Maybe Magic
How can you find yourself when all you know is home?
Maebe Amos is desperate for a change. Born into the close-knit East Branch community, she longs to experience life beyond the fence demarcating the edge of the compound. But no one ever leaves East Branch—well, no one but her cousin Connor’s parents, who moved to the nearby town and raised him among the outsiders there. Maebe doesn’t know much about the outside world, but the little she’s picked up from her radio suggests veritable wonders, and she’s desperate to learn.
But for Maebe, gifted with “the touch” and cursed with a curious birth defect, the protection of isolated East Branch means safety. Lucky for her, the first outsider she meets is Connor’s girlfriend, Jane—and Jane is possessed of a powerful touch the like of which Maebe has never seen. Magic, Jane calls it, and offers to help her.
Can Maebe trust the people she’s been taught to fear? And as she tries to learn about herself and her talents, how can she protect East Branch when its long-forgotten secrets begin to surface?
Maybe Murder
Some opened doors can’t be closed.
Maebe Amos finally has her chance—to explore the world beyond her isolated Appalachian community, to get an education, and to learn how to use her magical talent, weak though it might be. But after two months in the Pactlands, her shining opportunity has begun to tarnish. She lags behind her peers in all subjects, some of her new classmates are cruel, and…
Well, she’s homesick.
What she needs is a taste of the familiar, and her cousin Connor has just the remedy. He invites her back to Georgia for the weekend to hang out with him while he house-sits. Connor offers pizza, a movie, and a sympathetic ear, plus a trip out to East Branch to see her family. But when strange elves crash the party, Maebe’s school woes are suddenly the least of her worries.
Maebe made the choice to expose East Branch, but she couldn’t imagine the consequences…
Maybe More
How far would you go to atone for your sins?
Six months after losing her home, her parents, and half her community, Maebe Amos is struggling. Pactlands citizenship is a boon, and she’s grateful for the remedial education she’s receiving, but nothing is simple. Her cousins still partly blame her for the loss of East Branch, her magical skills are subpar, and she doesn’t know the first thing about being the lady of Hall ti’Ammaas. When she’s publicly humiliated yet again by her classmates, Maebe is pushed to her limit, then runs back to Georgia for a weekend of licking her wounds.
But her retreat is interrupted by terrible news: in her absence, all of her cousins, from the adults to the toddlers, have disappeared from school—and the evidence points to abduction.
Desperate not to lose more of her rapidly dwindling family, Maebe offers to take the bloodline potion to find them. The potion is poison, and two agonizing rounds of it have left her with a damaged heart. A third round would likely be suicide, but as time passes and the good options fizzle, Maebe knows the potion may be their only hope.
Maebe got her family into this mess. She’s determined to save them…but at what cost?