Tarnished (Perfected) - Hardcover

Birch, Kate Jarvik

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1633751279 ISBN 13: 9781633751279

Publisher: Entangled: Teen, 2015

Synopsis

Freedom comes at a cost...

Ella was genetically engineered to be the perfect pet-graceful, demure...and kept. In a daring move, she escaped her captivity and took refuge in Canada. But while she can think and act as she pleases, the life of a liberated pet is just as confining as the Congressman's gilded cage. Her escape triggered a backlash, and now no one's safe, least of all the other pets. But she's trapped, unable to get back to Penn-the boy she loves-or help the girls who need her.

Back in the United States, pets are turning up dead. With help from a very unexpected source, Ella slips deep into the dangerous black market, posing as a tarnished pet available to buy or sell. If she's lucky, she'll be able to rescue Penn and expose the truth about the breeding program. If she fails, Ella will pay not only with her life, but the lives of everyone she's tried to save...

The Perfected series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 Perfected
Book #2 Tarnished
Book #3 Unraveled

About this title

About the Author

Kate Jarvik Birch is a visual artist, author, playwright, daydreamer, and professional procrastinator. As a child, she wanted to grow up to be either a unicorn or mermaid. Luckily, being a writer turned out to be just as magical. Her essays and short stories have been published in literary journals including Indiana Review and Saint Ann's Review. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and three kids. To learn more visit www.katejarvikbirch.com

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Tarnished

By Kate Jarvik Birch, Heather Howland, Victoria Andreas

Entangled Publishing, LLC

Copyright © 2015 Kate Jarvik Birch
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-63375-127-9

CHAPTER 1

This wasn't freedom. This room, with its dingy walls and small, square window, was just another cell. Another cage. Only this time Penn wasn't here to love me. Or to help me get away.

This time, I'd have to escape on my own.

I cracked the door and peered down the hallway toward the desk at the end of the corridor. I hadn't even taken a step yet and already my heart thundered against my chest like it, too, longed to escape. There was still one more item I needed to find before I could leave this place.

There were nine other girls — pets — in the refugee center, and I knew they were in the common room watching television the way they did every night. I waited until the main light down the hall switched off, signaling all but one of the workers had checked out for the night. Only the small glow from the lamp that sat on the desk in the reception area lit the room, casting the hall in shadow.

The people who ran this place were nice enough, with their order and their routine. They probably thought it was kind of them to make one of their personnel available at all times, just a few steps down the hallway if we got scared or had a question. But to me, it felt like they'd positioned a prison guard to watch over me.

I closed the door behind me. All I needed to do was stroll past the reception desk the way I'd practiced for the past six days. To the woman sitting there, I would look like all the other girls: small, unsure, lost in this big world. She would only see the things I chose to show her.

Not that there was much left of me to show.

When my world split in two, after the U.S. police dragged Penn in one direction, while the Canadian officers pulled me in another, a part of me felt like I stayed tethered somewhere across the border, waiting for Penn to come walking across that bridge, no handcuffs weighing down his wrists, no bright red gash across his forehead. Just him, whole and well and complete. But with that half of me gone, I couldn't think straight anymore. There was only space for one thing: getting back to Penn.

I crept forward. On my left, the door to the common room was open. The other girls sat side by side on the small couches. The television's blue light flickered across their faces. It had been almost a week, but I still couldn't remember their names. There was no room in my mind for formalities.

"Good evening, Ella," the woman at the reception desk said, setting down her magazine as I approached. "Everyone else is watching the season finale of Pro Chef in the common room. Don't you want to join them?"

"I'm planning on it." I smiled, praying she couldn't see the way my pulse pounded in my neck. "But I was hoping I could convince you to make us some popcorn again. I've been craving it since you served it the other day."

She grinned and clasped her hands together. All you had to do to make one of the workers happy was to ask about food. It was the easiest way to distract them. They were excited by any sign that we were starting to fit in, but nothing thrilled them more than showing interest in their favorite foods.

"Let me see if we have any." She pushed back her chair and practically bounced toward the small kitchen down the hall.

Her excitement stabbed me with guilt. I'd already taken three things, but it wasn't getting any easier. The staff here had shown me nothing but compassion. In return, I'd stolen from them.

You need to find Penn. You need to make sure he's safe. The mantra I'd repe

Edition details

• Publisher: Entangled: Teen
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1633751279
• ISBN 13: 9781633751279
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304