The Book
Return
by J.A. Huss
Series: I Am Just Junco, Book 5
Genre: New Adult, Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Published: December 2nd 2013
Book Description
Three years ago Junco Coot was an insane sniper. Three weeks ago she was a prisoner being tortured in a morph tank. Three days ago she was nothing but billions of molecules floating in a sea of darkness.
Today, Junco Coot is the key to saving or ending the world.
Three years ago Raubtier Aves was the captain of the Avian Military. Three weeks ago he was trying to forget Junco ever existed. Three days ago he was given a gift of eternal salvation.
Today, he will give that gift back.
The Angels are here, the end is coming, the Demons have been released and Lucan has a past that ties it all together. Seven thousand years of waiting for revenge is over and there’s just one more question that needs to be answered?
Who will live and who will die?
Ashur—On Ship, Orbiting Earth
Tier says he loves Junco but I just can’t imagine that he does. I can’t. How could he? How could he love her and be able to sacrifice her for Lucan? It makes no sense to me. I’d choose Selia over Lucan every time.
But Tier is so focused on his fucking job, he pushes Junco away. While Selia and I were falling in love these past two years, Tier was trying to forget Junco ever happened. He pretended she never existed. He never said her name. He never secretly watched the screens when Kadian was reporting on her back in the Band.
He never once—not once—looked for her.
We knew where Junco was. That’s not the point. The point is, if that was Selia in that tank out in the desert, I’d have fucking taken over that lab and sat next to that damn tank for every second she was in there. I’d have made sure she wasn’t conscious during the change. Just the thought of Selia having to experience the pain of a morph without a virtual to distract her makes me want to choke.
If I was Tier, and I loved Junco, I would’ve done all those things.
And since he didn’t, and since Lucan didn’t either, then all that shit that happened to Junco in the tank was part of the plan.
And maybe I don’t really like Junco these days, but she was a friend once. I pictured myself with her back on Amelia during Fledge. She has that effect on people—she vibrates with a hum that calls to people. She’s got her own frequency, Arel used to say. Like she’s broadcasting a message that says, Come to me. Be with me.
But no one can be with her—because she is singular. She is above everything. She has no attachment to her Siblings, not like the rest of them do to each other. They are a team in and of themselves. Junco is the Seventh wheel. The odd one out. She has no partner. Moju has Soli, Tukker has Esta, Sariel has Irin.
But Junco has no one.
I suppose that’s what Gideon was. Junco’s pseudo-partner. He’s a Seven, after all. Gideon and Lucan were very tight during Junco’s captivity. Gid helped Lucan kill all kinds of people. They were like Team Death incarnate. So Gid also shared some of Junco’s childhood while he and Lucan were bonding over the kill. And Lucan shared that with the 039.
Gideon was a handler, not a partner. And yeah, I’m sure he’s got an attachment to Junco, but from the way Lucan tells it, he’s focused on the job he needs her to do.
Why couldn’t Gideon be our Seven? I’m sure he’d be more than happy to complete the mission.
But he’s not. Junco is.
Junco is hard-nosed and yet emotional in every wrong way possible. She’s small, but she fights like a rabid prairie lion, kills best friends, mothers, fathers, and anyone else who gets in her way. She’s better trained than most of my Aves warriors and she can shoot someone between the eyes from four thousand yards out. She’s part machine, part human, part avian and every bit of her is High Order.
Junco is dangerous. She is not good—in fact, she is probably evil. She is insane. She is unpredictable. She is angry, and sad, and defiant.
And she is our only hope.
Today, Junco Coot is the key to saving or ending the world.
Three years ago Raubtier Aves was the captain of the Avian Military. Three weeks ago he was trying to forget Junco ever existed. Three days ago he was given a gift of eternal salvation.
Today, he will give that gift back.
The Angels are here, the end is coming, the Demons have been released and Lucan has a past that ties it all together. Seven thousand years of waiting for revenge is over and there’s just one more question that needs to be answered?
Who will live and who will die?
Excerpt
Ashur—On Ship, Orbiting Earth
Tier says he loves Junco but I just can’t imagine that he does. I can’t. How could he? How could he love her and be able to sacrifice her for Lucan? It makes no sense to me. I’d choose Selia over Lucan every time.
But Tier is so focused on his fucking job, he pushes Junco away. While Selia and I were falling in love these past two years, Tier was trying to forget Junco ever happened. He pretended she never existed. He never said her name. He never secretly watched the screens when Kadian was reporting on her back in the Band.
He never once—not once—looked for her.
We knew where Junco was. That’s not the point. The point is, if that was Selia in that tank out in the desert, I’d have fucking taken over that lab and sat next to that damn tank for every second she was in there. I’d have made sure she wasn’t conscious during the change. Just the thought of Selia having to experience the pain of a morph without a virtual to distract her makes me want to choke.
If I was Tier, and I loved Junco, I would’ve done all those things.
And since he didn’t, and since Lucan didn’t either, then all that shit that happened to Junco in the tank was part of the plan.
And maybe I don’t really like Junco these days, but she was a friend once. I pictured myself with her back on Amelia during Fledge. She has that effect on people—she vibrates with a hum that calls to people. She’s got her own frequency, Arel used to say. Like she’s broadcasting a message that says, Come to me. Be with me.
But no one can be with her—because she is singular. She is above everything. She has no attachment to her Siblings, not like the rest of them do to each other. They are a team in and of themselves. Junco is the Seventh wheel. The odd one out. She has no partner. Moju has Soli, Tukker has Esta, Sariel has Irin.
But Junco has no one.
I suppose that’s what Gideon was. Junco’s pseudo-partner. He’s a Seven, after all. Gideon and Lucan were very tight during Junco’s captivity. Gid helped Lucan kill all kinds of people. They were like Team Death incarnate. So Gid also shared some of Junco’s childhood while he and Lucan were bonding over the kill. And Lucan shared that with the 039.
Gideon was a handler, not a partner. And yeah, I’m sure he’s got an attachment to Junco, but from the way Lucan tells it, he’s focused on the job he needs her to do.
Why couldn’t Gideon be our Seven? I’m sure he’d be more than happy to complete the mission.
But he’s not. Junco is.
Junco is hard-nosed and yet emotional in every wrong way possible. She’s small, but she fights like a rabid prairie lion, kills best friends, mothers, fathers, and anyone else who gets in her way. She’s better trained than most of my Aves warriors and she can shoot someone between the eyes from four thousand yards out. She’s part machine, part human, part avian and every bit of her is High Order.
Junco is dangerous. She is not good—in fact, she is probably evil. She is insane. She is unpredictable. She is angry, and sad, and defiant.
And she is our only hope.
Buy the Book
I Am Just Junco Series
About the Author
J.A. Huss
J.A. Huss
She has an undergraduate degree in horses, (yes, really–Thank you, Colorado State University) and a master’s degree in forensic toxicology from the University of Florida. She used to have a job driving around Colorado doing pretty much nothing but shooting the breeze with farmers, but now she just writes, runs the New Adult Addiction and Clean Teen Reads Book Blogs, and runs an online science classroom for homeschoolers.
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