't." Breathless, she stopped and gazed into his eyes. "I'm sorry."
She ran before he could say anything. She flushed with the heat of embarrassment. Kendra didn't know what had happened.
What are some of your favorite literary or film love triangles? Please share your thoughts on why they resonated with you.
About Indigo Awakening...
Because of what you are, the Believers will hunt you down.
Voices told Lucas Darby to run. Voices no one else can hear. He’s warned his sister not to look for him, but Rayne refuses to let her troubled brother vanish on the streets of LA. In her desperate search, she meets Gabriel Stewart, a runaway with mysterious powers and far too many secrets. Rayne can’t explain her crazy need to trust the strange yet compelling boy—to touch him—to protect him even though he scares her.
A fanatical church secretly hunts psychic kids—gifted “Indigo” teens feared to be the next evolution of mankind—for reasons only “the Believers” know. Now Rayne’s only hope is Gabe, who is haunted by an awakening power—a force darker than either of them imagine—that could doom them all.
Thanks for being apart of the tour!! This book has caught my eye :)
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