RILEY

Riley's backpack felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as she walked through the gates of Unity Academy, the first integrated school in North America. Her hybrid senses picked up everything: the rapid heartbeats of nervous students, the scent of fear mixed with curiosity, the supernatural abilities crackling just beneath the surface of dozens of Ascended teenagers.

This was supposed to be progress. It felt like walking into a war zone.

"Hey, hybrid freak!" someone called. Riley didn't turn around. She'd learned to pick her battles.

The classroom was a carefully orchestrated mix. Humans. Ascended. Hybrid. Two young werewolves. Even a vampire, heavily medicated to walk in daylight. Everyone...