Into The Shadows (Shadows Ascending Trilogy)

by Jenn D. Young

  I instantly felt a connection to this figure. His strong presence washed over me and I felt safe. He had wings. Like an angel.

  “Everything will fall together, my Iah.” A feminine voice this time. I knew that voice, I had heard it so many times before. “We will see you soon.” She gently touched my cheek. Trying to reach for her, my arms wouldn’t lift as a sob left me.

  Her palm wrapped around my wrist and warmth extended from her touch. “You are the keeper of the eye now, my Angel. It will protect you as it always has.”

  “Momma!” No sound emerged from my throat. I watched in horror as the two figures retreated into the white light and my vision faded.

  ∞∞∞

  I sat up, the tears still streaming down my face. Vincent and Kaniul looked like they were about to tear into each other.

  “She will not be feeding from anyone other than me.” Vincent’s jaw was clenched, the corded muscles in his neck locked.

  “Not your decision,” Kaniul responded, crossing his arms over his chest. “She is a vampire. I will be showing her how to feed on human blood as she should.”

  Nicolae looked down at me as I opened my eyes and winced.

  “I can’t drink human blood.”

  Was that my voice? It was deep and cracked as I spoke, as if I hadn’t uttered a word in days. My throat was dry, my stomach heaved. The thirst hit me in a wave of pure need and I had to clench my jaw to keep from screaming.

  All eyes snapped to me as I retreated from Nicolae’s arms. Kaniul was the first to speak. “What do you mean you can’t drink human blood? How would you know?” His voice was soft as he spoke, trying to soothe me.

  “Antionette tried to feed me multiple times while I was captured. I could never tolerate it. I would drink and then my body would reject it and I was violently ill for hours afterward.” I shuddered just thinking about it.

  Vincent stared down at me, the red of his eyes had bled into the whites. His skin shimmered as if he was barely holding tight to his current form. What the mysterious figure said clicked into place.

  Mate

  I watched as his nostrils flared and lips parted, exposing his fangs. He had heard me.

  “What happened while you fainted?” The demon was in his voice, the tone of power making me tremble.

  Swallowing harshly, I hesitated. What did I actually see? My mother and… my father?

  I blinked and tried to form words. “It was like I was hovering above my body. I could see you, hear you, but you couldn’t see or hear me.” I paused to catch my breath. “I remember it was like when I would somehow appear to you?”

  Vincent nodded. “Astral Projection, love. What else happened?”

  “Then there was a white light. At first there was just one figure. I—”

  The small cry that escaped my throat had Vincent dropping to his knees and wrapping his arms around me. I buried my face in his neck as he rubbed along my side.

  “I think it was my father.”

  It was so silent, I didn’t know if they heard me, but I continued. I clutched to Vincent’s arm and turned to look at the men before me.

  “He told me that my powers were coming more quickly than expected and my body needed time, rest and blood.”

  My mates blood.

  I didn’t add that part, but I knew Vincent heard me loud and clear when his claws dug into the flesh of my hips.

  Nicolae gasped and Kaniul cursed.

  “Did you see what he looked like?” Kaniul asked.

  I shook my head. “No, the only thing I was able to see was a flash of black-tipped wings and piercing white eyes.” I turned to Kaniul with pleading eyes. “I saw my mother too. She just told me that everything would fall into place.”

  “How do you know it was her?” His voice was breathless and skeptical.

  “I just know, Kaniul. It was her. I felt her. Like we were connected. My father too.”

  I looked down at my arm, remembering when my mother touched me. “You are the keeper of the eye now, my Angel.” I gulped, seeing the perfect black imprint of the Eye of Horus now standing proudly on the flesh of my inner arm, just below my elbow. Holding my arm up, my lips trembled as I showed Kaniul. “She told me I was the keeper of the Eye.”

  Kaniul’s amber eyes widened and blinked rapidly as he looked at my new tattoo. The implications still unknown to me, I trembled beneath his scrutinous gaze.

  A wave of nausea washed over me, causing Vincent to gather me in his arms and stand. “That’s enough. She needs to feed. Get out,” he hissed.

  Nicolae looked like he wanted to add a comment, but the fierceness of Vincent’s voice and actions stopped him in his tracks.

  Kaniul shook his head in defeat and grabbed Nicolae’s arm to leave the room.

  Vision hazy, I tilted my head up to look at Vincent. We walked over to the couch and he sat down with me in his lap. “Vincent?” I said, the question in my voice.

  He arranged me so that I straddled him with my legs on either side of his hips. He grasped my chin firmly and locked gazes with me. “I should not have bitten you.” His hand trailed down my neck and splayed across my throat, thumb running along my pulse.

  My lips parted, and I slid my hands to his chest. “What is this between us?” My thoughts grew hazy as a dark fog settled over my consciousness. “It’s like I can’t think when I’m around you,” I confessed.

  He let out a ragged breath and pressed his forehead to mine.

  I couldn’t hold the question in any longer. “Are you my mate?”

  I was a Nephilim. He was a Seraphim. We had predestined mates, or so I was beginning to understand.

  His hand around my throat tightened, not enough to choke me but to show just a hint of possession. “Yes,” he whispered. His other hand went to the small of my back and he shifted me so that our bodies aligned. “And you are mine.” His demonic growl made me keen as the need built up inside of me. Begging to be released.

  “Vincent, I’m so thirsty.” I pulled back and moved my head to nuzzle his neck. The pounding of his blood pumping through the vein just below his skin had my fangs itching. Urging me to sink them deeply into his flesh and drink greedily of his hot, rich, and powerful blood.

  “Feed, Theera,” he rasped and tangled his fingers through my hair.

  His thumb caressed my check in a soft motion. “Lorelei, you must feed before we both go insane with need.” He guided my head back to his neck. I groaned as I nibbled on his neck, teasing him.

  A moan left his lips as he tugged painfully on my hair. His other hand slipped up my torso under my shirt and cupped one of my breasts. “Now, Lorelei.” He tweaked my nipple, causing a wave of pleasure and pain to roll over me. I opened my mouth and sank my sharp fangs into his neck, his rich blood flowing down my throat.

  My hips ground against the ridge of his hard cock, sounds of pleasure coming from my chest. With my teeth still firmly in his flesh, he tore the shirt from my body and massaged my breasts, the feeling sending another flood of arousal straight to my core.

  His hands were igniting a fire within me. The deep rumbling in his chest was driving me wild. I drank my fill and ran my tongue along the punctures to seal the wounds. I threw my head back with a wild sound as his lips trailed down the column of my throat.

  “How I wish we could finish this now, love.” He drove his pelvis up, rubbing the ridge of his erection against the seam of my pants.

  “And why can’t we?” I started pulling at the buttons of his shirt, my nails raking across his naked chest. As my fingers reached his pants and started to work at his belt, he flipped me over onto my back.

  “It’s not our time yet.”

  “You keep saying that.” I looked into his molten eyes, the red having completely swallowed the white and he looked every inch the demon he was. He captured my wrists in one of his hands and held them above my head. His lips pressed against mine in a punishing kiss but pulled back after a moment with a groan.

  “I have to sto
p now, Lorelei, or I won’t be able to.”

  He drew back and just held me in his arms for a moment. My body started to calm after feeding, but my mind was racing. I wanted to sink my teeth into his neck and drink more of his rich blood. I wanted to ride him until we both couldn’t walk the next day. I was a mess of desire and hunger and I couldn’t control the urges.

  “Vincent,” his name was a plea ripped from my very soul. “I’m scared of what I’m turning into. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it,” I confessed. My world was trying to collapse around me, my body trying to process the changes and I was so tired. Physically. Mentally. I was in shambles. The only time I felt stable was when I was with him.

  Now I finally understood. He was the other half of my soul. My balance.

  His eyes were bright as he held me close in his arms, soothing me with soft whispers. His hand cupped my cheek as he stared at me intensely. He brought my arm to his mouth and kissed the newly appeared Eye. “You are one of the strongest people that I have ever met.” His lips pressed against my eyelids. “You are a beautiful person inside and out, nothing will change that.” A thumb swept along my swollen bottom lip, as he smirked down at me.

  “Besides, whatever happens, we will handle it together.”

  Epilogue

  Vincent

  I stared down at Lorelei as she dozed peacefully following drinking my blood. Her accounts of her latest astral projection experience were still ringing in my ears. I scrubbed a hand over my face and climbed to my feet. Not bothering with a shirt, I just buttoned and zipped my pants before leaving my office to find Kaniul and Nicolae standing just down the hall.

  They both pinned me with a questioning stare. Kaniul broke the silence first, clearing his throat before speaking. “Lorelei mentioned a man with white eyes and black-tipped wings. You know what that means right?”

  I nodded solemnly. “Did you know, Kaniul? Did Morgana ever tell you?”

  He shook his head, looking crestfallen. “She would never mention Lorelei’s father and my visions would never tell me of him. If our suspicions are correct, it would make sense why my sight was blocked from seeing him.”

  Nicolae cocked his head in confusion. “What am I missing here, boss man? What does who Lorelei’s father is have to do with anything?”

  I ran my fingers through my hair in agitation. “Nicolae, it has everything to do with everything. Why she is so powerful. Why The Syndicate wants her so badly.” I cursed as I paced up and down the hallway, before turning and shooting him a withering glance.

  “Her father is an Archangel. It makes her one of the most powerful beings in existence.”

  Lorelei and Vincent’s story will continue in Out of The Shadows, Book Two in the Shadows Ascending Trilogy. Coming soon to Amazon.

  About the Author

  Jenn D. Young is a native of Washington, currently living in Arizona. She has always dreamed of writing about the characters that have been floating around in her head. Ever since the age of 14, she has been obsessed with romance novels and reading them as fast as she can get her hands on them. Her first love is Paranormal Romance, but she enjoys stories from all across the genre. You can typically find her listening to music or an audiobook, reading, or hanging out with her dogs Hermes and Loki.

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