Mara is dead—mostly.
Infected with a virus that broke the world and turned her into a monster, Mara awakens in a facility to learn a treatment has been found. No longer a Tick, Mara is placed in an experimental relocation program. But she’s sent to live with the best friend she hasn’t seen since the world ended. Since their first and only kiss.
Rory is alive—barely.
And her nightmares are as vicious as the Ticks that infected Mara and permanently injured Rory. Even after the Island—one of the surviving communities—rebuilds itself, Rory fears a Tick attack from the mainland at any time. But the Ticks that show up are medicated—not quite themselves but no longer raging monsters. Among them is the first girl Rory ever loved...the one she thought was gone forever.
As Mara and Rory struggle with the violence they’ve inflicted and experienced, they must lean on each other to survive their brutal world—or risk losing each other all over again.
Ten years ago, Malik’s life changed forever the night his mother mysteriously vanished and he discovered he had uncontrollable powers. Since then, he has kept his abilities hidden, looking out for himself and his younger foster brother, Taye. Now, at 17, Malik is finally ready to start a new life for both of them, far from the trauma of his past. However, a daring act to rescue Taye reveals an unexpected connection with his long-lost grandmother: a legendary conjurer with ties to a hidden magical university that Malik’s mother attended.
At Caiman University, Malik’s eyes are opened to a future he never could have envisioned for himself—one that includes the reappearance of his first love, Alexis. His search for answers about his heritage, his powers, and what really happened to his mother exposes the cracks in their magical community as it faces a reawakened evil dating back to the Haitian Revolution. Together with Alexis, Malik discovers a lot beneath the surface at Caiman: feuding covens and magical politics, forbidden knowledge and buried mysteries.
Winter 1945. WWII. Four refugees. Four stories.
Each one born of a different homeland; each one hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies, war. As thousands desperately flock to the coast in the midst of a Soviet advance, four paths converge, vying for passage aboard the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom. But not all promises can be kept . . .