Marked (23 page)

Something changed in her eyes then. I didn’t see the
sense of relief I’d expected to see. Instead, I saw growing
concern. Did she think I was lying?

“
Mom, I’m not. I promise,” I
assured her.

I noticed how she swallowed hard before speaking
again. “So what happened to the roast?”

“
I don’t know. I didn’t touch
it—maybe dad took it for his lunch today,” I suggested with a
shrug, then walked back to my room, leaving her odd stare and
pounding heartbeat behind.

I sat at the edge of my bed, wondering what I’d done
over the last few weeks that could have led to my mother thinking I
was pregnant. It bothered me that I hadn’t seen relief in her eyes
when I’d told her no, but instead concern. Did she know what my
biological father was? Had she already formed a suspicion of what
was really going on with me?

I couldn’t remember when telling my mother something
this important about myself had ever felt so hard before. The
thought of confessing what I was becoming—what Jace had turned me
into—face to face with her frightened me more than anything. What
if the first thought that came into her head was the word that had
first came into mine when Jace had told me what he was?
Monster
. What if all I saw reflected in her eyes afterward
when she looked at me was fear?

I didn’t know if I was ready to face that yet.

I needed air; I needed space. My room suddenly felt
too small and suffocating. Locking my bedroom door, I tiptoed
across my room and opened the window. I popped out the screen and
leaned it against my wall, before I carefully climbed out.

Sitting down on the brittle grass beneath my bedroom
window, tears began to flow freely from my eyes. The cool, damp air
of a November evening surrounded me and I drew my legs up against
my chest and wrapped my arms around them tightly, while gently
resting my chin on my knees.

I gazed up into the slowly darkening sky, thinking
of how in only an hour or so the nearly full moon would become
visible. The thought of it made my pulse quicken and Jace’s almost
forgotten words echoed through my mind:

“
As for the moon, I believe it
holds the power to make people do things they normally wouldn’t,
sure—but only when it’s full. For some, I believe it can rule their
entire existence.”

A shiver ran along my spine as I realized I only had
about two more weeks until I found out just how much the moon ruled
my entire existence now.

This story was three years in the making and I can’t
believe it’s finally out there! If it weren’t for my mother gently
pushing me to keep going back to Tessa’s story, it might have taken
me loads more years before I felt like I’d finally got it
right.

So a HUGE thank you goes out to her for that! Mom,
as I’ve said before and as I’ll continue to say a thousand times
over: Thank you for believing in me even before I believed in
myself. I rely on your advice more than you know.

Thank you to my wonderful husband and two amazing
children for allowing me to hole myself up in the bedroom and write
until my heart’s content about my imaginary friends.

Thank you to my lovely little sister, Heather, for
reading all of my stories and at times staying up until the wee
hours of the morning to finish.

Thank you to Mrs. Becky for reading Marked and
calling me to tell me how hot Jace was. You made me smile so much
it hurt.

Thank you to Katrina for reading Marked in its
beginning stages three years ago and then taking the time to read
it again when I’d finally thought I’d gotten it right. Your
enthusiasm for the next book fuels me.

Thank you to everyone I’ve met in the writer world.
There have been a lot of you who’ve inspired me to continue doing
what I’m doing without even knowing it. To name you all would take
up too many pages!

And last, but certainly not least, THANK YOU to you,
the readers, for taking a chance on a small-town, unknown,
self-published author and making my dreams come true.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jennifer Snyder writes Young Adult Edgy Contemporary
novels as well as Young Adult Paranormal Romance novels. She
resides in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with
her husband and two children. Jennifer finds great joy in blank
notebooks and a smooth writing pen.

Feel free to visit her blog at:
http://jennifersnydersblog.blogspot.com