In fifteen-year-old Chela Prizeon’s city, alchemy is
forbidden, and angels hide among the mortal. With a deadly virus ravaging the
globe, Chela’s nightmarish memories compels her to experience a past riddled
with gloom, and now her brother is infected.
Chela’s only hope is the Caduceans, slayers sworn to protect
the last seven Light Keepers and the ancient memories they share. A group led
by the sometimes elusive, sometimes infuriating boy who intrigues Chela. But
can she trust this boy with the mysterious past, someone who can influence her
memories?
With the Caduceans aid, Chela races to defeat her rivals, to
unearth dark family secrets, desperate to find a cure…only to discover the
glutovirus is far more than a simple disease.
In this haunting debut, KaSonndra Leigh offers an escape into
a world as intriguing as The Mortal Instruments and a story as chilling as
Enclave. Full of celestial creatures, fascinating villainy, high-stake choices,
and a secret romance, When Copper Suns Fall, is a fresh and original urban
fantasy—with a dystopian twist—that will take readers on an unforgettable
adventure.
KaSonndra Leigh lives
in the City of Alchemy and Medicine, North Carolina. She likes to write about
teens doing fantastical things in magical worlds. Her two sons have made her
promise to write a boy book next.
She holds the MFA in creative writing, and loves to play
CLUE, Monopoly (the Indiana Jones version), and Pandora’s Box (good writer’s
block therapy). She lives in an L-shaped house with a garden dedicated to her
grandmother. It has a secret library complete with fairies, Venetian plastered
walls, and a desk made out of clear blue glass.
When Copper Suns Fall is her debut novel.
You can connet with KaSonndra on:
Excerpt
Forcing
my eyes to open, I found myself outside the Cradlehack. I was standing in
Faris’s arms, my head against his chest, my fingers entwined in his black vest.
It was a smooth fabric that felt like silk. A cloth no one had worn outside of
ceremonies since before the Tidal Years. This boy was no common citizen. His
earthy-sweet smell made me feel hypnotically safe, as we stood among the crowd
fleeing down the hillside. He lifted my chin, stared in my eyes. But this
wasn’t some dumb player’s move.
No, a
mysterious thing stirred behind his silvery-gray eyes.
“Feel
better, Chela?” he asked. I nodded.
“Thanks
for helping me,” I said, still fighting a light head. Still afraid the dreaded
black blobs lingered somewhere around us. Somewhat ashamed I’d spoken so
horribly to him moments ago.
“You
probably shouldn’t do that,” he said.
“Do
what?”
“Thank
me.”
“Why?
Because I caught you using alchemy? That’s what your kind does. Make magic in
the shadows, right?” I said.
His left
eye ticked. The girl in the hoodie had called him a Caducean. Could it be
possible? Father told me Caduceans were a mythical group—demon slayers from a
time long gone. Yet, here I stood with a boy who didn’t deny my claim.
Around
us, fewer people were leaving the Shack. They paid no attention to the two
idiots standing and staring at each other. Did Jalen and Lexa make it out
safely? They were taking forever to
reach me.
Did I
really want them to find me?
“They’ll
call me, now, and make me a witness against you. I’m sorry, but I already have
too many problems. So I—I have to tell the truth,” I said.
“That
won’t be a problem.” Faris smiled, a catchy one that lit his face up. I
couldn’t decide whether it was angelic or downright wicked. Just like I
couldn’t remember where I’d ever heard an accent like his. What kind was it?
Old southern? Old English? Irish? It sounded like a mix of all three, but with
a deep timbre, making him sound god like. “In a few minutes, you won’t remember
me or any of this.”
“Really?
How do you figure that?” I asked, heart racing.
“Because
my gift to you…” He moved his face closer to mine, pulling me into whatever was
happening in his head. “My gift is to remove memories that cause you pain.”
“Okay,
um, right.” Had I lost my mind? It probably wouldn’t have hurt to scream.
He held my gaze, locking me into
something I couldn’t explain. A tear puckered up in his left eye, and slid down
his cheek where it stopped on his top lip. Then he blinked, snapping us out of
whatever place he’d taken us to, and glanced behind my head. “Here comes your
dark knight,” he said, easing his arms away from me.
He
strolled off into the last group of stragglers hanging around the Shack. How
did he know my nickname for Jalen?
I wiped
away a tear rolling down my right cheek.
“Chela,
there you are. You scared me, girl.” Jalen’s voice cut into the moment. He spun
me around to face him. I blinked, clearing my eyes. “What’s wrong? Did you get
hurt?”
I
glanced around us. The boy was gone. A dull headache joined the fuzziness in my
head. Lost inside a clouded mind, I forgot what I wanted to say. The entire
night’s events were hazy.
I
fumbled with my thoughts.
What
happened to me in there?
