by H. Schwartzwald

A full scholarship– every expense paid to the university he has long dreamed of attending. He’s the number one recruit of the incoming freshman class with groundbreaking patents to his credit. Royce Berringer can’t know how his adoptive sister’s hidden talent is related to an ancient pledge to safeguard an otherworldly artifact. He is forced to choose between the perfect career path and an insatiable need to find out the truth.

Takoda Swenson, expelled from the reservation decades ago, is shunned after a drug conviction and jail stay. No one is familiar with his service to the government- not even his closest relatives. Takoda’s declining health pushes his decision to pass on a sacred duty, that of Caretaker. His nephew seems to be fit for the challenge- until his youthful enthusiasm causes him to misinterpret the “sign” and pass along the object.

Royce is offered a place on the research team by the dean of the physics department, an unprecedented assignment for a freshman. Royce grows to trust and admire his mentor, and soon becomes a favored student. His life is changed when the object comes into his possession, one that embodies impossible physical traits and curious effects to those that manipulate it. He is unable to resist the lure of further investigation and entrusts his mentor to its safekeeping— a mistake that proves deadly.

What follows is an obsession that threatens his future, family and the preservation of the Gift.