Shape of Power: Awakening

Trip Bradford grew up knowing three absolute truths: the Bradford bloodline carries extraordinary powers, every child's ability awakens at the precise moment of their eighteenth birthday, and the rules governing their family must never be broken. For four hundred years-ever since a dark secret in 1626 bound her lineage to a terrible curse-those rules have kept the Bradfords alive. With her eighteenth birthday fast approaching, the boundaries protecting Trip's world are beginning to fray, her power isn't just awakening -it's breaking out! Mirrors linger a second too long after she turns away. Unseasonal frost bloom across glass and skin. Dreams arrive heavy with warnings from places that shouldn't exist, and a ethereal girl named Lisbet appears in the fog, leading Trip toward secrets the Bradfords tried to bury long ago. Worse still, something ancient and patient stirs in the shadows-a children's nightmare known as the Collector, seems to know Trip's true name before she even understands who she is.When Trip discovers an ancient family ledger that lists her by a secret name assigned centuries before her birth, the truth becomes undeniable: her family isn't just protecting her from her awakening-they are hiding what the "gift" really costs.Pushed to the edge, and driven to uncover the truth, Trip finds herself caught between deep-rooted family secrets, supernatural forces, loyalty to her friends, and the profound love tying her to the person she can't bear to lose. To survive what is coming, she must make a choice: obey the rules that protected the Bradfords for four hundred years, or burn down her family's legacy to reclaim her own life.Because some inheritances are gifts.Others are curses.And some powers have been waiting for you long before you were ever born.