there’s no one she can trust… not even the one she loves - Milayna (Milayna #1) by Michelle K. Pickett

It’s hard being good all the time. Everyone needs to be bad once in a while. But for seventeen-year-old Milayna, being good isn’t a choice. It’s a job requirement. And it’s a job she can’t quit. Born a demi-angel, Milayna steps in when danger and demons threaten the people around her, but being half angel isn’t all halos and happiness. 

Description:

Release Date:  March 17th, 2015  

It’s hard being good all the time. Everyone needs to be bad once in a while. But for seventeen-year-old Milayna, being good isn’t a choice. It’s a job requirement. And it’s a job she can’t quit. Born a demi-angel, Milayna steps in when danger and demons threaten the people around her, but being half angel isn’t all halos and happiness. Azazel, Hell’s demon, wants Milayna’s power and he’ll do anything to get it. But he only has until her eighteenth birthday, after which she becomes untouchable.

With the help of other demi-angels, Milayna thwarts the trouble Azazel sends her way. Fighting by her side is Chay. He’s a demi-angel who’s sinfully gorgeous, and Milayna falls hard. But is Chay her true love… or her nemesis in disguise?

When she learns of a traitor in her group, there’s no one she can trust… not even the one she loves.

EXCERPT

Two weeks, two days until my birthday.

Sunday morning at nine o’clock, I dialed the phone. I listened to the ringing on the other end, tapping my fingernails on my bedside table.

“‘ello,” Chay answered, his voice gravelly.

“Rise and shine,” I chirped.

“What time is it?” I could hear his blankets rustling through the phone.

“About an hour later than you let me sleep yesterday,” I told him.

“Don’t you know weekends are for sleeping in?” Chay asked.

“I want to see you.” I held out my hand and looked at my freshly painted fingernails.

“Isn’t that my line?” he said and yawned.

“Yeah, but it works both ways. I’ll pick you up in an hour.”

He laughed. “Okay, if I have to.”

“You do.”

“I can’t wait,” he said, and I grinned like an idiot.

An hour later, I rang the doorbell at Chay’s house. A pretty blonde answered the door. “Hi, Milayna. Come in.”

“Hi, Mrs. Roberts.”

She wasn’t at all how I expected Chay’s mother to look. She was a pale blonde with fairer skin, and a few freckles dotting the bridge of her nose. He and his mother shared the same unusual eye color, though.

“Chay will be right out. Have a seat.” Mrs. Roberts perched on the arm of a chair and folded her hands in her lap. “You and Chay are in classes together?”

“Yes, ma’am. Three.”

“That’s great. You two seem to be getting along quite well.”

Smiling, I nodded. I could feel a blush fingering its way up my neck toward my face. Nerves made my breakfast roll over in my stomach and play dead.

“So.” Mrs. Roberts smiled and slapped her palms on her thighs. “Do you want to see some baby photos?” I almost laughed. I couldn’t tell if she was serious or not. I mean, my mother liked to pull out the baby albums, but she at least waited until the third or fourth date.

“No, she does not.” Chay jogged into the room, wearing a pair of distressed jeans and a T-shirt that knew all the right places to hug him. “Hi.” He leaned over and kissed me.

When he lifted his head, I put my fingers to my lips and glanced quickly at his mother. She didn’t seem the least bit concerned, but my face was burning.

“Oh, you embarrassed her.” Chay’s mom tsked and waved a hand at him. “Don’t worry, Milayna, we know you kiss. It’s nothing to be embarrassed over.” She smiled and winked.

“But you’d embarrass me with baby photos.” Chay laughed.

“Of course. I’m your mother. That’s my right after twelve hours of labor and a nine-pound baby.”

Chay rolled his eyes and made a blah, blah, blah motion with his hand, but smiled at his mom. “Are you ready?” he asked me.

“Yes.”

“Where are you two off to?” Mrs. Roberts looked between us.

“I don’t know. It’s Chay’s pick today. I picked yesterday.”

“Dear, let me tell you a little secret. Don’t let Chay pick. You’ll find yourself spending the day at the go-kart speedway.”

“That’s okay; he spent the day at the zoo with me.” I looked up at him and grinned like a moron.

“I’m just sayin’. I’d rather spend the day at the zoo than riding go-karts and picking gnats out of my teeth.” She shuddered.

I tilted my head to the side. “Huh. Good point.”

“Okay, see you when you get home.” She kissed him on the cheek and then patted it. “Behave.”

“I always do.”

She snorted a laugh. “It was nice meeting you, Milayna.”

“You, too, Mrs. Roberts.”

We walked outside, and Chay looked around. “Where’s your car?”

“My car isn’t in the best working condition. I was hoping you’d drive.”

“No problem. Wait, how’d you get here?”

“I walked.”

“From your house? You walked around the block? Alone?” His voice rose with each syllable.

“Like my parents would ever let me do that. My dad drove me. I walked up the driveway alone.”

“Don’t do that!”

“What?” I could tell by his voice I’d upset him. Not the best way to start the day.

“Scare me like that.” He blew out a breath.

“I’m sorry—”

He interrupted my apology with a kiss. Not the chaste schoolboy kiss he gave me in front of his mother, but a long, wet, stomach-fluttering, kiss.

“Hasn’t your mother taught you not to interrupt?” I asked when he lifted his head.

“I think she mentioned something about it one day, but I interrupted her.” He grinned at me.

“Cheesy, Chay.” I smiled at him, and he shrugged a shoulder. “So, where are we going?”

“Wherever you tell me to drive.” He opened the car door for me.

“Oh, no. It’s your turn to pick.”

“And if I said I wanted to go fishing?”

“I’d say we’d need to go by my house so I could get my rod and fishing license,” I answered.

“Really?” He made a face.

“What? Girls can’t fish in your world?” I stowed my purse in the backseat.

“No, that’s great. I love that you’d go fishing with me. It’s just that you’re the only girl I’ve dated that would.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” I slid into the car. He jogged around the back of the car and jumped in the driver’s side.

“What? Fishing?” He slid the key into the ignition.

“No. Dating.” I bit the corner of my bottom lip. My heart hammered in my chest as the seconds ticked by, and he didn’t answer.

“Hmm.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. “I—”

*******

My lungs are burning. A hospital bed. Beeping. Doctors and nurses work on Uncle. Heart monitor. My heart skips a beat, a stab of pain sizzles through my chest, stealing my breath.

I tried to keep my eyes open as the images scrolled through my mind, not wanting Chay to know I was seeing them. I didn’t know what they meant, and I didn’t want to upset him more than he already was.

Chay sitting on a bench. His head in his hands. Shoulders slumped.

“We’re taking him to St. Mary’s,” an EMT yelled, climbing into the ambulance. It sped away, sirens blaring.

“C’mon.” We got into Chay’s car, speeding to keep up.

“Chay, slow down. Uncle wouldn’t want you to get in an accident.”

Chay’s foot eased off the gas pedal, and he rubbed the back of his head. “I need to get there and make sure he’s okay.”

I grazed the backs of my fingers over his cheekbone. “I know. Me too.” I held up my phone. “I’m going to call our parents.”

Chay nodded absently. He was silent the rest of the drive.

****

The hospital smelled like disinfectant and sickness. I hated the smell. The walls were painted a muted sage, and the floors carpeted in beige. A vase of flowers sat on a small table. A painting of a flower-lined creek hung on the wall behind it. It was all very pretty, but it didn’t change where we were—a hospital ER waiting room. The place people waited to hear if their loved one was… well, a place people didn’t want to be.

We’d been there for three hours. My dad and Chay’s parents arrived shortly after we had. I stood in the hallway across from where Chay sat with his head in his hands, just like in my vision. I watched him, biting my nails. He hadn’t said more than a few words to me since we’d arrived, and I didn’t know what to say to him.

I hadn’t had any more visions. I tried to reassure him, telling him that was good.

“Nothing about this is good,” he’d snapped, and then sat silently.

“Dad,” I whispered. “Do you think this has to do with the Evils or demi-demons?”

“Probably.” He didn’t say more.

What is it with the men in my life and one-word answers? It really pisses me off.

I blew out a breath. “Why’d they do this to Chay’s uncle instead of one of us?”

“Retaliation.” I jumped at the sound of Chay’s voice.

“For what?”

“Saving you. He stopped the demon from pulling you into the pit. Azazel’s retaliating.” His voice was hard, hateful.

“Son—”

Chay waved his dad away and stood. “What? It’s true.” He turned his back to me and stalked down the hall.

I didn’t see Chay again that night. Minutes later, the doctor gave a report on Uncle Stewart. He’d suffered smoke inhalation, a concussion from hitting his head on the counter when he fell, and what they suspected was a mild heart attack—but more tests were needed to confirm that diagnosis. Still, the doctor expected a full recovery. My dad and I left after that.

I was relieved that Uncle would be okay.

I was devastated that he almost died because he’d saved me.

I was shattered that Chay blamed me.

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About the author:

Michelle is the bestselling author of the young adult novel “PODs.” She was born and raised in Flint, Michigan, but now lives in a sleepy suburb outside Houston with her extremely supportive husband, three school-aged children, a 125 pound “lap dog,” and a very snooty cat.

Red Bull or Monster Khaos are her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without peanut butter M&Ms and a hoodie. A hopeful romantic; she loves a swoon-worthy ending that will give her butterflies for days. She writes across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups. She loves to hear from her readers.

Michelle signed her new young adult contemporary novel— Unspeakable, with Clean Teen Publishing in 2014.

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