Daire Meets Ever (The Immortals)

extraordinary.
    I can only hope that it’s true.
    The End.
     
    Copyright (C) 2011 by Alyson Noël

 
     
    Dear Reader,
    I can’t tell you how excited I am to introduce you to Daire Santos—the gutsy protagonist of my new YA series, THE SOUL SEEKERS , debuting with FATED on 05.22.12!
    After ending THE IMMORTALS series with the publication of EVERLASTING last summer, I was itching to create a new supernatural world with a brand new cast of characters. And since New Mexico has always been one of my favorite places to visit, with its interesting cultural mix, breathtaking landscapes, and mystical legends, I decided to place my story there, in the fictional town of Enchantment.
    The world of THE SOUL SEEKERS is brimming with magick, mystery, and, yes—intoxicating romance! And I have to admit that when I first started writing Daire’s journey, I was a little jealous of the life she lived—it’s filled with just the kind of excitement and glamour I dreamed of as a kid.
    As the daughter of a Hollywood make-up artist, Daire’s spent her entire life traveling the globe, moving from movie set to movie set. Getting lost in a Moroccan medina, getting kissed on the Pont Neuf in Paris by a young actor destined for the big time—it all seems so exciting on the surface, but after a lifetime of it, all Daire knows is that she’s never attended a real school, never enjoyed a real home-cooked meal, never spent a holiday in a place where she could actually speak the language, and she’s never stayed in any one place long enough to make a real friend.
    But all of that changes on her sixteenth birthday when the visions and dreams that have plagued her in the past, return with a vengeance, and she is sent to live with the grandmother she has never met but who recognizes the signs as Daire’s true calling as a Soul Seeker—one who can navigate between the worlds of the living and the dead.
    There, on the dusty plains of Enchantment, New Mexico, Daire will make friends, fall madly in love, and confront an enemy so dark, she’s not only forced to embrace her fate as a Seeker, along with the sacrifices that go with it, but also to discover if Dace, the boy from her dreams, is her one true love—her fated one—or if he is allied with the enemy she is destined to destroy.
    Every six months brings a new Soul Seekers novel, so be on the lookout for Echo, Mystic , and Horizon, in 2012/13!
    I’ve had so much fun creating this world—I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it!
    Peace * Joy * Love
    Alyson Noël

One
    There are moments in life when everything pauses.
    The earth hesitates, the atmosphere stills, and time shrinks and folds onto itself until it collapses into a big tired heap.
    As I push through the small wooden door of the riad where Jennika and I have camped out the past several weeks, trading the hush of the rose-and-honeysuckle-scented courtyard for the chaos of the serpentine maze of medina—it happens again.
    But instead of mimicking the stillness like I usually do, I decide to go with it and try something fun. Easing my way along connecting salmon-colored walls, I pass a small, thin man caught in midstride, press my fingers against the soft white cotton of his gandora, and gently spin him around until he’s facing the opposite way. Then after ducking beneath a mangy black cat that, caught in midleap, appears to be flying, I stop at the corner where I take a moment to rearrange a display of shiny brass lanterns an old man is selling, before moving on to the very next stall where I slip a pair of bright blue babouches onto my feet, decide that I like them, and leave my old leather sandals along with a fistful of crumpled-up dirhams as payment.
    My eyes burning with the effort of keeping them open, knowing the instant I blink, the gandora -clad man will be one step farther from his destination, the cat will land on its mark, and two vendors will gaze at their wares in total confusion—the scene will return to one of perpetual chaos.
    Though when I spot the glowing people hovering on the periphery, studying me in the careful way that they do, I’m quick to squinch my eyes shut and block them from view. Hoping that this time, just like all the others, they’ll fade away too. Return to wherever it is that they go when they’re not watching me.
    I used to think everyone experienced moments like that, until I confided in Jennika who shot me a skeptical look and blamed it on jet lag.
    Jennika