Welcome to Liberty City, a place that shines brightly on the outside only to conceal the darkness within. A place where nothing is as it seems and at night your greatest fears come to life.

Here, seven brave heroes protect the city from harm, the silent vigilantes, the Protectors.

Monty Keller

Leader of the Protectors, Monty’s been an orphan for most of his life. He strives to protect his friends at all costs, although sometimes he struggles with depression when the darkness is too heavy. His mother, Joanna, was a Raida and he refuses to speak about his father.

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David Peterson

David may have autism and diabetes and a fear of almost… well, everything, but David knows his way around a machine and a computer and is an excellent inventor slash hacker. He never knew his mother and was raised by his single father until he died of a heart attack a year ago. He particularly enjoys hanging out with Abby.

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Ethan Watson

Ethan is the ADD-brained older brother of Abby and the slightly younger brother of Jonah. While cocky and impatient, Ethan struggles with nerve damage that causes hand tremors and Tourette’s-like symptoms, often leading to struggles with anger outbursts. He loves his sister and brother fiercely.

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Jonah Darrow Watson

The adopted older brother and biological cousin of Ethan and Abby, Jonah was brought into the family after his parents were killed in an earthquake. Quiet and studious, Jonah is the rock of the team, though his speech impediment and OCD give him daily challenges to face.

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Patrick Finch

Cheerful Patrick is always there to comfort the others. Although he was blinded in his left eye by an electrical fire, Patrick is consistently pointing out the bright side. He is close friends with Peyton and created their correspondence, giving the team an inside tab on the darker dealings of the Emperor.

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Jason Gabrin

Jonah’s best friend since first grade, Jason is an all-around injury magnet and has spent half his life in a cast. His father died when he was little and his mother was arrested soon after, leaving Jason to live with the Watsons until Mr. and Mrs. Watson were killed for plotting to overthrow the emperor. While Jason is a little more cautious (he has to be to stay alive!), he’s still a pretty good fighter— when he doesn’t cut himself with his own dagger or break his leg in a room with nothing but a soup ladle. (My good friend AJ invented him and said I could use him in this book! If you want to check out her writing you can go to mountaingirlmeandering.com)

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Abby Watson

The youngest of the Watson siblings, Abby is spunky and playful, always loving to show up the boys while at the same time takes pride in fighting like a girl. She enjoys inventing with David and hanging out with Jonah and Ethan, although sometimes Ethan’s Tourette’s gets him in messes that she has to take care of!

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Peyton Jared

The daughter of the chief of Police, Peyton met the Protectors through Patrick and keeps an eye on the assignments the emperor gives her father. Although her job as a spy is dangerous, Peyton would do anything for the Protectors— especially Patrick. She also enjoys playing the ukulele.

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And, as a special bonus, here is a short snippet featuring these characters, so you can get to know them better!

“Are you sure there’s no one who needs saving?” Abby asked, flopping into a beanbag chair.

Peyton shook her head. “The radio’s been oddly silent… Monty?”

“Hm?” Monty looked up from the book he was reading. “Yeah?”

“Abby’s asking if anyone needs saving.”

“Oh.” Monty turned red. “Look, I know I can sense it sometimes, but it doesn’t work all the time.”

“Okay. I’m just BORED.” Abby fiddled with the end of her braid. “I’m gonna go see what David’s doing.”

“Hey Peyton…” Patrick came into the room, holding his ukulele. “I’m not sure if this thing is in the right key…”

“Okay… well try playing something and let’s hear it.”

Patrick began strumming something that sounded like the cords to “Feel Better When I’m Dancing”. Peyton smiled and tapped her foot. “Sounds fine to me.”

“Oh. Thank you.” Patrick smiled. “I could sing, too.”

“Please don’t.” Ethan groaned from where he was sharpening his sword.

“W-what e-Ethan means, p-Patrick, is that you still n-need work on your si-singing voice.” Jonah said quietly, putting back the weights he was using. “M-maybe you can a-ask P-Peyton if she can help y-you.”

Patrick looked over at Peyton. “If you’re game, so am I.”

“Let’s go where these guys can’t complain about your voice…which, by the way, I think it’s pretty good.” Peyton flipped back her blue hair from her face.

“DARN IT!!” Ethan shouted, gripping his hand. Abby jerked up and looked at her brother. “What did you do?”

“Stupid… cut my hand on the sword…” Ethan swore softly under his breath, garnering a dirty look from Abby. “Hey, given the circumstances, I think it’s fine.”

“Mom wouldn’t like it.” she said, crossing her arms.

“Mom’s not here.” He snapped. He gripped his hand tighter. “Wow that hurts…”

“Here.” Jonah handed him a cloth. “Wr-wrap it in this.”

“Thanks.” Ethan took it and pressed it against his hand. “I hate it.” He muttered. “I hate it so much…”

“You might grow out of it one day, like Dad did.” Abby said, grabbing the first aid kit.

“Yeah, but his Tourette’s went away when he turned fourteen.” Ethan muttered. “Just another scar to add to the list…”

“B-but each has a s-story.” Jonah said. He reached up and grabbed his secret stash of chocolate, the one on the shelf that only he with his 6’5’’ height could reach, handing one to Ethan. “S-spicy chocolate?”

“Thanks.” Ethan popped the square in his mouth with his free hand, wincing as Abby peeled away the cloth. “Do you have to poke it?”

“I’m not poking it.” She said. “But you’ve cut yourself pretty deep this time. Jonah, do you know where the butterfly bandages are?”

“They’re in j-Jason’s room.” He said, a grin spreading on his face. “Y-you know, since t-the whole d-dagger fi-fiasco?”

“Are we talking about that again?” Jason groaned, holding a bag of frozen peas to his head. Monty looked up from his book. “What did you do, Jason?”

“I knocked my head on the bookshelf…” Jason’s eyes fell on Ethan. “Hello, fellow injury magnet.”

“I am not.” Ethan snapped. “I just don’t have as much control over my hands as I would like.”

“Cold peas?” Jason asked, lifting the bag forward. “I mean, they’re mostly defrosted…”

“Jason, do you have the butterfly bandages?” Abby asked.

“Desk drawer.” Jason opened the bag of peas and began to eat them.

“GUYS!” David, glasses askew and brown hair sticking up in odd places, charged into the room holding his laptop. He paused when he saw Ethan. “Oh… what’s going on here?”

“Ethan cut his hand.” Jason said, eating more peas.

“Sure, tell the whole world about it. Why don’t we just broadcast it on the radio?” Ethan growled. “Ow!”

“Hold still!” Abby said, putting on the butterfly bandages. “And if these don’t work you might need stitches. If you need Jonah to hold your arms to keep you still, I will ask him to do it.”

Ethan shook his head. “I’m good.”

David pushed up his glasses. “I figured out a way to hack into the database for the police files!”

“You made sure they couldn’t track you, right?” Monty asked.

“Of course. I’m not an amateur.” David snorted. “But you should see some of the notes for the cases we solved for them… it’s hilarious!”

Jonah grinned. “Do y-you have notes for that h-heist at the p-pizza place?”

“Oh those were the best ones.” David said, grinning. “Ah technology!”

Abby began wrapping Ethan’s hand and jarred it, and a spiel of curse words erupted from her brother. Jonah clamped a hand over Ethan’s mouth and David jumped from the loud noise, his eyes wide. “A bit of warning before you do that would be nice!” He squeaked.

Peyton and Patrick rushed into the room. “What’s going on?” Peyton asked.

Ethan turned bright red, all the way up to his ears. He glared at Jonah.

Jonah retracted his hand. “S-sorry. But no one needed to hear that.”

“Jonah was just being a good brother, don’t get on him for that.” She finished wrapping his hand. “There, it’s done. I should wash your mouth out with soap.”

“Oh I would like to see that.” David laughed.

“You hit it and it just… pain all the way down to the elbow.” Ethan grunted.

Jonah patted his shoulder. “Y-you’ll get over it. S-someday.”

“Thanks, bro.” Ethan sighed. “All right, now I’ve got to find something else to do without injuring my hand again.”

“Join the club!” Jason exclaimed, still eating the peas. He handed it to Ethan. “Peas?”

Ethan took the bag. “Thanks.”

***

I hope you enjoyed learning about these characters from my new book. I’ll be doing an article about the protagonist, Jackie Wolf, soon. Who was your favorite of the Protectors?

(As an extra treat, here is the link to the official Protectors playlist!)