{Blog Tour} MERCURY RISES by Scarlett Kol—Excerpt + Giveaway

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Mercury Rises
by Scarlett Kol

A girl looking for a way out.

Being the daughter of New America’s leader, Mercury Masters has everything a girl could want. A glamorous life full of beautiful people, and the power to have anything she wants, except for one thing—to escape. Because Mercury’s perfect life comes with secrets to keep. Dangerous secrets that if made public would destroy her, her family, and her father’s reign. Then she meets Hawk.

A boy looking to be a hero.

Hawk, a handsome prep school dropout turned vigilante, has his own family secrets. Deadly secrets that have haunted him since he was fifteen. But instead of fighting the ghosts of his past, Hawk has assembled a group of misfit hackers and thieves to save the future from the corrupt government of New America and the mysterious virus that is killing off its citizens. But trying to do the right thing is tough when the person you really want to save is your enemy’s daughter.

A love that could kill them both.

Powerful forces keep them apart, but coming together could be the key to saving New America from destruction—even though it may cost both their lives.

A near-future YA biopunk retelling of Robin Hood.

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• Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Retelling
• Publisher: Inkspell Publishing
• Add the book on Goodreads!
• Purchase: Amazon - B&N - Kobo

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My breath started to come in short bursts. I clamped my palm over my mouth to hold it in, or at least slow it down. Hawk rolled closer to me and took my other hand, gripping it tight.

“It’ll be okay,” he whispered in my ear so quietly I wasn’t sure if he’d even said anything out loud or if I’d simply felt the words flit across my skin.

“She couldn’t have jumped, there’s no way out over there,” the guard on the dumpster yelled to his buddy, his voice far too close.

Metal rumbled under the guard’s boots. Back and forth. Pacing.

Fingers popped up on the edge of the roof. Thick fingers with bulging knuckles and a crooked black star tattoo. I started to shimmy back, but Hawk’s squeezed my hand and shook his head.

What was he doing? We needed to get out of here. We needed to—   

“We’re chasing a girl, not a damn monkey. She probably went the other way,” the second guard yelled from farther down the alley.

“I swear I heard noise from this dumpster. I know she came this way,” the first guard responded.

“Then get down, check inside it, and let’s go. I still have to go back and look for my book. My ass will be on the line if I don’t find it.”

The fingers disappeared followed by a metal bang. More footsteps and the creak of the lid opening.

“If she’s in here the smell probably would’ve killed her by now. I think I’m going to puke.”

“See. You probably heard those dumb cats. Let’s get out of here.”

Two sets of footsteps faded into the distance. My lungs started breathing again.

Neither of us moved. We just lay there, still, listening to the noisy clamor of the city at nightfall. The dark, a blanket weighing heavy on our backs. The rush of the chase had drained from my body, but my mind still ran in circles at full speed. What were all those guards doing at an inner-city shelter? What would have happened to me if I’d been caught? Why was Hawk still holding my hand?

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Scarlett Kol grew up in Northern Manitoba reading books and writing stories about creatures that make you want to sleep with the lights on. As an adult, she's still a little afraid of the dark. Scarlett now lives just outside Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with her husband and two boys, but if you need to find her she's likely freezing at the hockey rink.

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