Summary:

Lissa Coopola, princess of Aquilea, woke up to find her self in the middle of a war, surrounded by boys ranging from children to young men. She can't remember anything having to do with how she got there or why these boys are fighting, but she soon discovers that she is in much more danger than she could have ever imagined. Are these boys her saviors or her worst nightmare? And will Jace, the leader, be her hero or enemy? And will Lissa ever discover the truth to why she's been taken?


Excerpt:

I blinked, just beginning to wake up from what felt like the longest nap in history. Slowly, I opened my eyes and began to sit up on my elbows. My body ached and my head throbbed. Why? I wasn't sure. I couldn't remember anything at the moment.

I took a look around, taking in my surroundings. From what I could see, there were young men running around frantically. I seemed to be in a warehouse of sorts. There were deafening sounds that echoed around me, making me throw my hands up, covering my ears. It sounded like bombs. Lots of them.

Where the hell was I? And who were these people? From what I could guess it seemed like they were fighting. Many of them manned machine guns, firing through small holes in the walls. What was going on? Who were they shooting?

Another look around I noticed a young boy sitting near me, no older than eleven, holding a rifle of his own, trembling and looking around like a scarred little puppy. Even though he was holding the gun, he held it away from him like he was afraid of it. And rightfully so. What kind of people give out guns to young boys?

I nudged his leg lightly, not wanting to scare him any more. He snapped his head towards me, his eyes widening.
"What's happening?" I asked him, trying to sound calm even though I wanted to start screaming. But his frightened expression kept me from doing so.

"She's awake! The girl is awake!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.
I covered my ears once more and winced. "What's going on?!" I tried again.
He continued to scream, "She's awake!", until a boy who looked about my age, seventeen, heard and ran over with a fierce look on his face.
He glanced at me for only a quick second before speaking to the boy , "Ziggy, stay with her and keep an eye on her. Got it?"
The young boy, ZIggy, nodded quickly. I could tell he was trying to appear tough and strong to the older boy but his trembling gave him away.

The older boy knelt down and put a hand on Ziggy's shoulder. His voice softened when he spoke again, "You'll be fine. You're one of the toughest boys here and I trust you to take care of our special... visitor." His words perked up Ziggy, who now had a determined look on his face.
"I will, Jace."
"Hello?! What in the world is going on?!" I shouted this time, in order to be herd over the still exploding bombs and to get their attention.
Ziggy flinched but the Jace boy didn't even look at me. He just gave Ziggy a quick nod and took off in the other direction that he had come from.

"Please! Tell me!" I demanded of the young boy.
He cast me a scared look but shook his head. "I'm sorry. I was told not to."
"By who? Who are you people?!
"Just wait and you'll find out. We have to wait for the others to leave."

I slumped against the wall I was next to, defeated. I obviously wasn't going to know what the hell was going on anytime soon. Soon after, my ears began to get used to the bombs and all the shouting but my head still killed, enough to make me want to go back to sleep. But I couldn't, I wouldn't. Not until I found out what was going on.

No matter how hard I tried to stay awake though, my body's need to rest even though it seemed that's what it had been doing for a while until I woke up a few minutes ago won and I began to drift away...