Read an excerpt from Awakening, Shannon Duffy’s pulse-pounding novel set in a futuristic world where your life is planned out for you and everything is exactly as it should be — or is it?

Excerpt

Darian moves to the other side of the tree, ducking under a low hanging branch. “Ladies first.” He places a hand on the ladder and gives it a pat.

As I step in front of him, my shoulder brushes against his chest. “Am I the guinea pig to make sure the wood isn’t rotted?” I place a foot on the lowest rung and press.

“Relax. I’ve been up there already a bunch of times. The ladder’s fine. My dad made sur—” He breaks off. I twist around to face him and notice genuine sadness creep over his face. I guess talking about his dad is a sore subject. He meets my gaze, then looks away.

“Just go on up, okay? You’ll be fine, I promise.”

I remember his dad helping us lug the wood for the treehouse all the way through the woods from the back of his pickup. He painstakingly laid every plank while we passed him nails, and Darian’s mother brought us drinks.

His dad’s cheery voice rings in my ears with a memory from the past. It’s like this, son, he said while holding Darian’s hand inside of his own. Darian gripped a nail between his thumb and pointer finger on top of a piece of lumber, hammer in the other hand, tongue lolling to the side.

I shake my head to clear the memory away, and crawl up the ladder to the landing. My breath catches as my gaze settles on the door. A small piece of wood etched with the words, The Dungeon, is still nailed in place. Beneath it, two letter D’s are grained into the wood, both capital, cursive, and looping through each other. I run my fingers along its rough edges a moment, remembering the day Darian and I borrowed his dad’s carving knife and engraved our initials in place.

My stomach does a tumble. Even though the memories are good ones, they’re painful to relive, like opening an old wound.
Darian’s parents are dead—and Darian killed them. That’s what The Protectorate decided, and it must be true. I can’t ignore the facts, and I can’t risk being sucked in by fond memories.

I push through the door. Inside, the treehouse is definitely smaller than I remember. It’s funny how that is. I take a seat on the navy blue futon against the wall, noting the chill in the air from the gushing wind outside.

This must be where Darian plans to hide out. Although, he won’t be able to sleep without the Dreamscape, so he can’t stay here for long. Not to mention that the leaves will soon all drop from the trees, leaving his hideout less covered. Plus, with winter coming, it’ll be way too cold to stay here overnight anyway.

It’s obvious he’s been here lately. The floor is swept clean of debris, the broom and dustpan placed neatly in the corner, the futon is straightened. And, most painfully obvious, my painting is nailed in place on the wall above where I now sit.

I eye it, and cast him a disapproving look. “Seriously?”

“What?” he says all innocent-like and shrugs. “I like it. Besides, I paid good money for that artwork.” A smirk plays on his full lips.

I notice a current newspaper beside me with the headline Jail Break written in bold letters beneath Darian’s mug shot. Just seeing it sends a shiver tip-toeing down my spine.

He seems to notice my unease and tosses it to the floor before sitting beside me. On the small futon, he’s awkwardly close. His knee presses against mine, and his peppermint and earthy scent envelops me.

“So?” I say after a long moment of uncomfortable silence. “You dragged me all the way out here for something. What do you want?” My words come out sounding harsher than I meant, and I’m so mixed up with what tone I should use or not use—how I should feel or act. “I-it’s just that I need to get home, you know?”

I don’t know why I care about hurting his feelings. Why I’m such a mess around him, my stomach free-falling and weaving like I’m on an endless roller coaster, why he makes me so edgy.

“Well…” he starts, and he looks more serious than I’ve ever seen him. “I want you to know the truth.”

I bite the inside of my cheek, unsure of what could possibly come out of his mouth— what his truth is. Gathering my nerve, I say,
“The truth about what? Your parents? You’ve already told me you didn’t kill them.” I cast my eyes away and glance out the window.

“But do you believe me?”

About ‘Awakening’

A thrilling, futuristic sci-fi novel set in a unique and thought-provoking world, from author Shannon Duffy.

Desiree Six (because she was born on a Friday) believes in everything the Protectorate stands for. She likes the safety and security of having her entire life planned out—her career, her mate, even the date of her death. She doesn’t even think to question when Darian, her childhood friend and neighbor, is convicted of murdering his parents. They had seemed like such a loving family. But if he was convicted, then he must have done it.

Then Darian shows up in her room late one night. He has escaped from the Terrorscape — a nightmare machine used to punish all Noncompliants—and needs Desiree’s help. What he tells her rocks her world to its core and makes her doubt everything she’s ever been told. With this new information, will Desiree and Darian be able to escape the Protectorate before it’s too late?

About Shannon Duffy

I write middle grand and young adult books. I’m the author of the YA Paranormal romance Spectral and the MG Fantasy Adventure series, Gabriel Stone and the Divinity Of Valta (Feb/12) and It’s sequel, Gabriel Stone and the Wrath of the Solarians (FEB/14). Look for my YA Cyberpunk, Awakening coming April 7 with Entangled Publishing.