Book Excerpt from The Prophecy of the Codex

Today I thought I’d do something I haven’t done here in a while: Share a book excerpt! It’s been too long.

And since I’m starting the edits for The Prophecy of the Codex really soon (c’mon Melissa!), I thought I’d share a scene from that book! (I’m planning for a release later this year. 😱)

First, here’s an inspo pic to help you try to picture the *unedited* scene, which is near the beginning of the book:

Also, while you’re reading this scene, play this song. You’ll thank me later.

Nervous

Shawn Mendes

Here we go!

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Kayla and Grady burst through the stairwell door at the back of the lobby. Just a few moments ago, the lobby was smattered with lab techs and EMTs, but now it was empty.

The fire alarm kept pulsing through Kayla’s head.

Grady, check the offices. Kayla eyed a marked door on the far side of the lobby, near the front doors. Grady nodded once then sprinted away.

Kayla froze in place, eyes scanning the empty room. Although . . . it didn’t feel empty. Perhaps was here. But how did she locate the invisible?

Kayla closed her eyes, tried to drown out the deafening alarm. If was here—and her subconscious was telling her he was—she should be able to find him. She had superpowers, right? She just had to figure out how to use them . . .

Like stretching a muscle that hadn’t been used in a while, Kayla reached deep inside her, reached for her power, the power to control the earth. But there wasn’t much earth in here. Except . . . 

She remembered the rectangular planter box in the middle of the lobby, saw the sole tree and the black dirt in her mind’s eye . . . at once she opened her eyes, lighting immediately on that single tree, then the dirt. She stretched out her hands toward it, coaxing the dirt into the air. Soon a dust storm of her own making was swirling in the wide lobby. Kayla stared through the haze, scanning for any aberration.

Then she saw him.

Against the wall to her right, far closer than Kayla would have imagined, the swirling dirt was being deflected by what seemed like nothing at all—but Kayla knew what that meant. was right there, right next to her. She froze, the dirt still swirling. Could he see her?

Of course he could.

The shapeless form started moving toward her, faster and faster—Kayla yelped and jumped aside as she let go of the dirt, which immediately fell like a dark, heavy blanket spattering to the marble floor. She felt a body rush past her, barely missing contact with her. She turned and sprinted toward the front doors.

Grady was just coming out of the office when Kayla reached him, out of breath. “Kayla, honey, what happened?” He glanced around at the dirt-coated lobby. “Did he . . . ?”

Kayla swallowed hard, leaning up against the marble wall as she tried to start breathing normally again. “Grady . . . ” she choked. “ is . . . he’s here.”

—————

Grady’s eyes narrowed as he glared through the still-dusty lobby. Suddenly, right next to him, he heard Kayla cry out and turned to see her double over in pain, holding her stomach. “Kayla!”

She groaned. “Gra . . . ”

Grady reached for her as she sunk to the ground along the wall. “Kayla! What happened? Are you okay?” He felt the panic rising in his throat and tried to swallow it down, to no avail.

Kayla was reaching for him with one arm, the other arm still clutching her stomach. Her mouth was moving, but no sound was coming out. Grady’s heart started beating erratically. He was bent over beside her, arm around her shoulders, eyes scanning the room when he finally heard her. Grady, hit . . . I can’t . . . it’s hard to . . . think.

Kayla, sweetie, he soothed as he pulled her head to his chest. Where is he?

I . . . I’m not sure. Use the water, Grady. Find him.

Water? Grady glanced around the room. How would he use water? What water?

Then it hit him. The fire alarm was sounding; shouldn’t the sprinklers be going off right about now?

Grady kissed Kayla’s forehead, propped her up against the wall, then stood. He stretched his arms out toward the high ceiling, staring at the first sprinkler head he found. Then his eyes slid shut.

Calling the water in the pipes, he pushed the water through the sprinkler head until it broke off and crashed to the floor. Water started spraying into the room in a waterfall. He opened his eyes at the sound, pushing the water through the rest of the pipes in the ceiling until all the sprinkler heads started tumbling to the floor one by one. For good measure, he even forced water through the water fountain at the far end of the lobby, near the bathrooms, until the stainless steel fountain went skittering across the marble floor. A fresh gush of water sprayed through the newly-formed hole in the wall where the water fountain had been.

He didn’t stop there. The water feature in the back corner of the lobby became a torrent, splashing into the room until it coated the floor. The lobby was awash in glistening rainbows of misty color.

Grady spotted a few yards away, heading back toward them, presumably toward the office. Grady hadn’t found Hannah in there, but didn’t know that.

“, stop!” Grady’s voice boomed through the torrential downpour. He saw the negative space in front of him freeze, the water dripping off him. “, please . . . why are you doing this?”

The figure moved toward him slowly, deliberately. It was soon only a foot from Grady. Then, impossibly, the void spoke. “Because no one can stop me.”

In a rush, the figure called whooshed past Grady and through the swinging office door. Before Grady could even reach the door, he heard Hannah scream.

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I redacted the name of the character to keep a little mystery. 😬

What’d you think? Let me know below!

<3 Melissa