Blind Speed Dating #66

Title: IN THE BETWEEN

Genre: YA fantasy

Word Count: 59,000

Query:

When Harper’s life falls apart, she responds in her usual, fully effective manner—denial. She’s a muralet, the last descendant of Mother Nature? Nope. Supreme magical abilities can be obtained by drinking her blood? Whatever. Most mystical creatures would literally kill to have a drop of her blood on their tongues? Not happening. It’s not until a dark-headed stranger calling himself her Seeker shows up and drags her to enchanted Ellauria that she realizes some things are just true even if she doesn't want them to be.

Ellauria is home to the Fellowship, the mysterious group that has protected the world’s so-called “mythical” creatures for decades. In fact, Harper has been the Fellowship’s best-kept secret for the past sixteen years, her existence known only to a select group of high-ranking Ellaurians. Unfortunately, someone outside the Fellowship has discovered her identity, and Ellauria is the only place she can be safe. She's hidden among the rest of the Apprentices, the magical-mortal hybrids who will be trained to work for the Fellowship.

After Harper is attacked within Ellauria’s borders, it becomes clear that even those sworn to protect her are not immune to the temptation of her performance-enhancing blood. One of the Fellowship's own is working agains her. The list of suspects is short, but it’s made up of those that Harper shouldn’t have to fear—from the Fellowship’s socially awkward founder, to the eccentric self-proclaimed Empress of the Fairies, to her complicated but sexy crush. With an unstable grasp of her powers and a less than ideal knowledge base regarding the supernatural, Harper must work quickly to determine who she can trust, who isn’t what he says he is, and who benefits most from her demise.

First 250:

I could always tell what kind of mood Momma’s in by the type of cleaning she’s doing. Cleaning out closets and drawers? Sad. Reorganizing every shelf in the house? Frustrated. Wiping down the walls and baseboards? Angry. Polishing the silver? Stressed. So the day I opened the front door to find a pile of clothes lying in front of the coat closet, a bucket filled with vinegar solution standing next to the wall, and the smell of ammonia hanging in the air, I pulled my phone from my purse and texted my brother immediately. “Get home quick. She’s Granny-cleaning."

I was still standing in the doorway when Sam got there. I’d heard the loud thumping of the stereo long before I heard the crunch of gravel beneath the jeep’s tires, but I decided to ignore it. I hated sharing a car with him. He was going to blow our speakers, I just knew it.

He stood behind me and peeked over my head. That’s another annoying thing about Sam- to be my twin, he’s entirely too tall. “She ironed the sheets,” he said, nodding toward the ironing board in the hallway. We could just barely see the front end of it, draped with the fitted corner of the pale yellow queen-sized sheets from the guest bed.

“I know,” I said, tucking my hair behind my ears with both hands. “This is bad.”

“You seen her yet?”

I shook my head. “Nope, but I heard furniture moving around upstairs.”