Shine
Authors: Jeri Smith-Ready
Tags: #Romance, #Paranormal, #Fantasy, #Young Adult, #Mystery, #urban fantasy
PRAISE
FOR
SHADE
“
Shade
is a hauntingly good story and an intriguing beginning to a new series.
Jeri Smith-Ready proves again why she is one of my very favorite reads!”
—P.C. CAST,
NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HOUSE OF NIGHT SERIES
“The perfect combination of mystery, ghosts, and romance.”
—LISA SCHROEDER,
AUTHOR OF
I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME
“A fully satisfying read. Smith-Ready changes the world completely by simply
changing our ability to see.”—
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
,
STARRED REVIEW
PRAISE
FOR
SHIFT
“This sequel to
Shade
will not disappoint fans of paranormal romance with its
blend of action, star-crossed lovers, and entanglements, both dangerous and sexy.”
—
BOOKLIST
LIFE CAN CHANGE IN AN
instant, and no one understands that better than Aura. It’s been almost a year since her boyfriend tragically died. She’s finally letting go of Logan’s violet-hued ghost, but not her search to uncover the truth about her past.
As the first in a generation that can see ghosts, Aura is convinced that she has a connection to the Shift. She’s trusted Zachary, ever patient and ever by her side, with all that she knows. But when the government threatens his life in an attempt to learn Aura’s secrets, she will stop at nothing to protect herself and the one she loves … even if that means betraying her own heart.
0512
JERI SMITH-READY
is an award-winning author who lives in Maryland with her husband, two cats, and the world’s goofiest greyhound. Like many of her characters, Jeri loves music, movies, and staying up very, very late. Visit her at
jerismithready.com
or follow her on Twitter at @jsmithready.
Jacket designed by Jessica Handelman
Jacket photograph copyright © 2012 by Monica Stevenson
Author photograph copyright © 2006 by Szemere Photography
SIMON PULSE
Simon & Schuster, New York
Watch videos, get extras, and read
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
SIMON PULSE
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Simon Pulse edition May 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Jeri Smith-Ready
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
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.
Designed by Mike Rosamilia
The text of this book was set in Adobe Caslon Pro.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Smith-Ready, Jeri.
Shine / Jeri Smith-Ready.
p. cm.
Sequel to: Shift.
Summary: Seventeen-year-old Aura must decide between two loves— ghostly Logan and very alive Zachary, her Scottish research partner—as she tries to unlock the mysteries of the Shift and of her past.
ISBN 978-1-4424-3945-0 (hc)
[1. Ghosts—Fiction. 2. Supernatural—Fiction. 3. Love—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.S6634Sj 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011045611
ISBN 978-1-4424-3946-7 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4424-3947-4 (eBook)
To each of you,
for bringing books to life
“A light began to glow and to pervade the cave … and to melt the earthen floor into itself like a fiery sun suddenly uprisen within the world, and there was everywhere a wandering ecstasy of sound: light and sound were one; light had a voice, and the music hung glittering in the air.”
—George William Russell, “A Dream of Angus Oge”
One
M
y phone glowed bright in the dusk-drenched cemetery. But the words on its screen filled me with a dark, heavy dread.
FLIGHT 346: NO STATUS.
I reloaded the web page for my boyfriend Zachary’s flight, then forced myself to look away.
Calm down, Aura.
But the black-on-white words left an afterimage floating in my vision.
NO STATUS
. Blink.
NO STATUS
. Blink.
NO STATUS
.
To obliterate the image, I focused on Logan’s headstone beside me. His birth and death dates were etched in granite, seventeen years and one day apart. But the stone would never mark the date and time most important to me and to everyone Logan had haunted.
June 22, nine p.m., when he’d passed on for good. Five minutes ago. After eight months as a ghost, Logan had finally found peace.
A feeling I wouldn’t share until this stupid airline’s flight-status page started making sense.
The silence was getting to me. On this hot, still evening, no breeze stirred the trees. The two violet-hued ghosts wandering among nearby graves didn’t speak to me, maybe mired in memories of their own lost loved ones.
I plugged my earbuds into my phone, which automatically started the music player. It shuffled to a Snow Patrol song Logan and I had always adored: “Make This Go On Forever.” For the year Logan was my boyfriend, and for the last three months when we were just friends, Snow Patrol was always our band.
“The final word in the final sentence you ever uttered to me was ‘love.’ ”
My throat lumped as I realized that lyric was true.
“Don’t forget me, okay?” Logan’s golden-white glow expanded, erasing the violet from his ghostly form.
I laughed, because it was ridiculous. “I’ll never forget you. I’ll never forget your voice or your face or your dumb jokes. And I’ll never forget your love.”