Here's a sneak peak at Van Terra II! You can add the book to your reading list now. The title and cover will be revealed July 24th, and the first few chapters will be posted July 26th.

~

Jasper glanced around the wing of the museum they were passing through. The kids from the field trip trailed behind. "Aw, it's not all boring," Jasper said. "Hey, look, over there!" She pointed to the empty pedestal sitting in the middle of the corridor.

"It's empty," a girl said blankly.

"Yeah, read the plaque on the pedestal." Jasper paused. "Wait, can you kids read? How old are you? Four? Twelve?"

Grace leaned toward Jasper and lowered her voice. "Pretty sure they're all about ten years old."

Jasper cleared her throat, momentarily forgetting her tour guide persona. "So they can read?"

Grace couldn't seem to tell if she was joking or not. "Uh, yeah."

"Right, well." Jasper lifted her chin and gestured to the pedestal. "This once housed the most valuable artifact in the entire Discovery Center. A shiny, triangular shard of mysterious metal uncovered in the Iros mines. It would have sold for untold amounts of money on the black market, thanks to its potential as an immense power source."

Jax frowned. "How do you know all of this?"

"I was going to steal it, but some bastard beat me to it—"

"Jasper, language!" Holly snapped. "Children, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay." Jasper folded her arms. "Anyway, that's interesting, right kids? Someone pulled off a heist and swiped the thing right out from under security. Like a cool action movie!"

Most of the kids still looked pretty dead inside, but a few near the front did seem intrigued.

~

bonus draw the squad:

source: https://auroraanorth.tumblr.com/post/657155210613014528/draw-the-squad-like-this-draw-your-characters