Born of Deception (23 page)

I feel his pulsing misery and I continue. “But I can’t love him, because I’m already in love with you. There is no room left for him in my heart because it’s already filled with you.”

Cole’s arms tighten around me convulsively. The relief he feels almost makes me cry out.

“I love you, too,” he says, and I hear the catch in his voice.

“Then why don’t you ever tell me that?” I ask against his chest.

“It’s hard for me. I don’t know why. And things have been so crazy since you got back from your trip to France. When I saw you coming down the street with Billy the other night, I just kept thinking that I had lost you and maybe it was for the best.”

I tilt my head to see his face in the glow of the streetlamp. “How can you say that?”

“I don’t know what my presence in your life is going to do to your abilities. I won’t ever let myself hurt you in any way.”

“It will hurt me more to lose you than it would to deal with whatever happens.”

“I love you, Anna.”

“I love you too, Cole,” I murmur before his lips meet mine. I’m not alone anymore. I won’t ever be alone again.

In that moment, things become clear for me in a way they never have before and I know what I’m going to do. With Cole’s help, I’ll build a new Society and it’ll be a place where Sensitives are valued as human beings. A place where we can learn from one another and no one will have to feel as if he or she is totally alone. Together, we can help others find their way. Then I stop thinking and let myself be swept away by the enchantment of kissing Cole.

I know real magic when I feel it.

Acknowledgments

I
was blessed to have a cadre of the most talented people who supported
Born of Deception
and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. Number one will always be my agent, Mollie Glick, who believes in my writing and my career and whose foresight changed my life. I also have to thank my editor, Kristin Rens, whose brilliance and editing choices consistently make my books better. Big sparkly props also go to my copy editor, Martha Schwartz, who has the thankless job of cleaning up my messes; production editor Kathryn Silsand; publicity guru Caroline Sun; Emilie Polster and Stephanie Hoffman in marketing; and of course, book designer extraordinaire Ray Shappell.

Personally, I need to thank my kid lit author friends, April Henry, Cat Winters, Amber Keyser, Inara Scott, and Miriam Forster, who write with me and listen to me whine. I have to thank my tribe, Anita, Dave, Jasmine, Jeff, Billy, and Vickie, who have been my friends through the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Thanks to my son, Ethan, and his wife, Megan, for being awesome and huge thanks to my daughter, Megan, for being the other girl in my house.

And as always, thanks to my heart, Alan.

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About the Author

TERI BROWN
is most proud of her children, but coming in a close second is the fact that she jumped out of an airplane and beat the original Legend of Zelda video game. She is a word scribbler, head banger, math hater, book reader, food fixer, kitty keeper, and city slicker. Teri lives with her husband and way too many pets in Portland, Oregon. She is also the author of
Born of Illusion
and the Summerset Abbey trilogy. You can visit her online at www.teribrownbooks.com.

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Credits

Cover art © 2014 by Ali Smith

Lettering by Karl Kwasny

Cover design by Ray Shappell

Copyright

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

Born of Deception

Copyright © 2014 by Teri Brown

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brown, Teri J.

    Born of deception / Teri Brown. — First edition.

        pages cm

    Sequel to: Born of illusion.

    Summary: Moving to London in the 1920s to join a prestigious European vaudeville tour and reunite with her boyfriend, Cole, budding illusionist Anna must harness her special powers and navigate the underworld of magic before her murderous enemies catch up with her.

    ISBN 978-0-06-218757-4 (hardback)

    EPUB Edition APRIL 2014 ISBN 9780062187598

    [1. Psychic ability—Fiction. 2. Magicians—Fiction. 3. Secret societies—Fiction. 4. Love—Fiction. 5. Europe—History—1918–1945—Fiction.]  I. Title.

PZ7.B81797Bm 2014

2013047770

[Fic]—dc23

CIP

AC

14   15   16   17   18      LP/RRDH      10   9   8   7   6   5   4   3   2   1

FIRST EDITION