Authors: Syrie James,Ryan M. James

Forbidden (46 page)

BOOK: Forbidden

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They dropped hands as Helena’s eyes suddenly snapped open. Fully cognizant, she smiled at Claire’s mom and said emphatically, “I’m Claire’s grandmother.”

Claire gasped in astonishment and wonder.
“My grandmother?”

Lynn’s hand flew to her mouth. Alec nodded, and Claire sensed he was thinking the same thing she was—that finally, Helena’s part in all this made sense. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” Claire asked.

Helena shrugged. “It wasn’t important. And I knew if I told you, we’d never get down to business.” To Claire’s amazement, Helena immediately sat up and ran her fingers through her pale hair. “Now, will someone please find my clothes and get me to a hairdresser?”

“You just woke up! Shouldn’t you be resting?” Claire asked.

“I’ve been resting for weeks,” Helena answered.

“She’s probably fully healed by now,” Alec chimed in. “Remember? We Grigori—”

“I’ll go find a nurse,” Claire’s mom interrupted. She left the room.

Helena grabbed the call button and pressed it repeatedly, muttering, “What does it take to get a cup of tea around here?”

Claire laughed. As she stared at this beautiful, feisty woman, this angel—
her very own flesh and blood
—she felt a rush of emotion so strong that her eyes welled up. Alec reached out and took Claire’s hand in his, squeezing it with reassurance as his eyes met hers with a loving smile.

Claire returned his heartfelt smile as she wiped tears away. Admittedly, she still had a lot of problems. Her father and Vincent were MIA, she might be in danger, and her life might never be normal. But no matter what the future brought, she decided, she could handle it. She had her friends, her mother, and two angels to help her. She wouldn’t have to face it alone.

acknowledgments

First and foremost, we’d like to thank Brentwood School, the inspiration for Emerson Academy, which has had a very lasting, positive influence on both our lives. (If we’re ever lucky enough to make a movie of this, we hope you’ll let us film it on campus!) Also, a special thank-you to the dedicated and nurturing faculty from the years Ryan attended, who provided such wonderful specifics for this novel—including Lynette Creasy, Robert Ingram, David Foote, Sarah Wallace, Paula Radomile, Mike Grasso, and in particular Dennis Castanares, Brian Vaughn, and Judith Lyons. We love and miss you!

Thanks and love to Bill, Jeff, Yakun, and especially Evey, for reading the first draft and giving us such valuable feedback.

Todah rabah
to agent extraordinaire Tamar Rydzinski, for suggesting that Syrie write a young adult novel, and not balking when she decided to let Ryan in on the fun.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to our brilliant editor, Kari Sutherland, for having such faith in this book at the outset, and then combing through our manuscript with such enthusiasm and attention to detail. It’s not easy to engineer a brand-new, mythical reality and combine it with our own, but Kari made sure that the merger was seamless and consistent. And a big
¡gracias!
to the entire team at HarperTeen for all their hard work en route to publication.

Ryan would also like to thank Michael Scarpelli for introducing him to the concept of the Grigori all those years ago … and Vicious Brutal Overlord Roy Mumaw for helping forge an early rendition of Alec, and teaching him the arcane art of world-smithing.

Oh, and Ryan guesses he should say
xiè xiè n
to Syrie, not just for being a great partner and mentor in the world of writing, but for the whole birthing him and raising him thing.

Lastly, Syrie would like to express her thanks to Ryan for sharing the fruits of his creative young mind, and making this one of her most enjoyable writing experiences ever.

about the author

SYRIE JAMES loves paranormal romance and all things nineteenth century. She is also the bestselling author of four critically acclaimed novels:
NOCTURNE; DRACULA, MY LOVE; THE LOST MEMOIRS OF JANE AUSTEN
(Best First Novel 2008,
Library Journal
); and
THE SECRET DIARIES OF CHARLOTTE BRONTË
(2011 Audie Romance Award; Great Group Read, Women’s National Book Association). The translation rights for Syrie’s books have been sold in sixteen languages. Syrie is also a screenwriter and a member of the Writers Guild of America and the RWA, and a life member of the Jane Austen Society of North America.

Aside from being Syrie’s firstborn, RYAN M. JAMES has cowritten two screenplays, directed an independent feature, and created the machinima webseries A Clone Apart. By day he works as an editor for the video game industry in Santa Monica, most recently on
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
(Game of the Year 2009) and
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
. Under cover of night, he conjures stories for print, screen, and web as a member of the Writers Guild of America. He and his wife live in Los Angeles about a stone’s throw away from Syrie.

Syrie and Ryan both welcome visitors to their websites, www.syriejames.com and www.ryanmjames.com, and invite you to follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

credits

Cover design by Sasha Illingworth

HarperTeen is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Forbidden

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

James, Syrie.

Forbidden / by Syrie James & Ryan James.—1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: As sixteen-year-old Claire’s newly-revealed psychic abilities bring unwelcome attention from Watchers, Alec, a Watcher grown tired of having to eliminate descendants of his angelic forefathers, has fallen in love with Claire while hiding out at her school, unaware that she is a Nephilim, a half-angel.

ISBN 978-0-06-202789-4

EPub Edition © JANUARY 2012 ISBN 9780062027900

[1. Angels—Fiction. 2. Supernatural—Fiction. 3. High schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Psychic ability—Fiction.] I. James, Ryan. II. Title.

PZ7.J15443For 2012

[Fic]—dc23

2011019364

CIP

11 12 13 14 15 CG/BV 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1