Destined by Lanie Bross

Author:Lanie Bross [Bross, Lanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-449-81787-2
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2014-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

What if your destiny was to kill the one you love?

If you enjoyed this special FATES story, look for Lanie Bross’s novel, FATES, in which Corinthe learns that her destiny is to kill the one she loves.

Here’s a sneak peek.

Excerpt copyright © 2014 by Lanie Bross. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

Principal Sylvia Patterson pulled her office door shut, checked the lock, then hitched a stack of folders slightly higher in her left arm as she made her way down the empty halls of Mission High.

The school was silent except for the sound of her own breathing and the click of her heels on the polished gray linoleum. She passed darkened classrooms behind closed doors: the desks, tables, and chairs within were just vague, silhouetted forms beyond smudged glass panes. In each window she walked by, her reflection appeared distorted.

Even after nearly two decades in these halls, she always felt scared when the school was empty.

As she rounded a corner, Sylvia stopped. A trill of alarm passed through her: a figure stood just inside the double doors at the exit, partially hidden by shadows.

No one was allowed on school grounds after hours.

Sylvia dipped her right hand into her purse, closing her fingers around the can of Mace she always kept close by. “School’s closed now,” she chirped, hoping the intruder wouldn’t hear the tremor in her voice.

“Sorry.” The girl turned, her face now illuminated by the weak light flowing in from the parking lot outside.

Sylvia exhaled. “Oh, Corinthe. You startled me.” She withdrew her hand from her purse. Silly to be so jumpy. It was only the new transfer student.

Corinthe stared at her silently. She had a careless, disheveled look, despite the fact that Sylvia had been careful to emphasize the importance of one’s appearance when they’d met for the first time yesterday to fill out her transfer paperwork. Corinthe might have been a very pretty girl, with her classic, well-spaced features and her pale gray eyes. Even her clothing was neat and well put-together—at least she cared about that part of her looks. It was the hair—the wild, tangled mess of blond that hung down her back—that told a different story.

Sylvia had been a principal for ten years and had a good eye for possibility. She sensed, after knowing Corinthe barely two days, that the girl could be a real standout if she applied herself. Unfortunately, experience had taught her that the kids in her school rarely lived up to their potential. Corinthe would probably end up just another lost child who fell through the cracks. During Sylvia’s “Welcome to Mission High, Keep Your Nose Clean” speech, Corinthe had simply gazed at her, almost without breathing, her gray eyes completely flat, detached.

When children had no choices left, they all looked the same.

Corinthe shifted slightly in the doorway. “My foster mom was supposed to pick me up, but she never showed.

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