Vacancies in Time - Vacancies in Time

At 12:49 AM, on Monday morning, I witnessed a shooting. They made off with a single Caucasian male in a black suit from the-
A shot rings out.
Her heart stops.
Blood splatters against the glass wall where a human being had been standing only moments prior. This time she cannot contain her scream, though she silences herself when her younger sister moves.
I just witnessed a murder.
Tears gather in her eyes as she forces herself to look back at the museum. The man in the black suit, the murderer, is no longer where she left him. He inches closer to the window, not shy of the light pouring into it. Half his dark face obscured by a film of red blood, part of it illuminated by the golden light of the street. Instead of cleaning the blood obscuring his view of the street or running, he stares up.
At her.
No way, no way, he cannot see me. Not from this far away. He could not have heard me!
Still, he stares.
Heat rushes through her head as her heart slams back into place. Her frozen state edges away, replaced with stony disbelief.
The space between them almost seems to contract. She comes to know, intimately, that he has black eyes the colour of onyx and a face cut from dark rock.
And then he disappears.
______________________

When Emma offered to take her emotionally distressed younger sister into the city for a sleepover, she did not anticipate witnessing a shooting down the street. What began as an escape for her younger sister quickly becomes a hostage situation.

The murderers who broke into her downtown condo are soldiers. Highly trained, secretive, and they chose her apartment to set up a stakeout. But what, or who, are they looking for? She knows they are not police, or government agents, but there is something different about them. They act confused by her technology, speak about their lives in past tense, and have the kind of clear, smooth skin every young woman prays for.

Carter, Emma's best friend and a raging conspiracy theorist, warned her about secret societies and government cover-ups. Now she endeavours to keep her sister safe from a dozen charming agents, all while protecting her own heart from their Tall, Dark, and Handsome leader.

Inspired by a dream the author had about her real life sister, which went viral on Tik Tok and put her grandmother into the hospital; this compelling story of a sister's duty, learning who to trust, and the collision of the past with the present will keep readers on the edge of their seat, craving to find the answers Emma so desperately seeks.

TW/CW:
blood, mass shooting (blood & bodies described on page, gunshots described), discussions of slavery and racism, elements of suspense (enough to give my grandmother a literal heart attack), cancer. This book contains elements that might be disturbing for a younger youth audience, I'd suggest no readers under the age of 13. I consider this a NA book (16-26), not a YA per se (13-18). There is little to no vulgar language and no sexual content, but mature themes are discussed. Please be advised these 'mature' themes continue through the trilogy (especially in book 3).