Wicked Lies: A Dark Mission Novella by Karina Cooper Page B

LGBTQ teens are subjected to horrific bullying from peers, met with silence from the adults that should be protecting them, and forced into a miserable existence of denial and shame. Parents who won’t try or can’t understand how to help and teachers who are gagged by school policies or fear of litigation can turn a child’s life into a waking nightmare of self-doubt, -incrimination, and -harm.
    As an adult who found her place after high school, I can’t imagine what it must be like for these teenagers. The culture of bullying in school is so prevalent that even the straight kids, the “normal” kids, feel the bite. It can be so bad for those considered “different” or outcast that suicide is often seen as the only sure way out—studies show that the risk of suicide or the attempt by LGBT teens is systemically higher, and that’s just not okay. Not when we have the means to reach out.
    Like Jonas, who needed help finding the courage to accept himself and to allow himself to take a shot at happily ever after—there are kids out there who need someone who understands.
    The It Gets Better Project is committed to helping at-risk youth, raising awareness for LGBTQ teens and funding for resources to help them. To that end, I will be donating the proceeds from this book to the It Gets Better Project. With the purchase of Wicked Lies , you are helping me give money and support to a wonderful and valuable cause.
    From the whole of my heart, I thank every one of you who gave this book a chance, Avon Impulse for publishing it, and Esi—the editor who didn’t just get behind this, but made it even better. Together, we can make a difference in so many lives.
    Yours with so much pride,
    Karina Cooper

 

    See where it all began,
    in Karina Cooper’s
    BEFORE THE WITCHES ,
    the prequel to her Dark Mission novels.
    Available now from Avon Impulse.

 

    An Excerpt from
    BEFORE THE WITCHES
    “W HAT’S HER NAME ?”
    The voice came as if through a fog, each syllable laced with a leer so thick she could practically taste its acid on her tongue. Ekaterina Zhuvova blinked away the thick cotton of exhaustion filling her head, gaze focusing with some effort on the two men standing at the back of the small living room.
    “Elena,” Ivan said, nodding with almost paternal-like pride at the red-haired woman leaning back against the couch, her full breasts pushed up by her position. She raked a lascivious gaze over the stranger’s tall body. “She is most experienced with making a man forget a few hours, eh?”
    This man wasn’t like the others Katya had seen come and go from this house before. He wasn’t as tall as some she’d entertained, but he was clearly strong enough to hold his own and still a foot taller than her petite five feet and two inches. His shoulders were broad, chest tight with muscle beneath a navy blue cotton T-shirt and a button-down open flannel shirt. Long legs encased in worn denim planted with near military precision, though his shaggy, slightly spiky black hair told her whatever his demeanor, he wasn’t active duty. Ex-military? Private contractor?
    A taste for foreign girls developed overseas and couldn’t kick the habit? She knew that type, all right.
    “Her?” The man’s gaze settled on her, and Katya looked away. Please, don’t pick me.
    “Katya,” Ivan said, and the warmth left his voice as he turned his head. She lowered her eyes before he could see her anger as his mouth worked, but he didn’t spit. She knew he wanted to.
    “No good?” the man asked, his tone lazily assessing.
    “Ved’ma , ” Ivan explained with a shrug. She barely kept from wincing, schooling her features into calm.
    “Is that her name?”
    “No.” Ivan eyed her. “She is strange one, even in my country.”
    “Strange.” One eyebrow raised.
    Ivan grinned. “She is knowing exactly what a man likes. This is both good thing and bad. I save her for the men who are less sure of self. She is very good with