Gift

Jonas Quarrel has tracked Verity from Mexico to Northern California. Just what is he after? Verity Ames finds herself fighting an attraction to Jonas from the moment he knocks on the door of the No Bull Cafe. He seems far too good to be true. Together they will discover a shared passion and a shared danger.

Kris Chambers is a nobody. A 24-year-old man with a dead-end job and no prospects-and, to top it off, a heart condition that forever keeps him on his toes-he spends his life trapped between apathy, self-doubt, and mortal fear. As he walks down an unfamiliar alleyway, he stumbles upon the lifeless body of a stranger. Unbeknownst to him, this grisly discovery marks the beginning of an entirely new chapter in his life. Upon mysteriously awakening in the hospital, he learns that his heart now functions flawlessly, and he feels… different. He soon discovers he has superhuman abilities-herculean strength, a marathon runner's stamina, and an extreme healing factor-as well as an ever-present assistant: a super-intelligent AI named Vega, telling him that his gift is the result of a network of nanomachines that he inherited like a virus from the dead body. And the dead man himself? A traveler from parts unknown, time unknown… Empowered by his newfound abilities, Kris embarks on a mission to track down the Quiet One, a domestic terrorist wreaking havoc on his city. In a fight spanning across continents, Kris must fight to learn and establish his true place in the world while uncovering the true nature of his otherworldly gift.

After a cataclysmic end to his time as a freedom fighter, Kris finds himself captured, blindfolded, and awaiting a bullet. He comes to believe this may be it-his end is near-only to discover his kidnappers are fellow Americans. It's soon revealed that the CIA has monitored him for a while, and after quickly learning of his misdeeds in Aljarran, they capture him before the nation's warring factions can, only to throw him in a black site prison. They know nothing of his true powers but find him-and the stories of his heroics-intriguing nonetheless… Kris soon learns that they wish to make him an offer. They tell him they'll release him on one condition: that he assassinates a disloyal former agent, a man who betrayed his former friends to become a big-time player in the South American drug trade… With the ghosts of Aljarran still haunting him, will Kris become the CIA's monster for hire?

After the so-called success of his mission to Madrevaria, Kris finds himself back home, aimless and alone. A shocking and unexpected loss spurs him into action, and he soon tackles a hostage situation at the Aljarrian consulate, earning front-page coverage as a masked vigilante in the process. Forced onto a shorter leash by his CIA watchers, Kris is taken to Washington DC, but the trip is far from being the rest and relaxation he needs. A chance meeting with a congressperson ensues, a meeting that results in tragic and horrifying consequences… It's soon revealed that Vega has a massive secret-a deadly, terrible secret Kris is only now painfully aware of-along with the troubling realization that there's truly no going back now. He'll learn the reason Vega came here, to this place and to this time, or he'll die trying…