Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 130619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 653(@200wpm)___ 522(@250wpm)___ 435(@300wpm)
“You won’t for long. You’ll be stronger than you ever imagined possible.”
His answer softens me with its assumption of my success, but I don’t see how it’s possible he’s that sure of me, not when he’s kept me at arm’s length until we arrived in Elysium. “Doesn’t that scare you?”
“You don’t scare me, Ember,” he says, and finally it’s the answer I want, even need, and he counters with, “Do I scare you?”
“No,” I say, “but that doesn’t mean I fully trust you.”
“I have nothing to hide from you, Ember.”
“Don’t you?” I challenge.
“No secrets,” he says, “just information I know that you don’t yet, but you will. And me wanting to kiss you again really fucking badly.”
My fingers curl on his chest while heat settles low in my belly. “I’m not sure angels are supposed to talk like that.”
“I’m not an angel, sweetheart, and neither are you.”
No, he’s not, and maybe that’s exactly why when he caresses my hair from my face, his touch is fire, his body against mine is everything. It’s terrifying considering I really don’t know his agenda. I don’t know him at all.
It doesn’t seem to matter, though. I still want his mouth and his hands. I still want his body. “You aren’t kissing me,” I murmur, feeling as if I might combust.
His lips curve, and his breath is warm against my lips, and it radiates through me like sunshine splaying simmering heat from above. “I’m making sure you know I can resist temptation. I just don’t want to.” His mouth closes down over mine, and I pant with the intimacy, beyond holding back with Micah. He saved me, and while he may not be a hero, I feel the life he breathes into me—feel it as surely as the breath that fills my lungs.
I push off the wall and press myself against him, and when his tongue strokes long and deep, I tremble from head to toe. “Micah,” I whisper, and I swear his name on my lips lifts in the wind and echoes in the crash of ocean waves.
He folds me closer, his hands gliding up and down my back, molding me snugly against him, my breasts pressed to his chest, and it’s bittersweet bliss until everything goes to hell.
There’s a charge of energy, and I’m instantly certain we’re not alone. Micah must feel it, too, as he releases me, and as if it’s a part of me, I’ve already drawn my new blade and turned toward the source of the energy. A man is standing right in front of us.
The Sacred Book of Nephilim
In a battle of good and evil, look to who is in power, who is in control. Never forget that these things are addictive, and those who have them will do anything to keep them.
Chapter thirty-four
His eyes are blue, not yellow, and that’s the only reason my blade isn’t in his chest right now.
The man is tall and broad, dressed in jeans and a snug, long-sleeved T-shirt, his blond hair to his shoulders, his widow’s peak accenting a strong forehead complemented by a strong jawline. “You must be Ember,” he says, amusement dancing in his eyes as he flicks a look at my hand where it wraps the base of my blade. “Is killing me really the best way to greet me? A handshake works pretty well for the humans, and I hear you’ve been living as one of them. And as a plus, when you touch me, my eyes won’t turn yellow.” He grins and offers me his hand. “Promise.”
I don’t even think about touching him. “Who are you?” I demand, comforted by the magic radiating off the hilt of the blade of Elysium. “Why are you here?”
Micah captures my hand where it grips the blade, his touch firm, his voice an odd mix of command and amusement. “That won’t be necessary. He’s a pain in the ass, but I don’t want him dead. Ember, meet Silas. One of my most trusted warriors.”
Silas wiggles his brows at me. “That’s me.”
“Why are you here?” I demand, not about to take my eyes off him, despite Micah’s hand on my hand.
“To help save you and the world, of course,” he says rather dryly. “That’s why we’re all here. And for food. I’m fucking starving.”
“How do I know you aren’t here to kill me?”
“I could say the same of you,” he rebuts, and while there’s still a curve to his lips, there’s a heaviness to the words.
“And I’m the one holding a weapon in her hand.”
“We’ll meet you inside,” Micah says, dismissing Silas.
Silas offers him an incline of his chin and then disappears. “Why is he here?” I demand, whirling on Micah. “What is this?”
“I sent several of my men to information-hunt. He’s the first to report back.”
“What kind of information?”
“We need to know how to protect you and us when we leave Elysium. When Jeremy can get to you again.”