Redemption (31 page)

Again, his hands come to each side of my
head, holding me still so he can search my face and eyes. My hands
move to the leather bands on each wrist, wrapping my fingers around
them and bracing myself for the final step that makes us one.

He bites his lip as his piercing strokes my
entrance. My eyes flutter rapidly in pleasure as my head falls
back.
Oh. My. God. I may not survive this.

“Look at me, siren,” he commands.

I have no choice but to obey. Our eyes
connect and his desire-filled face softens.

“Thank you for giving me this.” He sighs as
he pushes in the tiniest bit, causing my body to arch toward him.
“Ilem jur pri tú-tim, ew tú-tim pri pos-tim ali ide in-zen, mání,
vas-wís, ew ter-ort. Esta-de ai esta Ilem de, Ilem pos-tim
in-saengkt pri, tú-tim,” he vows in his Garish tongue.

At his words, my soul lifts to meet his and
my heart clenches with absolute love.

“I am forever yours in darkness and light,
tas ámo,” he promises.

“I am forever yours in darkness and light,
my love,” I repeat on a whisper.

My eyes shift to his protector tattoo. The
black lines have turned red. Reaching up, I trace my finger over
the design that is now in motion.

“Your blood rose to the top of the mark. It
recognizes you as my mate now, not just my charge,” he explains.
“It will return to black once our souls have united.”

“I love you.” My declaration is barely
audible.

“Forever,” he vows firmly and drops his lips
to mine in a searing kiss as he slides into me completely. A sharp,
stinging pain shoots through me as I whimper, forcing back the
tears.
Holy shit that hurts.
Asher stills, allowing me time
to adjust to the sensation of being filled by him.

Holding my head in place, his thumbs come to
my bottom lip and gently rubs against them as he holds my eyes, and
pushes healing energies into me.

After a brief moment, the pain subsides and
makes way for something much more intoxicating. My entire body
begins to shake with a deep and intense need. Feeling him inside of
me is like coming home. He grins and leans forward, nuzzling my
neck. At his movement, the ball on top of the piercing hits the
perfect spot and stronger sensations pulse through me. My head
falls back in pleasure and I release a whimper.

“You okay, siren?” he asks in a gentle
tone.

“Yes.” I exhale a needy breath.

“You feel like pure fucking heaven,” he
grits out before lifting his head and locking our eyes as he begins
to move slowly at first, and then in a rhythm that causes my body
to sing.

Asher’s hands roam over me as I arch into
his touch. I bask in his scent, the feel of his strong hands on me
and the beautiful way he looks, as if he wants to consume me from
the inside out.

I’ll etch each of these into my memory and
keep them with me, always. Asher lowers his mouth to mine, kissing
me so deeply I actually feel our souls swirl and morph into one,
uniting us forever.

***

Wrapped in black sheets and protective arms,
I lean up on my elbow. My eyes roam over the beautiful gargoyle
next to me. I can’t help but smile. The past few hours have been
amazing. My cheeks flush as I remember all the incredible things
Asher did to make my body hum multiple times before we fell asleep
entwined around one another. God, I love this man with everything
that I am. He owns me, completely.

I move slightly and wince. Not only are my
muscles soar but my lower back still stings from the angry
protector mark it now adorns. Asher’s mark. I frown as a wave of
happiness and bitterness crashes through me. All I want is to
snuggle into him and fall back to sleep in his protective arms.

Asher’s long, dark lashes jolt while his
sleeping eyelids hide his indigo eyes. I brush my fingertips over
his stubble-dusted jawline. I memorize each line and curve of his
striking face. I swallow the painful lump forming in my throat.

“You’re about to hate me,” I whisper.

22
Dark Fairytale

When I was a little girl,
Elizabeth would read me fairytales. They were stunning stories of
love, courage and triumph. And in the end, the beautiful princess
would always be saved by the handsome prince and live happily ever
after.

In truth, fairytales are dark. They’re about
sacrifice, lost love, and worlds where pure evil exists only to
torture innocent souls. The storyteller simply leaves out the
suffering, anguish and loss that the prince and princess experience
along the way in order to achieve a happily ever after.

My story is a dark fairytale. Filled with
evil, loss, suffering and loneliness. There is no happy ending for
me. Even in the happiest of fairytales, someone must die, be
defeated, or suffer in order for the prince and princess to succeed
and be allowed to love.

War has begun. Love can no longer be. It’s
time to make my sacrifice so that this dark fairytale can have its
happy ending. Even if that means I no longer exist in the
story.

Asher’s and my story doesn’t end with a
happily ever after. What I’m about to do isn’t the stuff romance
novels are made of. I lean over Asher’s sleeping form and place a
final kiss to his full lips, careful so I don’t wake him.

“I love you,” I murmur against them,
fighting back the tears. “If you take nothing else from tonight,
remember this…I’m yours, forever.”

I close my eyes for a moment, begging for
strength. Once I’m centered, I open them, lean down, and pull the
numbing serum out from under the mattress. I inhale while the tears
fall.

As instructed, I let the smallest drop fall
into the seam of his mouth, along with my deceit, forcing him to
lick them and swallow. Asher does and my heart breaks into a
million pieces.

After he ingests the liquid, I move toward
the protector tattoo and work fast, dripping almost all of the
remaining serum onto it. My matching mark pulsates in anger at what
I’m doing to Asher’s. I grit my teeth and force all thoughts of
pain away.

I wait nervously for a few moments, knowing
that it worked and his body is numb enough because my mark has lost
all feeling, matching his.

Once I think an adequate amount of time has
passed, I unsheathe my dagger and dip the tip into the last drop of
the liquid before throwing the vial onto the floor.
Oh God, I
can’t.

The clanking sound stirs Asher. His eyes
open slowly as he smiles lovingly at me before his vision slides to
the dagger. That I’m holding over his heart. His brows pull
together in confusion before he attempts to move.

I watch his eyes widen at the realization
that he can’t. The serum paralyzed and anesthetized his body.
Crap, I’m so sorry.
I remind myself it’s temporary. He’ll be
fine.

“Siren?” he whispers as I lift my dagger and
let it fall into his heart.

Asher exhales sharply but not in pain, in
disappointment. I watch the crimson liquid leak out onto the bed
that we just shared. Through our completed bond, I know he’s not in
pain. He’ll heal within an hour. I scream I’m sorry over and over
again in my head because I am.

As I was told, the potion works. Asher
doesn’t turn to stone. After a few moments, he just drifts into a
healing stone sleep. Relief floods me that his soul has been
ignited. I’ve breathed life into him and he can’t cease to exist.
My respite is brief. I remind myself he’ll never forgive me for the
betrayal.

That’s it. My tears descend and mix into the
blood staining his naked chest. The combination trickles over and
seeps into the protector tattoo maze. At the sight, the bloody
dagger slips and crashes on the floor next to the empty tube.

My heart hurts as I remove his shirt from
the floor and clean him up before I pull myself together. I grab
the bag that was left for me from under the bed. Quickly, I pull
out the dress, wondering why on earth this was chosen. I look
around for my shoes and realize not only are there not any in the
bag but I didn’t wear any down to the chamber.
Shit. Stupid,
Eve.

Asher’s healing sleep should give me enough
time to escape and the rest of the gargoyles have also been
immobilized in London, thanks to some internal assistance. I’m
unsure if I have enough time to run and grab something for my feet,
so barefoot it is.

Once dressed and ready to leave, I turn to
Asher once more and remind myself that when it’s all too much and
Deacon and Lucifer torture and hurt me, I’ll allow my mind to
return to the memory of Asher sliding into me for the first time.
I’ll picture his beautiful face as we came together, united as one.
I lean over and kiss his lips one last time, choking on a sob.

I begin my ascent up the stairs, away from
the chamber, knowing I have only a few hours before all the
gargoyles in the world discover what I’ve done. This time, they
won’t come for me. That is exactly how I want it, to protect
them.

***

I’m standing on the jagged wall of rocks. My
white dress flows around my body like cascading water. My bare feet
are sore from the sharp edges of the rock formation as I curse
myself for not stopping to grab shoes.
Stupid, Eve.

I look around in bewilderment.
Crap. It’s
just like my previous visions.
The unmoving trees project their
anger at the approach of a stranger. I inhale slowly, needing to
move through my fear.

The forest’s eyes watch me. The dark spirits
scrutinize, waiting in anticipation of my arrival. I sense their
excitement. It’s unnerving as their Welsh murmurs drift through my
ears.

“Cartref merch Croeso duw,” they speak
softly.

Welcoming me home. This time, I know better.
I’m not home.

The gloomy and lifeless castle appears
behind a light layer of fog. I stare at it in apprehension. My
heart pounds with each movement forward.

I know what Lucifer wants. He wants me.
Without me, all is lost for him and his Dark Army. I scan the
forest, aware this time of who he is and the danger I’m in.

I take a step toward the fortress then
another and another. Each footstep takes me further and further
away from Asher and toward Deacon and the Declan clan.

My eyes close in silent prayer that I’m not
too late to save my mother.

I try to focus on Elizabeth as I begin my
descent down the uneven path. Faintly, I hear Asher’s voice
drifting to me, floating like a feather on the air that caresses my
soul.

It can’t be. He’s in stone state healing. I
chastise myself and move forward.

“Come back to me, siren,” he whispers on the
wind.

“I can’t,” I answer in a quiet voice,
placing my hand over my heart to ease the ache of not being with
him.
Fuck, this is too hard.

This is my fate and he can’t be part of it.
I have to protect him and the London clan at all costs. That’s what
tonight was about. Making them hate me so much, they won’t come. I
won’t survive if they do.

Focused, I keep moving toward the
castle.

The voice on the wind reaches me again.

“I will protect you, always,” he
promises.

I believe him, until he wakes and remembers
what I did.

I pray he won’t come for me.

Taking in a deep breath, I reach out my hand
and Gage takes it.

“It’s time, love. You’ve chosen.”

And so it begins.

CHAPTER
13

Tas ámotas: My love (Garish)

ágra-lem: warrior (Garish)

CHAPTER 12

Aperi, ex imperio auguratricis Lunette: Open
at the command of Sorceress Lunette (Latin)

Ego praecipio tibi, ut liberare custodia
clausum invernerunt: As the guardian of the scroll, I command you
to release the lock. (Latin)

Venit hora, et filius hominis, ut ostendat
divination Evae filia redemptionis: The time has come to show the
daughter of Eve and the son of Adam the divination of redemption.
(Latin)

CHAPTER 17

Tas ámo, an-lor ágra-lem: My love, dark
warrior. (Garish)

CHAPTER 21

Ilem jur pri tú-tim, ew tú-tim pri pos-tim
ali ide in-zen, mání, vas-wís, ew ter-ort. Esta-de ai esta Ilem de,
Ilem pos-tim in-saengkt pri, tú-tim: I promise you forever, and
forever you shall have my heart, soul, mind and body. With
everything that I am, I will protect you, always. (Garish)

CHAPTER 22

Cartref merch Croeso duw: Welcome home
Daughter of God. (Welsh)

Coming Soon

Keep reading for a sneak
peek at the first chapter of
Revolution.

For bonus material, please visit:
randicooleywilson.com

ASHER


Eve stabbed me. She fucking stabbed me. In
the heart no less and after I’d just given her my mate mark.
Christ, if we hadn’t just bonded, I would be spending eternity
encased in granite.

Goddamn stubborn woman. I swear to all that
is holy, one of these days, I’m going to lock her beautiful ass up
in this chamber, putting an end of her obstinate streak.

My eyes drift over to where both my brothers
are staring at me. Fuck, they’re pissed. I can’t tell if it’s at me
or Eve.

“Something on your mind, boys?” I ask.

Keegan, my older brother, narrows his eyes
at me. The same blue eyes that Callan, our younger brother, and I
have. If we all weren’t centuries old gargoyle protectors, his
insufferable stare might just cause me to tremble a bit.

“Your charge stabbed you, Asher,” Keegan
states as if this is new information.