A Kiss of Ashen Twilight (Ashen Twilight Series #1)

by Lori, Rae

  “What’s this?” Jace asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “The signed affidavit to give over your complete birthright and inheritance. Being the last Archane left, it is up to you to carry on our legacy. But if you choose to sign and relinquish it all, your life will be completely yours.”

  Jace’s gaze bounced between the paper and his Uncle’s piercing eyes. He tried to study the look in Julian’s, but it was completely unreadable. He wouldn’t dare try to read the ancient Nightwalker’s mind at the moment. He was no fool.

  “You mean if I sign this, it will all be over? My duties, all the expectations—I’ll be able to live as I please?”

  Julian nodded once. “Completely.”

  The paper appeared like any other legal document complete with an X signature line on his birth date; July 20, 1420. Jace dreamed of this moment since the days after the war with Vlad the Impaler. He didn’t grasp the beauty of being a Nightwalker until then and ever since that time, he partied like a man on his last night of bachelorhood. He had suffered too many losses for too long and it was time he focused on something else. Revelry seemed like an advantage in the act of crossing over into an immortal. Jace felt it was the most fitting, and as it turned out, the most rewarding. The signature should have been easy for him now that he had the chance for an escape. Though now the idea of his lavish lifestyle, his access to the finer things in life and the status of the Archane name was all too enticing to let go.

  “What are you waiting for?” Jace shifted at the question in his mind verbalized by his Uncle.

  “I—I just—”

  “First time I’ve seen you at a loss for words, nephew.” Julian said with a smile. “Are you unsure?”

  Jace shrugged. “So, what if I am?”

  “It’s a difficult task to take on. Your father and I understood this. If you need help—”

  “Hey, I don’t need any of your frickin’ charity!”

  “Apparently you do if you’re living off the Archane name and riches.”

  Jace had to admit he was right there.

  “Look,” Julian began. “I don’t want to fight. We are in this together and we are family. I don’t want to see you squander away such a beautiful, unique opportunity that you have inherited by birthright.”

  Jace flexed jaw muscles to calm himself down. He needed to get out of this room and walk around for awhile. Perhaps the answer would come in the comfort of the night air. “Can I think about it first?” he finally asked.

  His uncle nodded. “Of course.” He slipped the paper in the folder and closed it. “Take as much time as you need, just do it by next week. There’s much to discuss in the coming days, and I need to know whether you’re with us or not.”

  “Naturally.” Jace turned and headed for the door, anxious to leave his Uncle’s presence. “I’ll be in touch.”

  “Jacinus—”

  Jace froze at the sound of his full name. With his hand on the doorknob, he turned to face his Uncle.

  “Not too long now,” Julian said with a gleam in his eye.

  * * * *

  “Jace, man you have a good night, all right?”

  Jace stopped and turned to face Brenden. The offer had been playing over and over in his head like a bad yet catchy pop tune. He was so deep in the ‘what if’s’ and effects of his decision that he almost didn’t hear Brenden’s voice. “What? Oh, hey—thanks, you too. Oh! Did Gael leave for the Torch?”

  Brenden nodded. “He should be down there waiting for you now.”

  Jace thanked him and continued to the front door. Only then did he finally take a deep breath. He needed to expound some energy and work off this raging inferno boiling his blood. The ultimatum haunted him and only now did he realize the implications of his future actions.

  What if he did give up everything and leave on his own to live by his own rules? The loner definition fit that of the Rens though he would rather be a decaying corpse than be associated with those rogues. He wouldn’t have the luxury of feeding and discarding the body with Angel’s help. He would have to fend for himself and hide his tracks away from the mortals.

  And then there were his art students. What if they happen to find out the truth about him, and he had nowhere to turn to help him cover it up? Despite his lifestyle, he loved teaching and sharing the beautiful works of art he had created and acquired over the years. Immortality offered him a variety of jobs and trades to learn throughout the ages, but this was one that never left his heart. Some artists he got to know personally, although his students would never know such a fact. If push came to shove perhaps he could coach football alongside his best friend Rich and his pack mate Vex at the local college during the spare times when afternoon practice filtered into nights.

  Jace frowned at the thought. Not exactly his idea of a great hideout.

  “Would you need a ride home, sir?”

  Jace heard his driver’s voice moments after it filtered into the air. He turned to the large Nightwalker in the front seat, leaning with one arm on the frame of the door and the other on the steering wheel.

  “I’m going to take a walk to clear my head,” Jace said, gesturing toward the sidewalk. “I’ll be back.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A warm breeze whipped through the air as Jace continued down the sidewalk. He was thankful class was canceled tonight. No doubt he loved his kids, but the double life he led in and out of their sight started to wear on him as the days went on. Plus sometimes a guy just needed some time to himself.

  Jace stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets, feeling his body shiver despite the warmth of his comfortable coat. His mind wandered as he lost himself in the dark stillness of the night. Then the scent of blood suddenly invaded his nostrils. Wolf’s blood. And something else he couldn’t quite identify.

  He rushed in the direction of the wolves and turned into a darkened alley. A bright, blueish white, hot light emitted from the middle of the alley while the pack of wolves growled and circled around it, never taking their eyes off the bright being.

  Jace surveyed their body temperatures. These weren’t wolves belonging to the House of Lycans. No. These were Shifter renegades on the hunt to kill.

  He shielded his eyes while straining to see through the light. The wolves continued to circle the bright figure in the middle. Their snarling mouths dripped and watered with the desire to taste blood. He usually wasn’t one to come between a Ren and his dinner as long as they stayed on their turf away from the houses. Something told him this was a special case. It was if he needed to be here.

  His front teeth extended to sharp points along with his fingernails at his side. His heart beat raced, and his adrenaline shot high. If things got out of hand, he would be more than ready to take care of it.

  * * * *

  Ariya’s defenses shot to full alert. Once she got a look at the howling creatures, she knew they definitely weren’t coyotes, but strange ethereal rabid wolves. Their coats were thicker and shined like sleek coats under the light of the moon. What kind of supernatural creatures are these? She tried to lose them around a few corners, but they persisted on following her. With her destruction in mind, she gathered from their salivating maws. Trying to find a hiding place in this area proved to be the equivalent of finding her way in a pitch black room with no light. Still, she hoped there would be someone out there kind enough to help her out and hopefully hide her at least for a little while.

  If only she could escape this predicament first.

  Normally she would be able to take care of wolves. Back home she had the ability to look into their eyes, connect telepathically with them and form an understanding between their two worlds. But these creatures only saw red and shunned any reason she offered them. Definitely nothing like the wolves in the Aziza woods. There was something off about these creatures, and she wasn’t about to stay around and find out the source of it. She needed to think fast. She couldn’t fly away for fear of falling into a more dangerous threat. Not to mention she
could run into mortals that lived in this area. They had to be unaware of her people’s existence in this time. Unlike the hunters at home that had known her people for so long.

  The wolf creatures circled her in formation, ready to attack. She held her hands still, retaining the energy surging from her fingertips to form a circle of light around her body. Something went off in them and suddenly the wolves leaped off the ground with a vicious howl.

  Ariya closed her eyes, raised her arms and fell to her knees waiting for the end.

  Nothing occurred in the next few moments. Silence covered the air despite the high pitched hum of the energy beam surrounding her. Ariya peeked out from the obstruction of her arms and saw the wolves frozen in mid-air about to attack. The deep blue energy still pulsated from her body and seemed to surround them, holding them in place.

  Stay calm, Ariya. Concentrate.

  Ariya held her palms open, retaining the energy field and hoped the wolves would stay put. She counted to three then turned on her heels to disappear into the darkness. Another growl invaded the air somewhere behind her, warning her to stay put.

  She pumped energy into her legs, running as fast as she can toward the end of the alleyway. A second growl alerted of the oncoming attack. She didn’t have time to find the source before a thick, heavy body jumped onto her back, knocking her to the ground.

  Ariya fought with all her might to get the beast off her, yet still it held on. Its sharp claws extended, scraping her wings and penetrating her skin right into her muscle. She screamed loudly from the searing pain shooting throughout her body. Her mind raced to think of something, anything, to get her out of this situation alive.

  Another growl and the pitter patter of paws racing across the concrete warned her this was the end.

  A tall, dark shadow raced across the dim streetlight. It looked like a man though she couldn’t quite tell from the rapid movement. Her body retracted as she felt the wolf yanked off. The claws scraped against her back and wings but relief thankfully followed. She heard the man haul the wolf against the side wall where it crashed with a sickening thud. Ariya turned to see the action under the dim streetlight, ready to thank the man who saved her. A few feet away, the wolves still frozen in mid air were freed and dove onto the ground, heading straight for her. She tried to move yet was still paralyzed from the pain. Blood fell in trickles, already drying from the desert air.

  Ariya braced herself for the oncoming attack when the figure stepped in front of her view. She couldn’t quite make him out beneath the dark shadows of the alley that seemed to cling to him like night itself hiding among his form. He swung at each of them, knocking them away one by one until they fell into a rigid heap of fur.

  The two closest wolves fell against the wall, then to the ground with a whimper. Their bodies writhed and glowed before transforming into human form in mere seconds.

  “Lookie, lookie, Ralphie,” the first with long black wavy hair said, staggering to his feet. “Princie boy is suddenly getting all heroic.”

  “Oh, he is indeed,” the other, Ralphie, with short blond hair said. He smiled, revealing a set of prominent sharp front teeth. “Why don’t you put some of that Archane muscle to use, huh pretty boy?”

  She listened to them speak and tried to decipher what language it was. Despite her rapidly beating heart and racing thoughts, she tried to focus enough to sift through the mental catalogue of human languages throughout their existence.

  The wolfmen swung, but the figure moved fast as he zipped around the area in a blurred motion much like the wind. He moved with the elegant grace of a skilled fighter as he ducked and blocked hits coming his way.

  Ariya forced herself to stand as best she could. This was her one chance to leave while they were distracted and she had to take it. She staggered toward the opposite direction, leaving the fight behind her. She turned to look over her shoulder and immediately regretted it when she slammed against a tall, thick and sturdy body. Strong hands grasped her arms and held on tight.

  “Well, aren’t you a pretty one?” the large man before her said. He smelled of rotting flesh and blood, causing her stomach to lurch in reaction. Looking up at him, he was covered in darkness yet his eyes glowed bright yellow. She tried to move from his grip, though it was futile in his large, massive hands. Despite his cloaked face, she saw the slight lift of his lips and the crease of his cheeks. He was smiling at her.

  Ariya opened her mouth to scream as he dug his fingernails into her arms and extending his claws.

  Her body jolted from the pain and she let out an ear piercing scream into the night. She was tempted to focus her power on him. With her mind alone she could spontaneously combust his blood, bones and intestines from the inside out, but the power of her energy would alert the creature she feared more than him. The power she used to fend for herself earlier had nearly drained her already and she didn’t know if she had enough to finish this battle off. Before she could decide, the figure’s body froze and his claws retracted. His eyes grew wide with horror before his body fell to the ground with a loud thud. Behind him stood her defender. Slowly he stepped into the light. His entire body appeared colorless and translucent, allowing the veins within his body to look like thin vines slithering through milk. But it was his face, a strange conformity of shapes and hues that attracted her, frightened her and yet entranced her like no one before. Long waves of brown hair framed his strong angular visage. His features were well-defined as if he were carved from marble itself. Bright blue eyes stared back at her. His enticing lips thinned as his angular jaw flexed. Right away, he reminded her of a romantic hero of a time long passed when kings reigned earlier in this realm.

  Who was this enticing stranger before her?

  The pale figure smiled as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Are you okay?” he said. His voice was smooth, deep and held real concern for her. A slight hint of an accent lingered on his tongue. She couldn’t quite place it although she still found herself fascinated by the rhythmic speech pattern. He didn’t speak like the other ones. His voice held a familiar yet faint brogue.

  Something else about him felt so familiar. Dark, yet mystical. His muscular body reminded her of those changing wolves and the mortals, but he was completely different. She couldn’t put a finger on what made him stand out in her mind and why she felt drawn to those deep pools of blue.

  Slowly, Ariya nodded as her head grew light and her knees gave in.

  “Whoa.” He caught her in his thick, steely arms and she winced, feeling his touch against her tender wounds where the wolfman’s claws broke into her skin.

  Why couldn’t she heal herself?

  Then the words came to her and she realized what language he was speaking. “I am well,” she said softly. “I just—I do not know where I am.”

  Her cheek brushed against his, igniting a fire inside her body. She felt him angle his head to look at her wounds. “This looks pretty bad. Much more severe than just ‘well’. Come on, I’ll help you.”

  He placed his arm around her torso to prop her up. Everything would be fine, she thought. The relief quickly disappeared as a loud, thick guttural snarl nearly sent her jumping two feet into the air.

  Ariya felt a hard push and she fell away from him toward the ground. Something large sailed over her heads and she strained to see what it was. Before she could make sense of what was going on, her head collided against something stony and very hard. Hissing and growling filled the air as she slowly fell into unconsciousness with a hope that she would still live to see another day.

  Chapter 2

  “The corner of thirty-second and Sweetwater.”

  “You just left them there?” Angel Polidori’s voice hit a high pitch with the question.

  “Yes, Angel. What was I supposed to do? Drag their dead bodies over my shoulders across the city?”

  “Gee, could you?”

  Jace sighed, running his hand over his face as he gripped the phone receiver tighter in his hand. “Come
on, Angel.”

  “I hope you at least hid them. What if the other Rens saw them, or worse, the mortals?”

  He raised his hand in surrender as if she were standing in front of him.

  Angel was always the voice of reason. Thanks to her and her crew, the house’s had little chance of a slip-up over the years. Personally, she kept him in check with everything he needed to do to stay hidden under mortal eyes. She was, after all, the Necro Cerberus, roughly translating into ‘Gatekeeper of the Dead’. Coming from a long line of families who prided themselves on keeping a lid on any and all evidence of the immortals’ existence. Right now she was making a little too much sense for him.

  Jace tried to calm himself down with a sigh. “Yeah I know. I just—I just needed to do something quickly before someone caught us there. I didn’t have any preplanning time.”

  “Well, while you’re exercising your brain muscles I’m going to have to clean up your mess—yet again.”

  “Hey Ange—”

  “What?”

  He closed his eyes at the thick tension over the receiver. “Thanks. Don’t tell Julian, huh?”

  “I don’t have a death wish.”

  The line went dead. Jace clicked the ‘end’ button on his cordless phone and tossed it onto his brown leather couch. He took a peek over his shoulder hoping the noise didn’t awaken the girl. Less than an hour ago he brought her back to rest after he nursed her wounds; but she was resistant to let him remove her dress.

  Fine with him as long as she was comfortable. He wandered into his bedroom where she still slept peacefully. For the first time that evening he got a good look at her in the light. Soft, dark brown skin peeked through the pale lavender dress that was like a cloud of satin ending above her bare feet

  He leaned in to get a closer look at her beautiful, ethereal features.

  A mass of curly, chestnut hair accented her attractive heart-shaped face. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties he guessed, but everything from her scent, to the way his body reacted to her screamed she was immortal. She could be hundreds of years old. Though she wasn’t a Shifter Elf, nor a Lycans, and definitely not a Nightwalker like himself, he couldn’t figure out what she was. The smell of her proved something more metaphysical and indescribably enticing. The power she displayed in the alley proved she was someone who had the ability to either help the houses or harm them.