Matthew S Cox

Archon's Queen Matthew S Cox

Secrets, guilt, and shame?Annabelle Morgan has them in droves. Fortunately, only one can kill her. Anna's gift, psionic control over electricity, goes haywire in moments of high emotion. One such episode leaves her homeless at twelve after her father's "accidental" death. Unfortunately, in Britain, unregistered psionics are against the law. After a close call with government agents, she turns to Zoom?a powerful hallucinogenic-to hide her spontaneous outbursts. Her safety blanket becomes a devouring pit. In 2413 London, Anna lives low, unable to even keep work as an exotic dancer and prostitute. Not until her pimp fires her for being too high does she realize how lost she is. When a new kid joins her circle of vagrants, Anna is determined not to let the girl make the same mistakes she did. Attempting to break her Zoom habit, she takes a job from her old Syndicate handler. It ends on shaky ground, but she finds Doctor James Mardling, a university professor looking for people just like her-unusually powerful psionics. He offers the one thing she has always longed for: dignity. His price, however, may be too much to pay.